Songs for the First Hebrew Play Tsahut bedihuta dekidushin
by Leone de’ Sommi (1527-1592)
by
Anna Levenstein
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements
For the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts
Adviser: Dr. Ross W. Duffin
Department of Music
CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY
January, 2006
CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY
SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES
We hereby approve the dissertation of
Anna Shaari Levenstein
______________________________________________________
candidate for the DMA degree *.
Ross W. Duffin
(signed)_______________________________________________
(chair of the committee)
Georgia J. Cowart
________________________________________________
Mary E. Davis
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
January 27 2006
(date) _______________________
*We also certify that written approval has been obtained for any
proprietary material contained therein.
Copyright © 2006 by Anna Levenstein
All rights reserved
Table of Contents
Table of Contents................................................................................................................................1
List of Tables........................................................................................................................................5
List of Illustrations .............................................................................................................................6
List of Musical Examples...................................................................................................................7
Acknowledgements............................................................................................................................8
Introduction.......................................................................................................................................10
Chapter 1 Jewish Participation in the Performing Arts in Mantua.......................................21
The Jewish Community in Mantua...........................................................................................21
The Jewish Community Theater...............................................................................................24
Jewish Performing Artists in Mantua (1550-1630) ...............................................................25
Musicians in the Jewish Theater...............................................................................................27
Jewish Italian Composers ...........................................................................................................28
Chapter 2 Leone de’ Sommi (1527-1592) .....................................................................................31
Leone de’ Sommi’s Role in the Jewish Community ..............................................................31
Leone de’ Sommi’s Hebrew Works ...........................................................................................35
Leone de’ Sommi and the Accadèmia degli invaghiti ..............................................................36
Leone de’ Sommi’s Italian Poetry .............................................................................................37
Leone de’ Sommi’s Italian Theatrical Works .........................................................................38
Chapter 3 Music in Mantuan Comedies and Pastorals (1550-1620).......................................43
Intermedi .......................................................................................................................................43
De’ Sommi and the Intermedio.................................................................................................44
Leone de’ Sommi and the Pastoral...........................................................................................47
1
Incidental Music...........................................................................................................................49
The Simple Intermedio...............................................................................................................50
Songs in the Commedia dell’arte..............................................................................................51
Improvised and Semi-Improvised Song..................................................................................52
Chapter 4 Hebrew Poetry, Literature, and Drama in Renaissance Italy...............................54
The Study of Hebrew in Mantua...............................................................................................55
Hebrew Plays.................................................................................................................................56
Parody in Hebrew Literature.....................................................................................................58
Hebrew Poetry ..............................................................................................................................59
Influential Poets ...........................................................................................................................62
Immanuel Romano..................................................................................................................62
Joseph Tsarfati .........................................................................................................................63
Samuel Archevolti ...................................................................................................................64
Leon da Modena.......................................................................................................................65
Macaronic Verse...........................................................................................................................66
Chapter 5 Lyrical Poetry and Music .............................................................................................68
Contrafacta ....................................................................................................................................69
Ha-shirim asher li-Shelomo (The Songs of Solomon) (Venice: Pietro e Lorenzo
Bragadani, 1624) ...........................................................................................................................71
Le-mi ehpots (To Whom Would I Desire) ..................................................................................75
The Use of Musical Instruments...............................................................................................78
Musica ebraica ................................................................................................................................82
Chapter 6 Tsahot bedihuta dekidushin, the First Hebrew Play ..................................................85
2
Purim Carnival..............................................................................................................................91
Italian Elements in Tsahot bedihuta dekidushin.......................................................................93
Jewish Themes in Tsahot bedihuta dekidushin .........................................................................98
Jewish Humor in the Play.........................................................................................................102
Cantillation..................................................................................................................................103
Chapter 7 Songs for Tsahot bedihuta dekidushin........................................................................106
1. Telunat ha-ishah (The Wife’s Lament) ...............................................................................110
Thematic Connection ...........................................................................................................110
The Prosody of The Wife’s Lament .......................................................................................111
The Musical Setting of The Wife’s Lament..........................................................................113
2. Telunat ha-betulah (The Virgin’s Lament) .........................................................................114
Thematic Connection ...........................................................................................................114
The Prosody of The Virgin’s Lament ....................................................................................114
The Musical Setting of The Virgin’s Lament.......................................................................116
3. Yeshena at (You are Sleeping) .............................................................................................117
Thematic Connection ...........................................................................................................117
The Prosody of You Are Sleeping..........................................................................................118
The Musical Setting of You are Sleeping.............................................................................119
4. Hidat he-hamor (The Donkey Riddle).................................................................................120
Thematic Connection ...........................................................................................................120
The Prosody of The Donkey Riddle .......................................................................................121
The Musical Setting of The Donkey Riddle .........................................................................122
5. Magen nashim (In Defense of Women) ..............................................................................123
3
Thematic Connection ...........................................................................................................123
The Prosody of In Defense of Women...................................................................................127
The Musical Setting of In Defense of Women......................................................................129
6. Tsehok Shimshon (Blind Man’s Buff) ...................................................................................131
Thematic Connection ...........................................................................................................131
The Prosody of Blind Man’s Buff...........................................................................................132
The Musical Setting of Blind Man’s Buff .............................................................................137
Conclusion........................................................................................................................................141
Appendix A Texts and Translations ...........................................................................................142
Appendix B Scores..........................................................................................................................154
Bibliography ....................................................................................................................................182
4
List of Tables
Table 1 Leone de’ Sommi’s Hebrew works..................................................................................36
Table 2 Leone de’ Sommi’s Theatrical Works.............................................................................40
Table 3 Documented Works Produced and Directed by Leone de’ Sommi Other than his
Own.............................................................................................................................................41
Table 4 Documented Productions by the Universitá (1554-1598) ...........................................42
Table 5 Le-mi ehpots from Salamone Rossi’s Ha-shirim asher li-Shelomo, no.33.....................77
Table 6 L’Amfiparnaso; Comedia Armonica, Orazio Vecchi (Venice, 1594) Scene 3, Act 3.
Musical Dialog between Francatrippa and the Hebrei....................................................83
Table 7 Cast of Characters and their Corresponding Commedia Roles................................94
Table 8 The Wife's Lament/Immanuel Romano (c.1265-1335) ................................................111
Table 9 The Virgin’s Lament/ Immanuel Romano .....................................................................115
Table 10 You Are Sleeping/ Joseph Tsarfati (d.1527) ................................................................118
Table 11 The Donkey Riddle/ Samuel Archevolti (1515-1611).................................................121
Table 12 In Defense of Women/ Leone de’ Sommi (1525-1590)................................................128
Table 13 Blind Man’s Buff /Leone de’ Sommi (1527-1592) .......................................................133
Table 14 Blind Man’s Buff/ Leone de’ Sommi (1527-1592) Scanning Version 2..................135
5
List of Illustrati ons
Illustration 1 Page from a Bilingual Haggadah ed. Leon da Modena (Venice: Giovanni da
Gara, 1609).................................................................................................................................55
Illustration 2 Front page of in Ha-shirim asher li-Shlomo by Salamone Rossi (Venice:
Bragadani, 1623) ......................................................................................................................73
Illustration 3 Image of Cherubs Playing Renaissance Musical Instruments from a
Passover Haggadah (Mantua: Rufinelli, 1560)...................................................................80
Illustration 4 Image of Cherubs Playing the Harp and the Cornetto from a Passover
Haggadah (Mantua: Rufinelli, 1560) ....................................................................................81
Illustration 5 Musical Marginalia in Tsahot bedihuta dekidushin, Hungarian Academy of
Science, MS Kaufman A551....................................................................................................87
Illustration 6 Cast of Characters, Tsahot bedihuta dekidushin, MS Kaufman A551...............96
Illustration 7 Tsehok Shimshon (Blind Man’s Buff) Act 5, Scene 13, MS Kaufman A551 ...109
6
List of Mu sical Examples
Musical Example 1 First Page from the Canto Part of Le-mi ehpots in Ha-shirim asher liShlomo by Salamone Rossi (Venice: Bragadani, 1623)......................................................74
Musical Example 2 Ground Bass Pattern from Sonata sopra la Bergamasca by Salamone
Rossi in Libro Quarto (Venice: 1622) ...................................................................................138
7
Acknowledgements
There are so many people to acknowledge for their help with this project
because it had several incarnations and was the culmination of many years of study.
First, it was a lecture-recital, then it was a theatrical production, and now it is a DMA
document. Each of these drew on the support of many people. To everyone who was
involved in this project, I want to say ‫תודה רבּה‬, Toda raba, and Mille grazie (Thank you
very much!)
First of all, I would like to thank the members of my committee for their
support. Thank you to Dr. Ross Duffin, for inspiring me to study the music of the
theater, for introducing me to the art of contrafacta, and for patiently teaching me the
tools of the trade. This has been a true apprenticeship. Thank you to Dr. Mary Davis
for her encouragement and professional guidance. Thank you to Dr. Georgia Cowart,
music department chair at Case Western Reserve University, for mentoring me through
each stage of this project and for encouraging me to pursue the staged production of
Purim Carnavale.
Thank you to the members of the committee of my lecture-recital, Dr. Quentin
Quereau and Dr. Stephen Hefling, and to my voice teacher, Ellen Hargiss, for her insight
and practical wisdom. Thank you also to Stephen Toombs for answering daily inquiries
and sharing his multifaceted expertise.
Heartfelt thanks go to The Samuel Rosenthal Center for Judaic Studies and The
Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities at Case Western Reserve University for
supporting grants and to The Cleveland Museum of Art for co-presenting the
production of Purim Carnavale.
8
This was an invaluable experience, and I am grateful to all my colleagues who
were involved in the creative side of the project, especially to my friends Omri and
Edna Yavin for teaching me the ropes and to Miriam Rother, my friend from “Long
Long Ágo,” who infused the show with humor and originality. Thank you to my
friends, Drs. Adam and Rotem Gilbert, for all these years of wonderful music making
and to the musicians of Ciaramella for making the songs for the first Hebrew play sound
like the real thing.
Thank you to Bev Simmons for her warm encouragement, generous hospitality
and fabulous hot chocolate.
Finally, thanks go to my family who participated in every way, and let me take
their generosity for granted. To my grandmother Antonia Lavanne, for teaching me to
love the text as much as the music. To the memory of my grandfather Zev Weiss, who
loved both Italian and Hebrew and would have had a lot to say about all of this. To my
father Chuck Levenstein and to Ellen Loeb for cheerleading me through the rough spots
as well as the performances. To my mother Rachel Weiss, Ima yesh rak achat. Finally,
merci en hartelijk dank to my fiancé, Pascal Spincemaille, for pointing out the details, for
his patience, and for keeping me in love through it all.
9
Introduction
“Behold, my generation, the new I have filled with old, like fine oil in a vessel.”1
Thus, the Mantuan playwright Leone de Sommi (1525-1592) begins his claim to have
invented a new art form. Indeed, his play, Tsahot bedihuta dekidushin (A Comedy of
Betrothal/Wedlock) is the earliest surviving Hebrew play. Written in the mid 1500’s in
Mantua, the play was a great innovation-- a scripted comedy in five acts in Hebrew.
The play drew on two sources: Italian comedy and a narrative idiom based on biblical,
rabbinic, and Medieval Hebrew. For this project, I have chosen to study the musical
milieu of the play and to create songs for it by pouring the fine oil of the Hebrew poetry
into the new vessel of Italian music.
The assimilation of Italian culture by Jewish poets, along with their devoted
study of Hebrew, brought about the creation of Italianate lyric poetry in Hebrew.
Unfortunately, no secular Hebrew song-melodies from this time survive, but in the
Renaissance it was common practice to use existing tunes to generate music for an
occasion, and I have used that practice as my model. To invoke the biblical expression,
I hope that “out of the strong came forth sweetness” (Judges 14:14). In this case it
would mean that out of the absence of obvious resources came the opportunity to
explore more deeply and more creatively this aspect of musical life in Mantua.
There are very strong arguments in favor of musical settings in a reconstruction
of the play’s performance. In Italian comedy, incidental music and musical interludes
1
The poem is edited in Leone de’ Sommi, Tsahot bedihuta dekiddushin me’et Leon Sommo
(1592-1527) ha-mahaze ha-Ivri ha-rishon (A Comedy of Betrothal by Leone de Sommi: The
First Hebrew Play) ed. Haim Schirmann (Jerusalem and Tel Aviv: Tarshish-Dvir, 1965),
27.
10
played an essential part. De’ Sommi himself stressed the importance of music in
comedies in his treatise on play production, Quattro dialoghi in materia di rappresentazioni
sceniche: “I maintain, that as regards musical intermedi, they are essential to comedies,
both in order to provide a refreshing change for the minds of the theater-goers, and in
order to allow the author ... to utilize the pause to give greater amplitude to the story."2
Clearly, he found music integral to the performance of comedy.
Another clue that music played an important part in the play is in the script
itself. The cast of characters in the most complete MS version of the play, Kauffman
551, calls for Menagnim (Instrumentalists). They take part in the final scene of the fifth
act when they are given a lyric to sing and asked to lead a rough game of blind man’s
buff.3
My first hypothesis is that the music heard in the play would have been Italian
in style. The members of the Mantuan Jewish community had their own theater troupe
in which de’ Sommi was heavily involved. Their repertoire included new Italian plays
in all the current genres, often by leading Italian playwrights. De’ Sommi wrote and
produced Italian plays for the Jewish troupe, and music played an important part in
their productions. To say that they were well versed in Italian music is somewhat of an
understatement. The composers who collaborated with them in the theatrical
productions were among the most well respected of their time, including court Maestri
di Capella Giaches de Wert (1535-1596) and Giovanni Giacomo Gastoldi (1554-1609). It is
2
Leone de’ Sommi, “Four dialogues on Stage Presentation,” translated with
introduction and notes by Catherine Anne Blanchard-Rothmuller (Ph.D diss., Indiana
University, 1973).
3
Edited as an appendix to Schirmann ed., Tsahot bedihuta, 101-3.
11
known that several members of the Jewish community were sought after as musicians
and hired by the court of Gonzaga to perform in court events and productions. De’
Sommi and other Jewish artists were hired by the court as theatrical directors and
choreographers. Outside the court, Jews worked alongside Italians as dance masters,
teaching both Jews and Christians to dance to the repertoire of dance music that
permeated all genres of music in this period.
In the field of art music, Jewish composers published collections of polyphonic
Italian songs, and one among them, Salamone Rossi, also published dance music, triosonatas, and a volume of sacred songs in Hebrew set to Italian music. Several late
seventeenth and eighteenth century compositions, also with Hebrew texts and Italian
music and apparently all by Christian composers, have survived in manuscripts. Jewish
academies, modeled after the Italian academies, commissioned works for special
services, and the first Hebrew play may be associated with such a group.
While the only surviving scores of Hebrew song in Italian style to survive are
sacred the second hypothesis is that songs for the play would have had secular Hebrew
lyrics. Since the fourteenth century, Hebrew poetry assimilated Italian poetic forms,
themes, imagery and sounds, and de’ Sommi himself composed secular poems in both
Italian and Hebrew, as well as in bilingual verse.
Combining Hebrew lyric poetry with Italian music was a controversial practice
debated in its sacred application. Throughout the second half of the sixteenth century
and into the seventeenth century, rabbis heatedly discussed the performance of sacred
Hebrew poetry in Italian style to secular Italian melodies. The debate extended to the
use of elements of Italian art music and to the inclusion of musical instruments in the
12
synagogue services. If this was subject to debate, could not a similar assimilation
already have been widely accepted in a secular setting?
Finally, Tsahot bedihuta dekiddushin was produced for a Purim carnival
celebration when breaking convention is traditionally encouraged. Even if the
rabbinical authorities frowned upon mingling the holy tongue with popular music, on
Purim such juxtaposition would be in keeping with the holiday spirit.
This is a qualitative study in which I hope that by investigating the cultural
milieu in which de’ Sommi’s work was created its musical aspects can be illuminated as
well. These ideas are “tested” only in editions of the songs I have arranged, which will
serve as a case study, and which can be used for further reconstructions. I have
provided analyses of the poems and a description of the process of arranging the songs.
In this interdisciplinary project, describing Hebrew poetry in English has been a
challenge. In addition, the citing of Hebrew sources, names and vocabulary is
hampered by the fact that the Romanization of Hebrew has never been standardized. A
familiar example may be the many acceptable spellings of the name of the winter
holiday- Chanukah, Chanukka, Channukah, Hanukah, Hannukah. The Library of
Congress has issued guidelines for catalogers, but the usage has not spread to writers
and publishers. Therefore, words, names, and titles of books and articles may appear
one way in the publication and another way in the library catalog. Names and titles of
works are now well cross-referenced in the library catalogs, so the spelling has become
less of an obstacle in research. Writing is another thing altogether. I acknowledge in
advance inconsistencies of Romanization in this paper, in which the titles of works
follow the publication information in the articles and books themselves and not always
13
the ALA guidelines. Although practical in some ways, the ALA Romanization method
does not differentiate the vowel types, and therefore for the analysis of the poems and
the song-tables, I have used International Phonetic Alphabet symbols. Singers
accustomed to singing Hebrew texts in musical scores are used to adapting to different
transliteration systems, but they may not be familiar with I.P.A. symbols. Therefore, I
have used a pracitical transcription method for the scores.
Research into Jewish cultural life in Renaissance Italy is relatively recent and is
still a field in which there is much to explore. The best and most often referenced
general histories are Cecil Roth’s The Jews in the Renaissance and Shlomo Simonsohn’s
History of the Jews in the Duchy of Mantua.4 Simonsohn’s is also the most extensive source
on the Jewish Community Theater and Jewish artists in Mantua, though it must be
updated with more recent research. Recently, Anne MacNeil has published a book
about the role of music in the commedia dell’arte, and she discovered documents
relating to the Jewish theater in the process.
The Hebrew literature scholar Haim Schirmann (Hayyim/Yefim) began his
research into the play Tsahot bedihuta dekidushin, known in English as “A Comedy of
Betrothal/Wedlock” or “An Eloquent Marriage Farce” as a doctoral student at the
University of Göttingen and later pursued it as a professor at the Hebrew University in
Jerusalem, where he published the first edition in 1937. Schirmann established the
4
Cecil Roth, The Jews in the Renaissance (Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society of
America, 1959); Shlomo Simonsohn, Toldot ha-Yehudim be-dukasut Mantovah (History of
the Jews in the Duchy of Mantua) (Jerusalem: Makhon Ben-Tsvi; Kiryat ha-sefer, 19624). English Translation, (New York: Ktav Pub. House, 1977).
14
authorship of Leone de’ Sommi and dated the work between the years 1550-60. He
published a critical edition of the play, including annotated textual variants between
the sources, the earliest dating c.1550 and the latest 1630. A second, further annotated
edition was published in 1965.5 A translation of the play into English was published by
Alfred Golding in 1988, making the work accessible to a wider audience.6
De' Sommi’s treatise on theatrical production, Quattro dialoghi in materia di
rappresentazioni sceniche (Four Dialogues on the Art of Staging Plays) (c.1560), the work
he is best known for, has been published in several critical editions. An English
translation was first published in 1927 by the theater historian Allardyce Nicoll who
first established de’ Sommi's authorship of the treatise. Ferruccio Marotti published
the complete Italian edition in 1968, and a very useful annotated English edition by
Blancharde-Rothmuller was published in 1973. 7
Wendy S. Botuck’s dissertation on Leone de’ Sommi provides concise
information on his life and works. It includes an edition of fragmentary Italian works,
including Il Tamburo and Irifile, fragments of which were first published in 1909 by Abd-
5
Leone de’ Sommi, Tsahot bedihuta dekidushin by Leon Sommo (1592-1527) ha-mahaze ha-Ivri
ha-rishon (A Comedy of Betrothal by Leon Sommo (1592-1527) The First Hebrew play),
2d edition, edited with introduction and notes by Haim Schirman (Jerusalem and Tel
Aviv: Tarshish-Dvir, 1965).
6
Leone de’ Sommi, A Comedy of Betrothal: Tsahoth B'dihutha D'Kiddushin, translated with
an introduction and notes by Alfred S. Golding, Carleton Renaissance Plays in
Translation (Ottawa: Dovehouse Editions Canada, 1988).
7
Allardyce Nicoll, The Development of the Theatre: a Study of Theatrical Art from the
Beginnings to the Present day, 5th revised ed. (New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1967); Leone
de’ Sommi, Quattro dialoghi in materia di rappresentazioni sceniche, edited by
Ferruccio Marotti, Archivio del teatro italiano series no. 1 (Milano: Il Polifilo, 1968);
idem, “Leone Ebreo de'Sommi's Four Dialogues on Stage Presentations,” trans.
Catherine Anne Blanchard-Rothmuller (Ph.D. diss., Indiana University, 1973).
15
el-Kader Salza. De’ Sommi’s only complete Italian comedy, Le Tre Sorelle has been
published in Italian and in English translation 8
Demonstrating the growing interest in de’ Sommi in the past ten years, possibly
in tandem with the gaining popularity of his contemporary, the musician Salamone
Rossi, Ahuva Belkin edited a book of articles presented at the 1997 conference “Leone
de’ Sommi and the Performing Arts.”9
The Penguin Book of Hebrew Verse translated by T. Carmi first introduced me to the
Hebrew poetry of Italy, and I have used his elegant translations for several of the
poems.10 With the critical edition of the play, Schirmann included the variant ending
that appears in the second version of the play, Tsehok Shimshon (Blind man’s buff), and
an annotated edition of Leone de’ Sommi’s poem, Magen nashim (In Defense of Women).
Schirmann’s collection of Italian poetry is the largest and most representative to this
day, with the only important addition being Dvora Bregman’s recent edition of Hebrew
sonnets.11 Two general histories on the development of Hebrew poetry in Italy have
8
Abd-el-Kader Salza, “Un drama pastorale inedito del cinquecento: L’Irifile di Leone de
Sommi.” Giornale Storico della letteratura italiana, vol. LIV (1909), 103-119; Wendy S.
Botuck, “Leone de' Sommi: Jewish Participation in Italian Renaissance Theatre” (Ph.D.
diss., City University of New York, 1991); Leone de’ Sommi, Tre sorelle: comedia, edited by
Giovanna Romei, Archivio del teatro italiano no. 8 (Milano: Il Polifilo, 1982); idem, The
Three Sisters, translated with an introduction and notes by Donald Beecher and Massimo
Ciavolella, Carleton Renaissance Plays in Translation 14 (Ottawa: Dovehouse Editions,
1993, 1992).
9
Ahuva Belkin, ed., Leone de' Sommi and the Performing Arts, Assaph Book Series vol. 1 (Tel
Aviv: Tel Aviv University, 1997).
10
T. Carmi, editor and translator, The Penguin Book of Hebrew Verse (New York: Viking
Press, 1981).
11
Haim (Yefim/Jefim) Schirmann, ed., Mivhar ha-shira ha-Ivrit be-Italia (Anthology of
Hebrew Poetry in Italy) (Berlin: Schocken, 1934); idem, le-Toldot ha-shirah ve-ha-drama
16
been written: the first by Schirmann, and the second by his student, Dan Pagis.
Schirmann discussed the strong likelihood that musical intermedi were part of the
performance of this play, even though they are not indicated in the script. He assumed
that these would have been in Italian, with the purpose of entertaining the members of
the audience who could not follow the Hebrew dialogue of the play. 12
Dvora Bregman’s study of the history of Hebrew Sonnets emphasizes the
occasions such as wedding celebrations and Purim carnival for which lyric poems were
created.13 Pagis examined the possibility of a connection between the lyric Italianate
Hebrew poetry and the musical settings in “Hamtsat a yambus ha-Ivri.”14
Don Harrán has raised awareness of the Italian Jewish artists in the sixteenth
and seventeenth century through his book and many articles on the Mantuan
composer Salamone Rossi (1570-c1630). The critical edition of Salamone Rossi’s works,
ha-Ivrit: mehkarim ve-masot, chelek beth (A History of Hebrew Poetry and Drama, vol. II
(Jerusalem: Mosad Bialik, 1979)
12
Haim Schirmann, “Music and Theater in the Jewish Neighborhoods in Italy,” in leToldot ha-shirah, 44-95.
13
Dvora Bregman, Shvil ha-zahav: ha-soneta ha-Ivrit bi-tkufat ha-Renesans veha-Barok (The
Golden Way: The Hebrew Sonnet during the Renaissance and the Baroque) (Jerusalem;
Beer Sheva: Ben Zvi Institute and Ben Gurion University of the Negev Press, 1995);
idem, Tseror zehuvim: sonetim `Ivriyim mi-tekufat ha-Renesans veha-Barok (Bundle of Gold:
Hebrew Sonnets from the Renaissance and the Baroque) (Jerusalem and Beer Sheva:
Ben Zvi Institute and Ben Gurion University of the Negev Press, 1997);
14
Dan Pagis, Hidush u-masoret be-shirat ha-hol ha-’Ivrit: Sefarad ve-Italiah (Change and
Tradition in the Secular Hebrew Poetry: Spain and Italy) (Jerusalem: Keter,1976); idem,
Al sod hatum: le-toldot ha-hidah ha-`Ivrit be-Italyah uve-Holand (A History of the Hebrew
Riddle in Italy and Holland), Musaf Tarbits series (Jerusalem: The Magnes Press, Hebrew
University, 1986); idem, Hebrew Poetry of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, with a
foreword by Robert Alter (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991); idem,
“Hamtsa’at ha-yambus ha-Ivri” (The Invention of the Hebrew Iamb) in Ha- shir davur al
ofanav (Poetry Aptly Explained: Studies and Essays on Medieval Hebrew Poetry) ed.
Ezra Fleischer (Jerusalem: The Magnes Press, Hebrew University, 1993), 180-255.
17
especially of his sacred Hebrew songs, ha-shirim asher li-Shelomo, are the forefront of
musicological research on the Jewish Music of this period. Harrán has also researched
the connection between Salamone Rossi and Leone de’ Sommi. His forthcoming edition
of Italian polyphonic vocal music by Jewish composers will be an important addition to
scholarship in this field.15 Iain Fenlon has also written on the Jewish composers at the
court of Gonzaga and on de’ Sommi’s participation there in particular.16
The reputation of Tsahot bedihuta dekidushin is yet small relative to its
importance in Hebrew literature. This may be due to the Talmudic language and
humor it employs which is difficult even for a Modern Hebrew speaking audience,
familiar with the Bible. There is no tradition of hearing Talmudic language spoken on
stage, and much like that of Shakespeare, for example, its oral comprehension takes
study and practice. The play had its modern premiere at Haifa’s Municipal Theater in
1963 and was performed in 1979 by “Habima” theater in Tel Aviv. Alfred Golding, who
has published a translation of the play into English, directed a production at Ohio State
15
Salamone Rossi, Complete Works, edited with notes and commentary by Don Harrán,
Corpus mensurabilis musicae 100 (Neuhausen: Hänssler;American Institute of
Musicology, 1995-); Don Harrán, ed., Polyphonic works by Early Italian-Jewish Composers
(until 1630) Written Sources, Documentation and the Study of Jewish Music (The Jewish
Music Research Center of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Forthcoming); idem,
“Jewish Dramatists and Musicians in the Renaissance: Separate Activities, Common
Aspirations,” in Musicologia Humana: Studies in Honor of Warren and Ursula Kirkendale, ed.
Siegfried Gmeinwieser, David Hiley, and Jörg Riedlbauer, Biblioteca (Historiae musicae
cultores), (Florence: Olschki, 1994), 291-304; idem, Salamone Rossi, Jewish Musician in Late
Renaissance Mantua, Oxford Monographs on Music (Oxford and London: Oxford
University Press, 1999).
16
Iain Fenlon, Music and Patronage in Sixteenth-Century Mantua (Cambridge and New York:
Cambridge University Press, 1980); Idem, “Giaches de Wert at Novellara,” Early Music
(February 1999): 25-40.
18
University and at Temple Israel in Columbus, Ohio in 1988.17 In his production of the
play, he collaborated with a dance historian and the OSU Collegium in selected
Renaissance music and dance. Unfortunately, videotapes of these performances are not
available.18
This research project was accompanied by two performances of the songs, the
first in a lecture-recital as part of the fulfillment of my DMA degree requirement and
the second in a staged production called Purim Carnavale, which was presented at the
Cleveland Museum of Art in March 2004. This production broadened the scope of my
research to include editing of the play into scenes to create a performance length
suitable for a modern audience. It also gave me the opportunity to research historical
acting styles, commedia dell’arte masks, and historical dance, and to put to practice the
scenes developed around the songs presented in this paper. While it is complicated to
explain the ideas behind them, the songs themselves are simple, and I hope they can be
used as models for further investigation and performance.
Chapter 1 presents (1) a brief history of the Jewish community in Mantua, (2)
the history of Jewish participation in the performing arts in Mantua, including Jewish
musicians employed by the court of Gonzaga, the history of the Jewish Community
Theater, and (3) Jewish composers of Italian music. Chapter 2 provides biographical
information on Leone de’ Sommi to whom the first Hebrew play, Tsahot bedihuta
17
Michael Grossberg, Review of A Comedy of Betrothal (Temple Israel, Columbus OH)
“Director Updates Renaissance Farce,” The Columbus Dispatch, 26 February 1988.
18
Alfred S. Golding, “The Theatre Collection as a Source of Information for the English
Language Premiere of ‘A Comedy of Betrothal’ (1550) by Leone de’ Sommi, Ebreo,” in
Theatre Collections and the Public, Proceedings of the 17th International SIBMAS Congress in
Mannheim, September 1-9, 1988 (Mannheim: Städtisches Reiß-Museum, 1990), 120-121.
19
dekidushin, has been attributed. His Italian theatrical works and his association with the
Jewish community theater are discussed. Chapter 3 discusses the prevalence of music in
the Jewish theater, in Leone de’ Sommi’s court productions, and in the improvised
commedia dell’arte. Chapter 4 includes a summary of the cultivation of Italianate
Hebrew poetry, literature and drama in Renaissance Italy. Chapter 5 presents a
description of Hebrew poetry sung to Italian music in the synagogue and in para
liturgical song. Chapter 6 describes the play, Tsahot bedihuta dekidushin, and its Italian
and Jewish characteristics. Chapter 7 provides an account of the process of arranging
songs for the play. The appendices include the Hebrew texts, their transliterations and
translations, and the musical scores.
20
Chapter 1 Jewish Participation in the Performing Arts in Mantua
The Jewish C ommunity in Mantua
The history of the Jews in Mantua is crucial to the understanding of the bicultural milieu in which the first Hebrew play, Tsahot bedihuta dekidushin, was created
and performed. The 1550-60’s, during which the first version of the Hebrew play was
written, were the peak of success for the Jewish community of Mantua. The last of the
four seventeenth-century sources of the play dates from 1640, after the city was sacked
by Austrian forces and a plague had greatly diminished the numbers and finances of
the Jewish community. The first three manuscripts date from the years 1618-1624, a
time when the community was segregated into a ghetto. Nevertheless, its members
participated actively in the city’s cultural life. The time span covered in my
hypothetical reconstruction of music for the play is roughly within the first two
decades of the seventeenth century.
Jewish presence in Mantua and the surrounding areas began in the early
fourteenth century with a few moneylenders and their families who were chartered by
the ruling Gonzaga family to stay and establish businesses in the city.19 These families
were Italiani, Jews who had lived in Italy since Roman times, and they adapted easily to
their new surroundings.20 Fluent in Italian and thoroughly versed in Italian culture,
they were at the same time deeply involved in Jewish studies and in the study of
19
Simohnsohn, Toldot Ha-Yehudim, 5.
20
Similar communities had been established in Northern Italy: in Ferrara, Reggio, and
Modena.
21
Hebrew. In 1511, the Jews received official recognition, and the community was
established as the Università degli ebrei.
In the sixteenth century, the wealth of the Università grew, and the population
increased, mainly with the influx of Jews expelled from the Spanish territories and
Rome.21 Members of the Jewish community served the Gonzaga court in the fields of
finance, medicine, scholarly pursuits, and the arts. Though the Gonzagas resisted, the
growing hostility of the Papal State gradually influenced their policy. Civic
celebrations and popular festivals often ended with riots, though such attacks were
illegal and the Gonzaga tried to protect the Jewish community.22 In Mantua and
elsewhere, Jewish men and women were required to wear an orange or yellow badge,
though special dispensation was granted to Jewish men of standing at the court. In
1553, the publication of the Talmud was banned by Pope Leo X and then in Mantua as
well. In 1569, the Pope expelled the Jews from Rome, but the Gonzaga resisted papal
pressure to follow suit. However, the pressure on Mantua to create a ghetto increased,
and a ghetto was established in 1610.23 The Jewish community itself financed the
building of the ghetto and was responsible for the cost of securing it. In the 1620’s, the
population numbered around 50,000. In 1630, disaster struck in the form of the War of
Successions and the plague. 7,000 Mantuan residents survived, only a small number of
21
Simonsohn, Toldot ha-Yehudim, 28-29. French and German Jews fled to Mantua because
of blood libels, and in 1596 Mantua also received a group of Jews who had been expelled
from Milan by Philip II of Spain.
22
Ibid., 25.
23
Ibid., 39. The Jewish community was responsible for the cost of the transition, and
for securing the gates of the ghetto.
22
them Jews. Of those Jews who survived, many fled to Venice, and though the
community in Mantua reestablished itself after the war, it was very much diminished.
Intellectual curiosity was one of the motivations for interaction between Jews
and the wider community in the humanist atmosphere of Mantua in the sixteenth and
early seventeenth century. Despite the tensions caused by increasing anti-Semitism of
counter-reformation Rome, Mantuan humanists, interested in expanding their
education beyond Greek and Latin, employed Jewish scholars as tutors. Books by
Jewish scholars on Jewish history, Hebrew grammar, and the Jewish Rites were
published in translation for Christian readers.24 Jewish scholars also translated works
from Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. Members of the Gonzaga family numbered among
these humanist students.
As in European society at large, the Jewish community was divided into classes
of nobles and commoners. The aristocracy was made up of families whose status and
wealth was based upon their relationship to the ruling Christian nobility. They included
the clans of physicians and bankers, whose superior wealth and education made them
prominent leaders of the Jewish community. These were the representatives of the
community to the court, the keepers of the community institutions and charities, and
the retainers of Jewish rabbis, scholars, and artists. Their status at court brought them
in contact with the arts, and from the fifteenth century, those who numbered the
privileged class also included performing artists. They also maintained an amateur
24
Two such examples are Arugat habossem (Venice, 1602) by Samuel Archivolti, and
Antichi riti degli giudei (The Ancient Rites of the Jews) by Leon da Modena.
23
theater troupe and performed as guests of the Gonzaga at many festivals and
celebrations at court.
The Jewish C ommunity Theater
The Gonzaga of Mantua liked to display their wealth with grand theatrical
events, and the Università’s self-financed productions were valued for their contribution
to Mantuan cultural prestige. The earliest recorded production by a Jewish company in
the region was in 1489, when a play based on the biblical story of Judith and Holofernes
was performed in Pesaro at the wedding of Maddalena Gonzaga and Duke Francesco
Maria of Urbino.25 In 1520, Jewish actors were invited to Mantua from Ferrara for
Marchese Federico Gonzaga’s accession, and in 1525 the first command performance by
Jewish actors at the Mantuan ducal court was held. From then on, theatrical
productions by the Università were a regular part of the carnival celebration. These
were financed with taxes collected within the Jewish community, and the lavish court
productions may be seen as a gift or a bribe to the Duke.26 Works by Italian Christian
playwrights such as Ludovico Ariosto (1474-1533), Giambattista Giraldi Ciutio (15041573), Torquato Tasso (1544-1595,) and the Jewish playwright and producer Leone de’
Sommi (1525-1592) are among those who were presented.27 The Universitá accounts
show that musicians and singers-Jews and Stranieri (foreigners)-were paid for their
25
Simonsohn, Toldot ha-Yehudim, 656.
26
Ibid., 395.
27
Susan Parisi, “The Jewish Community and Carnival Entertainment at the Mantuan
Court in the Early Baroque,” in Music in Renaissance Cities and Courts: Essays in Honor of
Lewis Lockwood, ed. Jesse Ann Owens and Anthony M. Cummings, Detroit Monographs in
Musicology: Studies in Music, 18 (Warren, Mich.: Harmonie Park Press, 1997), 300.
24
services. Italian composers affiliated with the court are known to have composed for
productions by the Universitá. The court Maestri di Capella, Giaches de Wert (1535-1596)
and his successor, Giovanni Giacomo Gastoldi (1550’s-c1622) are both known to have
collaborated with the Jewish theater on performances of new plays. Accordingly, it
may be assumed that not only the repertoire of plays, but also the musical repertoire in
the Universitá productions was shared with other Italian theatrical groups, the amateurs
at court, the professional productions arranged by the court, and the professional
commedia dell’arte troupes.
Jewish Performing Artists in Mantua (1550-1630)
From the fifteenth century on, Jewish artists participated actively in the
flourishing field of performing arts in the northern Italian cities. Dance, music and
theater were most prominently their domain. Information about the Jewish artists
flourishing in Mantua in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries comes mainly from
the account books of the Universitá and from documentation of their work for the court
of Gonzaga. These documents indicate that Jewish performing artists worked side by
side with Christian colleagues and therefore, must have shared their repertoire.
The profession of dance master was one in which Jews seem to have served
along with Christians. They held dance academies in their homes or in the homes of
Christians and taught both women and men. The repertoire of the Jewish dancing
masters seems to have been the same as that of the Christian dancers.28 They may have
28
Barbara Sparti, “Jewish Dance Masters and ‘Jewish Dance’ in Renaissance Italy,” in The
Most Ancient of Minorities, ed. Stanislau G. Pugliese, Contributions in Ethnic Studies, 36
(Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2002), 88.
25
been involved in training performers for the Jewish theater since dance played an
important part in intermedi (musical interludes) for comedies.
The names of several Jewish performing artists hired by the Gonzaga between
the years 1550-1630 can be found in the court accounts. Most prominent among them
was Leone de’ Sommi, the author of Tsahot bedihuta dekidushin, who served as a
theatrical producer, playwright and actor. A glance through the list of artists from the
Jewish community shows the variety of skills in which they excelled. Isaac (Isacchino)
Massarano (fl. Mantua 1580-1608) a soprano singer, lutenist, and choreographer, was
honored with a dispensation from wearing the yellow badge and is known to have
collaborated with Leone de’ Sommi in productions for the court and the Jewish
theater.29 Simone Basilea was an actor and ventriloquist famous for his one-man shows.
Abramo del Arpa (Abramo Abiatico) was a harpist. Salamone Rossi (1570-c1630) was a
violinist, director of a musical ensemble (Concerto), and composer. His sister, Europa,
was a virtuoso singer. These artists all participated prominently in a variety of
theatrical productions for the court.
Jewish musicians can be associated with particular court productions in several
instances. Salamone Rossi produced music for two theatrical events at court: Guarini’s
L’Idropica, and Andreini’s sacred theatrical production, La Maddalena. Salamone’s sister,
Europa Rossi (active 1590-1610), seems to have performed the title role in Claudio
Monteverdi’s Lamento d’Arianna, and may have also participated in the intermedio Il
ratto d'Europa (The Rape of Europa) (1608) by Gabriello Chiabrera (1552-1638) with
29
Sparti, “Jewish Dance Masters,” 72.
26
music by Giovanni Giacomo Gastoldi (1554-1609).30 Despite meager evidence, it is likely
that these artists were primarily engaged with productions of the Jewish theater, and
that it was there they received the training that prepared them for performing at court.
Musicians in the Jewish Theater
Little is known about the identity of the musicians in the Jewish theatre. The
records of the Universitá productions do not supply much information on the musical
forces hired for their productions. Records show lists of participants, up to sixty names
for some productions, but do not usually specify their roles. The singer, lute player and
choreographer Isacchino Massarano is known to have been in a directorial position,
perhaps as choreographer, in at least one production by the Universitá. Salamone Rossi
can be connected to the Jewish theater through documents for three productions, but
not specifically as a musician. His name appears in the records for Accesi d’Amor in
1605, a carnival play in 1606, and a comedy in 1615. In 1611, his name appears in
connection with the payment for copying scripts of the comedy and intermedi and as
the lender of a prop (a box) for the production. In 1608, Rossi appeared together with
Isacchino Massarano, the choreographer and dancer associated with Leone de’ Sommi
and the Universitá, in a celebration at the house of a nobleman in Padua. Harrán has
30
Don Harràn, “Madame Europa, Jewish Singer in Late Renaissance Mantua,” Festa
Musicologica: Essays in Honor of George J. Buelo, ed. Thomas J. Mathiesen and Benito V.
Rivera, Festschrift Series, 14. (Stuyvesant, NY: Pendragon, 1995), 197-8. Anne MacNeil
believes it was Virginia Ramponi Andreini who sang the first performance of
Monteverdi’s Arianna. See Anne MacNeil, “Commedia dell’arte,” Grove Music Online ed.
L. Macy (Accessed 01 January 2006), <http://www.grovemusic.com>
27
posited that Rossi directed a musical ensemble that was organized for the Universitá and
occasionally appeared elsewhere on demand by nobility in Mantua and its outskirts.31
Jewish I talian Composers
The existence of professional composers from the Jewish community leads to
the supposition that not only did Jewish musicians perform Italian music in Mantuan
theatrical productions, but also opens up the possibility that they composed works in
the Italian style specifically for the Jewish theater. Four such composers are known:
the Mantuan David Sacerdote (David Cohen) (b. Rovere, fl. c1575), David da Civita (fl.
1616), Allegro Porto (fl. early 1620s), and the most prominent among them, Salamone
Rossi. The first three are less well documented and studied because their extant
compositions are all incomplete. Little is know about them to scholars today, though
research on their lives, output, and their place within the Jewish communities is
ongoing. 32
The works of these composers, except Rossi, are all polyphonic Italian vocal
compositions. Little is known about Davit da Civita, who left only a manuscript of
seventeen Italian vocal pieces in a collection dated 1616. The Mantuan David Sacerdote
published Il primo libro de madrigali a sei voci (Venice, 1575), including 18 Italian works.
His collection of madrigals includes an opening sonnet by a prominent member of the
31
Harrán, Salamone Rossi, 248.
32
The works of these three composers will be included in a forthcoming edition by
Harrán to be published by the Hebrew University.
28
Accadèmia degli invaghiti, and many of the songs are dedicated to members of the
Gonzaga court. 33
The Trieste born Allegro Porto was of German Jewish origin. He published six
volumes of Italian polyphonic songs of which only three are extant: Nuove musiche: libro
secondo, 3vv, bc (chit), op. 4 (Venice, 1619), Madrigali, libro primo, 5vv, bc (Venice, 1622),
and Madrigali, 5vv, bc (Venice, 1625). Only partial scores of these works are available.
His career was mostly outside Italy, in Munich and Austria.34
Salamone Rossi stands out as the Italian Jewish composer with the largest
number of published works, and the only one to have made historically significant
contributions. He published a book of Canzonette (1589), five books of madrigals (1600,
1602, 1610, 1614, 1622), one of Madrigaletti (1628), and four books of instrumental works
(1607, 1608, 1613, 1623).
Rossi’s most innovative work is a volume of 33 settings of sacred Hebrew texts
in Italian polyphonic style, Ha-shirim asher li-Shelomo (Songs of Solomon), published in
Venice in 1622 by the Christian publishing house of Bragadani. The publication was
controversial and evoked a polemic on the religious laws regarding the singing of
polyphony in the synagogue. Rossi received support in this debate from the Venetian
Rabbi Leon da Modena, a prominent rabbi and promoter of Italian music in the
synagogue. These Hebrew works will be discussed further in Chapter 3.
33
Iain Fenlon, “Sacerdote, David,” Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 01 January
2006), <http://www.grovemusic.com>
34
Don Harrán, “Porto, Allegro,” Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 01 January
2006), <http://www.grovemusic.com>
29
In addition to these professional composers, several women among the upper
class are known to have been respected amateur poets and singers who sang their own
settings. Whether these were improvised or composed, however, is not clear, and no
scores are extant. These include the sisters Rachel and Madonna Belinna, and the
Venetian Sarah Copio (c1592-1641). 35 Sarah married into the Sulam family, who were
benefactors of Salamone Rossi, and participated actively in the support of the
publication of his Songs of Solomon. Both her poetry and singing were lauded by her
contemporaries. Unfortunately, she seems to have left no Hebrew poetry, and there is
no evidence of her participation in the Jewish theater. 36 These amateur singers are all
female, and their repertoire is secular Italian music. The rabbinic rules of modesty
forbade women from singing in public, and the consequence is that their venue was the
private salon. Europa Rossi stands out as a professional singer in this context, though it
is known that female commedia dell’arte actors were also accomplished singers and
poets and may have served as Europa’s model.
35
Don Harrán, “Rossi, Salamone,” Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 10 February
2004), <http://www.grovemusic.com>
36
Don Harrán, “Doubly Tainted, Doubly Talented: the Jewish Poet Sara Copio (d. 1641)
as a Heroic Singer,” Musica Franca: Essays in Honor of Frank A. D’Accone, edited by I. Alm, A.
McLamore and C. Reardon, Festschrift Series, 18 (Stuyvesant, NY: 1996), 367-422.
30
Chapter 2 Leone de’ Sommi (1527-1592)
Leone de’ Sommi (Yehuda ben Isaac Sommo mi-Portaleone) was born in Mantua
c.1527 and died in there in 1592.37 He was a playwright, choreographer, director,
theatrical theorist, poet, and Jewish community leader. He came from a family of
physicians who had served in northern Italian courts over several generations. De’
Sommi spent most of his professional life in the Duchy of Mantua while in service to
Guglielmo Gonzaga (reigned 1550-1587) and Vincenzo Gonzaga (reigned 1587-1612), he
wrote and produced many plays and spectacles for the court. His youth was spent in
service to the Este family in Ferrara (1638-1556). In his mature years, he also wrote and
produced plays for Charles Emmanuel of Savoy in Turin. Many of these plays seem to
have been performed by the Universitá troupe. His life and works seem to combine
equally the two cultures he lived in: the Hebrew and the Italian.
Leone de’ Sommi’s Role in the Jewish C ommunity
Although de’ Sommi’s education cannot be described in detail, it is known that
he studied with Rabbi David Provenzale, and clearly, his studies in Hebrew were
thorough. He copied a complicated Hebrew Grammar at the age of 13 and as a young
man, wrote a brief treatise on writing, Marot ha-tsoveot.38 In his twenties, he engaged in
a debate in Hebrew poetry, and he translated the forty-eight Psalms of David into
37
There is an unresolved debate surrounding his date of birth, but he is said to have
been 65 years old at the time of his death. The following biographic information is
from Schirmann, le-Toldot ha-shira, 115-124.
38
The treatise is edited as an appendix to Leone de’ Sommi’s Tsahot Bedihuta,
Schirmann, ed., 116-119.
31
Italian. His greatest lasting impact has been in writing the first Hebrew play, Tsahot
bedihuta de kidushin (c. 1550). From his Hebrew treatise on writing and style (Marot hatsoveot) it seems that as a young adult he was a Hebrew teacher. In a Hebrew book by
his relative, Abraham Portaleone, a recipe for ink is attributed to him.39
Though the appellation “de’ Sommi” (from on high) seems to have been selfawarded, he enjoyed high status in the Jewish congregation and was regarded as a
mekubal (leader).40 His standing at the Mantuan court was so exalted that he was
exempt from the Università’s modest dress code so that he could represent the
community at court in sartorial splendor. The Gonzaga, as a sign of respect, exempted
him from wearing the orange badge identifying him as a Jew.
While long a conjecture, evidence of de’ Sommi’s role in the Jewish community
theater as a director and producer is contained in a letter dated July 1, 1588, which was
recently found by Anne MacNeil:
Ottavio Lambartesco, Mantua, to (Vincenzo Gonzaga, Mantua):
Leone de' Sommi has yet to appear, but Il Massaro [Isacchino
Massarano] and the other ebrei have asked Lambartesco to
forward the enclosed document to the Duke. The enclosed
document, identifying the ebrei as “l’Universitá degli hebrei,”
requests that the Duke call for Leone de’ Sommi, who is in
Piemonte, and that the Duke choose the play he would like
performed so that the actors may learn their parts. It further
says that 22 Sept. is one of the most solemn of Jewish Holidays, as
is the 23rd, and that the 24th is a Saturday, so they cannot perform
then; therefore, it would be best to wait until that Sunday (25
39
Leone de’ Sommi, Marot ha-tsoveot, Schirmann ed., 116.
40
Botuck believes “de’ Sommi” is a name Leone adopted for himself. Botuck, “Leone de'
Sommi: Jewish Participation,” 258.
32
Sept.) to have the play (ASMN, Gonzaga, b. 2642, fos. 170R-171V)
Doc. 17.41
This document makes it clear that the association between the Universitá and
Sommi was close, as they would not begin preparations for a production without him.
It is now debatable whether the establishment of de’ Sommi’s connection to the
Universitá means that he worked exclusively with the Jewish theater or whether other
performing groups such as the amateurs of the Accadèmia degli invaghiti and the
professional actors from the commedia dell’arte, hired from 1565 by Guglielmo
Gonzaga, also performed his productions. It seems likely that all three were groups
with whom he collaborated, but that the Universitá productions were his main
responsibility. More documentation is needed to clarify the forces in each of the many
theatrical events with which de’ Sommi is associated.
De’ Sommi was a member of a circle of intellectual Jews who were inspired by
humanist ideals to investigate their own history and culture and place it within the
context in which they lived. Among them was the historian Azariah de’ Rossi (c.1511c.1578), author of Ma-or eynayim (Light of the Eyes) (Mantua, 1573-75), the first history
of the Jewish people in the Hebrew language. Azariah de’ Rossi was a physician,
historian, and a poet. Some idea of de’ Sommi’s character, style, and status can be
gleaned from the description of the support he lends to his friend who endured set
backs in the publication of his book. Azariah writes:
“I tasted the honeyed words with which my beloved friend, the
wise, experienced, and talented writer Judah de’ Sommi
addressed me. For when I was in Mantua, trying to get this book
41
Cited and translated by Anne MacNeil in Music and Women, 224, 278.
33
printed, I was detained longer than expected. I was distressed
and downcast. On seeing me, that distinguished man asked ‘Why
do you look like that?” I told him what had happened to me.
Then he beamed and said: “This news will certainly have an
invigorating effect- for this book of yours on which you have
worked so far only for a short while, will be like the fruit of a
goodly tree which remains on the tree until it becomes ripe, and
then is sweet to the palate. For in this adverse time, you will
revise it and as a result of your intense effort you shall produce
not silver, but rather gold and precious stones.”42
In his obituary, de’ Sommi is described as a “writer and lawmaker” which refers
not only to his profession as playwright, but also to his position as unofficial
ambassador of the Jewish community to the Dukes of Gonzaga.43 He represented the
Jewish community in petitions to the court, most notably the 1566 petition in response
to which Vincenzo Gonzaga ceded his legal and financial responsibilities to the
community, thereby establishing an independent Jewish court whose decisions were
fully recognized by the ducal court.44
The topics covered in the petitions submitted by de’ Sommi are wide and cover
business, finance, and taxes. They pertain mainly to the finances within the Universitá.
Examples are a complaint against inflated prices charged by kosher butchers and a
protest against the imbalance of taxation within the community. In 1585 he petitioned
for a permit to purchase land, presumably for the purpose of building a synagogue for
which he was praised after his death.
42
Azariah de’ Rossi, Me’or eynayim (Light of the Eyes), chapter 18, as quoted in Botuck,
“Leone de’ Sommi: Jewish Participation,” 259.
43
The epitaph and eulogy by Daniel Fano are translated in Botuck, “Leone de’ Sommi:
Jewish Participation,” 83-84.
44
The transcription of the document from the hearing is in Botuck, “Leone de’ Sommi:
Jewish Participation,” 90.
34
On April 15, 1567, de’ Sommi submitted a petition to the Duke for the right to
build a public theater in Mantua, but he was turned down. In return for a donation of
two sacks of wheat to the recipient of the Duke’s choice, de’ Sommi requested “the
most devout, albeit unworthy and humble servant of your Grace, Leone de’ Sommi, Jew,
assured of your benevolence, has brought himself to ask you as a singular grace and as
a favor, a decree that would allow him alone to stage plays in Mantua.”45 Had the
project come to fruition, it would have predated the first public theater opened in 1576
in the outskirts of London.
In 1586, de’ Sommi was involved in an attempt to crown Duke Guglielmo
Gonzaga as king of Poland. In a Hebrew contract preserved in the Gonzaga archives, de’
Sommi made an agreement with two other Jewish businessmen to keep the plot
confidential and to divide the rewards among themselves after the takeover. This
endeavor failed, but he seems to have emerged unscathed. To put de’ Sommi’s
ambition in context, it was not unusual at the time for Jewish men to be used by Italian
courts as diplomats or spies. A few, for example Norsi in Ferrara, were even granted
special noble status in return for their services. Artists were also called upon to serve
as emissaries and diplomats, as did de’ Sommi’s contemporary, the painter Peter Paul
Rubens for Guglielmo Gonzaga.
Leone de’ Sommi’s Hebrew Works
Several Hebrew works attributed to de’ Sommi are extant (see Table 1): the
previously mentioned treatise on style and grammar entitled Marot ha-tsoveot, five
45
M. Ciavolella and Donald Beecher, introduction to The Three Sisters, 22.
35
manuscript copies of his Hebrew play, Tsahot bedihuta dekidushin (A Comedy of
Betrothal/ A Marriage Farce),46 and the macaronic poem Magen nashim (In Defense of
Women). Two comic scenes in Hebrew found with one of the manuscripts of the play,
“A Dialogue of a Child with his Nurse” and “A Dialogue of a Child with his Parents” are
so far inconclusively attributed to him. These works are all thought to date from the
years 1550-1560.
Table 1 Leone de’ Sommi’s Hebrew works
Title
Genre
Date
Tsahot bedihuta de-kidushin
Comedy in Hebrew
c. 1550
Marot ha-tsoveot
A treatise on writing
?
Magen nashim (In Defense of Women)
Macaronic poem in 50 stanzas
c.1530
(A Comedy of Betrothal)
These works will be dealt with in greater depth in Chapter 4 and Chapter 6.
Leone de’ Sommi and th e Accadèmia degli invaghiti
De’ Sommi was deeply involved with the Accadèmia degli invaghiti, established by
Giulio Cesare Gonzaga in 1562. He was first listed in their records in 1568 as Scrittore (a
writer or scribe), a position that may have been created because, as a Jew and a
commoner, he could not be granted full membership in the institution. In fact, he
served the Invaghiti as a playwright, and his treatise on the production of plays, Quattro
dialoghi in materia di rappresentazioni sceniche (Four Dialogues on the production of plays)
46
Schirmann, le-Toldot ha-shira, 95-114.
36
(c.1560) may have been submitted as part of an application for membership. In a letter
addressed to Bernardino Marliani, a member of the Accadèmia, de’ Sommi wrote: “Why
then in your eyes am I undeserving for having diverse rites from yours, and more
ancient laws?”47 De’ Sommi must have been very well regarded indeed to have been
sponsored for exemption from the obligation to wear the yellow badge as required for
all Jews. Federico Gonzaga, in his letter to the Duke Guglielmo wrote: “[de’ Sommi] is
so talented as having earned such distinction in the Mantuan Accadèmia [degli
invaghiti] for the long service he performed as writer that I, as patron of the academy
and well informed of Sommi’s service, am obliged to entreat your highness to be so
kind as to favor him with the privilege that he himself will ask of you, concerning an
exemption from the customary badge.”48
Leone de’ Sommi’s Italian Poetry
Of de’ Sommi’s Italian poetry only a few works have been published. The
manuscript of his translations in rhyming Ottave of the forty-eight Psalms were
thought to have been lost in a fire in Turin in 1904, but they are under restoration, and
according to Cristina da Molina, forty pages of the manuscript will soon be available to
researchers.49 One volume of his Rime (Rhymes) has been restored, as has the
manuscript of Stanze, capitoli famiglari e satire (Stanzas, family’s chapters and satires). This
47
“Perché dunque appo voi d’indegne note Son io macchiato per aver diversi riti dai
vostri e leggi piu rimote?” Quoted from de’ Sommi’s Stanze, capitoli famigliari e satire in
Molin, “Recovery of Some Unedited Manuscripts by Leone de’ Sommi” in Leone de’
Sommi and the Performing Arts, ed. Belkin, 101.
48
Cited and translated by Harrán in Salamone Rossi, 25-26.
49
Molin, “Recovery of Some Unedited manuscripts by Leone de’ Sommi,” in Leone de’
Sommi in the Performing Arts, ed. Belkin, 104-105.
37
includes pastoral poems and more personal documents such as Sommi’s letter to
Bernardo Marliano, a member of the Accadèmia degli invaghiti, lamenting his being
barred from membership of the academy. A small collection of poems lauding
Vincenza Armani (d.1569) a commedia dell’arte actress, were published as part of a
collection commemorating her death in Oratione… in morte della divina signora Vincenza
Armani, comica eccelentissima (Verona, 1570). His familiarity with the art of the
commedia dell’arte actress and the genres she performed with the professional troupes
is significant. It may demonstrate that he was not only a corago (director and producer)
for the Universitá and at court, but that he also was familiar with all the current genres
of theater of his time. Much of the praise that Sommi pours on Armani is for her
musical talents and voice. 50
Leone de’ Sommi’s Italian Theatrical Works
De’ Sommi describes himself in his treatise on play production as having more
experience as a corago, a term he uses to describe the combined duties of director,
costume designer, and producer of dramatic works, rather than writer. In both areas
there is a dearth of documents and materials which hampers a full description of his
work. The earliest recorded performance of an Italian theatrical work by de’ Sommi is
from 1675, when he was probably forty-eight years old. It is possible that until then he
had not written plays himself but rather was involved in other aspects of their
production. Of the Italian works he is known to have written only four are extant.
50
Edited as an appendix to de’ Sommi’s Quattro Dialoghi, ed. Marrotti, 84-100.
38
In 1630, de’ Sommi’s literary works were sold by the Gonzaga family to Charles
Emmanuel of Turin in order to help finance the War of Succession. The sixteen
manuscript volumes included twelve Italian theatrical texts, short theatrical intermedi,
poems in Italian, and a volume of verse translations of the forty-eight Davidic psalms
with Hebrew inscriptions. Most of these manuscripts were severely damaged in the
Turin library fire. Among them is the treatise on theatrical production which survives
in the Palatine library in Parma, in an eighteenth-century copy by the Christian
herbalist Giovanni Bernardo da Rossi.51
Among the thirteen works originally held in the Turin library were six five-act
commedias in prose, two commedias in verse, a pastoral, a heroic pastoral, and three sets
of intermedi. Among these, only two works have survived complete: Amor et Psiche, a
set of Intermedi for Gli sconoscuti, a prose commedia, performed in 1575 and Le tre sorelle
(1588) dedicated to Duke Vincenzo Gonzaga. Irifile, a five-act pastoral drama in verse, is
damaged but has been reconstructed. Fragments of Il Giannizzero (1582), a prose
comedy, and I Doni (1575), a heroic pastoral tale in commemoration of Cesare Gonzaga
have been preserved. All of the works documented in the library catalog seem to have
been produced either for festivities at the court of Gonzaga, the Accadèmia degli
invaghiti, or the court of Emmanuel I Savoy in Turin. 52 These are listed in Table 2 .
51
Schirmann, le-Toldot ha-shira, 112.
52
This list is based on Schirmann Tsahot bedihuta dekidushin, and updated with Molin,
“Recovery of Some Unedited Manuscripts,” in Leone de’ Sommi in the Performing Arts, ed.
Belkin, 101-115. The restored fragments of the manuscripts of Irifile and I l tamburo are
edited in full by Botuck in “Leone de’ Sommi: Jewish Participation.”
39
40
For the birthday of Vincenzo Gonzaga
Performed by the Universitá
?
For the court of Charles Emanuele of
Savoy
1. For carnival 2. For the wedding of
Charles Emanuel I Savoy in Turin to
Caterina, Infanta of Spain
For the Accadèmia degli invaghiti
1582
La Drusilla
La Fortunata
Pastoral (based on Ariosto’s
Orlando Furioso)
1584
Five-act pastoral drama in verse ?
Verse comedy
After
1580?
Prose comedy
c.1560
1585
Irifile
Il Tamburo
Il Giannizzero
1575
1581
Intermedi for Gli sconoscuti by
de’ Sommi. Repeated with I
Sospetti by Massimo Faroni
Prose comedy
Amor et Psiche
1575
?
1575
Five-act comedy
Heroic pastoral with musical
interludes
Prose comedy
La Diletta
I Doni
Gli Sconoscuti
Dedication/commission
Possibly an adaptation of Plautus’
Poenulus
?
For the Accadèmia degli invaghiti/In
memoriam Don Cesare Gonzaga
Presented for the Dukes of Gonzaga,
Ferrara and Parma
Presented for the Dukes of Gonzaga,
Ferrara and Parma
Year
?
Genre
Five-act prose comedy
Title
Adelfa
Table 2 Leone de’ Sommi’s Thea trical Works
Lost
Fragments
Fragment (Marginal notes
in Hebrew lost)
Damaged
Damaged
Complete
(No musical settings)
Lost
Status
Fragment. Includes drafts
for intermedi
Lost
Fragment
41
Genre
Intermedi for La Fortunata, revived
and adapted for performance with
Guarini’s Il Pastor fido
Prolog and intermedi for Gl’ingiusti
sdegni by Bernardo Pino de Cagli
Five-act Prose comedy With dances
by Isacchino Massarano
Pub. 1588,
Perf. 1598
For Vincenzo Gonzaga’s second
marriage
Dedicated to Vincenzo Gonzaga
1584
Genre
Performed with intermedi by Leone
de’ Sommi
Pastoral with sung and danced
choruses
Title
Gl’ingiusti sdegni/
Bernardo Pino da Cagli
Il Pastor fido/ G.B.
Guarini
1592 (only
rehearsals)
1598
Year
1584
Dedication/ commission
Status
For Vincenzo Gonzaga’s marriage to (Venetia:
Leonora de’ Medici
Francesco
Rampazeto,
1559)
Choreography by Isacchino
(Venice:
Massarano
1589)
Performed in a new version with
music by Gastoldi
Complete
Lost
Dedication/commission
Status
Dedicated to Charles Emanuel I Savoy Lost
Year
1584
1598
Table 3 Documented Works Produced and Directed by Leone de’ Sommi Other than his Own
Le tre sorelle
Title
Le nozze de Mercurio et di
Philologia da Martiano
Capella
Gl'onesti amori
Table 2 Continued
42
Le nozze di Semiramide
con Mnemnon/
Mutio Manfredi
Le tre sorelle/
Leone de’ Sommi
Gl'onesti amori/
Leone de’ Sommi
Gli’ ingiusti sdegni/
Bernardo Pino da Cagli
Il Giannizzero/
Leone de’ Sommi
For Vincenzo Gonzaga’s marriage to
Leonora de’ Medici
For Vincenzo Gonzaga’s marriage to
Leonora de’ Medici
Carnival/ Directed by Leone de’
Sommi. Choreography by Isacchino
Massarano, Music by Giaches de Wert
Directed by Abraham Sarfati,
choreographed by Isacchino
Massarano
1584
1591
1598
Intermedi by Leone de’ Sommi
Favola boschareccia
Five-act comedy
For the birthday of Vincenzo
Gonzaga/ Performed by the Universitá
1584
1582
For the visit of Maximilian of Austria
Carnival
Commission/Production Information
Directed by Jacob Sulam and Samuel
Shalit
With intermedi and special effects
Intermedi for Gl’Ingiusti Sdegni
Prose comedy
Tragedy
1563
In honor of the visit of Archdukes
Rudolph and Ernst of Austria
Comedy
I suppositi/
Ludovico Ariosto
Le due fulvie/
Massimo Faroni
Selene/
Giambattista Giraldi
1568,
1581
1582
Year
1554
Genre
Comedy
Title
Accesi d’amor
Table 4 Documented Production s by the U niversitá (1554-1598)
Extant
Lost
(Venetia :
Bortolamio
Rubin, 1587)
(Venetia: Giulio
Cesare Cagnacini,
1583)
Fragment
(Marginal notes
in Hebrew lost)
Lost
1509/verse
version 1528
Lost
Status
Lost
Chapter 3 Music in Mantuan Comedies and Pa storal s (1550-1620)
Intermedi
Throughout the sixteenth and seventeenth century, theatrical audiences all
over Europe were enthralled by intermedi, theatrical interludes performed between
the acts of plays, when fantastical or ridiculous songs, pantomime, dances, and skits
were staged. Often, interludes were even considered the highlight of the performance.
In France these were called entr'actes, in Spain entremesses, and in England “stage jigs.”
These were considered an indispensable part of a theatrical event, though they were
seldom published. Of varying length and substance, they always involved music but did
not necessarily have a thematic connection to the play or to each other. They were
sometimes improvised and produced at little cost, but often, especially at Italian court
events such as marriages and birthdays, they included a display of opulent stage
machinery, and involved large ensembles of musicians and dancers, often requiring
months of rehearsal.
Dance in the intermedi is usually referred to as Moresca. In the later fifteenth
century, the Moresca was danced in carnivals and in theatrical settings and came to
mean any pantomimed or eccentric choreographed dance and to describe specifically
pastoral scenes that were sung and danced. In his Quattro dialoghi, de’ Sommi describes
a Moresca danced by satyrs in a performance he saw in Bologna. He also uses the term
Moresca to describe the dance of Pan and Satyricon in the first of his set of intermedi,
43
Amor e Psiche, in which Pan plays the fistula, and Satyricon the harpsichord as they
dance a Moresca.53
There are only two complete editions of music for intermedi, both from
Florence- intermedi for Il Commodo (1539) and the intermedi for Girolamo Bargagli’s
comedy La Pellegrina (1589). Many madrigals, canzonettas, and dance-songs, however,
can be associated with staged productions. The music performed in the intermedi
varied in complexity. Virtuosic madrigals were often performed in the opulent
mythological interludes, while simple dance songs were associated with more frugal
productions. Bernardino Daniello (La poetica, 1536) states that “…and between the actsmusic and songs and Moresca and Jester in order that the stage will not remain
empty.”54 Experimental pastoral genres with increasing amounts of music and dance
were first seen in Florence and then in Mantua, and Leone de’ Sommi was involved in
their early development. Unfortunately, descriptions of the Mantua productions and
the music performed in them are very limited. Some idea of what they could have been
like can be gleaned from the productions at the rival court in Florence.
De’ Sommi and the Intermedio
De’ Sommi wrote no tragedies, and in his treatise expresses a preference for the
comic genre, the Lieto fine (happy ending), and lighter pastoral genres. His specialty
was the musical intermedio. Three intermedi are counted among the works by
53
Ahuva Belkin, “The Intermedio Amor e Psiche,” in Leone de’ Sommi and the Performing
Arts, ed. Belkin, 157.
54
Bernardino Daniello, La Poetica (1536) as quoted and translated by Belkin in “The
Intermedio Amor e Psyche,” 159.
44
de’ Sommi preserved in the Turin library, but he may have staged many by other
playwrights. De’ Sommi’s treatise on musical practices in the theater, Quattro Dialoghi,
provides an account of his opinions and observations of their importance. In his third
dialogue Veridico states: “I maintain, that as regards musical intermedi, they are
essential to comedies, both in order to provide a refreshing change for the minds of the
theater-goers, and in order to allow the author ... to utilize the pause to give greater
amplitude to the story."55
Most of the fourth dialogue is dedicated to musical scenes between the acts of a
play, which he refers to as “visible interludes.”56 One of the elements de’ Sommi
discusses is how to choose a flattering theme for the interludes of a court production,
but he also touches on how to devise suitable intermedi for each of the different genres
of theater.57 De’ Sommi’s skills seem to have been varied, but nowhere is he described
as responsible for the music for his productions. Composers played that role, and a few
records of his collaborations for court productions have survived, all of them with the
composer Giaches de Wert (1535-1596).
Collaborations between Giaches de Wert and de’ Sommi in intermedi are first
documented in correspondence between Wert and Count Alfonso Gonzaga at Novellara
in 1567 about an unnamed intermedio, which they were probably preparing for a
production at the celebration for the wedding of Alfonso to Vittoria da Capua in 1568.
55
“dico che gl’intermedi di musica almeno, sono necesarii alle comedie, si per dar
alquanto di refregerio alle menti de gli spettatori, et si anco perche il poeta, si servi di
quello intervallo nel dar proporzione a la sua favola, poscia che ognuno di questi
intermedi, benche breve, puó servir per lo corso di Quattro, sei et otto ore…”
56
Leone de’ Sommi, Quattro dialoghi, ed. Marrotti, 68.
57
Ibid., Quattro dialoghi, ed. Marrotti, 70.
45
For this extravagant event, a semi-permanent theater was built in a courtyard. In his
letter to Alfonso Gonzaga, Wert includes material for “Leone Hebreo” and “Flaminia.” 58
Iain Fenlon has found that it seems to indicate de’ Sommi was participating in the
intermedio as a performer. It is possible that he was in Novellara for the duration, as
another such trip to Piedmont is mentioned in a letter from 1588.
From 1565-1583, Wert was choirmaster at the ducal chapel of St. Barbara. They
may have collaborated during those years, but the next record of their collaboration is
not until 1583. Anne MacNeil cites two documents that connect a production by de’
Sommi and Wert with the Universitá degli ebrei. A letter dated May 4, 1583 (AMSN,
Gonzaga, b. 2624) describes their collaboration on the comedy Gl'Ingiusti sdegni, and a
letter dating May 2 of the following year, 1584, (ASF Mediceo, f.6354, fo. 421r-v.)
describes Gl'Ingiusti sdegni as a production by the Universitá.59 In it, the Florentine
secretary wrote: “Yesterday, a play put on by the Jewish theater (commedia d’istrioni
hebrei) was performed, and though it was badly recited, they put on Gl’ingiusti sdegni
with pleasant intermedi, and they were very inventive.”60
The one extant set of intermedi by de’ Sommi is Amor e Psiche, a set of four
scenes based on a mythological tale which includes indications for vocal and
instrumental music, choruses, and dance.61 It was performed in 1575, together with de’
Sommi’s comedy Gli Sconosciuti and Ahuva Belkin calls the performance of the two
58
Fenlon, “Giaches de Wert at Novellara,” 32.
59
MacNeil, Music and Women, 214, 216.
60
De’ Sommi, Quattro Dialoghi, ed. Marotti, 68.
61
Belkin, “The Intermedio Amor e Psiche,” 156-7.
46
equally important genres together a “double bill.” The scenes employ stage machinery
for special effects and ornate scenery. The first intermedio is a pantomime (described
as a Moresca) to instrumental music. In it, Amor, a marionette, flies across the stage,
Pan plays the fistula, and Satyricon the Cembalo. The two middle scenes are
mythological as well: the first presents the three goddesses Ceres, Juno and Venus with
their emblems. The third is a scene of the crossing of the River Styx in Charon’s boat.
The final intermedio concludes with a chorus of gods and goddesses, cupids and Zeus as
the sky opens with thunder and lightning. Unfortunately, the composer who was
involved in this production is not known.
From 1588-1608, Wert’s successor as Maestro di Capella at the Mantuan court was
Giovanni Giacomo Gastoldi (1550’s-1622?) who had been filling in occasionally for the
ailing Wert since 1572. It is possible that de’ Sommi collaborated with Gastoldi as well,
but so far there is no evidence of this. Even if only based on their success at the
Mantuan court, it is possible that on other occasions, it could have been a Jewish
composer such as David Sacerdote, or perhaps the young Salamone Rossi.
From this sparse but solid evidence, it is clear that de’ Sommi collaborated with
Italian composers of the highest caliber composing in the latest genres and that the
Universitá performed their works. The members of the Universitá were therefore not
only familiar with Italian music, but were among its foremost performers.
Leone de’ Sommi and th e Pa storal
De’ Sommi took part also in the most “cutting edge” genre, the pastoral, in
which sung and danced choruses were the most novel feature. De’ Sommi is said to
have participated in the first attempts to stage Il Pastor Fido by Guarini (published in
47
1589) in Florence. He seems to have been the choreographer of the scene that caused
difficulties with the production, a staged game of blind man’s buff sung and danced by a
chorus of nymphs called the Giocho della cieca62. In 1591, when the work was prepared for
a staging in Mantua, Sommi was chosen to direct because of his prior experience.
Isacchino Massarano choreographed this time, but the rehearsals for the production
were halted. It was finally mounted in 1598 with a new score by Gastoldi, but without
Leone de’ Sommi, who scholars propose, must have died in 1592.63
De’ Sommi wrote two works in the new pastoral genre, but nothing is known of
their musical component: Irifile, a five-act pastoral drama in verse and Drusilla, a
pastoral work based on the Ludovico Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso. De’ Sommi also staged
pastoral works by others.
Letters connect Wert and de’ Sommi in 1591 with preparations for Le nozze di
Semiramide con Memnone Muzio Manfredi, referred to by the author as Favola
boschareccia. Manfredi sent letters to Wert, de’ Sommi and to Isacchino Massarano, who
was in charge of the choreography. In his letters, Manfredi explained his wishes for the
for Ancient Assyrian costumes, as well as for the types and tempos of the music and
dance. From the letters it is clear that danced and sung choruses played an important
part.64 This is significant in that it shows there was a precedent for the similar sung and
62
A similar staged game of blind man’s buff occurs in the last scene of the expanded
version of De’ Sommi’s Tsahot bedihuta, ed. Schirmann, 101-3.
63
Until a letter to de’ Sommi from Mutio Manfredi dated 1592 was found, the accepted
date was 1590.
64
Fenlon, “Giaches de Wert,” 33.
48
danced choruses for the Giocho della cieca scene for Guarini’s Il pastor Fido, which de’
Sommi and Massarano devised in 1592, but did not bring to the stage.65
Incidental Music
Incidental music in plays was integral to comedy productions, and though
musical scores were not included with the manuscripts, at times verbal cues for music
are included. Often, lyrics were provided within the text of the play, while at other
times, just the title of a popular song was given. Georges Banu quotes de’ Sommi’s
description of the process of recreating a play from the text by adding “other things
which the author cannot clearly indicate in the fabric of the story.”66 These often
included songs and dances that illustrated the status and situation of the characters,
bringing the music of their lives onto the stage. These were often popular tunes
because they had to be recognized by the audience in order to resonate in the scene. In
such situations, the tunes were so popular that a line from the lyric was enough to
identify a tune. Dance tunes were often indicated by their titles. At other times, the
rubric “sung to the tune of …” was provided. Ross Duffin states that the tunes and the
titles were so well known “it was not necessary to waste precious space on the music.”67
65
Fenlon, “Giaches de Wert,” 35.
66
Georges Banu, “De’ Sommi, or ‘Stage Cement,” in Leone de’ Sommi and the Performing
Arts, ed. Belkin, 216-217.
67
Ross W. Duffin, Shakespeare’s Songbook (New York and London: Norton, 2004).
49
The Simple Intermedio
De’ Sommi emphasizes verisimilitude and naturalness in his Quattro Dialoghi. He
voices a preference for the comedy “which has to be full of very natural things.”68 He
dislikes the extravagant intermedi because they overwhelm the audience and diminish
from the natural surroundings of the comedy’s characters. Hecker points out that de’
Sommi omits the discussion of stage machinery from the description of the duties of
the corago (director-producer). This may indicate de’ Sommi’s preference for simplicity
since budget was not an issue for the court productions described in his treatise. It
seems even more likely that a modest production within the Jewish community would
not have had any kind of stage machines or lavish sets.
A lower style of intermedi was also popular, though unfortunately, it is less well
documented than the extravagant court productions. In his treatise, de’ Sommi has
Veridico describe a skit in the commedia dell’arte between two acts, in which singing
musicians enter the stage with their instruments hidden: “a lute in a copper-smith’s
kettle, a violin in a cobbler’s boot, a recorder in a chimney sweep’s broomstick, and a
harpsichord in a basket, and such other such ordinary things one sees in the city.”
VERIDICO: …come per essempio, far uscir, da un atto a l'altro, otto overo dieci artegiani,
da diverse strade, che, in concerto cantando, ne l'uscire ogni uno notifichi
l'arte sua, sonando anco alcuni di essi con gl'instrumenti ascosi nelle lor
bazigature. come sarebbe, che nella padella d'un mgnano vi fosse una cetra,
in uno stivale del ciabattino una violetta, nel manico della scopa de lo
68
Kristine Hecker’s translation and citation of Quattro Dialoghi, ed. Marrotti, 66, in
“Leone de’ Sommi’s Quattro Dialoghi in the Context of his Time,” in Leone de’ Sommi and
the Performing Arts, ed. Belkin, 198-199.
50
spazza camino un flauto, nel paniere del ciambellano un arpicordo, et altre
cose ordinarie de veder si per la citta, 69
Santino, Veridico’s student, describes another low style intermedio, in which
four pilgrims walk around singing and asking the ladies for alms in pleasant words. In
yet another, a rustic dance is performed by four shepherds who kick up their heels and
perform a dance “a tempo di Moresca.”
SANTINO: Di questa natura fu quello che introdusse il cardo nostro, facendo comparire
quattro peregrini che andavano cantando, chiedendo elemosina alle donne,
con alcuni motti piacevoli; et per un altro intermedio fece comparir poi
quattro fachini, che dopo breve contese di parole rusticali nel partir un nolo
tra loro, venivano a darsi co'pugni et calci et guanciate, a tempo di
moresca.70
In a literary account of a production in Munich by Massimo Troiano, Orlando di
Lasso is described as running onto the stage playing the lute and singing Chi passa per
questa strada (Filippo Azzaiuolo’s song, published in 1575) as Pantalone to the great
enjoyment of the audience.71 These lighter entertainments involved dance and mime,
and were often sung throughout. Well-known melodic formulas, ground basses, and
chord patterns were the basis of musical composition employed in them.
Songs in the Commedia dell’arte
Music was also a crucial part of the commedia dell’arte with which the Jewish
community theater shared the piazzas. An account of de’ Sommi putting on a
mascherata all’improvisa for the Accadèmia degli invaghiti strengthens the assumption
69
Ibid., 56. The excerpt is also translated in Harrán, “Jewish Dramatists,” 295.
70
De’ Sommi, Quattro dialoghi, ed. Marotti, 68.
71
Anne MacNeil, “Commedia dell’arte,” Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 1
February 2003), <http://www.grovemusic.com>
51
that de’ Sommi was aware of the improvised theater. He must have been intimately
aware of the music in the commedia dell’arte productions, as evidenced in the poems
praising the voice and musicianship of Flaminia, to whom de’ Sommi dedicated poetry.
Competitions involving song improvisation were part of the draw of this widely
acclaimed actress, and her troupe and others were often involved in the production of
intermedi for serious plays as well. Commedia dell’arte actors often traveled with large
collections of instruments and a tree of instruments was one of their standard props.
Improvised and Semi-Improvised Song
In the same way commedia dell’arte had stock characters, it had stock tunes
associated with the characters and situations. Images of stock characters in paintings
and illustrations often show them with a guitar in hand and their songs helped to
characterize them. The song lyrics could be improvised to adapt to the particular
scenario given. Versions of these are extant in guitar books with alfabeto signs for the
chords, and often without the melodies. Guitar books preserve many versions of dance
songs associated with this genre of theater. A piece that can be attributed directly to
an actor song-writer is Francesco “Scapino” Gabrielli’s “Aria di Scappino,” which he
published along with other villanellas in Villanelle di Scapino (Venice, 1624).72 Other
collections of commedia dell’arte repertoire are: Arie Diversi (Venice, 1634) by
Alessandro Vincentini and Raccolta di belissime canzonetta musicali (c. 1618-25) by
Remigio Romano. These include settings of canzonette, villanelle, barzeletti, and
scherzos.
72
MacNeil transcribes the song in the appendix to Music and Women.
52
Academicians and commedia dell’arte actors both practiced the art of singing
composed or improvised strophic poems to harmonic formulas. Lute players notated
some of these as “per cantar sonetti” and “per cantar ottave.” Examples of settings with
written out melodies and chords in tablature can be found in Cosimo Bottegari’s lute
book (compiled 1573-1601) and Giovanni Stefani (Affetti Amorosi, 1618). Similar
formulas, containing only the chord patterns, can be found in guitar books. These
songs tend to be declamatory and even when in parts, homophonic rather than
melismatic, though they may have been ornamented in performance
Since the beginning of the sixteenth century, singing segments of the epic
poems Orlando Furioso by Ludovico Ariosto (Venice: 1516, revised in 1521 and 1531) and
towards the end of the century Gerusaleme liberata (Venice: 1575) by Torquato Tasso
(1544-1595), was an academic pastime also practiced by commedia dell’arte actors.
They sang them over a stock harmonic pattern such as the Ruggiero and the aria di gran
duca. These texts were also favored by composers and set many times in madrigals. A
translation of two cantos from Ariosto by Leon da Modena at the age of thirteen shows
that this work was popular among Jews as well.
53
Chapter 4 Hebrew Poetry, Literature, and Drama in Renaissance I taly
The Jews in Italy were thoroughly bilingual. They communicated, read and
wrote in Italian. As noted in the first chapter, they even wrote and performed plays as
well as vocal music in Italian. At the same time, they studied Hebrew not only as a Holy
tongue, but also as a literary language in which they created new genres. The
sixteenth-century historian Azariah de Rossi, a close friend of de’ Sommi’s wrote:
“Though nowadays our language is Italian, the educated of the people who have
become numerous will express, speak and write in the holy tongue.”73
In fact, Hebrew was part of secular life. Mantuan Jews used it for private record
keeping and in all the financial and legal documents of the Università. Leone de’ Sommi
even used it to make notes in the margins of his Italian scripts.74 Mantuan Jews also
created a language known as Italic, in which the local dialect was combined with
Hebrew.75 Italic was written in Hebrew letters, as can be seen in a page from “The
Venice Haggadah” (Venice, 1609). This is a bilingual Hebrew and Italic publication
edited and translated by Leon da Modena (Venice, 1571-1648) and produced by the
Jewish printer Israel Zifroni of Guastella. The Haggadah was brought to print by the
73
Simonsohn, Toldot ha-Yehudim, 602.
74
Molin, “Recovery,” 103.
75
George Jochnowitz, “Religion and Taboo in Lason Akodesh (Judeo-Piedmontese).”
International Journal of the Sociology of Language 30 (1981), 108. Mantuan and JudeoMantuan differed from each other grammatically. The Italic languages have almost
disappeared. In the twentieth century, the Hebrew words in the Italic dialect were
mainly used for religious and taboo subjects.
54
Christian printer Giovanni da Gara, because Jews were prohibited from owning presses
at this time.76 See Illustration 1.
Illustration 1 Page from a Bilingual Haggadah ed. Leon da Modena
(Venice: Giovanni da Gara, 1609)
The Study of Hebrew in Mantua
Mantua was a center for Jewish education and for the study of Hebrew in
particular. Hebrew was the sacred tongue used for prayer in which all the men were
versed. Mantuan rabbis and scholars published Hebrew grammars, biblical studies, and
translations of philosophical, literary and scientific works. Secular poetry and
76
Ibid., 106. Three versions of this Haggadah were published with translations in Italic,
Judezmo and Yiddish. A facsimile of the Italian version can be found in Seder Haggadah
shel Pesach be-lashon ha-kodesh u-fitrono be-lashon ha-italyano (The Passover Haggadah with
Judeo-Italian translation, Venice 1609) with a foreword by Tocla Preschel (New York, The
Orphan Hospital Ward of Israel, no. 733, 1973).
55
literature in Hebrew were discouraged and even banned by the religious authorities,
yet an intense poetic correspondence among poets and writers thrived in this period,
though only a fraction found its way to print.
In addition to this internal censorship, after 1553 and the burning of the Talmud
in Rome by the inquisition, the Catholic Church censored all Hebrew publications. In
addition, the Inquisition required the cataloguing of private libraries, providing
modern scholars with valuable detailed records of their holdings. Works by Italian
poets, dramatists, philosophers, scientists and composers were listed alongside works
of Hebrew authors and translations from Greek and Latin.
The reading of secular literature and poetry was banned in the Shulhan arukh
(the standard code of Jewish Law) by Joseph Caro in 1569, but reinstated in a restricted
manner seventeen years later by Israel Isserles (1525-72). In his book Mappah (1576)
Isserles wrote an amendment of this prohibition, permitting the reading of secular
literature and histories as long as they were written in Hebrew. The amendment may
have given extra impetus to the creators of secular Hebrew poetry in the Italianate
style and may have renewed interest in Leone de’ Sommi’s Hebrew comedy, which is
found in copies as late as 1618.
Hebrew Plays
Tsahot bedihuta dekidushin is the first Hebrew play, but it may have been one of
several composed in its time. The earliest extant manuscript of the play is dated 1618,
but its title appears in the inventory of the library of Isaac Sulam of 1595. Alongside it
appear the titles of two other Hebrew plays, Joseph and Eunuch, neither of which is
56
extant.77 Joseph is the only reference to a play based on a biblical story produced by the
Jews of Italy besides the Judith and Holofernes mentioned in the 15th century, though
Eunuch may refer to a translation of the Roman play Eunuchus. 78 Nothing is known
about these works, and none other has survived from this time. The association with
the name Sulam is significant because as a family of prominent bankers and publishers
they were important patrons of the arts in Mantua. They include supporters of Leone
de’ Sommi, Salamone Rossi and Leon da Modena, all related in their pursuit of mingling
Hebrew with contemporary art forms. Literary accounts of the performance of plays
within Italian Jewish communities (not performed as court productions, but for Jewish
audiences) have been collected, but none specify the titles or language of the plays.79 In
the second half of the seventeenth century, two manuscripts of plays extant are
associated with Sephardic playwrights in Mantua and Amsterdam.80
Though de’ Sommi’s play seems isolated, there was some activity in the field of
Hebrew drama in Italy in the sixteenth century. In 1527, Josef Tsarfati translated the
popular Spanish novel in dialogue form, La Celestina, though unfortunately only the
77
“Bedihuta dekidushin haynu ha-komedia bilshon Ivri, Mase Yosef, ve-komedia Iunoko
bilshon kodesh,” (A Comedy of Betrothal: the first Hebrew Play, The Tale of Joseph, and the
comedy Eunochus) in Schirmann Le-Toldot ha-shira, 151.
78
Simonsohn, Toldot ha-Yehudim, 6- 81.
79
Schirmann lists the accounts in his chapter on theater and music in le-Toldlot ha-shira.
80
The extant plays were all created for Purim carnival; Moshe Zakut’s (d.1697) Yesod
olam (The Foundation of the Universe), Joseph Penso de la Vega’s Asirei Tikva (Prisoners
of hope), and the anonymous work Hamon Hogeg (The Celebrating Crowd), described by
Schirmann in “Hamon hogeg, an early play on the blessing of Isaac,” in le-Toldot ha-shira,
144-148.
57
prolog survives.81 In addition, an anonymous poem in dialogue between the character
Deborah, based on the biblical story, and another based on the poet Jacob da Fano was
written as part of the polemic on the worth of women. The rubric above it states: “And
thus will sing Deborah:” could suggest a musical dialog.82
Parody in Hebrew Liter ature
Parody, especially around Purim carnival, is a very strong tradition in Hebrew
literature, one that persists to this day.83 Academic and rabbinic writings were favorite
targets, along with biblical and Talmudic sources. It is important to note that the
parody of the Passover Haggadah, Masekhet Purim; min Toldot Shikorim. (A Purim Mask;
the History of the Drunkards) by Kalonymus ben Kalonymus (b.1286) was reprinted in
Venice in 1552, demonstrating a vigorous interest in this genre.84 Until the discovery of
de’ Sommi’s play and the polemic poems on the worth of women in the 1950s, it was
thought by scholars that this was a fallow period in Hebrew parody. Though
continuing the tradition, these works are unique in that they parody not only Talmudic
story telling and academic language, but also Italian culture and comedy.
81
Fernando de Rojas, Celestina (Burgos, Fadrique de Basilea: 1499) Reprint of facsimile of
the first edition (New York: Hispanic Society of America, 1970).
82
Dan Pagis, “ha-Pulmus ha-shiri al tiv ha-nashim: bavuah la-tmurot ba-shira ha-Ivrit”
(The Poetic Debate on the Worth of Women: A Reflection of Change in Hebrew Poetry)
in ha-Shir davur, 124-165.
83
Israel Davidson, Parody in Jewish Literature, 2d ed., Columbia University Oriental
Studies, v.2 (New York: AMS Press, 1966).
84
Masekhet Purim: min toldot shikorim (A Purim Mask: The History of the Drunkards)
(Venice, 1552) Daniel ben Kornilyo Adel Kind, published together with Megilat Setraim (A
Scroll of Secrets) by Levi Ben Gershom.
58
Azariah de Rossi (c.1511-c.1578), the historian, linguist, and friend of de’
Sommi’s, copied popular secular medieval texts in Hebrew, including the parody of the
Passover Haggadah mentioned above, Mishle Sindebar (the tales of Sinbad), and Sefer hashashuim (book of delights) by Joseph Meir ibn Zabarra. He also copied several poems
written in his own era as part of the debate on the status of women. Abraham de
Sarteano’s Sone nashim (The Misogynist), the first of the mock epics on this topic to be
written in Italy, Avigdor de Fano’s reply, Ezrat Nashim (To Women’s Aid), and Elijha da
Genazzano’s poem in support of Sarteano. As I will discuss further in Chapter 7, section
5, de’ Sommi took part in this debate as well. The position of these works together
strengthens the assumption that the debate is really a parody and not meant to be
taken seriously.85
Hebrew Poetry
The Hebrew poets in Renaissance Italy had a rich tradition to draw from
including biblical verse, Medieval Hebrew prayers, and the Hebrew poetry of Spain.
The Hebrew poets in Spain had adopted Arabic forms, themes and style and created
secular poetry as well as sacred. They were influenced in equal measure by the current
trends in Italian poetry, in which they participated actively. 86
Spanish Hebrew poetry was considered the classical model by Hebrew poets and
advocated by theoreticians until the nineteenth century. Some modifications were
85
Azariah de' Rossi, Me'or ‘enayim, “The Light of the Eyes,” translated from the Hebrew
with an introduction and annotations by Joanna Weinberg. Yale Judaica Series vol.
31(New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 2001)
86
Pagis, “Hamtsa’at ha-yambus ha-Ivri” (The invention of the Hebrew Iambic
pentameter and changes in Hebrew prosody in Italy) Ha-shir davur al ofanav, 166-254.
59
allowed by the Italian Hebrew theoreticians, but in practice their poetry was much
more flexible. Spanish Hebrew poetry was based on Arabic poetry, which is
quantitative. The neutral vowels, sheva, hataf patah, and the conjunction "u" were
short, while the rest of the vowels were long. Patterns of long and short vowels were
used to create stanzas, and this resulted in a very controlled usage of grammar as well
as prosody.
It was only in the thirteenth century that Hebrew poets first adapted the
quantitative style to the eleven-syllable line, the endecasillabo, to create sonnets. The
other typical Italian syllabic forms, the settenario, quinario, trisillabo and ottonario were
gradually also adopted as well. Under the influence of Italian verse, quantitative
measure was at first accompanied and then replaced by a syllabic measurement that
equalized the syllables. These are referred to as quantitative–syllabic and/or
open/free-syllabic. By the seventeenth century, all the forms commonly found in
Italian Renaissance poetry, sonnets, sestinas, terzinas, ottave rime, canzonas and
canzonettas were used by Hebrew poets, though the sonnet remained the favored form.
Italian poets called the sonnet Shir Zahav (ZHV) (Golden Poem) because in the Hebrew
mystical numbering system (Gymmatria), the fourteen lines of the sonnet are
represented by the numbers (7+7) Z=7, H=5, V=2.
Italian versification is based not only on the syllable count of the lines, but also
on the organization of two stresses within them. Italian poetry does not use feet, but
rather uses regular caesuras within the lines, which creates a rhythmic impulse. For
example, in the endecasillabo, stresses are usually found on the fourth or sixth syllable
and on the final or penultimate syllables.
60
Stress had played no role in rhyme in Spain where the most common type of
rhyme, called the chain, in which all the lines had the same rhyme, was very strictly
observed. On the other hand, in Italian poetry, stress and rhyme are linked. The
majority of Italian words are stressed on the penultimate syllable and, therefore, lines
ending in a penultimate stress are referred to as versi piani (plain lines). Few lines end
with a stressed syllable versi tronchi (truncated lines), and even fewer are versi sdruccioli
(lines with antepenultimate stress.) It is not so in Hebrew, where most words are
stressed on the final syllable. However, in Hebrew poetry imitating the Italian style,
there is a predominance of lines with penultimate stresses, and the rhyme and stress
were made to match strictly for the first time. Poets went out of their way to find
vocabulary that would emulate the sound of the versi piani.
Unlike in other languages, in Hebrew, rhyming in Hebrew involves the last
consonant and final syllable (the vowels in Hebrew are, with the exception of several
letters, not separate letters, but rather added to the consonants.) In Spanish Hebrew
poetry, only the final syllable was rhymed, for example Shé-leg/meda-lég (this is a
terminal rhyme). In Italian poetry, the stressed vowel and the syllable following it
create the rhyme, and when stress was adopted in Hebrew poetry, under the influence
of Italian scanning, the Hebrew rhyme was also observed from the stressed syllable on.
An example of terminal-accentual rhyme is: Arima/Rima.
Meter is a controversial topic in the study of sixteenth and seventeenth century
Hebrew. The stress patterns created in Italian poetry are only two per line, but neither
Hebrew nor Italian poetry measured regular feet at this time. However, Pagis has
pointed out that musical settings tend to create regular patterns and that poetry
61
written for musical settings becomes increasingly metrical. He points out a
subconscious (perhaps involuntary) metrical pattern (iambic pentameter) in Hebrew
song lyrics from the late seventeenth century and eighteenth century, and this seems
to be pre-figured in the earlier works as well. Pagis hypothesizes that Hebrew poets at
this time were preoccupied with the new technique of syllabification and with the
caesuras that the Italian forms require. They were therefore not willing to analyze yet
another technical aspect and were also not willing to take the risk of making yet
another innovation in an art form open to criticism by conservative Jews bent on
preserving traditional techniques. One of the first examples of completely metric
setting is in fact a vocal work, the eighteenth century Hebrew translation of Handel’s
oratorio Esther.87
These changes, affected in order to emulate the Italian forms as closely as
possible, make it possible to sing the forms as one would their Italian counterparts.
The changes in style can be tracked through the poems I have selected. They would all
have been available to the producer of Sommi’s play between the years 1550-1620, and
while there are technical differences between them, the Italian forms are followed,
making them all equally appropriate.
Influential Poets
Immanuel Romano
Immanuel Romano (Immanuel ben Samuel ha-Romi/Manuelle Romano) (c.12651335) was a physician, scholar and poet. His sonnets were the very first to be written
87
Pagis, “Hamtsa’at ha-yambus ha-Ivri,” 205-206.
62
in a language other than Italian, and they show his immersion in the work of Dante
Alighieri (1265-1321).88 Romano was able to write sonnets in metered verse by
combining the rules of the Spanish school with strophic forms and motifs drawn from
Italian verse. 89 His Mahbarot, a novella with 38 sonnets, was one of the first Hebrew
books published in Italy and was reprinted in Venice in 1553.90 In his sonnets he
employed a new quantitative-syllabic meter that counted the syllables as strong and
weak in the Italian manner.91 The final chapter of his book, Mahberot ha-tophet va-Eden
(Hell and Paradise) is inspired by Dante’s La Divina Commedia (The Divine Comedy)
(1310-21). It remained very influential, though a rabbinical ban caused it to circulate
only in segments.
Joseph Tsarfati
Joseph Tsarfati (Josef ben Samuel Tsarfati, Giuseppe Gallo) (c.1470-1527) was a
doctor, a poet, and a scholar who was famous in his own day.92 He was probably born in
Rome and lived in Roma and Florence. Like his father before him he was granted the
right to treat Christian patients and to qualify Jewish doctors. He was close to Pope Leo
x and taught languages at the university of Bologna. After those of Immanuel Romano,
his are the next Hebrew sonnets extant. Tsarfati was the first to write Ottave rime in
88
Bregman, Shvil Ha-zahav, 18. Immanuel maintained correspondences with other
Jewish poets who may have also been composing sonnets, but their work does not
survive.
89
Bregman, Tseror zehuvim, 56-57.
90
Immanuel ben Solomon ha-Romi (Romano) Sefer ha-Mahbarot (Book of poems)
(Brescia: Gershom Soncino, 1491) Microfilm, Italian books before 1601, reel 361.
91
Bregman, Tseror zehuvim, 24-25.
92
Bregman, “Yosef ben Shmuel Tsarfati,” in Shvil ha-zahav, 69.
63
Hebrew. His translation of Fernando de Rojas’ La Celestina (Burgos, Fadrique de Basilea:
1499), a novella in dialogue, unfortunately has been lost. Controversial in Spain, the
subject of the novella was the Spanish underworld the main character is a prostitute,
and her companions are criminals. In the prolog, the only extant part, he states that
his goal is to educate his readers by showing them proper behavior in the face of
conniving women, and acknowledges the resistance to plays in the Hebrew language by
the rabbinical authorities, condemning his detractors to the fires of hell.93 This is often
named the first dramatic work in the Hebrew language, though the original novella
itself was not intended for the stage.94
Samuel Archevolti
Samuel Archevolti (Shmuel ben Elhanan Arkevolti) (1515-1611) was a rabbi,
poet, linguist, Talmud scholar and teacher of Jewish children and Christian
intellectuals. Archevolti published a book of fifty metrical letters, designed to be
models for students of the new quantitative-syllabic style of poetry: Mayan ganim (A
Fountain of Gardens) (Venice 1553). His grammar book Arugat ha-bosem (The Bed of
Spices) (Venice 1602) contains two chapters on accentuation (26 and 27), two chapters
on Spanish style in poetry (28 and 29), and a chapter on the new Hebrew quantitativesyllabic style and Italianate forms, including original examples. A poet of many
piyyutim (quantitative-syllabic prayers) himself, Archevolti compares the singing of
biblical cantillations to the singing of piyyutim, calling the former “Fine Melody” and
93
Translation of Fernando de Rojas, Celestina (Burgos, Fadrique de Basilea: 1499).
94
Schirmann, “Ha-teatron ve-ha-musika bi-shchunot ha-Yehudim be-Italya,” (Theater
and music in the Jewish neighborhoods in Italy), in le-Toldot ha shirah, 48.
64
the latter “Common Melody.” He mentions two Spanish street tunes in connection
with the metered song: El vaquero de Maraña and En toda la tramontaña.95 It is not clear
why he chose those as examples, rather than Italian tunes. He may have been thinking
of the models for Israel Najara’s piyyutim sung to mainly to Spanish, Turkish and Greek,
as well as to a few Italian tunes.
Leon da Modena
Leon da Modena (Yehuda mi-Modena) (1574-1648) was a pupil of Samuel
Archevolti (1515-1611). He was a prominent rabbi and a judge in the rabbinical court in
Venice and was also immersed in Italian culture. Modena’s secular poetry in Hebrew
and in Italian reflects the latest trends in Italian lyric poetry. His contributions to
Hebrew poetry include the translation of the first canto of Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso (of
which many musical settings were made), at the age of twelve, piyyutim, thirty-five
wedding odes, and bilingual poems and riddles.96 Alongside his rabbinical opinions, he
wrote a book on Judaism that was translated into many languages and published all
over Europe in the seventeenth century (Antichi riti degli Ebrei), and edited a bilingual
Passover Haggadah. He promoted the publishing of Salamone Rossi’s book of sacred
Hebrew songs, supervised its publication, and participated in the heated theological
debate on the legitimacy of polyphonic singing in the services. He also established a
music academy in Venice in which he formed a choral group that rehearsed under his
direction. This may have served as a refuge for the artists who evacuated Mantua after
95
Bregman, “Samuel ben Elhanan Arkevolti” in Tseror zehuvim, 94-95.
96
Israel Zinberg, Italian Jewry in the Renaissance era (Jerusalm: Ktav Publishing House),
129.
65
the plague in 1630. Modena’s son-in-law was a dance master, and at one point he was
accused of holding dances with mixed sexes at his home in Venice. A compulsive
gambler, his comic poem in defense of gambling was written in response to a
controversy over the prohibition of gambling in Judaism.97 Many details about his life
are known form his Hebrew autobiography Haye Yehuda (The Life of Yehuda).98
Macaronic Verse
Word play and punning are an integral part of Renaissance humor (and of
biblical scholars in particular). For example, the city’s Italian name was transformed
into Mana tova (Good Manna) and was therefore referred to in Hebrew as “The Joyful
City of Mantova.”99 The extent of assimilation of Italian language and Italian poetic
forms is demonstrated in macaronic (bilingual) verse with alternating lines of Hebrew
and Italian, such as in de’ Sommi’s Magen nashim, and even in simultaneously bilingual
puns, as in Leon da Modena’s “Hebrew and Christian Ottava,” which begins with Chi
nasce muor Oi me che pass’acerbo (Everything that is born dies/Oh, how bitter is the
97
Leon da Modena, Seder Hagadah shel Pesah be-lashon ha-kodesh u-fitrono be-lashon
Italyano, Venetsyah (The Passover Haggadah with Judeo-Italian Translation, Venice 1609)
facsimile edition with an introduction by Tovia Preschel (New York: Shulsinger Bros.,
1973); idem, Divan le-R. Yehudah Aryeh mi-Modinah: ‘al pi ketav ha-yad ... ba-Sifriyah haBodleyanit be-Oksford (The Divan of Leo de Modena: A Collection of his Hebrew Poetical
Works, Edited from a Unique Manuscript in the Bodleian Library) edited by Simon
Bernstein (Philadelphia, n.p., 1932).
98
Leon da Modena, Haye Yehudah (Life of Yehuda) The Autobiography of a SeventeenthCentury Venetian Rabbi: Leon Modena's Life of Judah. Translated and edited by Mark R.
Cohen; with introductory essays by Mark R. Cohen and notes by Howard E. Adelman
and Benjamin C.I. Ravid. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1988.
99
Simonsohn, Toldot ha-Yehudim, 602.
66
sorrow) which can also be read in Hebrew as Qinna shemor/ Oy ma ki-pas otsar bo. (Keep
mourning, for with his death a treasure has been lost).100
100
Dan Pagis, Al sod hatum: le-toldot ha-hidah ha-`Ivrit be-Italyah uve-Holand (A Secret
Sealed: A History of the Hebrew Riddle in Italy and Holland) Musaf Tarbits Series, 4
(Jerusalem: The Magnes Press, Hebrew University, 1986), 88.
67
Chapter 5 Lyrical Poetry and Music
Lyrical poetry was associated with music, its qualities were often compared with
music, and its performance compared with song. The boundaries between words and
music were quite flexible, and singing poetry was a natural continuum of writing it. In
Hebrew, the noun for poem and song is the same word shir. The verb la-shir is often
used to indicate composition of poetry (though “to write” is a separate term.) In Italian
Renaissance literature musical terms such as melody, harmony, and concord are
commonly used to describe poetry. Kabala and mysticism emphasized the importance
of song in prayer and the power of music to move the heavens. Samuel Archevolti and
Leon da Modena both wrote sonnets about the music of the spheres. In the
seventeenth century, Jewish academies and confraternities formed, and one of their
main activities was to hold choral singing evenings. Two have extant prayer books and
liturgical song books; Shomerim labboker (Watchers of the morning) and Meirei shahar
(The early risers). Jews also formed academies emulating the Christian humanist
organizations and among their goals was the study and development of Hebrew poetry
and music. In 1628, Leon da Modena created an Accadèmia devoted to music called
Accadèmia degli imperiti (Fool’s Academy) a choir that met twice a week to sing under his
direction. The Accadèmia then served to employ the Mantuan musicians who had
resettled in Venice after the events of 1630.101 A second group, Accadèmia degli anelanti
(The Ambitious) is thought to have commissioned Hebrew libretti from the poet
Emmanuel Frances (b. 1618).
101
Harrán, “Jewish Dramatists and Musicians,” 29.
68
Contrafacta
The singing of newly composed lyrical poetry “to the tune of,” also called
contrafacta, was not solely a theatrical phenomenon. Beginning in the fifteenth
century, it was also common practice among devout Christians, especially within the
lay confraternities, the Laudesi. Their repertoire of Laude, sung in lay services,
processionals, and performances of sacred plays, included hundreds of song texts that
appeared in song books with the indication Canta come si (Sing to …) and the title of a
popular song with a familiar tune.102
Singing contrafacta was equally popular within the Jewish community. While
there is no documentation of the musical performance of secular Italianate lyric poetry
in Hebrew, there definitely was a practice of singing newly composed, sacred Italianate
lyrics in Hebrew to the tunes of popular songs. This practice caused an international
debate among rabbis, and Rabbi Menahem Lonzano (b. 1550), an Italian, was one of the
main supporters of the use of popular tunes, as long as they had not originated in the
Christian Church.103 A collection that had a great impact on Sephardic Jews especially is
the one published by Israel Najara (d. 1581) called Zemirot Israel, published in its first
edition in Safed and in its second edition in Venice (1599-1600). This collection of 346
songs, all but six of which are contrafacta of songs of Spanish, Greek and Turkish origin,
contain some of Italian origin as well. Samuel Archevolti, in his Hebrew grammar book
102
A Florentine example of this practice can be seen in Serafino Razzi’s Libro primo delle
laudi spirituali (Venice, 1563) and is described in Patrick Macey, Bonfire songs: Savonarola's
Musical legacy. (Oxford: Clarendon Press; New York: Oxford University Press, 1998).
103
Menahem Lonzano, Shete yadot (Two Hands) (Venice: Pietro and Lorenzo Brigadin,
1618).
69
Arugat ha-bosem (The Bed of Spices) (Venice 1602), describes a similar practice of
singing popular street tunes with newly created metrical sacred texts written in
Italianate poetic schemes.104 Unfortunately, the tunes have not been preserved, and so
the qualities that made them especially popular are unknown.105
If it were true that the music of the synagogue was as stable and unchanging as
the liturgical texts and the written laws, one would be able to visit an Italian Jewish
congregation and by listening to the cantillations and hymns, know the style and sound
of music in the same community in the late 16th century.106 However, as has been
proven by studies of liturgy and folk song of Jewish communities and other less mobile
and fluctuating (non-Jewish) communities all over the world, while many of the texts
survive more or less intact, the music changes drastically. Still, one thing that can be
demonstrated clearly, through the example of liturgical poems found side by side with
secular poetry in the Renaissance manuscripts and still sung in synagogues today, is
that the liturgical poetry was intended for musical performance.
This was an orally transmitted practice, and no scores record the melodies used.
However, a practice that was probably less common has left palpable evidence in the
form of scores, and that is the polyphonic settings of sacred Hebrew songs by Salamone
Rossi.
104
Abraham Z. Idelsohn, “The Folk-Songs of the oriental Jews,” in Jewish Music: Its
Historical Development (New York: Holt, 1929; reprint, New York: Schocken, 1967), 363
(page citation is to the reprint edition).
105
The influx of Spanish Jews to Italy led to the dissemination of Spanish popular song
in Northern Italy.
106
Elio Piatelli, ed., Canti Liturgici ebraici di rito italiano (Rome: edizioni de Santis, 1967).
70
Ha-shirim asher li-Shelomo (The Songs of S olomon) (Venice: Pietro e
Lorenzo Bragadani, 1624)
The only extant musical settings of Hebrew texts from the period of Tsahot
bedihuta dekidushin are Salamone Rossi’s collection of Psalm and Hymn settings Hashirim asher li-Shelomo (The Songs of Solomon) (Venice: Pietro e Lorenzo Bragadani,
1624) and a manuscript of Hebrew works originally for 8 voices (Cincinnati, HUC, MS
Birnbaum, Mus. 101, c. 1628) of which only one part book remains.107 Harrán associates
it with Leon da Modena’s music academy in Venice. Like Leon da Modena, Rossi was
affiliated with the Italian Jewish tradition, as opposed to the Ashkenazi or Sephardim
traditions.108 Nine synagogues are recorded in Mantua c.1630, most of them Italian, one
or two Ashkenazi, and none were Sephardim. Several confraternities or academies were
formed, among them Shomerim labboker (Watchers of the morning) and Me’irei shahar
(Early risers). Any one of these organizations may have commissioned the music.109
Rossi’s Hebrew songs were controversial because they brought the Italian
musical style in to the temple. However, the fact that they were published and
promoted by some members of the Italian Jewish communities who were by that time
living in the enclosure of the ghettos, may reflect the degree to which Italian musical
107
This MS seems to have been written by amateurs, and one uncorroborated
hypothesis, is that Leon da Modena composed them. A facsimile of a page of the MS is
in Harrán, ed., Complete Works, VI, vol. 13a, Hebrew Texted Works by Salomone Rossi, 29.
108
Harrán has compared the texts in Rossi’s Ha-shirim to prayer books associated with
Italian synagogues and corroborated this connection. Cited from Harrán ed., Complete
Works by Salamone Rossi, vol. 13a, Hebrew Texted Works, 34.
109
Several cantatas composed for the consecration of synagogues between the years
1660-1750 are extant. Schirmann discusses them in “Ha-teatron ve-ha-musika” in leToldot ha-shira, 90-95.
71
styles permeated the culture of the Jewish communities. If the Italian style was making
its way into the traditional world of the synagogue, it must have been an integral part
of daily life. The “Songs of Solomon” reflect an assimilation of Italian music into the
synagogue, one that could have come to be absorbed by the Jews through their
participation in theater. See Illustration 2 for the front page of the first edition.
The prayers and biblical excerpts Rossi set had traditional melodies associated
with them, but in his settings Rossi used newly composed melodies. There are some
stylistic similarities with the traditional melodic style. The settings are syllabic with
only occasional melismatic passages emphasizing important words, the melodies are
diatonic, and they span the range of a fifth or a sixth. The adaptation of the
monophonic style to polyphonic setting results in a declamatory style that is
homophonic and in some sections homorhythmic.110
Problems arise when pairing the Hebrew language which is written right to left,
with musical notation which is written left to right. In the edition of ha-shirim, Modena
and Rossi chose to keep the direction of each word beneath the musical notes. This is
unfortunate because the underlay is not given. See Musical Example 1.
The last setting in the book is an important example of a secular Hebrew text set
to music as a wedding ode. Weddings, like the holiday Purim, were an occasion when
rejoicing was a religious commandment, and poetry, songs and dancing were part of
the celebration. As the sole example of a secular song with Hebrew text set to Italian
music, this piece warrants more in depth study.
110
Harrán, ed., Hebrew Texted Works, vol. 13a, 35.
72
Illustration 2 Front page of in Ha-shirim a sher li-Shlomo by Salamone Rossi
(Venice: Bragadani, 1623)
73
Musical Example 1 First Page from the Ca nto Part of Le-mi ehpots in Hashirim asher li-Shlomo by Salamone Rossi ( Venice: Bragadani, 1623)
74
Le-mi ehpots (To Whom Would I Desire)
The song texts in Rossi’s collection are of different types: biblical excerpts,
psalms, piyyutim, and one newly composed Italianate quantitative-syllabic song text.
Le-mi ehpots is the last work in the collection, and it stands out in Rossi’s collection
because it is not a liturgical song, but rather a humorous wedding ode. The song text
also appears in a manuscript of song lyrics Sefer pizmonim (Book of hymns) collected by
David Silva ben Abraham Ha-rofe (David Dottore) (Venice, 1650), where it is attributed
to Modena.111 The poem may have been composed for the wedding of Diana Copio,
sister of the singer Sarah Copio, to a son of the singer and choreographer Isacchino
Massarano in Mantua in 1623.112 A possible connection between the last piece in Rossi’s
Ha-Shirim asher li-Shelomo (Venice, 1622), a wedding ode, and the Hebrew play has a also
been shown, and it may be one of the “missing” intermedi for the play.113
Rossi’s wedding ode suits the plot of the play. Tsahot Bedihuta dekidushin
concludes with reconciliation between the antagonists and the promise of marriage for
the young couples. The lieto fine (happy ending) of a triple wedding,(Yedidiah and
Beruriah, Asael and Shifrah, Shoval and “One of Greedy’s Daughters”), could have been
followed by a musical finale, in emulation of the court intermedi. No evidence of
collaboration between Rossi and de’ Sommi survives, and they were born a generation
apart. However, all the copies of de’ Sommi’s play date from after his death, between
111
MS London, JCL, MS 238, Harrán, Commentary to “Le-mi ehpots, no. 33,” in Hebrew
Texted Works, vol. 13a, 123.
112
Ibid., 127.
113
Don Harrán, “Leone de’ Sommi,” Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 1 February
2003), <http://www.grovemusic.com>
75
the years 1618-1640, and Rossi could have been involved in one of these later
productions (until his death, c.1630). Since there is no information regarding the
performances of the play, there is no evidence to support this hypothesis. Despite this
fact, there are elements which show the ode was born out of the combination of
Hebrew and Italian by “pouring fine oil into a new vessel” as de’ Sommi’s wrote in his
opening sonnet to the play.
Le-mi ehpots (To Whom Would I Desire) is a piece for an eight voice double choir,
and its main feature is the use of echo. Each phrase stated by the first choir is echoed
by the second. The fragment of repeated text is a macaronic pun, a simultaneously
Hebrew and Italian word or phrase, which results in a light comic affect. For example,
the first phrase ending with the word be-‘alma (with a maiden) is echoed -‘alma
(Hebrew: what for?/ Italian: Soul) and in the fifth verse, Yarima (will raise) is echoed
Rima (Hebrew: cheated/Italian: rhyme). See Table 5 for translation and scanning of the
text.
The echo genre to which Le-mi ehpots belongs is characteristic of the pastoral
genres and de’ Sommi includes one in his pastoral Irifile. In this work, the love sick
Selvaggio laments his doubts and is answered by an echo that changes the meaning of
the words, as does the text in Rossi’s ode.114 A take-off of the trend towards danced
finales is found in the second version of the play (of which there are four copies) that
rewrites the ending order to include a Moresca style sung and danced closing number
(for more on this scene see Blind Man’s Buff below). There is a strong cultural affinity
114
Abd-el-Kader Salza, “Un drama pastorale inedito del cinquecento: L’Irifile di Leone
De Sommi.” Giornale storico della letteratura italiano, vol. IV (1909), 9.
76
between the two works, as pointed out by Don Harrán, and Lemi ehpots could be sung
after the blind man’s buff scene as a final intermedio.
Table 5 Le-mi ehpots from Salamone Rossi’ s Ha-shirim asher li-Shelomo,
no.33.
Quantitative: -/////
Quantitative-syllabic: ---/-/
versi
tronchi
Verse 1
6 Lə-mi ’eḥpóts la‘asót
A
To whom would I desire to pay
6 Yəkár? Hen lin-faṣót
A
tribute? Certainly souls
6 Bə-zivúg nichnasót
A
That into wedlock do enter
6 Kə-gever bə‘almáh
B
As a man wth a maid.
Echo: ‘Almá
Heb. What for?
It. Soul
Verse 5
6 Lə-hanchíl lo kavód
C
To win himself praises from
6 Bənéi torá lim’ód;
C
sons of learning, in abundance
6 Ú-va-zé lo yaḥmód,
C
Nor will he be covetous,
6 ’Aṣér mi yáḥrimá?
B
For who would remove it?
Echo: Rimá?
Heb. Cheated
It. Rhyme
77
The Use of Mu sical Instruments
In keeping with the general performance practice, Rossi’s Italian vocal works
are scored for voices and continuo. He even made arrangements of his five-voice
madrigals for voice and theorbo.115 However, the Hebrew songs do not include basso
continuo parts, and the inclusion of instrumentalists in the synagogue on the Sabbath
and most holidays would have been forbidden, because playing an instrument was
considered work in rabbinical law. There is, however, no information about
performances of the Hebrew songs outside the synagogue. Harrán puts it aptly: “What
happened in private performances, as far as instruments are concerned, is another
matter, about which all one can say is, who knows?”116 Again, if performance of sacred
music with instrumental accompaniment was being debated, it stands to reason that
this practice was current in a secular setting.
A visual example of the integration of Italian and Jewish themes and possible
evidence of the acceptance of musical instruments at the celebration of a holiday feast
can be found in a Haggadah published in Mantua in 1560 by Giacomo Rufinelli, under
the supervision of Isaac ben Solomon. This publication is closely based on the first
printed Haggadah (Prague, 1526), and its text and layout have been preserved, but the
artwork altered. For example, Abraham crossing the Euphrates is depicted in a
gondola. The Wicked Son is shown as an Italian condottiere, Michelangelo’s painting of
the prophet Jeremiah is used as a model for the Wise Son, and most remarkable for the
115
Arrangements of the madrigals Oime, se tanto amate, Udite lacrimosi, Parlo, misero, o
tacio, Anima del cor mio are in Don Harrán ed., Complete works, vols. 3-5, Madrigals for five
voices, bks. 1-5, (1589) by Salamone Rossi.
116
Harrán ed., Hebrew Texted Works, vol. 13a, 30.
78
purpose of this research, images of cherubs playing musical instruments such as the
lute, cornetto, viola da gamba, and tambourine (or is it matzah?) adorn the borders.117
See Illustration 3.
117
A facsimile of the Mantuan Haggadah (Mantua: 1560) is included in Sh. A. Nakhon,
ed., Seder hagadot shel pesach: Manitobah Sh. Kh (A Series of Passover Haggadas)
(Jerusalem: Sh. A. Nakhon, 1970).
79
Illustration 3 Image of Cherubs Playing Renaissance Musical Instrumen ts
from a Pa ssover Haggadah (Mantua: Rufinelli, 1560)
80
Illustration 4 Image of Cherubs Playing the Harp and the Cornetto from a
Passover Haggadah (Mantua: Rufinelli, 1560)
81
Musica ebraica
While there is no secular music with Hebrew texts extant, there is a genre of
secular song called Musica ebraica that imitates the sounds of Hebrew. Carnival music
and other humoristic works, especially those with a commedia dell’arte influence,
occasionally paint a musical caricature of Jewish characters. Mainly derogatory or
grotesque, these characters express themselves in nonsense syllables mimicking the
sounds of Hebrew mixed with Italian dialect and Hebrew words. For example, in the
dialogue between Francatrippa and the Hebrews in the madrigal comedy by Orazio
Vecchi (1550-1605) L’Amfiparnaso; Comedia Armonica (Venice, 1594), the sounds of the
Hebrew language and Hebrew sacred song are ridiculed.
Some information about this practice can be gleaned from the third scene of the
third act of Vecchi’s madrigal comedy. It is obvious that these are not Italian Jews, but
rather visitors or new immigrants because of the communication problems
Francatrippa experiences with them. The humor lies in his attempt to speak with them
in their language. The lines ‘tich tach toch’ and ‘tiche tach, tiche toch’ are nonsense
syllables in imitation of the glottal sounds and rhythm of Hebrew. The assonance and
repetitive rhyming typical of Spanish Hebrew poetry are mimicked in the phrase ‘Ahi
Baruchai/Adonai, badonai.’ Francatrippa addresses the Hebrews in Latin, ‘O hebreorum
gentibus,’ perhaps because it is an ancient tongue.
As illustrated in Table 6 below, all the lines have stressed final syllables called
versi tronchi the Italian. This type of ending is more characteristic of Spanish Hebrew
poetry. Perhaps these echo the practice of singing piyyutim to the tune of popular
songs.
82
Table 6 L’Amfiparnaso; Comedia Armon ica, Orazio Vecchi (Venice, 1594)
Scene 3, Act 3. Musical Dialog between F rancatrippa and the Hebrei.
FRAN.
HEB.
FRAN.
FRAN.
Tich tach toch
--/
Tich tach toch
--/
O hebreorum gentibus
/-/-/--
Sú prest aurí prest
//-//
Da hom da be cha tragh zo tus.
//-/-/-/
Ahi Baruchai
/--/
Badanai Merdochai
-/--/
An Biluchan
/ --/
Ghet milotran
/--/
La Baruchabá.
--/-/
A no faro vergot maide negot,
--/-/-/-/
Ch’í fa la Sinagoga
/----/-
O che’l Diavol v’assoga.
/ - - / - -- / -
Tiche tach, tiche toch
-/--/
Tiche tach, tiche toch.
- - /- - /
Oth Zorochot
/--/
Aslach musiach
/--/
Iochut Zorochot
/---/
Calamala Balachot.
/-----/
O vhi, o ohi
////
O messir Aron
/---/
83
HEB.
Che cheusa volit?
--/-
Che Chesa dicit?
---/-
FRAN.
A vorass’impegnásto Brandamant.
--/-/---/
HEB.
O Samuel Samuel
/ - - /- - /
Venit á bess, veit á bess
-/---/
Adanai che l’é lo Goi
--/--/
Ch’e venut con lo moscogn
--/---/
Che vuollo parachem
-----/
L’é Sabbá cha no podem.
--/---/
84
Chapter 6 Tsahot bedihuta dekidushin, the First Hebrew Play
Tsahot bedihuta dekidushin (An Eloquent Marriage Farce/A Comedy of Betrothal)
is a Hebrew play in five acts, attributed to Leone de’ Sommi. Five manuscripts of the
play are extant. Haim Schirmann dated the composition of the play c.1550-1560,
though the extant manuscripts range from 1618-1640. The multiple copies suggest a
performance history that continued beyond de’ Sommi’s lifetime. Schirmann identifies
two versions--one contained in the earliest dated manuscript and an expanded second
version, found in the remaining four manuscripts. In his edition, Schirmann identified
three of these, and a fourth was added to the list in 1966. In his edition, Schirmann
provides the first version in full, and a transcription of the variants found in three
others is included as an appendix. The following is based on his descriptions.118
1. MS Halberstam 478, at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America Library in
New York. The MS was copied by Isaac Sinai of Cologne in Cirie, Torino (1618). This is
thought by Schirmann to be a copy of the original. It includes a title page (from which
the name Tsahot bedihuta dekidushin is derived), an opening sonnet by the author, and a
dedication by Meshulam Sulam. One leaf is missing. Two separate comic skits in
Hebrew (probably for children) are also included in this manuscript: a dialog between a
baby and his nurse, and a conversation between a boy who refuses to go to school and
his concerned parents. These are not attributed to de’ Sommi.
118
Haim Schirmann described the manuscripts in the appendix to Tsahot bedihuta, and
updated the information in “Komedia Ivrit ve-Italkit min ha-meah ha-sheshesreh” (An
Italian Hebrew Comedy from the sixteenth century) in Le-toldot tha-shira, 96-98.
85
2. MS Adler 1573, at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York.
The MS, titled Comedia belissima Hebraica, is dated 1626, and belonged to I.Y.S. Gratsiano
(d.1685). An expanded version of the play includes the final scene Tsehok Shimshon
(Samson’s Game) otherwise known as blind man’s buff.
3. Kaufman 551, at the Academy of Sciences in Budapest. Belonged to
Shimshon Cohen Modon (1679-1727) and then to Mordecai Mortera (1894-1815), both of
Mantua. Opens with a list of Interlocutori (cast of characters) and the final scene called
“blind man’s buff.”
4. Kaufman 550, at the Academy of Sciences in Budapest. Expanded version, but
does not include the prolog. This is a notably sloppy copy, including handwriting
exercises and on one folio, doodled musical notes in the margins (see Illustration 5).
5. MS Heb. 45, at the New York Public Library. The MS is dated 1640. This
manuscript is not included in Schirmann’s critical edition, but corresponds to the
expanded version. The copyist is identified as Sh.V.T. It was purchased in Ferrara in
1902.
86
Illustration 5 Musical Marginalia in Tsahot bedihuta dekidushin, Hungarian
Academy of Science, MS Kaufman A551
87
In the manner of Italian comedies, the plot is quite elaborate and contains
interconnected strains. The action takes place in Ancient Sidon and spans the events of
one day in the week leading up to the holiday of Purim. The two versions of the play
differ in their treatment of the secondary strains, but the main plot is the same. A
detailed comparison of the two can be found in Schirmann’s critical edition of the play.
The following synopsis is based on the second version of the play:
Yedidiah and Beruriah are engaged to be married. Beruriah’s parents, Amon
and Deborah, are thrilled, as they find him a learned and wealthy man. However, a
letter informs them that Yedidiah’s father has died abroad and bequeathed all his
wealth to his slave, Shoval, leaving Yedidiah a pauper. They then look to Asael, the son
of Ephron, as the ideal groom for their daughter. In fact, they surprise Beruriah with
an impromptu engagement ceremony to Asael who unfortunately, is in love with
Yedidiah’s sister, Shifrah.
When Yedidiah learns that Beruriah’s parents will no longer honor the
engagement, he seeks the advice of the sleazy Rabbi Greedy (Chamdan). Rabbi Greedy
tells Yedidiah to go to the countryside where Beruriah is staying and to consummate
their relationship, whereby they would be wed under God.
Yedidiah follows Rabbi Greedy’s advice, but he is so angry with his rival Asael,
that when he meets him along the road, he assaults him. Yedidiah continues on his
journey until he finds Beruriah asleep in a field. Yekarah, Beruriah’s maid, discovers
the couple alone and cries rape. Yedidiah is then arrested by the Bailiffs of the Court
and accused of raping Beruriah.
88
Rabbi Greedy is truly a menace to society, as we find out from another strain of
the plot which reveals him as both dishonest and ignorant. Ephron, Asael’s father, has
discovered that Rabbi Greedy has stolen charity money with which he had been
entrusted. Wishing to trick him, Ephron agrees to wed his son, Asael, to one of Greedy’s
daughters, although the son is already engaged to Beruriah. In so doing, Ephron is
aware that the agreement cannot be upheld because it was not specified which one of
Greedy’s two daughters was intended for Asael.
Rabbi Greedy is very impressed by his wealthy new neighbor, who,
unbeknownst to him, is the slave-turned-master Shoval. With the promise of great
wealth, he is also contracted to marry one of Greedy’s daughters. As Rabbi Greedy
spends his time on these schemes to gain wealth, his apprentices, Yiktan and Yair roam
the streets and spend their days dreaming of Purim feasts and making idle gossip.
When Yedidiah discovers that his enemy, Shoval, is to marry one of Rabbi
Greedy’s daughters, he realizes he is in need of new legal council. And so, Pash-hur,
Yedidiah’s slave, seeks the advice of the wise Rabbi Amitai, Yedidiah’s teacher. Rabbi
Amitai pronounces the engagement between Beruriah and Asael null and void on the
grounds that the bride had not given her consent. He then reveals that according to
the will of Shalom, Yedidiah’s father, the son may yet claim one element of his
inheritance. On Amitai’s advice, he claims the slave Shoval, thereby regaining his lost
wealth. Amitai encourages Beruriah’s father, Amon, to forgive Yedidiah, and he does so
gladly, as Yedidiah is once again a wealthy man.
Upon his legal victory, Yedidiah engages a group of musicians to taunt and
pummel the two villains, Shoval and Rabbi Greedy. Then, having acknowledged his
89
error in not immediately seeking Rabbi Amitai’s counsel, Yedidiah grants Shoval his
independence so that he may the wed the daughter of Rabbi Greedy. Rejoicing, they all
proceed to a celebration at the house of Amon.
The where what and why of this play can only be conjectured. The occasion was
Purim, and it is mentioned several times that the action takes place on the holiday. For
whom the play was written and bu whom it was meant to be seen are not know. There
was no theater hall in the Jewish ghetto in Mantua, though de’ Sommi petitioned the
court to allow him to build one. The play could have been on a temporary stage
outdoors, in a private house, or in a hall used for other activities. Scholars presume it
was written for a Jewish audience and performed as a private performance at a Jewish
school, or within one of the Accadèmias, though it could have been open to the general
community. One of the manuscripts has the rubric “Arranged by the rabbi so that the
students could occupy themselves with it during the Purim break.” Another manuscript
has a rubric that says the goal was having the students “play (le-tsachek) the comedy.”
They both seem to imply school settings for the performances. In any case, these
rubrics, in addition to the differences between the versions of the play, prove that the
play had been performed. Schirmann noted that music must have been performed
along with the play, with an orchestra and trumpets announcing the prolog, performed
by the musicians of the community as they would an Italian comedy.119 It is assumed
that it was a relatively modest production, and therefore the songs I have set are in a
relatively simple style, using moderate forces and modest scenarios.
119
Schirmann, le-Toldot ha-shira, 53.
90
Purim Carnival
Purim celebrates the events recounted in the biblical Book of Esther: Esther, the
beautiful queen of Persia, and her uncle Mordecai save the Jewish people from
destruction by Haman, the wicked advisor to the king of Persia. The thirteenth day of
the month of Adar commemorates Esther’s struggle with a fast, but on the following
day, it is forbidden to mourn and mandatory to rejoice: “On Purim a person should
drink until he knows not the difference between ‘Cursed be Haman’ and ‘Blessed be
Mordecai.’”120
Purim, much like the Christian carnival, was a day when rules could be broken.
Rabbinic opposition to costumes and masks based on biblical proscriptions of man
tampering with creation were allowed to be broken for the carnival celebration. The
Bible says, “Thou shallt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of
anything that is in the heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the
water under the earth.” (Exodus 20: 3) and further, “The woman shall not wear that
which pertaineth unto to a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all
that do so are an abomination unto the Lord thy God.” (Deuteronomy 22: 5.)121 On
Purim each of these commandments is broken.
Italian Purim carnival traditions included processions featuring masks,
disguises, and cross-dressing, as well as the burning of effigies of Haman to the sound of
trumpets. The Ashkenazi Purim carnival featured a jester riding on a horse or donkey,
120
Joseph Caro (1488-1575) Shulhan aruch, as quoted by Philip Goodman in The Purim
Anthology (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1960), 142.
121
All quotes from the Bible are from The King James Version Online (Accessed 21
December 2005) <http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/k/kjv>
91
as did Mordecai when King Ahasueros rewarded him for his good counsel. Because
Christians were forbidden from performing and celebrating on Lent, the time when
Purim falls, Jewish festivities drew many Christian visitors and among them, members
of the nobility. In fact, Duke Vincenzo Gonzaga himself visited the synagogue in
Mantua every Purim, and a banquet was prepared in his honor.122 The play could have
been created for such a public carnival celebration or for a private event within the
Universitá.
In the prolog by Wisdom in the earliest version of the play (MS Halberstam
478), the playwright says the play’s goals are to entertain and to educate. To “teach the
straight path to the sons of Judah … to glorify the Torah, to learn and to teach and do
what is good and right in the eyes of the Lord and men.”123
In his treatise on play production, de’ Sommi argues that the first play ever to
be written was the Book of Job, calling the Greeks liars (“i mendaci grechi”) for usurping
the Hebrew’s fame.124 While Job does include extensive dialogue, it is not known
whether the text was ever presented as a dialog or play. Scholars today believe that de’
Sommi’s play itself is the first Hebrew play ever written.125 De’ Sommi also proposes
that Hebrew is in fact better suited for theater than other ancient languages, i.e. Latin
and Greek, because of its long and consistent literary tradition. He boasts that “what
122
Simonsohn, Toldot ha-Yehudim, 236.
123
Shimon Levy, “A Comparison of Theory and Practice,” in Leone de’ Sommi in the
Performing Arts, ed. Belkin, 182-3.
124
Anna Migliarsi points this out in her discussion of the treatise in “Theories of
Directing in Late Renaissance and early Baroque Italy,” (Ph.D. Dissertation, University
of Toronto, 1996), 13.
125
Some refer to the lost translation of La Celestina by Archevolti as a possible
predecessor.
92
those wise men [Christians] wear as crowns on their heads, the wise men of our people
put under the heels of their shoes.”126 According to de’ Sommi’s prolog, the reason for
the long interval between the Book of Job and de’ Sommi’s play is that while other
languages put comedy at the top of their priorities and have raised it to great heights,
Hebrew was used for more lofty things. De’ Sommi tactfully does not point out that the
absence of plays can be attributed to the rabbinical opposition to all arts, and to the
vulgarities of the theater in particular. Aware of the resulting vulnerability of the
genre, de’ Sommi does not address this conflict directly, but rather focuses on extolling
the virtues of the language and the educational potential of the play.
Italian Elements in Tsahot bedihuta dekidushin
There are both Italian and Jewish elements in the play. It is as bi-cultural as its
author. Sommi’s Hebrew play is a commedia in five-acts, a form that had become
standard for commedia erudite by the mid-sixteenth century. De’ Sommi himself wrote
several such works in Italian and described their production in his treatise. The setting
of the play in antiquity reflects the contemporary vogue for Roman and Greek
mythology and antiquity. Schools and Accadèmias cultivated the translation and
emulation of Latin and Greek dramas, and that may be one of the elements of parody in
Tsahot bedihuta.
The theme of marriage is common to the Italian comedies of the period and
would have been topical to both Jews and Christians. Money versus Love is another
commonly found theme, with the complicated events of the plot propelled by the
126
Schirmann, ed., Prolog to Tsahot bedihuta, 29-30.
93
outwitting of money by love. Yedidiah and Beruriah’s victory over parental constraints
would have been a familiar lieto fine to the audience. In typical comedy style staging,
the action takes places in a piazza on to which the houses of the characters are placed.
Commedia dell’arte influences on the play can be seen in several aspects. While
the play is a commedia erudita, the genre the Jewish theater performed most often, de’
Sommi also shared the stage with commedia dell’arte performers when they were
engaged by the court, and he would have been familiar with the stock characters and
settings of the improvised professional theater of the commedia dell’arte. In these
genres, characters overlap. Several commedia erudita scripts were equally full of stock
characters and scenes and seem to have drawn them from the improvised genre as
well. Table 7 presents the list of characters based on Kauffman 551, together with a list
of corresponding commedia dell’arte roles based on Schirmann’s interpretation.127 See
Illustration 6 for a facsimile of the cast of charcters list.
Table 7 Cast of Character s and their Corr esponding Commedia Roles
Commedia dell’arte
Character
Relationship
roles
Wisdom
Prolog
Wearing a crown and
holding a scepter
127
Amon
The householder
Pantalone
Deborah
Beruriah’s mother
Isabella
Pash-hur
Yedidiah’s slave
Arlecchino
Tsahot bedihuta dekiddushin, ed. Schirmann, 24.
94
Yedidiah
Beruriah’s suitor
Amoroso
Yekarah
Amon’s maidservant
Arlecchina
Rabbi Greedy
Advocate
Dottore
Yair + Yiktan
Rabbi Greedy’s students
Zanni
Ephron
A householder
Pantalone?
Asael
Ephron’s son
Lover
Jonah
Asael’s servant
Zanni
Beruriah
Amon’s daughter
Amorosa
Shoval
A slave who has become
Brighella
heir to a fortune
Oved
Shoval’s slave
Messenger of the court
Sent to arrest Yedidiah
Messenger’s servant
Sent to arrest Yedidiah
Rabbi Amitai
Wise old man
Musicians
Blind man’s buff players
95
Zanni
Illustration 6 Cast of Character s, Tsahot bedihuta dekidushin, MS
Kaufman A551
96
The characters in the play are an amalgam of Italian commedia dell’arte types
and characters from the Jewish community. While the play is set in antiquity, as in
many of the Italian works of this time, the interaction between the characters is firmly
rooted in sixteenth-century Italy. In the third dialogue of his treatise, Sommi makes
strong statements against the use of masks and farcical disguises; this is probably not a
theological but rather an academic stance. Wendy Botuck cites Winifred Smith’s
opinion that the source of his objection is his affiliation with the Accadèmia and that it
proves he was accustomed to working with amateurs rather than professional actors.
Since this parody would have been staged by the Jewish theater on Purim, whether
masks or cross-dressing would have been involved in the production, is open to debate.
Again, this work is a parody and may in that capacity take on less idealized
characteristics than those recommended by Veridico in the treatise.128
There are characters in the play who are clearly stock characters of the
improvised theater. The slaves and servants in the play are versions of the crafty and
dominating Arlecchino, Arlecchina, their friends the Zannis, as well as the more violent
Brighella. Arlecchinos are always highly intelligent and resourceful, if randy and
pleasure seeking, and Pash-hur, Yedidiah’s faithful slave is just such a character. He
takes initiative in every situation and is in fact the one who realizes Rabbi Amitai is the
one to call on when his master is in grave danger. While Pash-hur’s role is based on
Arlecchino, his name is a biblical allusion to slavery, based on Jeremiah 20:6 “And thou,
Pashur, and all that dwell in thine house, shall be taken into captivity.” Pash-hur’s
128
Winifred Smith, The Commedia dell’arte (New York: Benjamin Blom, 1964) as quoted in
Botuck, “Leone de’ Sommi: Jewish Participation,” 256.
97
Italian character is infused with a strong Jewish identity through language, and the use
of this biblical name.
Jewish Themes in Tsahot bedihuta dekidushin
The source for the plot is in the Talmud (Gittin 8b and 9a). A wealthy man
bequeaths his money to his slave because he is abroad and far from his son. He leaves
in his will only “one item” to his son, hoping that the son will claim the slave. This
legal trick, employed to ensure the safety of the dead man’s property, is part of the plot
which de’ Sommi weaves in with the commedia style love story.129
The topsy-turvy plot of the slave whose fortune has turned bright for a day
could also be related to the Purim spirit found in the phrase Ve-nahafoch-hu (the
opposite happened) in the book of Esther 9:1. This strong theme of the holiday was
expressed in the tradition of appointing a Purim “King” to preside over the festivities
for the day, in the same vein as the Christian celebration of the feast of fools. The
Purim King invited his neighbors on the first day of the month of Adar and gave his
staff to one of the guests, who in turn repeated the pattern he invited another who
invited all of his neighbors and gave it to one of the people, and so forth, until the staff
had been passed through the whole community. On Purim, the fourteenth of Adar, the
staff was returned to the original “King,” and he invited the people to celebrate at his
house. 130 A fifteenth-century Provencal source describes the duties of the Purim King
129
Richard Sarson, foreword to A Comedy of Betrothal by Leone de’ Sommi, trans. Alfred
Golding, 60-61.
130
This is described in Levi be Gershon’s Megillat Setarim (Book of Mysteries) and in a
poem by Daniel be Samuel Rossena, as cited in Davidson, History of Parody, 26.
98
to provide a feast and entertain the people with music, and another describes fines paid
to the “King.”131
On a more political note, rules enforcing the requirement of a Christian
clergyman as witness to all weddings were enforced in de’ Sommi’s time, and therefore
many couples remained engaged rather than married. At the same time, legal battles
surrounding engagements were a source of debate. Simonsohn makes the connection
between the events of the main plot of the play and this legal battle which would have
been known to its original audience. In sixteenth-century Italy, it was customary for
couples to be promised to each other at a young age, several years before the actual
marriage was celebrated. A betrothal ceremony would take place, and a divorce was
required in order to cancel the contract, even if the marriage had not been blessed. A
legal debate that engaged rabbis throughout northern Italy was the dispute between
Samuel Ventura-Venturozzo and his betrothed, the daughter of a wealthy Venetian
physician by the name of Tamari. After tricking the girl into a betrothal agreement,
the young man tried to extort money from the family by refusing to grant her a
divorce.132
Though the action takes place several days before Purim, the holiday theme is
dominant. Several references place it strongly in the holiday spirit; the apprentices
speak of the feasts they look forward to, and there are many allusions to the book of
Esther, which tells the story on which the holiday is based. One of the mitzvoth
131
Davidson, History of Parody, 31.
132
Simonsohn, Toldot ha-Yehudim, as quoted by Belkin in the prolog to Leone de’ Sommi
and the Performing Arts, ed. Belkin, 24.
99
(commandments) of Purim is to give charity to the needy. Rabbi Greedy’s stealing of
charity money and the looming poverty of Yedidiah are therefore thematically
connected to the holiday.133
One main difference between the Italian comedies of this period and
de’ Sommi’s Hebrew play is that the latter contains little vulgarity and only very little
direct reference to sex or scatological matters. Such brutalities as enemas, blood
letting, aggresseive beating, and large pots in which people were boiled alive, were
among the regular features of commedia dell’arte and they were adopted from it into
the commedia erudita as well. In contrast, the plot of the Hebrew play involves a love
scene, but that takes place off stage, and though the reference to a rape seems too
strong for children of our time, in de’ Sommi’s period it would have been subtle
compared with the sexual content of many Italian comedies. There is some playful
sexual innuendo in the scene between the two slaves, Pash-hur and Yekarah, whose
banter includes biblical imagery of gates and fountains based on the Songs of Solomon.
This is just one example of biblical reference used to humoristic effect in the play.
Further, the class structure of the Jewish community was as clearly defined as
the Italian community’s. The interaction between nobles and slaves is a sub-theme in
the play, and though the slave-turned-master plot is based on a Talmudic story, the
theme was common in Italian comedy as well.
133
Esther 9/22: As the days wherein the Jews rested from their enemies, and the month
which was turned unto them from sorrow to joy, and from mourning into a good day:
that they should make them days of feasting and joy, and of sending portions one to
another, and gifts to the poor.
100
An element not taken from commedia dell’arte but rather from the Latin school
plays is the parody on students and student life, seen in the portrayal of the lazy friends
Yair and Yiktan, Greedy’s apprentices, and in the portrayal of Yedidiah, whose
stubborn refusal to expose his weakness to the intimidating “wise old Rabbi Amitai”
gets him into so much trouble. The two apprentices spout ridiculous
misinterpretations of the Bible and are delighted at the neglect shown them by their
teacher, Rabbi Greedy. Yedidiah learns his lesson as his problems are solved when he
seeks the guidance of his teacher and patron who, it is revealed, had counseled
Yedidiah’s father on his last will and testament and knew the solution to Yedidiah’s
predicament all along. It could be said that the true Deus ex machina of the play seems
to be a legal point. Or is it the Wise Rabbi Amitai?
The roles of Rabbi Greedy and Rabbi Amitai seem to have been inspired by those
in the thirteenth-century Purim parody Masechet Purim by Kalonymus. In it, a similarly
structured cast of characters appear, and among them a Rabbi Greedy.134 The list of
names shows thirty-seven names with same construction. For example, Chamdan
(Greedy) Shakran (Liar), Atslan (Lazy) Achlan (Glutton).135 The name Amitai is a Hebrew
version of the name Veridico (speaker of the truth) which de’ Sommi gives the corago
and master teacher in his treatise Quattro Dialoghi. The same name appears in the
pastoral Irifile, and there again this character is sought after for his wisdom and advice.
134
Davidson, History of Parody, 26.
135
Davidson lists a parody for Chanukah from 1617 by Simha Kalimani that also employs
similar names in the style of Kalonymus in his History of Parody, 39.
101
Not aware of the Hebrew play, Salza suggested Veridico could have been de’ Sommi’s
stage persona and that he may have played the role on stage.136
Jewish Humor in the Play
The humor in the play is very difficult for the modern reader to grasp because it
involves extensive biblical and Talmudic quotations, allusions, misquotations,
misinterpretations, malapropisms, and puns. Nearly every sentence contains some
biblical reference employed in word play or parody..
The Purim-inspired interpretations of the Bible also follow the model of
Kalonymus’ academic parodies. For example, the name Amon, meaning believer, is a
word play on the name Haman. In act 5, scene 1, Pash-hur notes the arrival of Amon,
Beruriah’s father with the line “Here comes Amon the wicked.” This is a play on the
usual reference to the enemy of the Jewish people in the Book of Esther; Ha-man harasha (Haman the wicked). Possibly, Italian Jews omitted the aspirated ‘H’ sound, as is
done in Italian pronunciation, bringing these two name “Amon” and Haman” closer in
pronunciation.
In the play, the sacred texts of the Bible are taken from their lofty context and
put into the mouths of the foolish characters. The following are a few examples
comparing translated excerpts of the play with excerpts from the King James Bible.
The italics are mine:137
136
Salza, “Un drama pastorale inedito,” note to page 106.
137
Unfortunately for the English speaking reader, Golding did not use a well known
version of the Bible for his translation, making it more difficult to identify the
quotations even when they are very well known. However, he does provide references
to the biblical and Talmudic quotes and allusions in notes to his translation “A Comedy
102
1. In the final scene of the fifth act, Pash-hur, Yedidiah’s slave, encourages the
musicians musical assault on Rabbi Greedy and Shoval with a misquote from The book
of Esther, originally referring to the reward given to Mordecai for his good councils:
PASH-HUR: Thus shall it be done to the man who delighteth in himself more than in his
master’s honor.
Esther 6: 9 And let this apparel and horse be delivered to the
hand of one of the king's most noble princes, that they may array
the man withal whom the king delighteth to honor, and bring
him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim
before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth
to honor.
2. While the musicians treat Rabbi Greedy to a rough game of blind man’s buff,
he quotes the Lament of Jeremiah with bathos:
RABBI GREEDY: Behold, my lords, if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow!
Lamentations 1: 12 Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? Behold,
and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done unto
me, wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his fierce
anger.
Cantillation
It is likely that the biblical and Talmudic phrases in the play were originally
chanted rather than spoken. The play is set in the time and place when cantillations
were first notated with the biblical texts, i.e. ninth century-Babylon. In the tenth
century, the original notations that are still preserved today were created. The
cantillations are based on the accents and phrasing of the verses and are used to sing
the Bible and the Talmud. While chanting the scripture is not a commandment, it is
of Betrothal,” 141-145. For a full analysis of the biblical references, see Schirmann’s
notes to Tsahot bedihuta, 162-172.
103
very strongly endorsed in the Babylonian Talmud by Rabbi Yohanan, who quotes
Ezekiel 20:25 “Whosoever reads Scripture without a melody or studies law without a
tune, of him the prophet says: ‘Moreover I gave them statutes that were not good…’”138
Such a strong association exists between the liturgical and para-liturgical text and its
traditional melodies that though it would be possible to separate the words from their
cantillations, it would have been unnatural to do so.
Because the cantillations were sung in the synagogue regularly, Jewish
audiences would recognize their melodies, just as they would the popular tunes of their
day. Most important, the comic effect of the misplaced quotations would be
underscored through parodying of cantorial singing, making it seem almost an
inevitable technique, even if it were used only sparingly.
This suggests that reconstruction of the play should include research into
traditional cantillations. To make matters even more complex, the characters in the
play all come from different countries in the Ancient world, and each culture has its
own traditional cantillations. This brand of humor parallels the commedia dell’arte
send-ups of regional stereotypes. To recreate the humor of the time, it must be
realized that Ashkenazi and Sephardic, Palestinian and Italic Jews lived together in the
late sixteenth-century Italy, each following their own customs, while delighting in
ridiculing the others. Each character should, in fact have his own mannerisms and by
the same token, his own tunes. This is not the place to create this reconstruction, but I
propose that it is a crucial element and an entirely possible endeavor. The sixteenth
138
Edwin Seroussi, “Jewish Music III, Liturgical and Paraliturgical Music, 4.
Cantillation,” Grove Music Online (Accessed 25 November 2005),
<http://www.grovemusic.com>
104
century saw the publication of the first treatises on cantillations in the Ashkenazi,
Sephardic and Italian traditions, but the verbal descriptions are only valuable when
studied in conjunction with later transcriptions and the current oral tradition.139 De’
Sommi belonged to the Italic tradition, which is kept up in Rome and in the Roman
Jewish community of Jerusalem.140
139
Hanoch Avenary, The Ashkenazi Tradition of Biblical Chant Between 1500 and 1900,
Documentation and Studies, vol 2. (Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University, 1978); Idelsohn, Jewish
Music, 43.
140
Idelsohn provides the symbols and their interpretation in musical notation in “A
comparative table of accent motives for the intoning of the Pentateuch,” in Jewish
Music, 44-46. For musical scores see Elio Piatelli, Canti liturgici ebraici di rito italiano
(Rome: edizioni de Santis, 1967). There is a recent edition of field recordings on a disc
compiled by Francesco Spagnolo, Italian Jewish Musical Traditions from the Leo Levi
Collection (1954-1961), Anthology of Music Traditions in Israel 14. The Jewish Music
Research Center of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Accademia Nazionale di Santa
Cecilia, Rome, 2004.
105
Chapter 7 Songs for Tsahot bedihuta dekidushin
There are three main reasons for my conclusion that songs were performed
with the first Hebrew play. The first is the importance de’ Sommi places on music in
theatrical productions both in his treatise and in his productions for the court of
Gonzaga. The second is that the Hebrew play is a parody of an Italian five-act comedy,
which most definitely would have included incidental music and musical intermedi.
The third is the inclusion of a lyric for a band of musicians in the script of the final
scene of the fifth act of MS Kaufman 551. Based on these three facts, I have arranged
songs for a reconstruction of intermedi for A Comedy of Betrothal, which I have called
Purim Carnavale. The first two reasons have been discussed in the previous chapters, so I
will address the third here.
In MS Kaufman A551, Menagnim, (Instrumentalists) are listed as the last entry in
the cast of characters and appear only in the final scene. These players must have been
involved in the production in other ways as well. It is against all theatrical logic to
have characters appear only in one scene. They most probably were performing
incidental music and interludes throughout the production and were then brought into
the action in the final scene. See Illustration 6 for the cast of characters and
Illustration 7 for the blind man’s buff scene. Note that the the song text is indented
while the rest of the dialog is flush.
De’ Sommi’s Menagnim (Instrumentalists) sing and dance. He could have called
them Zamarim (singers) since that is their musical function in the scene, but he did not.
This seems to indicate that their role was to supply instrumental as well as vocal music.
Many of the Jewish musicians whose names are known to us were instrumentalists:
106
Abramo d’Arpa who was a harpist, Isacchino Massarano who sang and played the lute,
Sarah Copio who sang and played the harpsichord, and Salamone Rossi played the
violin, led a band of Jewish instrumentalists, and published instrumental works.
There is a textual reference to singing and musical instruments in the play, at
the end of the first scene of the second act. Yedidiah is distraught because Beruriah’s
parents have turned him away, and he knows not why. His loyal slave, Pash-hur, tries
to cheer him up by suggesting he return to his rooms to play on the harp and viol, and
in Yedidiah’s reply, he equates playing on the instruments with singing, which he says
makes one indulge in melancholy.
PASH-HUR: That’s the very reason I allow myself a drop of beer and a swallow of wine
now and then- to keep myself from becoming bad-tempered and to keep
trouble from my door. Come on, Master, let’s go back to our lodgings, tickle
(sic. pluck) the lute (nevel) and sound the viol (kinnor) and have a fine time.
Just don’t give in to despair and despond, for such thoughts prompt the
body to moodiness and melancholy.
YEDIDIAH: A turn about the country is probably the best idea, because he who sings
while heartsick only makes himself more miserable.141
Which musical instrument he is referring to is not entirely clear. The word
nevel is normally translated as harp, and the Kinnor now refers to the violin. What the
usage was in de’ Sommi’s time has not been determined. The dialogue makes clear that
one is plucked and the other is played with a bow.
All these lead to the conclusion that the playing of instruments and singing
were closely related, that there were instrumentalists available for the production, and
therefore it is likely that instrumentalists played in the production. I have therefore
141
Quoted from Golding, trans., A Comdey of Betrothal, 80-81, and compared with the
Hebrew edition by Schirmann, Tsahot bedihuta, 41.
107
arranged the songs for the play with basso continuo and instrumental ritornelli
(refrains) for five instruments: two trebles, alto, tenor, and bass. The ideal combination
consists of two consorts, one soft and one loud, e.g. two violins and a cello or a consort
of recorders, and a quartet of shawms and sackbuts or curdles. The continuo group is
flexible, but should include theorbo and Spanish guitar, as they appear most often in
images of theatrical productions in this period.
In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, some tunes became so popular that
they were sung everywhere: at court, in the theater, on the street, in the homes of the
both rich and poor, and with sacred texts, in religious settings as well.142 Even among
Jews, sacred poetry was sung to popular tunes. Hebrew lyrical poetry composed in the
Italian style was also written on secular themes, and among these I attempted to find
lyrics suitable to the play. The agreement of musical and textual forms was both a
limitation and an opportunity. The example of Hebrew contrafacta, based on a
familiarity with the popular songs of the day, combined with the theatrical practice of
singing contrafacta and ground bass arrangements, served as examples for these songs
for the Hebrew play.
142
“Jews were obliged to attend church, but often went voluntarily, in order to hear
sermons.” Simonsohn, Toldot ha-Yehudim, 624.
108
Illustration 7 Tsehok Shimshon (Blind Man’s Buff) Act 5, Scene 13, MS
Kaufman A551
109
In order to find texts that could serve as song lyrics, I searched through the
corpus of published Italianate Hebrew poetry, where I looked for poems with Italianate
meter and rhyme scheme. Among these, I looked for poems with a thematic
connection to the play. The occasion, Purim, the atmosphere, carnival, and the plot of
the play were my guides. I will describe the process of arranging the songs in three
sections. The first section will include the reasons for selecting a specific poem,
including connections to the play, its themes or the plot. The second section includes
analysis of the poems to show their Italian forms, including the syllable count, the type
of line (verso troncho or piana), the rhyme scheme, and stanza patterns of the poems.
The transliteration is in International Phonetic Alphabet, with word accentuation,
caesuras within the lines, and the final stresses indicated. I hope to show that the
musical arrangements are possible because the Italian forms are followed so skillfully in
the Hebrew texts. The third section will include a brief description of the music
selected for the settings. The full translations and transliterations are provided as
Appendix A.
1. Telunat ha-ishah (The Wife’s Lament)
Thematic Connection
The Wife’s Lament is the first of two sonnets by Immanuel Romano from the
sixteenth “Notebook” of his Mahbarot. The Comedy of Betrothal begins with a quarrel
between Beruriah’s parents, Deborah and Amon, and it seems fitting to follow the
tumultuous first act with a comic interlude on the difficulties of marriage. In the
poem, a young wife complains bitterly about her husband. She envies her neighbor
110
who has buried three husbands in three years, while she herself has been married for
two years to a man who refuses to die. The frustrated woman, most commonly named
“Isabella,” is a stock character of commedia dell’arte. The wife and her confidante
dance a lonely Tordiglione between verses of the lament.
In Immanuel’s Mahbarot (Notebooks), two suitors who try to seduce her away
from her ineffectual mate approach. When they see that her husband accompanies her,
they pretend not to know who he is and challenge him to a poetry contest. Being a
better poet than lover, he wins first place.
The Prosody of The Wife’s Lament
With the quantitative-syllabic verse invented by Immanuel Romano, he has
created eleven syllable lines with a grammatical stress on the sixth and penultimate
syllables, as in the most common form of endecasillabo lines. Because of the
consistency, the formula for singing sonnets fits the song well. The only line that does
not have a stress on the sixth syllable is the first. As in the Italian sonnets, the
narrative changes between the quartets and the tercets. The two four-line stanzas are
the lament of the unhappy wife, and in the tercets, she confesses that she envies her
neighbor, three times a widow, for she is surrounded by male attention “like a lioness
among a herd of lions.”
Table 8 The Wife's Lament/Immanuel Roma no (c.1265-1335)
Form: Sonnet
Quantitative: //-///-////
Syllables
Quantitative-Syllabic: - - - - - / - - - /-
111
Versi piani
11
Ze li ’ṣənatáyim ‘ɐṣér nasáti
A
11
Bá’al və’odó chái, və-‘éyn li nó’am.
B
11
Yamút beḥéts barák u-mi-kól rá’am,
B
11
‘Az beyn bənót haḥén ‘ehí saráti.
A
11
Ha-mávətah yóm yóm ‘ɐní karáti,
A
11
Kí niḳsəfáh nafṣí lə-ṣanót tá’am.
B
11
Ló ‘edə’á mah ‘aḳarít ha-zá’am,
B
11
Yu‘ár və-yovád yóm bə-veitó báti!
A
11
‘Er‘eh ṣəḳentí: beyn ṣəlóṣim ḥodeṣ
C
11
ṣalóṣ pə’amím ba’ɐlim kavárah.
D
11
Kól ha-ṣəḳenót ‘omərót: ‘aṣréyha!
E
11
Hí ḥiləlah ‘elím və-saréy kódeṣ.
C
11
Hí ka-ləvi‘ah beyn ‘ɐrayót garah
D
11
u-vtóḳ kəfirím ribətáh gureyhá.
E
112
The Musical Setting of The Wife’s Lament
I have set Immanuel’s sonnet The Wife’s Lament to a formula for singing sonnets
from Giovanni Stefani’s Affetti Amorosi (Venice, 1621).143 Such formulas were provided
in lute books throughout the late sixteenth and early seventeenth century. The
caesura pattern should be matched between the Hebrew and the Italian, and since the
music is based on rhetorical devices created for the form, this makes the setting of the
text compatible with the music. The Hebrew has irregular caesurae, but this causes no
problem since the syllabic setting is flexible and can be freely altered by the singer. I
have provided an interpretation, but the result should sound improvised.
The ritornellos are a four-part setting of Il Tordiglione by Gasparo Zanetti (16261645), a dance set by Salamone Rossi in his Sonata sopra Il Tordiglione. Sometimes called
Dordiglione, it is mentioned as one of several used in an early intermedio produced in
Ferrara in 1499. Zanetti’s collection reflects an older style and is scored for a consort of
instruments. Any family of instruments may perform this music. Salamone Rossi led
an orchestra of strings, but families of Jewish wind players are also known to have
emigrated from northern Italy to England in the 1500’s, and groups of loud winds or
recorders are suitable as well. Rossi’s variation sets are ideal for theatrical interludes
because they can be shortened or extended, using one set or many, repeating or
eliminating variations as desired.
143
“Aria per cantar sonetti: Infelicitá d’amante,” from Giovanni Stefani’s Affetti Amorosi
Canzonette ad una voce sola (Venice 1621).
113
2. Telunat ha-betulah (The Virgin’s Lament)
Thematic Connection
The poem is a second sonnet from the sixteenth “Notebook” of Immanuel. In
The Virgin’s Lament, a girl with no dowry bemoans her plight. This is another song for
an intermedio on the theme of marriage from the sixteenth notebook in the Mahbarot.
It could be combined with the previous song or presented independently. It is
noteworthy that the Università had a charity that provided dowries for girls who had
none, and drawing out this theme in the play is especially appropriate, since giving
Tsedaka (donating to charity) is a duty on Purim. The character of Yedidiah’s sister is
mentioned in the play, though she does not actually appear. Another option is to let
Yekarah, the maid, sing the song, mocking the dramatic ladies in the play.
The Prosody of The Virgin’s Lament
This poem has the quantitative, grammatical organization of the stanzas
combined with the eleven-syllable line with penultimate stress. Unlike in the first
sonnet by Immanuel, the caesuras in this poem are not regular. The fifth and sixth
syllables are both long in the quantitative system and Immanuel ends the words either
on the fifth or on the sixth syllable. The melody I chose for the arrangement, La Monaca,
has two phrases of twelve notes, each divided into an opening phrase of six notes, and a
closing phrase of six notes. Having twelve notes for the setting of an eleven-syllable
phrase allowed for flexibility in setting them as six plus five or five plus six.
In the Italian fashion, the tone of the poem changes between the first quartets
and the last two verses. The poor virgin laments the fact that she has no dowry and
114
cannot wed. Her sadness turns to anger and to the theological dilemma; that a woman
who dies a virgin cannot be admitted into the next world.
Table 9 The Virgin’s Lament/ Immanuel Romano
Form: Sonnet
Quantitative: / / - / / / - / / / /
All piani
Quantitative-syllabic: - - - - - / - - - / -
but lines 10
Syllables
Irregular caesurae: lines 1, 3, 5, 11: - - - - / - - - - / -
and 13.
11
Ṣadáy nəḳoním, sa’ɐrí tsiméaḥ
A
11
va-‘eṣəváh ’eiróm və-’eryáh vóṣet.
B
11
Dodím lə’anyí yarə‘ú mi-géṣet
B
11
Va‘eṣəvá va-róṣ bə-véyt marzeáḥ.
A
11
‘Eyḳ yihəyéh ’od ha-ləváv saméaḥ?
A
11
‘Afsú ḳəsafáy, ‘eyn zəháv u-nḳóṣet.
B
11
‘Eyḳ ‘emtsə‘áh vá’al ‘aní u-ṣlóṣet
B
11
‘aḥyót gədolót li, və-lév goéaḥ.
A
11
Mah ‘oməráh, dodáy: ’ɐtsamáy ḥáru,
C
12
‘O ’Ím zəmán bogéd bəriti eḳróta? (also found as bərit)
D
11
’Áfu ṣənotáy, paṣətú ḳa-yélek.
E
11
Gám yaṣəvú sarím u-ví nidbáru:
C
115
12
‘Iṣá ɐṣér tamút bətuláh --niḳrəta,
D
11
‘Eyn lah bə-’olám ha-nṣamót ḥélek!
E
The Musical Setting of The Virgin’s Lament
The tune of Madre non mi far monaca, in which a girl begs her mother not to send
her to a convent, often referred to simply as La Monaca, is found in guitar-books and
instrumental arrangements from the 1570s through the seventeenth century. The
existence of a Hebrew version is not inconcievable since it was immensely popular
throughout Europe and appears also in French, German, Dutch, and English versions,
each arranging the tune to suit the number of syllables of the text.144 This version of
the tune is by Benedetto Sanseverino (fl. 1620-1622), taken from his Il primo libro (Milan,
1622). The ritornellos are selected variations for two trebles and continuo from Sonata
sopra la monica by Biagio Marini (1594-1693) from his Sonate, Sinfonie e Retornelli Opus 8
(Venice, 1629). Similar to the Rossi variations in style, these can be expanded or
contracted as desired.
The classic sonnet strophes present a problem for which there is no conclusive
answer. Since Italian songbooks underlay only the text of the first stanza, which has
four lines, leaving the rest of the text to the singer’s discretion, the repetition scheme
of the third stanza is not given. The first strophes have four lines each, while the third
has three lines. I have consistently chosen to repeat the third line, which is often the
most emphatic statement of the poem and can benefit dramatically from the repetition.
What the practice was in the sixteenth century has not been determined.
144
John Wendland, “Madre non mi far Monaca: The Biography of a Renaissance Folksong.”
Acta Musicologia 48, (1976), 185-200.
116
3. Yeshena at (You are Sleeping)
Thematic Connection
At the conclusion of the second act, the pining penniless lover Yedidiah and his
faithful slave, Pash-hur, set out for the countryside. Following the dubious legal advice
of Rabbi Greedy, Yedidiah heads out to find Beruriah, his love, and “take her” so that
she will become de facto his wife, and her parents will be forced to acknowledge the
marriage. In the opening scene of the third act, we find out from Beruriah’s servant
that the consummation was achieved, but poor Yedidiah was sent to jail on a charge of
rape. Since intermedi often served to bridge the time and space gap between acts, in
the production of Purim Carnavale, an intermedio conveyed the omitted scene in a
stylized way, with song and pantomime. In You are sleeping, Beruriah is serenaded by
her lover, Yedidiah, as she lies sleeping in a field. The scene of lulling a maiden to sleep
with song in order to make love to her appears in Leone de’ Sommi’s Irifile, and was a
pastoral convention.145
Another option for incorporating the song into a scene would be to use the
scenario found in the sixteenth of Immanuel’s Mahbarot. You are Sleeping would then be
part of a singing competition between the suitors and the husband. The suitors could
sing de’ Sommi’s Magen nashim (In Defense of Women), and the husband could win the
competition with this beautiful ottava rima by Tsarfati.
145
Two sirens sing the nymph Clizia to sleep, and she is then surprised in her sleep.
Salza, “Un drama pastorale,” 11.
117
The Prosody of You Are Sleeping
The poet Joseph Tsarfati was the first to introduce the ottava rima in to Hebrew.
He followed Immanuel’s Italianate quantitative-syllabic technique and adapted it
further by loosening the grammatical rules that governed the quantitative style. This
poem is an ottava rima, eight eleven-syllable lines. Atypical for Italian poems, they are
versi tronchi, meaning the line stress is on the final syllable. Also, the caesura is
consistently placed on the fourth syllable, when the more typical (though not
exclusive) place for it is the sixth syllable. It is followed by a pair of syllables in a short
long pattern that accommodates the stress on the sixth syllable in the music.
Table 10 You Are Sleeping/ Joseph Tsarfati (d.1527)
Form: ottava rima
Quantitative: -///-///-//
Rhyme and
Syllables
Quantitative-syllabic: - - - / - - - - - - /
stress
11
Yəṣenáh ‘át, ‘ɐní ne‘ór və-nodéd
A troncho
11
u-mitnamném səvív beytéch, ’ɐdináh.
B troncho
11
Yəṣenáh ‘át, ‘ɐní tsurím ‘ɐ’odéd
A troncho
11
Bə-mach‘oví və-‘achṣích ha-ləvanáh.
B troncho
11
Yəṣenáh ‘át, və-zív mar‘éḳ yəṣodéd
A troncho
11
tənumáh mi-bənót ’eynáy və-ṣeynáh.
B troncho
11
Bə-tsalméḳ kól məzímotáy kənúsím,
C troncho
11
Və-ḳadunág bətóch ‘ishéḳ nəmasím.
C troncho
118
The Musical Setting of You are Sleeping
I have set Joseph Tsarfati’s evocative ottava rima, You are Sleeping, to the
Romanesca, a chord pattern which was one of the most important ottava rima vehicles.
The original title is Eternità d’Amore and is from Giovanni Stefani’s Affetti Amorosi
(Venice 1621). Like most Romanesca settings, Stefani’s is a love song. It is similar in
sentiment to the Hebrew poem; in Eternità d’Amore the snow cannot quench the lover’s
ardor, just as in the Hebrew poem the lover is pacing restlessly as his beloved slumbers.
As the scene is intimate, I have left it as an intermedio non-apparente, with no
instrumental ritornellos. A solo instrumental passage may be added between the
verses to allow for pantomime by the singer.
The musical setting has three strains, and it is possible that the correct reading
is to sing seven lines, using only the first two strains, and then sing the eighth line to
the final strain. Song settings in lute books often provide final phrases in this
ambiguous manner. On the other hand, the repetition of the even phrases is beautiful
and expands the setting, which would otherwise be very brief.
The musical repetition of the opening phrase adds to the repetition of the
phrase Yeshena at (You are sleeping). Word painting occurs when this phrase is sung to
a repeated note conveying stillness. It contrasts to the second phrase, in which the
waking lover’s tumult of emotions is set to a cascade of notes. The movement from
repose to tension and back in the poetry fits well to the harmonic progression of the
formula.
119
4. Hidat he-hamor (The Donkey Riddle)
Thematic Connection
Above Samuel Archevolti’s poem The Donkey Riddle is the inscription “A jocular
riddle, written to entertain the children on Purim.”146 Like much of the humor in de’
Sommi’s play, its source is biblical and refers to Zachariah’s prophecy: “Lo, your king
comes to you, humble, and riding on an ass.”147 The story of Shoval the slave who
inherits the family fortune is the comic sub-plot of the play. Though the story it is
based on is from the Talmud, the bejeweled and glamorously attired caricature of a
former slave, and the banter between him and his jealous cohorts are reminiscent of
commedia dell’arte skits. One of commedia dell’arte’s stock routine called Lazzi, is “The
Donkey.” A 1612 manuscript recounts: “through magic, Pantalone is transformed into
an ass. Zanni mounts him and feeds him leaves from a tree.”148 The interlude follows
the fourth act which ends with a monologue by Yedidiah’s slave, Pash-hur, who is
worried about his imprisoned master and frets even more about himself, should Shoval,
the former slave, become his master. In the production of Purim Carnavale, the
interlude was staged as a “nightmare” sequence with Shoval riding Pash-hur’s back as
they sing the song.
146
Ibid.
147
Ibid.
148
“Lazzo of the Ass” is one of the acrobatic Lazzi described by Mel Gordon in Lazzi:
Comic Routines of the Commedia dell’arte (New York: Performing Arts Journal Publications;
Baltimore, Md: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1983), 11.
120
The Prosody of The Donkey Riddle
The form of this sonnet by Samuel Archevolti is that of a Petrarchan sonnet
with the rhyme scheme ABBA ABBA CDE CDE. The versification is quantitative as well
as syllabic. The Spanish quantitative technique forms the pattern //-///-////. There is
only one exception, where the conjunction “u” begins the phrase; u-vəfí yəhí téven, vəléḥem ‘áyin? --/-///-////. The sixth syllable is long and is followed by a short syllable
and creates a caesura in the Italian style. The final stress is on the tenth syllable,
creating versi piani. There is an implied iambic pentameter, which I have shown in the
stresses above the transliteration, but it is very unlikely this was so intended by the
poet as regular stresses were not a part of either Spanish or Italian verse at this time. I
have shown it in order to demonstrate that it does facilitate a syllabic musical setting.
As many sonnets do, including those by Immanuel Romano, the Donkey Riddle
begins with a question. The volta begins in line 11 with the direct address to the Lord
to grant the donkey the right to carry the Messiah on his back soon and bring to an end
the exile of the Jewish people. While the humor may not be clear to a modern reader,
this riddle is probably the first poem written for children in Hebrew.
Table 11 The Donkey Riddle/ Samuel Archevolti (1515-1611)
Form: Sonnet
Quantitative: //-///-////
Quantitative-syllabic: - - - - - / - - - / Syllables
(Implied iambic pentameter (combined stress pattern)
121
Versi piani
11
Lamáh ’ɐléy ṣiḳmí / yəvi‘ún sólet,
A
11
u-vəfí yəhí téven,/ və-léḥem ‘áyin?
B
11
‘Eṣté bə-méy vorót,/ və-‘esá yáyin.
B
11
Makél yəsiméni / rətsúts gulgólet.
A
11
Eṣkón bə-mó ḥorbáh/ u-va-mafólet,
A
11
ka-tsár bə-’ír mivtsár,/ u-fétach ‘ayin.
B
11
‘Esá bə-ḳorót ts‘ón / u-minḳát káyin,
B
11
Hoy, hoy, ləvád dardár / ləfí makólet!
A
11
Gám ‘aḥɐrey motí / ‘enóṣ yakení:
C
11
‘Etsraḥ bə-kól gadól,/ və-li yarútsu
D.
11
Kól yotsə‘ey tsavá / və-róṣ va-méleḳ.
E
11
‘El tsúr yəṣu’ót ‘omərá: / zakéni
C
11
lasét məṣiḥéḳ ḥiṣ, / və-ló yafútsu
D
11
baním bəḳól pináh / kədál vaḳéleḳ.
E
The Musical Setting of The Donkey Riddle
This riddle is set to the rustic dance Schiarazulla marazulla from the four-part
dance collection Primo Libro de balli (Venice, 1578) by Giorgio Mainerio (1535-1582).149
149
Manfred Schuler, ed., Primo Libro de balli: Venedig 1578, Giorgio Mainerio, Musikalische
Denkmäler, vol. v., (Mainz: B. Schott, 1961), a facsimile edition of the first edition
(Venice, 1578).
122
Its basis is a drone. The dance may have a connection to a Christian cult, but this has
not been proven. As the riddle has religious connotations, the misappropriation might
be construed as humorous. The strong accentuation of down beat suits the strong
accents of the poem, and a very large tempo range. Beginning the song very slowly and
ending in a raucous gallop is recommended.150 The meter of the poem is not regular,
but is made to fit the regular strong accents. The caesurae are uniformly placed on the
sixth syllable, and therefore, it is easy to ignore the imperfect matching of the
accentuation within the lines. This is acceptable, as it occurs in the sacred
compositions by Salamone Rossi and Carlo Grossi as well.151 The dance has only two
strains, and the repetition suits the foolish affect very well.
5. Magen nashim (In Defense of Women)
Thematic Connection
De’ Sommi’s ballata Magen nashim (In Defense of Women) is a natural choice for
a song setting for his own play. It is strongly Italianate, it is humoristic, and it is related
to the play by theme. In addition, a similar poem is mentioned in the play itself. In act
In the fourth scene of the fourth act, Asael tells Yekarah, who has become his confidant,
of his plan to present Shifrah with a gift – a poem in honor of women.152
ASAEL: Meanwhile, I shall try to find for her that newly printed poem on the glory of
women you told me she wanted to read.
150
Pressacco, Gilberto, “Musical traces of Markan Tradition in the Mediterranean Area,”
Orbis musicae: Assaph Studies in the Arts vol. 11 (1993), 7-72.
151
Dan Pagis, “Hamtsa’at ha-yambus ha-Ivri,” in ha-Shir davur, 206.
152
Golding, A Comedy of Betrothal, 85.
123
In his poem In Defense of Women, de’ Sommi goes even further in blending the old
and the new. The debate over the worth of women, which began in the golden age of
Jewish poetry in medieval Spain, arose once again in early sixteenth-century Italy in
the form of Hebrew terzinas, and was revived by de’ Sommi and his colleagues in the
mid-sixteenth century.153 This polemic poem is part of the renewed debate.
De’ Sommi’s ballata, In Defense of Women, is one of nine poems that comprise the
pieces that have been recovered from the renewed debate.154 Sommi’s innovation is the
use of macaronic (bilingual) verse. Like its precursors, it is infused with irony and
humor, and full of word play. But, in de’ Sommi’s mock ode, the biblical imagery
appears along side Roman and Greek myths, and bilingual jokes are used to refute the
much maligned opponents’ point of view.
De’ Sommi’s polemic is a direct response to Samuel Castiglione (b.1502/3, lived
in Mantua). Castiglione, a physician, scientist, and literary man wrote four poems as
part of this debate. His poem Davar be-ito (To Everything There is a Season) was written
before 1550 and took a strong position against women, blaming them for arousing
men’s carnal appetites. De’ Sommi refers to him not by name, but as Un nostro
Mantovano (Our Mantuan) who must be blind, though he is head and shoulders above
his fellows in medicine and surgery.
153
Dan Pagis, Hidush u-masoret be-shirat-ha-hol ha-’Ivrit: Sefarad ve-Italiah (Change and
Tradition in the Secular Hebrew Poetry: Spain and Italy) (Keter, Jerusalem: 1976).
154
Another example of a poem in the debate taking sides against women is Sone nashim
(The Misogynist), by the Tuscan poet Abraham de Sarteano, edited in Haim
Schirmann’s Mivhar ha-shira.
124
In the wake of the publication of de’ Sommi’s bilingual poem there was an added
element to the polemic on the worth of women and that was the viability of macaronic
verse. De’ Sommi was heavily criticized by his colleague Jacob Fano, who responded
with a sixty stanza poem, Shillte hagibborim shishim (The Sixty Heroes), in which he
accused de’ Sommi of defiling the women of whom he wrote by praising them in a
mixture of the sacred tongue Hebrew and the unholy language Italian. Fano’s poem
exemplifies the views of those who may have been detractors of de’ Sommi’s
integration of Italian and Hebrew idioms and forms in the Hebrew play.155
An anonymous response to Fano’s work in the form of a dialog between the
biblical figure Deborah and a fictitious Jacob Fano presents their two-fold argument. He
claims that the mixture of Italian and Hebrew defiles the Holy tongue, and Deborah
answers that mixing the foreign and Hebrew tongues sweetens the poetry and is an
honorable pursuit. This dialog in terzinas is referred to by Pagis as an “… anonymous
ironic-dramatic song.” The rubric above it says Va-tashir Dvora: (And thus shall sing
Deborah:) and it raises the possibility that the dialog was performed musically.
However, as mentioned above, the use of the verb shar in the expression va-tashir is
ambiguous.156
Like the others in this group of works, In Defense of Women is a mixture of
moralistic, philosophical writing, polemic, and parody. It is never clear when the
writer is serious or mocking. Like the other works in this genre, de’ Sommi’s fifty-
155
Its effect was to enrage the Christian censors, who prosecuted Fano for his insulting
language. Pagis, “ha-Pulmus ha-shiri,” 150.
156
Ibid., 158-160.
125
stanza ballata is preceded by a three part introduction stating the context of the debate
and criticizing the arguments and style of the poet whose arguments are addressed.
De’ Sommi begins with a description of himself as a modest young man moved to write
poetry in Hebrew and “foreign tongues,” by which he means Italian. He then describes
writing the poem as a rebuttal to Castiglione.
The second part of the introductory section is the dedication of the work. De’
Sommi says he was approached by the Hebrew lady, Hannah Rieti, and quotes her: “I
heard tell of the new song you sang in the defense of women. Please, may I read it?”
He tells how she pressed him until he obliged, unable to disobey a woman of her
stature. Thus, the work was brought to light. De’ Sommi acknowledges that it is
controversial and expresses the hope that with the dedication to Hannah de Rieti it will
gain acceptance. The second part ends with a salute to Hannah and her husband
Reuben Sulam, wishing them peace and concluding with a prayer to the Lord on high to
grant them happiness and a long life.157
In the third part, he reiterates the argument and describes the bilingual
medium he will use, which he refers to as “holy and secular tongues.” He concludes
with the lines: “Song of Songs in defense of women/for they are the reason for all
being/without them there would be no men/the example is written in the holiest of
the holy [the Torah].”
The main body of the poem contains fifty stanzas and can be divided into four
sections. The first and longest part (1-20) is introductory and describes the arguments
157
The members of the Sulam family were, as mentioned before, important patrons of
the arts, and supported de’ Sommi, Salamone Rossi, and Leon da Modena in their work.
126
for and against women. In it, de’ Sommi accuses the misogynists of adultery and wife
beating, of immaturity, and, repeatedly, of insanity. De’ Sommi does not name his
adversary, but in the fifth stanza of the poem we learn that he is a physician and a
surgeon. We also learn that de’ Sommi is nearing his thirtieth year, though in the
introductory poem he says he composed the poem in his youth. The second section
(21-24) lists accomplished and holy women from the Bible: Esther (in her Hebrew
name-Hadassah), Deborah, Abigail, and from the Apocrypha, Judith. The third part (2527) lists accomplished women of the past, including Greek and Roman heroines such as
Hippo and Diana. The fourth section brings us to de’ Sommi’s own time and concludes
with an unnamed woman to whom he sends secret love sentiments. De’ Sommi
incorporates a sweet pun on the name of the city Bologna where his love resides, bah
lan yah (where God resides.)
For the musical setting, I have selected several representative stanzas from each
of these sections.
The Prosody of In Defense of Women
This is a bi-lingual poem, and the Italian was originally notated in Hebrew
letters. The form is a modified ballata. The usual form of the ballata is XX AB AB AB
BCC XX DE DE DE EFF, but de’ Sommi omits the opening two verses, using the scheme
ABABBCC D/ EFEFFGG D. This form is similar to that used by other poets taking part in
the debate. The Hebrew lines have seven syllables and all are versi tronchi, the natural
pattern in Hebrew, while the Italian lines all have eight syllables and are versi piani.
De’ Sommi’s poetry is in the equal syllable style that developed in emulation of
the Italian versification. It eliminates the quantitative system. The sheva, hataf patah
127
and conjunction “u” are no longer treated differently from the other vowels, creating a
system that is much more flexible than its predecessor. The first syllable in line 7 of
the second verse is a sheva “shə’asú ’im ‘él ra’áh,” but is equal to the first syllable in the
previous line that has a full vowel: “néged divəréy to’áh.”
The moving sheva is sometimes pronounced and at other times is silent in order
to maintain the syllable count. For example, in the first line: “Ṣimə’úná ‘et divratí” (8
syllables) should be read “Ṣim’úná ‘et divratí” (7 syllables) and ‘və‘át yafáh ra’ɐyatí’ (8
sylables) should be read ‘və‘át yafáh ra’yatí’ (7 syllables). 158
In Italian versification it is common practice to elide vowels to create
diphthongs or tripthongs that are counted as one syllable. For example, “donne sagge
honeste e belle” is read “donne sagg’ honest’ e belle.” (This is common practice in
Italian, and is therefore not notated in the edition of the text). De’ Sommi applies this
technique to the Hebrew. For example, in verse 26: “Bə-kalón ḥerpáh u-
vúṣah”(eight syllables) becomes “Bə-kalón ḥerpau-vúṣa” (seven syllables), and
in verse 49: “Hí Bolónyah u-váh lán Yáh” (8 syllables) becomes “Hí Bolónyau-váh
lán Yáh” (seven syllables).
Table 12 In Defense of Women/ Leone de’ Sommi (1525-1590)
Bilingual Modified Ballata
Syllables
158
Pagis points out a few instances of Hebrew versi piani in stanzas 6 and 9, but since
there are 50 verses to choose from, they have not been selected for the song.
“Hamtsa’at ha-yambus ha-Ivri,” 188-189.
128
7 - -/- - - -/
Ṣim’úná ‘et divratí (Ṣimə’úná divratí)
A troncho
8 ------/-
donne sagge honeste e belle
B pian.
7 - -/- - -/
kí ‘aḥúda ḥidatí
A tronch.
8 ------/-
contra queste chiurme felle
B pian.
8 ------/-
degli vecchi ch’a le stelle
B pian.
7 - -/- - -/
he’əlú ‘et ḥerpatḳ én
C tronch.
7 - -/- - -/
va-‘ɐní magén laḳén
C tronch.
8 - ------/-
per diffendervi a ogni via.
D pian.
7 - -/- - -/
Və‘át yáfah ra’yatí
E tronch.
8 ------/-
che mi chiami a questa impresa
F. pian.
7 --/- - -/
lə’orér məlitsatí
E tronch.
8 ------/-
delle Donnne alla difesa
F pian.
8 ------/-
dammi aiuto a la contesa
F pian.
7 /-- - - /
néged divəréy to’áh
G tronch
7 - -/- - - /
shə’asú ’im ‘él ra’áh
Gt ronch.
8 ------/-
e co’l mondo villania.
D pian.
The Musical Setting of In Defense of Women
The ballata begins with the words “Listen to my words, honest and wise ladies.”
This manner of opening is reminiscent of the call for attention in the poems of the
Italian Improvisatori, as in “Ladies and Gentlemen, be quiet and attentive if you would
129
like to hear something new and delightful” 159 from a setting of the poem Orlando
Furioso.160 Improvisatori were poets and singers who performed in the piazzas for an
informal street audience and are often depicted accompanying themselves with a
stringed instrument. The written versions of their poems are long ottava rima settings,
and they used ground-bass formulas such as the Romanesca and the Passamezzo antico
to perform them. The patterns of these two forms are very similar, and because “In
Defense of Women” so closely follows the Italian style, I speculate that the genre of In
Defense of Women relates to this kind of improvised singing of verse. Consequently, I
have set de’ Sommi’s stanzas to the Passamezzo antico. The chord pattern is: i-VII-i-VVII-i-V-I.
The following Passamezzo antico setting for solo singer with continuo in the
arrangement is based on the four-part setting La Mantovana edited by Gasparo Zanetti
(fl. 1624-1645) in Il Scolare…per imparar a suonare di violino et altri stromenti (Milan, 1645.)
Zanetti was a violinist and the collection is a treatise on ensemble playing for a consort
of strings. The setting is for violin, two violas, and cello, but may be performed by any
family of instruments.
Additionally, the melody has strong ties to Jewish music since its variant is sung
to this day by Ashkenazi Jews with the piyyut “Yigdal Elohim Chai.” The tune, found in
159
James Haar, “Improvisatori and their Relationship to Sixteenth-Century Music,” in
Essays on Italian Poetry and Music in the Renaissance 1350-1600 (Berkeley, Los Angeles and
London: University of California Press, 1986), 76-99.
160
As mentioned in the first chapter, Leon da Modena translated the first canto of
Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso when he was 12 years old, but de’ Sommi must have read the
original. The opening has an echo of the debate, and it also could serve as a lyric for a
similar arrangement.
130
many versions throughout Europe, was adopted as the national anthem of Israel in
1948, and this resonates with modern audiences, especially when sung in a slower
tempo.161
6. Tsehok Shimshon (Blind Man’s Buff)
Thematic Connection
The fifth act of the version of the play in Kaufman A551 concludes with an
alternate scene in which Pash-hur leads a band of musicians to rough up Shoval, the
slave who would be master. They blindfold him and lead him around in a game of blind
man’s buff, as Pash-hur urges them on. Sommi makes it clear that this should be a
musical rendition by using the verb le-zamer which is unambiguously “to sing,”
together with the verb la-shir which could also mean “to compose poetry.”
PASH-HUR: “Come, my brothers, come, sing to him, serenade him, (shiru lo, zamru lo) and
improve his hopping with you blows!”
Even without Pash-hur’s commands, the song text is clearly identifiable as such
because the lines of the A section run and are separated by commas, while the B section
is inset, making it look like a refrain.
There may be a level of parody in this scene that only those familiar with
de’ Sommi’s career would understand. A game of blind man’s buff was the basis of a
scene in Battista Guarini’s Il Pastor fido, choreographed by de’ Sommi in Florence (the
161
Idelsohn presents a table of the variants, but does not make the connection with La
Mantovana in ‘The Ashkenazic Song,” in Jewish Music, 222-223.
131
collaboration is mentioned in a letter by Guarini from 1584.)162 The production had to
be canceled because the “nymphs” found it too difficult to sing and dance at the same
time. Guarini complains that the complexity causes the nymphs to blunder and that
neither the music not the words were properly performed, “Ne la musica e fatta, et
tanto men la parole.”163 Scenes that combined dancing and singing of complex music
and choreography were innovative. A raucous, un-nymph like song and dance by the
musicians is quite a comical device, even without resorting to the reference.
The Prosody of Blind Man’s Buff
The song in the final scene of Tsahot bedihuta is disrupted by Pash-hur’s
increasingly violent exhortations to give the greedy rabbi and the upstart slave a good
working over. The poem’s form is a canzonetta, with the rhyme scheme a string of 16
couplets rhyming versi piani. The couplets are rarely found in Hebrew poetry in Italy
and may be influenced by Spanish rhyme patterns. Since the scanning of the poem is
problematic, I have decided to demonstrate two interpretations. It is set in opensyllabic style, and the interpretation of the number of syllables changes enough in each
version to affect the underlay.
The canzonetta has irregular line lengths and two types of stanzas: those with
two couplets of longer lines (A) and those with three couplets of shorter lines (B).
When scanning this poem, the decision has to be made whether to read the moving
162
Iain Fenlon, “Guarini, de’ Sommi and the Pre-History of the Italian Danced
Spectacle,” Leone de’ Sommi and the Performing Arts, ed. Belkin, 59.
163
This situation is described in a letter from Battista Guarini to Vincenzo Gonzaga,
transcribed in Anne MacNeil, Music and Women, 271-272.
132
shevas as syllables or not. The practice is flexible, though more often the moving sheva
is pronounced. However, if not pronounced, the resulting lines are shorter and more
consistent.
Whether the syllable count is odd or even, the lines are always versi piani. While
the syllable count can be read in several ways, the number of stresses is consistent: A
has the pattern 4, 4, 2, 5, while B is a series of 3 stressed syllables. The stanza pattern
with the dialogue interruptions is the following: 1. A 2. AA B 3. A B 4. A.
Table 13 Blind Man’s Buff /Leone de’ Sommi (1527-1592)
Form: Canzonetta
Syllables
Stresses
Version one: pronouncing the moving sheva
Versi piani
1.
9
4
Kəmo Ṣimṣón/ bənó manóaḥ
A
7
4
Ne’dár rə’út va-ḳó-aḥ
A
5
2
Tsəḥók lifléṣet
B
11
5
Hayáh bə’ét nilkád /ka’óf ba-réṣet.
B
2.
9
4
Bə-lí ’osher/ u-və-lí dá’at
C
7
4
Shóvál bə-vúz u-vá’at
C
5
2
Bə-vóṣet nétsaḥ
D
11
5
Hesáḥ gə‘ón libó/ və-hiṣpíl métsaḥ.
D
9
4
Kə-kóts mu-nád /və-ḳi vlí yá’al
E
133
8
4
yeréd ’ím gə‘onó yá’al
E
5
2
və-nád mi-náḥat
F
11
5
Ṣóvál mə‘ód ’olán/ ke-’ól ka-láḳat.
F
7
3
Nidméh bəlí ’eináyim
G
7
3
toḥén bətóḳ reḥáyim.
G
7
3
Ki va-ḥalomó ’óṣer
H
7
3
ra‘áh u-matsá ḳóṣer-
H
5
2/3
bə-fakḥó ’áyin
I
7
3
yir'éh və-yadó ‘áyin.
I
3.
9
4
Rə'éh ḥatán /‘aṣér matsáta
J
7
3/4
Ḥémdán bə-yóm-tov báta,
J
5
2
və-lirkóv ‘átsta
K
11
5
péred və-sús ta’ún; /və-ḥísh ravátsta.
K
6
3
Tir-gáz tá-chat á-ven,
L
7
3
tit-bá bə-tít ha-yá-ven
L
6
3
Yóm ki kách nech-shák-ta
M
7
3
né-fesh chɐ-mór nid-bák-ta.
M
5
2/3
Bə-chá na-gí-la,
N
6
3
ráv mim-chá na-pí-la!
N
134
4.
8
4
Léḳ, Ṣovál /‘ɐsher ḥaṣávta
O
7
3/4
Limlóḳ bə-kés yaṣávta!
O
5
2
“ ’ɐlé keréaḥ”
P
10
4/5
nikrá ’al ’ivér/ “ ’ɐléh piséaḥ.”
P
Table 14 Blind Man’s Buff/ Leone de’ Sommi (1527-1592) Scanning
Version 2
Form: Canzonetta
Syllables
Stresses
Without pronouncing the sheva
Versi piani
1.
7
4
Kmo Ṣimṣón/ bnó manóaḥ
A
6
4
Ne’dár r’út va-ḳó-aḥ
A
4
2
Tsḥók lifléṣet
B
9
5
Hayáh b’ét nilkád/k’óf ba-réṣet.
B
2.
7
4
Blí ’osher/ u-vlí dá’at
C
6
4
Shóvál bvúz u-vá’at
C
4
2
Bvóṣet nétsaḥ
D
9
5
Hesáḥ g‘ón libó /vhiṣpíl métsaḥ.
D
135
7
4
Kkóts mu-nád /vḳi vlí yá’al
E
7
4
yeréd ’ím g‘onó yá’al
E
4
2
vnád mi-náḥat
F
9
5
Ṣóvál m‘ód ’olán/ k’ól ka-láḳat.
F
6
3
Nidméh blí ’eináyim
G
6
3
toḥén btóḳ reḥáyim.
G
6
3
Ki vḥalomó ’óṣer
H
6
3
ra‘áh vmatsá ḳóṣer-
H
4
2/3
bfakḥó ’áyin
I
6
3
yir'éh vyadó ‘áyin.
I
3.
7
4
R'éh ḥatán/ ‘ṣér matsá ta
J
6
3/4
Ḥémdán byóm-tov báta,
J
4
2
vlirkóv ‘átsta
K
9
5
péred vsús ta’ún; /vḥísh ravátsta.
K
6
3
Tir-gáz tá-chat á-ven,
L
6
3
tit-bá btít ha-yá-ven
L
6
3
Yóm ki kách nech-shák-ta
M
6
3
né-fesh chmór nid-bák-ta.
M
4
2/3
Bchá na-gí-la,
N
136
6
3
ráv mim-chá na-pí-la!
N
4.
7
4
Léḳ, Ṣovál /‘sher ḥaṣávta
O
6
3/4
Limlóḳ bkés yaṣávta!
O
4
2
“ ’lé keréaḥ”
P
9
4/5
nikrá ’al ’ivér/“ ’léh piséaḥ.”
P
The Musical Setting of Blind Man’s Buff
This is a long scene that grows in intensity as it escalates in hilarity and cruelty;
I have therefore taken the opportunity to arrange it more elaborately. The music for
the scene can be stretched out to accommodate both the dialogue and a symmetrical
choreography by adding instrumental stanzas between the sung verses. The singers
first address their attentions to Rabbi Greedy (in the first and second sections) and then
to his son-in-law, Shoval, (in the third and fourth section). I have set the section
addressed to Rabbi Greedy to a gentler and refined dance tune and used a more
vigorous, lower class tune for that addressed to the slave.
Blind Man’s Buff/ part one
The first section of the text is set for two singers taking the place of the original
trebles of the sonata sopra la Bergamasca by Salamone Rossi from his Libro Quarto (Venice:
1622.) Although the tune’s exact origin is unknown, it has a Jewish connection. A tune
called “The Jewishe Dance,” based on the Bergamasca harmonic pattern is found in
137
several English sixteenth-century instrumental sources.164 The Bergamasca ground bass
pattern is also associated with commedia dell’arte. Its main characteristic is a
repetition of the chords I-IV-V-I at the opening of each phrase.
Musical Example 2 Ground Bass Pattern from Sonata sopra la Bergamasca
by Salamone Rossi in Libro Quarto (Venice: 1622)
The singing and playing of virtuosic divisions on a ground or melodic pattern
are a way to make strophic songs brighter. For this arrangement, I have used divisions
by Rossi by selecting the variations that suit two singers of equal voices and two treble
instruments. Any two equal instruments would be suitable for the instrumental
ritornelli, and they can be extended through adding or eliminating variations, as the
scene requires.
In the arrangement, the tension rises through the increasing speed and
technical difficulty of the divisions. The cascading scales and rippling trills of the final
phrase (bars 52-54) represent the churning imagery in the poem, “With his eyes
164
John Ward, “Apropos the British Broadside Ballad and its Music.” Journal of the
American Musicological Society 20 (1967), 33.
138
covered/ he flails like a windmill.” The build up prepares for the faster tempo and
broader affect of the second part.
Variation sets are useful for setting lines of irregular length because the number
of syllables can be masked through the use of ornamentation. As long as the strong
syllables are set to strong beats, the shorter phrases can be set using melismas to an
attractive effect. In setting the text, I matched the stanzas to musical phrases with the
form 44 8. The last two lines of poetry of each stanza combine into one longer phrase
with an accent added to the last syllable to create two groups of four stresses.
Blind man’s Buff /part two
I set the second part of Blind Man’s Buff to the four-part Puta nera ballo furlano by
Giorgio Mainerio (1531-1582). The meaning of the title is obscure but is literally Black
Whore Forlano Dance. The Forlano, or Furlano, is a Venetian dance with Slavic roots. It
is a lively, flirtatious and energetic dance for couples, associated in seventeenthcentury French music with exotic Slavs, Armenians, and Gypsies.165 The word nera
(black) could refer to the dark Gypsy or Moor. The semi-nonsense title and
homophonic style both indicate a carnivalesque song. Its homophonic texture is
similar to that of Salamone Rossi’s Ha-Shirim asher li-Shlomo. The accents and spitting
consonants could coincide with actual blows.
The form of the dance is AA’AB’. Internally, it breaks down as AAbbACd. The
music is in cut time, and the foursquare phrases of the dance each have two stressed
beats. The phrases of the A section begin with a pick-up, and the pattern is weak165
Meredith Ellis Little, “Forlano,” Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 20 October
2005), <http://www.grovemusic.com>
139
strong-weak-strong, with the second stressed beat being the strongest. The pick-up
pattern fits the stress of the text perfectly, and the repetitive quality goes well with the
relentless teasing of the assaulting musicians. To create the setting, I matched the
stressed syllables of the text with the accented beats of the music, and added or
eliminated repeated quarter notes to accommodate the number of syllables in the
phrase. This can be adjusted to either one of the scanning options.
For example, in the first phrase of the song, the first half note of bar two must
be divided, and the last quarter note eliminated. Since the phrase is based on a series of
half notes, there is no significant change to the character of the melody.
Fitting the shorter phrases of the B section to the pattern of the music requires
stretching out some syllables. The B sections are also in cut time, but the stresses are
opposite: strong-weak. In the B section of the poetry, the lines have only three stresses,
so the first syllables of the lines are stretched. The added stresses accentuate the
repetitive hee-haw quality of the song.
140
Conclusion
The ease with which the Hebrew lyric poetry weds to the Italian tunes in the
song arrangements is proof that the hypotheses I have posited are valid. Until further
evidence is available, in the form of manuscripts of songs or literary evidence recording
such a practice, there can be no conclusive acceptance or rebuttal of these arguments.
The lone extant example of Salamone Rossi’s wedding ode Le-mi ehpots cannot be cited
as evidence of a larger repertoire of secular Hebrew song. However, the cultivation of
Hebrew secular poetry and the proficiency of song composition and performance by
artists surrounding Leone de’ Sommi both in his lifetime and in the years following,
from which the manuscripts of the play Tsahot bedihuta dekidushin have been preserved,
all point to a strong possibility that similar songs were heard at performances of the
first Hebrew play. Further arrangements are possible based on this model, and I hope
to have the opportunity in the future to explore further the poetry of this period and to
create more arrangements for future performances.
141
Appendix A Texts and Transla tions
142
143
Tlunát ha-‘iṣah/Immanuel
Romano
Ze li ’ṣənatáyim ‘ɐṣér nasáti
Bá’al və’odó chái, və-‘éyn li nó’am.
Yamút bəḥéts barák u-mi-kól rá’am,
‘Az beyn bənót haḥén ‘ehí saráti.
Ha-mávətah yóm yóm ‘ɐní karáti,
Kí niḳsəfáh nafṣí lə-ṣanót tá’am.
Ló ‘edə’á mah ‘aḳarít ha-zá’am,
Yu‘ár və-yovád yóm bə-veitó báti!
‘Er‘eh ṣəḳentí: beyn ṣəlóṣim ḥodeṣ
ṣalóṣ pə’amím ba’ɐlim kavárah.
Kól ha-ṣəɐḳenót ‘omərót: ‘aṣréyha!
The Wife's Complaint/Immanuel Romano,
translated by T. Carmi
Two years have passed since I took a husband,
but he is still alive, and I can have no pleasure.
If only he would die of lightning’s dart or
thunder’s roar, I would be queen among the charming ladies.
Day after day I call for Death to come,
for my soul longs for a change of fare.
I do not know how this outrage will end.
Perish the day when I came into this house!
I see that my neighbor, within the span of thirty months,
has three times buried a husband. All the neighborhood
wives exclaim: “How happy she must be!”
She spurned heroes and princes (for the sake of lovers).
Hí ḥiləlah ‘elím və-sarey kódeṣ.
Like a lioness, she made her lair among young lions, and she Hí ka-ləvi‘ah beyn ‘ɐrayót gárah
lay in their midst, bearing her cubs.
u-vtóḳ kəfirím ribətáh gureyhá.
1.
2.
3.
4.
.‫הִיא חִלְּלָה אֵלִים וְשָׂרֵי קֹדֶשׁ‬
‫הִיא כַּלְּבִיָּא בֵּין אֲרָיוֹת גָּרָה‬
.ָ‫וּבְתוֹךְ כְּפִירִים רבְּתָה גוּרֶיה‬
‫ בֵּין שְׁלוֹשִׁים חוֹדֶשׁ‬:‫אֶרְאֶה שְׁכֶנְתִּי‬
.‫שָׁלוֹשׁ פְּעָמִים בַּעֲלִים קָבָרָה‬
!ָ‫ אַשְׁרֶיה‬:‫ֹּכָּל הַשְׁכֵנוֹת אוֹמְרוֹת‬
,‫הַמָּוְתָה יוֹם יוֹם אֲנִי קָרָאתִי‬
.‫כּי נִכְסְפָה נַפְשִׁי לְשַׁנּוֹת טַעַם‬
,‫לֹא אֵדְעָה מָה אַחָרִית הַזַּעַם‬
!‫יוּאַר וְיֹאבַד יוֹם בְּבֵיתוֹ בַאתִי‬
‫זֶה לִּי שְׁנָתַיִם אֲשֶׁר נָשָׂאתִי‬
.‫ וְאֵין לִי נֹעַם‬,‫וְעוֹדוֹ חַי‬-‫בַּעַל‬
,‫יָמוּת בְּחֵץ בָּרָק וּמִקּוֹל רַעַם‬
.‫אָז בֵּין בְּנוֹת הַחֵן אֱהִי שָׂרָתִי‬
/‫תלונת האשה‬
‫עמנואל הרומי‬
144
Tlunát ha-betuláh/ Immanuel
Romano (c.1265-1335)
Ṣadáy nəḳoním, sa’arí tsiméaḥ
va-‘eṣəváh ’eiróm və-’ɐryáh vóṣet.
Dodím lə’anyí yarə‘ú mi-géṣet
Va‘eṣəvá va-róṣ bə-véyt marzeáḥ.
‘Eyḳ yihəyéh ’od ha-ləváv saméaḥ?
‘Afsú ḳəsafáy, ‘eyn zəháv u-nḳóṣet.
‘Eyḳ ‘emtsə‘áh vá’al ‘ɐní u-ṣlóṣet
‘aḥyót gədolót li, və-lév gonéaḥ.
Mah ‘oməráh, dodáy: ’ɐtsamáy ḥáru,
‘O ’Ím zəmán bogéd bərít eḳróta?
’Áfu ṣənotáy, paṣətú ḳa-yélek.
Gám yaṣəvú sarím u-ví nidbáru:
‘Iṣá ɐṣér tamút btuláh niḳrəta,
‘Eyn lah bə-’olám ha-nṣamót ḥélek!
The Virgin’s Complaint/ Immanuel Romano
(c.1265-1335) translated by T. Carmi
My breasts are firm and my hair is long
Yet I still sit in nakedness and shame.
My poverty has frightened away all the suitors/and I sit (as
if) at the head of the table in the house of mourning.
How can I ever rejoice when all my silver is gone and I have
no gold or bronze?
How will I ever find a husband when all I have are three
older (impoverished) sisters and a groaning heart?
How can I tell, suitors, if my bones will be scorched (by
desire)/or if I will be able to strike a bargain with
treacherous Time? My years are flying away,
spreading their wings like locusts!
And what is more, the wise men sit and scheme together
against me: “She that dies a virgin is cut off;
she will have no share in the world to come!”
1.
2.
3.
4.
:‫גַּם יָשְׁבוּ שָׂרִים וּבִי נִדְבָּרוּ‬
,‫נִכְרְתָה‬-‫אִשָּׁה אֲשֶׁר תָּמוּת בְּתוּלָה‬
!‫אֵין לָהּ בְּעוֹלַם הַנְשָׁמוֹת חֵלֶק‬
,‫ עֲצָמַי חָרוּ‬:‫ דּוֹדַי‬,‫מָה אֹמְרָה‬
?‫אוֹ עִם זְמָן בּוֹגֵד בְּרִית אֶכְרֹתָה‬
.‫ פָּשְׁטוּ כַיֶלֶק‬,‫עָפוּ שְׁנוֹתַי‬
?ַ‫אֵיךְ יִהְיֶי עוֹד הַלְּבַב שָׂמֵח‬
.‫ אֵין זְהַב וּנְחוֹשֶׁת‬,‫אָפְסוּ כְסָפַי‬
‫ וּשְׁלֹשֶׁת‬-‫אֵיךְ אֶמְצְאָה בַעַל אֲנִי‬
.ַ‫ וְלֵב גּוֹנֵח‬,‫אַחְיוֹת גְדוֹלוֹת לִי‬
,ַ‫ שַׂעֲרִי צִמֵּח‬,‫שָׁדַי נְכוֹנִים‬
.‫וָאֵשְׁבָה עֵירֹם וְעֶרְיָה בֹשֶׁת‬
,‫דֹּוֹדִים לְעָנְיִי יָרְאוּ מִגֶּשֶׁת‬
.ַ‫וָאֵשְׁבָה בָרֹאשׁ בְּבֵית מַרְזֵח‬
/‫תלונת הבתולה‬
(c.1265-1335) ‫עמנואל הרומי‬
145
4.
All my thoughts are gathered in your body, and all of them
melt like wax in your flame.
‫ וְזִיו מַרְאֵךְ יְשׁוֹדֵד‬,ְ‫ישֵׁנָה אַתּ‬
.ַ‫תְנוּמָה מִבְּנוֹת עֵינַי וְשֵׁנָה‬
You are asleep, but your splendor robs my eyes of all
slumber.
3.
bə-tsalméḳ kól məzímotáy kənúsím,
və-ḳadunág bətóch ‘ishéḳ nəmasím.
Yəṣenáh ‘at, və-zív mar‘éḳ yəṣodéd
tənumáh mi-bənót ’eynáy vəṣeynáh.
‫ אֲנִי צוּרִים אֲעוֹדֵד‬,ְ‫יְשֵׁנָה אַתּ‬
.‫בְּמַכְאוֹבִי וְאַחְשִׁיךְ הַלְבָנָה‬
You are asleep, but I summon cliffs to witness my pain, and I Yəṣenáh ‘at, ‘ɐní tsurím ‘ɐ’odéd
blacken the moon.
bə-mach‘oví və-‘achṣích ha-ləvanáh.
2.
,‫בְּצַלְמֵךְ כָּל מְזִימּוֹתַי כְּנוּסִים‬
.‫וְכַדּוּנַג בְּתוֹךְ אִשֵּׁךְ נְמַסּים‬
‫ אֲנִי נֵעוֹר וְנוֹדֵד‬,ְ‫יְשֵׁנָה אַתּ‬
.‫ עֲדִינָה‬,ְ‫וּמִתְנַמְנֵם סְבִיב בֵּיתֵך‬
Yəṣenáh ‘at, ‘ɐní ne‘ór və-nodéd
u-mitnamném səvív beytéch,
’adináh.
You are asleep, but I am awake, wandering about, drowsily
walking around your house.
1.
‫ישנה את‬
(1527 ‫)נפתר‬/‫יוסף צרפתי‬
Yəṣenáh ‘at, ‘ɐní ne‘ór vənodéd/Joseph Tsarfati (d.1527)
To his sleeping mistress/ Joseph Tsarfati (died
1527) Translated by T. Carmi
146
Even after my death, Man goes on beating me: then my voice Gám ‘aḥɐrey motí ‘enóṣ yakení:
rolls, and the troops and officers and kings rush to my call. ‘Etsraḥ bə-kól gadól, və-li yarútsu
Kól yotsə‘ey tsavá və-róṣ va-méleḳ.
To the rock of my salvation I say: make haste, grant me the
privilege of carrying your messiah, so that Your children
should no longer be scattered in every corner like paupers
and vagabonds.
3.
4.
‫ זָכֵּנִי‬:‫אֶל צוּר יְשׁוּעוֹת אֹמְרָה‬
‫ וְלֹא יָפוּצוּ‬,‫לָשֵׂאת מְשִׁיחָךְ חִישׁ‬
.ְ‫בָּנִים בְּכָל פִּנָּה כְּדַל וָחֵלֶך‬
:‫גַּם אַחֲרֵי מוֹתִי אֱנוֹשׁ יַכֵּנִי‬
‫ וְלִי יָרוּצוּ‬,‫אֶצְרַח בְּקוֹל גָּדוֹל‬
.ְ‫כָּל יוֹצְאֵי צָבַא וְרֹאשׁ וָמֶלֻך‬
Eṣkón bə-mó ḥorbáh u-va-mafólet,
ka-tsár bə-’ír mivtsár, u-fétach
‘ayin.
‘Esá bə-ḳorót ts‘ón u-minḳát káyin,
Hoy, hoy, ləvád dardár ləfí makólet!
I live in rubble, barred like
an enemy in a fortified town, with no
way out. I carry the first fruits of the
soil, but oh! My only food is thistles.
2.
‘El tsúr yəṣu’ót ‘omərá: zakéni
lasét məṣiḥéḳ ḥiṣ, və-ló yafútsu
baním bəḳól pináh kədál vaḳéleḳ.
,‫אֶשְׁכֹּן בְּמוֹ חָרְבָּה וּבַמַּפֹּלֶת‬
.‫ וּפֶתַח אַיִן‬,‫כַּצַּר בְּעִיר מִבְצָר‬
,‫אֶשָׂא בְּכוֹרוֹת צֹאן וּמִנְחַת קַיִן‬
!‫ לְבַד דַרְדַּר לְפִי מַכֹּלֶת‬,‫ הוֹי‬,‫הוֹי‬
Lámah ’ɐléy ṣiḳmí yəvi‘ún sólet,
u-vəfí yəhí téven, və-léḥem ‘áyin?
‘Eṣté bə-méy vorót, və-‘esá yáyin.
Makél yəsiméni rətsúts gulgólet.
Why is my back loaded with fine flour,
while in my mouth there is no bread at all
but only straw? I drink well water,
though I carry wine, And the stick
keeps fracturing my skull.
,‫לָמָה עֲלֵי שִׁכְמִי יְבִיאוּן סֹלֶת‬
?‫ וְלֶחֶם אַיִן‬,‫וּבְפִי יְהִי תֶבֶן‬
.‫ וְאֶשָּׂא יַיִן‬,‫אֶשְׁתֶּה בְּמֵי בוֹרוֹת‬
.‫מַקֵּל יְשִׂמֵנִי רְצוּץ גֻלְגֹּלֶת‬
‫שׁמוּאל‬/‫שיר שמולל החמור‬
(1515-1611) ‫ארקווֹלטִי‬
1.
The Donkey Riddle/Samuel Archevolti (1515-1611) Ṣir ṣemolél haḥa-mór/ Samuel
translated by T. Carmi
Archevolti (1515-1611)
147
Listen to my words
Beautiful, wise and honest ladies
For I will riddle you a riddle
To argue against the treacherous bands
Of old men, who have
Shamed you to the stars
And I will be your shield
To defend you in every way.
And thou art lovely my bride
You inspire me
To add my voice
To the defense of women,
Aid me in this contest
Against the slander
That insults the Lord
And demeans the world.
The eyes of a fellow Mantuan
Are struck blind.
He has set out to insult you,
But his words
Are folly and madness.
He is a fool,
Though superior in his knowledge
Of medicine and surgery.
1.
2.
3.
In the Defense of Women/Leone de' Sommi
(1525-1590) trans. A. Levenstein and R. Weiss
based on H. Schirmann ed.
in fisica et chirurgia.
u-vzót ’atsató hiskíl
gam ki ’al re’áv hiskíl
a biasmarv'in modo strano
ch'in ciò ben fu mattto e vano
Ṣe- sám məgamát panáv
già d'un nostro Mantovano
Mə-rə‘ót táḥu ’eynáv
e co’l mondo villania.
néged divəréy to’áh
shə’asú ’im ‘el ra’áh
che mi chiami a questa impresa
lə’orér məlitsatí
delle Donnne alla difesa
dammi aiuto a la conte-sa
Və‘át yáfah ra’yatí
per diffendervi a ogni via.
he’elú ‘et ḥerpatḳén
va-‘ɐní magén laḳén
contra queste chiurme felle
degli vecchi che a le stelle
kí ‘aḥúda ḥidáti
donne sagge honeste e belle
Ṣim’uná ‘et divratí
Magén naṣím/Leone de'
Sommi (1525-1590)
‫מֵרְאוֹת טָחוּ עֵינָיו‬
Già d'un nostro mantovano
‫שֶׁשָּׂם מְגַמַּת פָּנָיו‬
A biasmarvi in modo strano
Ch'in ciò ben fu matto e vano
‫וּבְזֹאת עֲצָתוֹ הִסְכִּיל‬
‫גַּם כִּי עַל רֵעָיו הִשְׂכִּיל‬
In fisica et chirurgia.
‫וְאַּתְּ יָפָה רַעְיָתִי‬
Che mi chiami a questa impresa
‫לְעוֹרֵר מְלִיצָתִי‬
Delle donne alla difesa
Dammi aiuto a la contesa
‫נֶגֶד דִּבְרֵי תוֹעָה‬
‫שֶׁעָשׂוּ עִם אֵל רָעָה‬
e col mondo villania.
‫שִׁמְעוּ נָא אֶת דִּבְרָתִי‬
Donne sagge honeste e belle
‫כִּי אָחוּדָה חִידָתִי‬
Contra queste chiurme felle
Degli vecchi che a le stelle
‫הֶעֱלוּ אֶת חֶרְפַּתְכֶן‬
‫וַאֲנִי מָגֵן לָכֶן‬
Per diffendervi a ogni via.
‫יהודה סומו‬/‫מגן נשׁים‬
(1525-1590)
148
I will never tire of telling of
The Hebrew women of antiquity,
The pious ones and the prophetesses,
Because even if I sing
A thousand praises
They are nothing but a grain of sand in the sea
And so I shall desist
From praising Rachel or Leah.
For the wisdom of Esther,
Her grace and virtues
Haman was vanquished
When he betrayed the Hebrews.
Along with him, were seen
His ten sons hanging from a tree;
Mordechai was honored as a Counselor
And rose to power thanks to her.
The wise Roman lady
To whom I bow down in my mind
Killed herself
Because of Tarquinio’s insult.
That is why he died despondent
Humiliated and ashamed
While she gave her life
For honor immemorial.
21.
22.
26.
Al honor che mai s’oblia.
Bə-kalón ḥerpáh‿ u-vúṣah
Və-hí natənáh nafṣáh
Per l’ingiuria di Tarquino
Onde poi mori il meschino
Harəgáh hi ‘et ’atsmah
Ch’ognor co’l pensier inchino
Ha-romiyít ḥaḳamáh
per sua causa in signoria.
’Éser banáv ’al ha’éts
vayhi Mordəḳái yo’éts
poi ch’avea gl'Hebrei venduti
anco fur con lui veduti
nitán Hamán li-mṣisá
per sua gratia e sui virtuti
Hen bə-tsidkát Hadasáh,
A laudar Rachel o Lia.
Hémah kəgargír ḥardál
Toḳ ha-yám ’al ken ‘eḥdál
A narrar no m’affatico
Che se mille lodi io dico
Ḥɐsidót gam nəvi‘ót
Che giá furo al tempo antico
Mi-naṣím ha-’ivriót
‫הָרוֹמִיית חֲכָמָה‬
Ch'ogn'hor co'l pensier inchino
‫הָרְגָה הִיא אֶת עַצְמָהּ‬
Per l'ingiuria di Tarquino
‫בְּקָלוֹן חֶרְפָּה וּבוּשָׁה‬
‫וְהִיא נָתְנָה נַפְשָׁהּ‬
Onde poi mori il meschino
Al honor che mai s'oblia.
‫הֵן בְּצִדְקַת הֲדַסָּה‬
Per sua gratia e sui virtuti
‫נִתַּן הָמָן לִמְשִׁסָּה‬
Poi ch'avea gl'ebrei venduti
Anco fur con lui veduti
‫עֶשֶׂר בָּנָיו עַל הָעֵץ‬
‫וַיְהִי מָרְדְּכַי יוֹעֵץ‬
Per sua causa in signioria.
‫מִנָּשִׁים הָעִבְרִיּוֹת‬
Che già furo al tempo antico
‫חֲסִידוֹת גַּם נְבִיאוֹת‬
A narrar no m'affatico
Che se mille lodi io dico
‫הֵמָּה כְּגַרְגִּיר חַרְדָּל‬
‫ּתּוֹךְ הַיָּם עַל כֵּן אֵחְדַּל‬
A laudar Rachel o Lia.
149
Among the Greek women
I see the chaste and beautiful Hippo
The daughter of gentlefolk and officers.
To escape a calumny
She wished to die
So she submerged her body
In the bitter water
To be saved from the fate of a bad name.
Look around you
And see the girls
In the spring
When the sun is so pleasant and clear
And Gentile is grooming the lovely maidens.
Who can appraise her generosity
And imagine the wisdom of Hannah?
What mind will suffice for that?
She lives in the city
Known as the Mother of Sciences.
It is Bologna, and there dwells God
When my chosen Diva
Was consecrated in delight
She is accustomed to silk
Her manners are fine,
And her generosity is unequaled.
28.
36.
49.
A cui par non fú ne sia.
‘emunáh ’aley tol’a
və-lindivút titgal’a
Quando la mia diva eletta
In dilitie fú concetta
Hí Bolónyah‿ u-váh lán Yáh
Che madre é di studii detta
Hí yoṣévet bə-kiryáh
Qual ingegno bastaria?
u-ndivutáh mi manáh
u-ltsayér ḥaḳmót ḥanah
E si grato e chiaro il sole
Si gentil le grazie cole
‘im bəḥódeṣ ha-‘avív
E vedrete le figlole
Pənú na laḳém savív
per fuggir nome d’impia.
‘et gupáh taḥɐrím
toḳ ha-máyim ha-marím
Per scampar da infamia fella
Patir voles morte, ond’ella
Bát nədivím u-ktsiním
Veggo Hippo casta e bella
Mi-bənót ha-yəvaním
‫הִיא יוֹשֶׁבֶת בְּקִרְיָה‬
Che madre è di studii detta
‫הִיא בּוֹלוּניָא וּבָהּ לָן יָהּ‬
Quando la mia diva eletta
In dilitii fù concetta
‫אֱמוּנָה עֲלֵי תוֹלָע‬
‫וְלִנְדִיבוּת תִתגַלַע‬
A cui par non fù ne sia.
‫פְּנוּ נָא לָכֶם סָבִיב‬
E vedrete le figluole
‫אִם בְּחֹדֶָשׁ הָאָבִיב‬
E si grato e chiaro il sole
Si Gentile le grazie cole
‫וּנְדִיבוּתָהּ מִי מָנָה‬
‫וּלְצַיֵר חָכְמוֹת חַנָּה‬
Qual ingegno bastaria?
‫מִבְּנוּת הַיְוָנִים‬
Veggo Hippo casta e bella
‫בַּת נְדִיבִים וּקְצִינִים‬
Per scampar da infamia fella
Patir volse morte, ond'ella
‫אֶת גּוּפּה תַּחֲרִים‬
‫ּתּוֹךְ הַמַּיִם הַמָּרִים‬
Per fuggir nome d'impia.
150
50.
Hide her name
Song of our love
But reveal my name and my memory
And make it known everywhere.
Say without blushing,
"Yehuda is my poet
for my lot in life is
to honor my mistress."
D’honorar la donna mia.
Yəhudáh məḥokəkí
Ki zeh bə-tevél ḥelkí
Fa palese e dallo fuore
Di pur via senza rossore
‘aḳ ṣəmi və-ṣem ziḳri
Canzon mia nostro amore
‘Et ṣəmáh tasetíri
‫אֶת שׁמָהּ תַּסְתִּירִי‬
Canzon mia nostro amore
‫אַךְ שְׁמִי וְשֵׁם זִכְרִי‬
Fa palese e dallo fuore
Di pur via senza rossore
‫יְהוּדָה מְחוֹקְקִי‬
‫כִּי זֶה בְּתֵבֵל חֶלְקִי‬
D'honorar la donna mia.
151
(1527-1592)
‫צחות בדיחותא‬/‫משחק עברים‬
‫דקידושׁין מאת יהודה סומו‬
MusiciansLike Samson, son of Manoach,
blind and weak,
he will be a laughing stock
when, like a bird, he is caught in our net.
MenagnimKmo Ṣimṣón bənó manóaḥ
Ne’ədár rə’út va-ḳó-aḥ
Tsəḥók lifléṣet
Hayáh bə’ét nilkád ka’óf baréṣet.
Pash-hur: Why are all those near to him avoiding him?
That is not right. Go forward, and warm your hands on him.
1
:‫מנגנים‬
ַ‫כְּמוֹ שִׁמְשׁוֹן בְּנוֹ מָנוֹח‬
ַ‫נֶעְדַּר רְאוּת וָֹכֹח‬
‫צְחוֹק לִפְלֶשֶׁת‬
.‫הָיָה בְּעֵת נִלְכַּד כָּעוֹף בָּרֶשֶׁת‬
Ovad: Could it be, Master Shoval, that your Honor is Yedidiah’s slave now, like us?
Shoval: Take my life, for death is more becoming to me!
Pash-hur: Could it be? Are you suffering?
Yedidiah: His slaves will teach him lesson now.
Pash-hur: Please, sir, if you will, let us console ourselves for the wretchedness which Shoval inflicted on us.
The boys I brought from the court house will play with him, and he will crawl along the wall as they beat him.
In his wounds we will all be healed.
Yedidiah: Why do you seek pleasure when I can find none?
Pash-hur: Tie your afflictions to his neck, and let them beat it til they are gone.
Pash-hur: Come, my brothers, come, sing to him, improve his skipping with your blows!
And you, Shoval, this is your reward, for you were shortsighted, and therefore you will be in darkness now.
“Thus it shall be done to the man who cares for himself more than for his Master's honor.”
Blind Man’s Buff/ A Comedy of Betrothal by Leone de Tseḥok Ṣimṣon/ Tsaḥut
Sommi (1527-1592) tran. A. Levenstein and R.
bediḥuta dekiduṣin, Leone de
Weiss
Sommi (1527-1592)
152
Menagnim:
Bə-li ’osher u-vli da’at
Shoval bə-vuz u-va’at
Bə-voṣet netsaḥ
hesaḥ gə‘on libo və-hiṣpil
metsaḥ.
Kə-kóts mu-nád və-ḳi vlí yá’al
yeréd ’im gə‘onó yá’al
və-nád mi-náḥat
Ṣovál mə‘ód ’olán ke-’ól ka-láḳat.
Nidmeh bəli ’einayim
toḥen bətoḳ reḥayim.
Ki va-ḥalomo ’oṣer
ra‘ah u-matsa ḳoṣerbə-fakḥo ’ayin
yir'eh və-yado ‘ayin.
Musicians:
With neither wealth nor wisdom
Shoval is shamed and afraid.
In eternal humiliation.
He swallows his pride, and bows his head.
Like a thistle and a fool.
Shoval will fall
and know no peace
as he blusters in his misery.
With his eyes covered
he flails like a windmill.
In his dream of wealth
he found occasion,
but when his eyes were opened
he saw his hands were empty.
‫נִדְמֶה בְּלִי עֵינַיִם‬
.‫טוֹחֵן בְּתוֹךְ רֵחַיִם‬
‫כִּי בַחֲלוֹמוֹ עֹשֶׁר‬
-‫רָאָה וּמָצָא כֹשֶׁר‬
‫בְּפָקְחוֹ עַיִן‬
.‫יִרְאֶה בְיָדוֹ אָיִן‬
‫כְּקוֹץ מֻנָד וְכִבְלִיַעַל‬
‫יֵרֵד אִם גְּאוֹנוֹ יַעַל‬
‫וְנָד מִנַּחַת‬
.‫שׁוֹבָל מְאֹד עולן כעול קַלַּחַת‬
:‫מנגנים‬
‫בְּלִי עֹשֶׁר וּבְלִי דַעַת‬
‫שׁוֹבָל בְּבוּז וּבַעַת‬
‫בְּבוֹשֶׁת נֶצַָח‬
.‫הֵשַׂח גְאוֹן לִבּוֹ וְהִשׁפִּיל מֶצַח‬
Pash-hur: Here is that greedy Rabbi.
Obad: Look, my lord and Father-in-Law, at the image of your lofty son-in-law!
Rabbi Greedy: See now, my champions, if there is a sorrow like unto my sorrow!
I am being made the laughing stock by unnamed slaves whom I would not house with my dogs!
Pash-hur: So it is fitting.- And you, my friends and lovers, singers and players; greet him, and defeat him with the vapors
from your mouths.
2
153
May you stew in your juices,
and drown in them.
The day you strived for more than your share,
You were struck with the soul of an Ass.
We will rejoice in you!
Men greater than you we will bring down.
Musicians:
Behold the groom you found,
Greedy! On a holiday you
rushed to ride upon the horse
and loaded mule, and you were straight away thrown!
Musicians:
Flee, Shoval, for you thought
to rule on a throne!
Not only are you bald,
but now you are blind, bald and lame.
Menagnim:
Léḳ, Ṣovál ‘ɐsher ḥaṣávtah
Límlóḳ bə-kés yaṣávta!
“ ’ɐlé keréaḥ”
nikrá ’al ’ivér “ ’ɐléh piséaḥ.”
Tir-gáz tá-chat á-ven,
tit-bá bə-tít ha-yá-ven
Yom ki kach nech-shák-ta
né-fesh chɐ-mor nid-bák-ta.
Bə-chá na-gí-la,
ráv mim-chá na-pí-la!
Menagnim:
Rə'éh ḥatán ‘aṣér matsáta
Ḥemdán bə-yóm tov báta,
və-lirkóv ‘átsta
péred və-sús ta’ún;
və-ḥísh ravátsta.
Rabbi Greedy: Please, dear sir, please call our troubles off, for all his distress is mine as well.
Yedidiah: Let him go. My heart goes out to Master Greedy, for he is a Master.
And you, Shoval, know your place, and do not reach for higher station than you can attain.
4.
Shoval: Who is blind but your slave, Sir Yedidiah?
Yedidiah: Did you see how he surrendered?
Pash-hur: This time he will survive to tell the tale.
3.
:‫מנגנים‬
ָ‫ אֲשֶׁר חָשַׁבְתּ‬,‫ שׁוֹבָל‬,ָ‫לֵך‬
!ָ‫לִמְלֹּךְ בְּכֵס יָשַׁבְתּ‬
"ַ‫"עֲלֵה קֵרֵח‬
".ַ ‫נִקְרָא עַל עִוֵר "עֲלֵה פּסֵּח‬
‫תִּרְגַּז תַּחַת אָוֶן‬
,‫תִּטבַּע בְּטִיט הַיָוֵן‬
ָּ‫יוֹם כִּי כָךְ נֶחְשַׁקְת‬
.ָ‫נֶפֶשׁ חֲמוֹר נִדְבַּקְתּ‬
‫בְּךָ נָגִילָה‬
.‫רַבב מִמְךָ נַפִּילָה‬
:‫מנגנים‬
,ָ‫רְאֵה חָתָן אֲשֶׁר מָצָאת‬
ָ‫ בְּיוֹם טוֹב בָּאת‬,‫חֶמְדָּן‬
ָ‫וְלִרְכּוֹב אַצְת‬
.ָּ‫וְחִישׁ רָבַצְת‬-‫פֶּרֶד וְסוּס טָעוּן‬
Appendix B Scores
154
Tlunat ha-isha (The Wife's Lament)
Reconstructed and edited
by Anna Levenstein ©2004
TextImmanuel Romano
˙.
4
.
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w
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w
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V 44 ..
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&
&
V
˙.
Gasparo Zanetti
Giovanni Stefani
˙.
bœ
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œ œ œ œ #˙
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b˙
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155
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& ‰ œJ œ œ œ œ œ œ
13
?˙
Ze li she - na - ta - yim a
-
˙
œ œ œ. œ œ
‰ œ . œ œ œ œ œ œJ
˙
˙
sher
na - sa - ti
œ
ba - al ve - o - do chai ve
œ
j
& œ œ œ œ œ œ ‰œ œ œ œ œ ≈ œ œ œ œ . œ œ œ
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21
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27
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œ
?w
az beyn be-not ha - chen e
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& ..
˙
u-mi-kol ra-am
œ œ œ œ
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œ
œœ˙
-
hi sa-ra
œ
˙
eyn li no-am.
œ ˙
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˙
17
ya-mut be-chets ba-rak
-
œœ œœ ˙
-
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ti.
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#˙
b˙
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156
˙
.
& ‰ œJ œ œ œJ œ œJ œ
?˙
Ha - ma vta yom yom a - ni
˙
˙
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
œ. œ œ
œ
33
ka - ra
-
œ
ti,
ki nich - se - fa naf - shi
œ
˙
&œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ≈œ œ œ œ œ
37
?œ
lo
& ..
41
e - da ma a - cha rit ha - za - am,
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47
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&
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œ
œ
le - sha - not ta - am.
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yom be vey - to ba
œ
-
˙
œ
˙
ti.
˙
œ œ œ œ
˙
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bœ
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w
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yu - ar ve - yo - vad
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157
˙
œ œ
& ‰ œJ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ . œ œ ‰ œ . œ œ œ œ
œœ œ ˙
?˙
œ
53
˙
˙
Er - eh she- chen - ti beyn she - lo - shim cho - desh
œ
& œ œ œ œ ‰ œ œ œ œ
57
?œ
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kol ha - shche - not
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61
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.
.
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67
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j
œ ≈ œ . œ. œ
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o - me - rot a - shrey - ha,
˙
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kol
ha - shche
œ
˙
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ka - va - ra.
œ œ œ. œ ˙
œ
not om - rot
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a - shrey
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b˙
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w
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b˙
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?w
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sha - losh pe - a - mim ba - lim
œ œ œ œ
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#˙
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ha.
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w
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158
˙
&‰ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
?˙
˙
œ. œ œ
œ
73
˙
Hi chi - le - la e - lim ve - sa - rey
cho
œ
-
desh
œ. œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
˙
œ œ
˙
hi ka - le- vi - ha beyn a- ra - yot
œ
˙
˙
ga - ra,
& œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ≈ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ. œ ˙
77
?œ
œ
˙
u-ve-toch ke-fi-rim ri-be-ta gu - rey - ha,
& ..
81
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.
.
&
V ..
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87
&
&
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ke - fi - rim rib - ta
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gu - rey
-
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œ œ œ œ œ #˙
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bœ
˙.
œ b˙
˙
w
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w
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w
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w
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w
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œ
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œ œ œ bœ œ œ
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œ
?w
œ
u - ve - toch
˙
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˙
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w
..
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w
..
˙
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˙
w
˙
˙
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159
˙
Tlunat ha-betula (The Virgin's Lament)
Reconstructed & edited
by Anna Levenstein ©2004
TextImmanuel Romano
Biaggio Marini
Benedetto Sanseverino
bœ
& b C Œ ‰ œJ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
˙
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˙
j
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œ
& b ˙.
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œ
œ
œ
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& b ˙.
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160
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18
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Sha - dai
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22
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161
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26
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34
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38
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42
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ha - le - vav
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od
fsu
che - sa - fay
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50
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cha - yot
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shet.
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sa - me
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li
ve - lev go - ne
˙
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ach.
˙
& b .. œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ # w
..
& b .. œ œ œ # œ œ œ œ œ # œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ # œ œ œ œ w
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54
? b .. ˙
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163
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58
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66
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62
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70
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164
w
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& b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ #w
74
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b
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78
? b .. Ó
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Gam
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82
86
tah,
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ni
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165
ba
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be
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90
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94
&b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ w
œ
#œ
? b ˙.
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˙.
œ
166
˙
˙
w
Yeshena at (You are Sleeping)
Reconstructed and edited
by Anna Levenstein ©2004
TextJoseph Tsarfati
Giovanni Stefani
V b C .. Œ ˙
? b C ..
˙
6
Ye
Ye
Ye
Be
˙
ded
ded
ded
sim
u
be
te
ve
˙.
œ w
V b ˙.
œ ˙
tech
ha
nay
shech
?b
-
˙
˙
a
le
ve
ne
- di
- va
- shey
- ma
˙
Vb œ
œ
œ
?b
œ
œ
16
viv
bey - tech
ach - shich ha not
ey - nay
toch
i - shech
œ
at a - ni
at a - ni
at ve - ziv
kolme - zi -
˙
œ œ œ œ nœ
Ó
11
œœ ˙
she - na
she - na
she - na
tsal-mech
.
Vb w
?b
-
œ ˙.
œ
œ
-
na,
na,
na,
sim,
˙
˙
a
le
ve
ne
- di - va - shey - ma -
œ
˙
ne
tsu
mar
mo
˙
œ œ œ œ œ œœœœ
˙.
- or
- rim
- ech
- tay
ve - no e - o ye - sho ke - nu -
w
-
nam
o ma
du
œ
œ
u
be
te
ve
œ œ ˙
na.
na.
na,
sim.
˙
-
-
nœ
nem
- vi
mi
nag
˙
..
..
167
-
-
œ ˙.
se
ve
be
be
-
˙
- viv
- ach
- not
- toch
mit
mach
nu
cha
-
nam
o
ma
du
œ
œ
œ nœ
-
-
-
œ
bey shich
ey i -
-
˙
˙
œ œ œn œ œ n œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙
˙
˙
-
-
w
œ nœ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙.
- mit
- mach
- nu
- cha
˙
˙
nem
vi
mi nag
˙
˙
se
ve
be
be
˙
-
Donkey Riddle
Reconstructed and edited
by Anna Levenstein©2004
Text Samuel Archevolti
&b C œ
La
Vb C
œ
-
La
-
Vb C œ
La
-
La
-
?b C œ
.. œ œ œ œ ˙ œ œ
..
ma a- ley shich - mi ye - vi
ve fi ye - hi
te - ven ve
œ œ œ œ ˙.
Vb
œ
-
Esh
Ma
-
Esh
Ma
-
Esh
Ma
-
bœ
Vb
?b œ
œ #œ œ œ
un
so
le - chem a
-
ye - vi - un
so
ven ve le - chem a
-
.. œ œ œ œ ˙ œ œ
-
un
so
le - chem a
-
ma a- ley shich - mi ye - vi
ve fi ye - hi
te - ven ve
-
un
so
le - chem a
-
.. œ œ œ œ ˙ œ œ
teh be - mey vo - rot
kel ye - si - me - ni
˙
˙
ve
re
teh be - mey vo - rot
kel ye - si - me - ni
ve
re
-
teh be - mey vo - rot
kel ye - si - me - ni
˙
teh be - mey vo - rot
kel ye - si - me - ni
.. œ œ œ œ
.. œ œ œ œ
˙.
168
2
˙.
-
let?
-
-
-
let?
-
-
-
let?
-
-
œ œ œ œ
œ œ œ œ œ
œ .. ˙ .
1
let?
-
œ œ œ œ
ma a- ley shich - mi ye - vi
ve fi ye - hi
te - ven ve
.. œ œ œ œ
-
œ œ œ œ œ œ
ma a- ley shich - mi
ve fi ye - hi
te -
& b œ œ .. œ œ œ œ
Esh
Ma
-
Giorgio Mainerio
˙
˙
˙
˙
U
˙
U
˙
U
œ œ œ #œ
U
-
yin.
.. ˙ .
-
yin.
.. ˙ .
-
yin.
.. ˙ .
-
yin.
..
˙.
-
e - sa ya
tsuts gul - go
œ œ ˙
-
yin.
let.
-
..
-
e - sa ya
tsuts gul - go
-
yin.
let.
-
..
˙
ve
re
-
e - sa ya
tsuts gul - go
œ œ ˙
-
yin.
let.
ve
re
-
-
e - sa ya
tsuts gul - go
-
yin.
let.
-
œ œ
-
-
œ œ ˙
˙.
n˙.
˙.
..
-
&b C œ
&b C
Esh
œ
-
Esh
-
Vb C œ
Esh
-
Esh
-
? Cœ
b
.. œ œ œ œ ˙
œ œ
.. œ œ œ œ ˙
kon be-mo chor - ba
tsar be- ir miv - tsar
kon be-mo chor - va
tsar be- ir miv - tsar
.. œ œ œ œ ˙
kon be-mo-vhor - va
tsar be- ir miv - tsar
.. œ œ œ œ ˙
kon be-mo chor - va
tsar be- ir miv - tsar
& b œ œ .. œ œ œ œ
&b
Vb
E
Hoy,
œ
-
E
Hoy,
bœ
-
E
Hoy,
-
E
Hoy,
-
?b œ
.. œ œ œ œ
œ #œ œ œ
u - va
ma
u - fe - tach
œ œœ ˙
-
fo
a
-
u - va - ma
u - fe - tach
-
fo
a
-
u - va - ma
u - fe - tach
-
fo
a
-
u - va - ma
u - fe - tach
-
fo
a
-
œ œ
œ œ
˙
˙
be - cho - rot
tson
le - vad dar - dar
˙
sa
hoy
be - cho - rot
tson
le - vad dar - dar
u
le
sa
hoy,
be - cho - rot
tson
le - vad - dar - dar
˙
sa
hoy
be - cho - rot
tson
le - vad dar - dar
u
le
.. œ œ œ œ
˙
˙
2
˙.
-
let.
-
-
-
let.
-
Ka
-
-
-
let.
-
Ka
-
-
-
let.
-
Ka
-
-
˙
˙
˙
Ka
˙
˙
˙
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ #œ
sa
hoy,
.. œ œ œ œ
˙
œ .. ˙ .
1
˙
˙.
˙
169
u
le
-
-
-
yin.
.. ˙ .
-
-
-
yin.
-
yin.
-
yin.
-
.. ˙ .
.. ˙ .
..
˙.
- min - chat ka
- fi ma - ko
œ œ ˙
-
yin.
let.
min - chat ka
fi - ma - ko
-
yin.
let.
- min - chat ka
- fi - ma - ko
œ œ ˙
-
yin.
let.
min - chat ka
fi ma - ko
-
yin.
let.
œœ œ œ ˙
u
le
-
˙.
..
..
n˙
˙.
-
..
&b C œ
.. œ œ œ œ ˙
œ œ
œ
.. œ œ œ œ ˙
œ œ œ ˙
-
e - nosh - ya
-
.. œ œ œ œ ˙
œ œ
˙
˙
.. œ œ œ œ ˙
e - nosh
œ œ
ya
ke
e - nosh
ya
ke
Gam
Vb C
a - cha - rey mo - ti
Gam
-
Vb C œ
Gam
-
?b C œ
Gam
Vb
Vb
?
a - cha - rey mo - ti
a - cha - rey mo - ti
Ets
Kol
œ
-
Ets
Kol
bœ
-
Ets
Kol
-
Ets
Kol
-
b œ
e - nosh
a - cha - rey mo - ti
& b œ œ .. œ œ œ œ
.. œ œ œ œ
œ #œ œ œ
ya
˙
˙
˙
teh be - mey vo - rot
yo - tse - ey tsa - va
ve
ve
˙.
teh be - mey vo - rot
yo - tse - ey tsa - va
˙
˙
teh be - mey vo - rot
yo - tse - ey tsa - va
ve
ve
.. œ œ œ œ
˙.
ni.
Gam
˙
˙
˙
ke
ni.
Gam
˙
˙
-
ni.
Gam
-
ni.
Gam
˙
-
-
2
˙
˙
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ #œ
rach be - kol - ga - dol
yo - tse - ey tsa - va
.. œ œ œ œ
ke
œ .. ˙ .
1
170
ve
ve
-
ni.
-
ni.
-
.. ˙ .
.. ˙ .
ni.
..
˙.
œ œ ˙
-
tsu.
lech.
e - sa ya
rosh va - vhe
-
yin.
lech.
- e - sa
ya
- rosh va - che
œ œ ˙
-
yin. lech.
e - sa
ya
rosh va - che
-
yin.
lech.
œœ œ œ ˙
ve
ve
-
.. ˙ .
li - ya ru
rosh va - che
-
-
-
ni.
˙.
..
..
n˙.
˙.
-
-
..
&b C œ
.. œ œ œ œ
˙
œ
.. œ œ œ œ
˙.
Vb C œ
.. œ œ œ œ
˙
?b C œ
.. œ œ œ œ
˙
El
Vb C
tsur
El
tsur
El
El
& b .. œ œ
ye - shu - ot
ye - shu - ot
tsur
ye - shu - ot
tsur
ye - shu - ot
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ
œ œ
o - me - ra
o
-
za
bœ
V b ..
set
nim
me shi chech
chish
be - chol pi - na
La
Ba
? .. œ
b
-
set
nim
me shi chech
chish
be - chol pi - na
La
Ba
-
set
nim
me shi chech
chish
be - chol pi - na
œ
œ
œ
œ
-
-
che
-
˙.
ni.
El -
˙
˙
ni.
El
˙
˙
che
-
ni.
El
che
-
ni.
El
œ œ œ œ
-
œ .. ˙ .
2
˙
˙
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ #œ
-
œ
che
œ œ œ œ
o - me - ra
La
Ba
œ
œ œ
œ œ
me shi chech
chish
be - chol pi - na
œ
-
za
za
set
nim
œ
me-ra
o - mer-ra
-
œ
za
œ œ œ œ œ œ
La
Ba
œ
.
b
.
V
œ #œ œ œ
1
˙
˙.
˙
171
˙
ve
ke
˙
ve
ke
ve
ke
-
-
-
-
.. ˙ .
set
.. ˙ .
˙.
..
˙.
..
-
tsu
lech.
lo
dal
ya fu
va - che
-
tsu
lech.
lo
dal
ya fu
va - che
-
tsu
lech.
lo
dal
ya
va
-
tsu
lech.
œ œ ˙
fu
che
-
La
ya fu
va - che
œ œ œ œ ˙
ve
ke
.. ˙ .
lo
dal
œ œ ˙
ni.-
˙.
˙.
..
..
Magen nashim (In Defense of Women)
Reconstructed and edited
by Anna Levenstein ©2004
TextLeone de' Sommi
Gasparo Zanetti
b
&b C œœœœœ œ
œ œ ˙
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ..
1.Shi - mu - na
et
div - ra - ti
ki
a - chu - da
chi - da - ti
2.Me - re - ot
ta - chu ey - nav
She - sam me - ga - mat pa - nav
œ œ œ œ œ œ œœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœ˙
? b C Ó
b
b
&b
œ
De
œ
œ
- gli
ciò
? b œ
b
ben
b
œ œ œ
&b œ œ
va
gam
? b œ.
b
-
a
ki
b
&b ˙
a
chi
? bb œ
œ
ve - cchi
œœœ
Ch'in
-
œ
œ
œ œ
ch'a
le
ste - lle
œœ œ
fù
œ
œœœœœ
he - e - lu
œ œ œ œ œ œ.
matt' - e
va - no
-
œœœœ˙
uv - zot
œœ
J
œ
œ œ œ œ
ma
-
gen
la - chen
per dif-fen-der - vi
al
re
-
av
his - kil
In fi - si - ca et
œ
œ œ œœœ ˙
œ œ
J
œ
rur
œ œ œ
-
œ.
œœ œ
J
vi
-
a.
gi
-
a.
œ œ ˙
˙
172
œ.
..
..
œ
œ.
et
cher
a - tsa
ni
o - gni
-
Do - nne sagg' - ho - nest' - e be - lle con - tra que - ste
chiur-me fel - le
Già d'un no - stro
Man - to - va - no
a
bias - mar - v'in
mo - do stra - no
j
œ œ
œ
-
to
˙
..
œ˙
J
- patchen
his-kil
œ
œ
œ
œ œ œ œ
a
o - gni
vi - a
chi - rur - gi - a,
œ œ œ œœœ
œœ
b
œ œœ œ œœœ œœ œ œœœ œœ œ œœ
& b C .. œ œ œ œ
˙
b
& b C .. Ó
..
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ # œ œ œ œ œ ..
b
V b C .. Ó
? b C .. Ó
b
œ œ œ œ œnœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œn˙
..
œ œœ œ œœœ œœ œ œœœ œœ œ œœ˙
..
b œ œœœ œœ œ œœ˙
& b ..
œœœœœ œ
b
& b ..n œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙
œ.
b
œœœœœ œœœœ˙
V b .. œ œ
œ.
? b .. œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ .
b
œ. œ ˙
J
œœœœœ œ
j
œœ œ
˙
˙
œ.
œœ œ
J
˙
˙
œœœœœ œ
œœ œ
J
˙
œ
œ œ.
j
œ˙
œœ œ
J
b
&b œœœœœ œ
œ œœœ œœ œ œœœ œœ
œœœ ˙
œœœœœ œœ
..
b
& b œ.
œ.
j
œ˙
..
n˙
..
˙
..
j
œ˙
j
œœ œ
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ #œ.
b
Vb œœœœœ œ
œœœ œœ œœ œ œœœ
? b œ.
b
œ.
œœ œ
J
œœ œ œœœ œœ ˙
œœ œ œœœ œœ
j
˙
œœ œœ œ œœœ
173
b
&b C œ œ œ œ œ
3.Mi Cha 4.Hen
Ni -
na si be tan
œ
œ
? bb C Ó
b
&b
œ
œ
Che
se
œ œ ˙
œ
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ..
shim ha - Iv - ri - yot
dot gam
ne - vi - ot
tsid - kat
Had - da - ssah
Ha - man
lim - shi - sah
œ œ œ œ
œ œ œ œ œ
lo - d'io
he - ma
di - co
fui per
lui
ve - du - ti
e œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ.
? bb œ
An - co
b
œ
&b œ œ œ œ
toch
ha - yam
? bb œ .
œœ
J
b
&b ˙
œ
vay - hi
Ra
? bb œ
si
a
œ
œ.
yo - ets
per
œœœ
-
-
o
Li
-
a.
œœ ˙
-
a.
gno
-
ri
œ
..
..
˙
174
che
ba
œ œ
J
gar
œ
- nav
-
œ.
œ˙
J
gir
chardal
˙
ha-ets
al
œ.
lau - dar
sua
j
œ œ
œ
..
œ
œ œ œ œ
Ra - chel
ech - dal
œœ
J
ser
œ
œ
ken
œ œ œœœ ˙
chel
tem-poan - ti - co
m'a - ffa - ti - co.
sui vir - tu - ti
brei ven - du - ti.
œœ œœ œ
al
Mor - de - chai
-
œœœœ˙
œ
giá fu - ro'l
na - rrar no
sua gra - tiae
ch'a - vea gl'e -
œ œ œ œ œ œœ œ œ œ œœ œ œœ˙
œ
mil - le
che
a
per
poi
o
Li - a
œœ
œ
œ
œ
œœ
œ
cau - sain
si - gno - ri - a
Tsehok Shimshon (Blind Man's Buff) Part 1
Reconstructed and edited
by Anna Levenstein ©2004
TextLeone de' Sommi
Salamone Rossi
˙
œ œœ
œ
˙
œœœœ
œ œ œ œ
˙
b
& b C .. œ œ œ œ œ . œJ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
b
& b C .. œ œ œ ˙
? b C .. œ œ
b
˙
b
& b œ œ œ œn œ œ œ œ
œ
b
&b œ
œ
shon
sher
shon
sher
? bb ˙
œ.
œ
˙
œ œ œ œ œ
nœ œnœ ˙
? b b œ œ œ œn œ œ
b
&b œ
˙
œ œ œ œ œ œ
J
6
10
˙
˙
b
& b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ.
œ œ œ nœ ˙
nœ ˙
œ œ œ
œœœ
œ
˙
œ
œ nœ
œ œ œ œ œ nœ œ œ œ
œ
œ
˙
˙
bno ma - no - ach ne
u - vli
da - at Sho
-
-
˙
175
dar re - ut - va - ko - ach
val - be - vuz
u - va - at
dar
val
re - ut - va - ko - ach
be - vuz
u - va - at
œ œ œ œ
œ œ
kmo shim bli
o -
œ œ
˙
œ
ma - no - ach ne
vli da - at Sho
kmo shim bli
o
˙
œ œ œ œ œœ œ œœœœœ
J
bno
u -
œ œ
˙
œ
˙
œœœœ
œ
œ œ
tschok - lif bvo - shet
œ œ œ œ
tschok - lif bvo - shet
œ œ œ œ
b
&b œ
14
œ
le - shet
ne - tsach
œ œ œ œ œ.
ha - ya ha - sach
b
& b œ œ œ œ nœ
le - shet
ne - tsach
? bb œ
œ
œ œ œ œ œ œ
J
bet
gon
nil kad
li - bo
kof
ba - re
vhish - pil
me
œ œ œ œ œ
nœ œ nœ ˙
œ œ œ
ha - ya - bet
ha - sach - gon
œ
-
˙
œ
nil
kad
li - bo
œ œ œ
œ œ œ
-
œ
kof ba- re vhis-pil me -
œœœ
˙
-
-
w
shet.
tsach.
..
œ
w
..
w
..
- shet.
- tsach.
b œœ œ
œœ œ œ œœœœœœn œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙
& b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
18
b
& b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ nœ œ œ
œ
? b œ
b
œ ˙
˙
œ
b œ œœœ œ
b
&
œ.
œœ
J
22
b
& b œ œ œ œ œ œ n œj œ
œœ œœœ œœœ
œ
œ
œ ˙
œœ œœœœœ
œ
œ œœœœœœ˙
˙
˙
œ œ œ
˙
j
œ
œ œ œ nœ œ
œœœœœ œœ œœ
J
? b œœœœ œœ œ
b
œ œ œœœœ
œ
J ˙
œœ œœœœ
œœœœ œ œ œ œ ˙
176
b œœ œ
œ œ œ œ œœ œ œ œ œ n œ œ œ œ œ œ œ ˙
& b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
26
kots - munad
vchi
vli
b
& b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ nœ œ œ
kots - munad
? b œ
b
œ ˙
-
œœœ œ
b
&b œ
30
œ
œœ œœœ
˙
œ
œ
œ.
œœ
J
vchi
vli
vnad - mi - na - chat
Sho
vnad
Sho-val
b
& b œ œ œ œ œ œ n œj œ
mi-na - chat
nad - al ye - red im
-
ya - al ye - re - im
valmod
œ
œ
go - no
ya
œ
œ œœœœœœ˙
œ
go - no
ya
˙
˙
œœ œ œ œ œœ
-
o - lan
-
kol
œ
ka
-
-
-
? bb œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
œœœ
o - lan
kol
al
˙
œœœ
la
-
ka - la
-
j
œ
œ œ œ nœ œ
œœœœœ œ œ œœ
J
mod
al
b œ œœœœœœœ œœœœœœn œ œœœœœœœ œœœœ œ
œ œœ
b
&
œœ
œ œœœ œœœ œ œ œ œ œ œ
b
& b œ œœœœœœœ œœœœœœ œ n œœœœœœœœœœœœœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œn œ œ œ œj œ
œ
œ
œ
chat.
œ˙
J
chat.
œœ œ œ œ œœ
œ œ œ œœœœ˙
34
? b œ
b
œ œ œ
˙
œ
177
˙
œ
œ
˙
˙
j
œ˙
˙
b
œ
œœ n œ
œœœœœ
œ
& b œ œœ œœ œ œ œ œœ œ œ œ
œœœœœœ œ œœœœœœœ œœ œœœ
38
ni
-
dmebli
ey - na
-
yim to
ni
-
dmebli
ey - na
-
yim
-
chenbtoch
rey
-
-
-
b
& b œ œœœœœœœ œœœœœœ œ n œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œn œ œ œ
? b œ
b
œ
œ
œ
œ
cha - yim.
ki
b
& b œj œ œj˙
? bb ˙
-
-
vcha
ki
œ
˙
vcha - lo
œ œœœ œ œ
b
& b œjœ œj˙
j
œœ
? b ˙
b
˙
ko - sher.
tsako - sher.
˙
-
˙
lo - mo
-
-
- mo
œ
œ œ
b
&b œœœ ˙
tsa
œ
o-sher
œ œ œœœœ œ œœœ œ
yim.
45
œ
btoch
œ
œ
œ œ œ œ œ œ nœ œ œ œ œ j
J
œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
b
&b œœœ ˙
41
re-ch
œ
to - chen
œ
˙
nœ œ
J
ra - ah
o - sher
œ œ
u - ma
-
œ
nœ
ra - ah
œ nœ œ œ
œ
œ
œ
u
-
ma -
œ
œ œ œ œœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
J
j
œ œ œ œœ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
˙
˙
178
˙
˙
œ œ œ
&b
49
b œn œœ œ œœ œœ ˙
œœœœœ
bfa
b
& b œ œ œ œœ œ œ ˙
? b ˙
b
-
œœœœœ
bfa
œ
˙
-
-
œ œ œ œ œn œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
-
œœœœ
-
-
-
kcho
-
œ
n œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œn œ œ œ œ œ œ œ
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˙
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œ
b
& b œ œœœœœœœ œ œœœœ w
52
vya
-
-
do
a
-
yin.
b
& b œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ œ n œj œ
eh
? bb ˙
vya
œ
-
-
œ
-
do a
˙
-
j
œ˙
yin.
˙
179
kcho
-
a
a
-
-
yinyireh
-
-
˙
-
yinyir-
Tsehok Shimshon (Blind Man's Buff) Part 2
Reconstructed and edited
by Anna Levenstein ©2004
TextLeone de' Sommi
Giorgio Mainerio
#
œ œ œ œ
& Cœ œ
œ œ ˙
#
& Cœ œ œ œ œ œ
œ œ ˙
# œ œ œ œ œ œ
V C
œ œ ˙
# ˙
#
œ œ œ œ
œ œ œ œ
œ œ ˙
œ œ œ œ
œ œ ˙
a - sher - ma - tsa - ta Chem - dan be yom tov
ba - ta,
a - sher cha - shav - ta lim - moch be - kes ya - shav - ta,
ve - lir - kov
a
le
at
ke - re
-
R'eh cha - tan
Lech, Sho - val
a - sher ma - tsa - ta Chem a - sher cha - shav - ta lim -
dan
loch
be yom - tov
ba - ta,
be - kes ya - shav - ta,
ve - lir - kov
a
le
at
ke - re
-
R'eh cha - tan
Lech, Sho - val
a - sher ma - tsa - ta Chem a - sher cha - shav - ta lim -
dan
lich
be - yom - tov
ba - ta,
be - kes ta - shav - ta,
ve - lir - kov
a
leh
at
ke - re
-
R'eh cha - tan
Lech, Sho - val
a - sher ma - tsa - ta Chem a - sher cha - shav - ta lim -
dan
loch
be - yom - tov
ba - ta,
be - kes ya - shav - ta,
ve - lir
a
-
at
ke - re
-
˙
œ œœœ œ
˙
œ œ ˙
˙
œ œ œ œ
œ œ œ œ
œ œ œ œ
œ œ ˙
œ œ ˙
˙
˙
œ œ ˙
kov
leh
˙
œ œ
tsta
ach,
pe
a
-
red ve - sus
leh ke - re
ta - un;
ach,
ve - chish ra - vat
nik - ra al
i
-
tsta,
ver
ve
a
- chish ra - va
- leh pi - se
-
tsta!
ach! -
Tir
-
-
tsta
ach,
pe
a
˙
-
red ve - sus
leh ke - re
ta - un;
ach,
ve - chish ra - vat
nik - ra al
i
-
tsta,
ver
ve
a
-
tsta!
ach!
-
˙
chish ra - va
leh pi - se
Tir
-
tsta
ach,
pe
aleh
-
red ve - sus
leh ke - re
ta - un;
ach,
ve - chish ra - vat
nik - ra al
i
-
tsta,
ver
ve
a
- chish ra - va
- leh pi - se
-
tsta!
ach!
Tir
-
tsta
ach,
pe
"a
-
red ve - sus
leh ke - re
ta - un;
ach,
ve - chish ra - vat
nik - ra al
i
-
tsta,
ver
ve
a
- chish ra - va
- leh pi - se
-
tsta!
ach!
Tir
-
& ˙
V
œ œ œ œ
R'eh cha - tan
Lech, Sho - val
?# C œ œ œ œ œ œ
&
œ œ ˙
œ œœœ œ
# ˙
?# ˙
˙
˙
œ œ
œ œ
œ œ
œ œ
˙
œ œ
˙
œ œ
˙
˙
˙
˙
œ œ ˙
œ œ ˙
œ œ
˙
180
˙
˙
˙
˙
˙
œ œ ˙
œ œ ˙
œ
œ ˙
˙
˙
˙
œ œ
˙
œ œ
-
&
# ˙
gaz
#
& ˙
gaz
V
# ˙
gaz
?# ˙
gaz
&
&
œ œ œ œ ˙
ta-chat
a - ven, tit
-
a - ven, tit
œ œ œ œ ˙
ta-chat
a - ven, tit
œ œ œ œ
ta-chat
# œ œ ˙
bak - ta! Be
# œ œ
˙
bak - ta! be
˙
#
V œ œ
bak - ta! be
?# œ œ ˙
bak - ta! be
-
˙
a - ven, tit
-
-
-
-
cha na - gi
œ œ ˙
cha na - gi
ha - ya - ven, yom
ki
-
ki
œ œ œ œ ˙
œ œ œ œ
œ œ œ œ ˙
ba
be - tit
ya - ven, yom
˙
-
-
-
tit
-
be
cha na - gi
cha na - gi
be - tit
ha - ya - ven yom
ba
œ œ ˙
œ ˙
œ œ œ œ ˙
be - tit
œ œ œ œ
-
œ
œ œ œ œ
ba
œ œ ˙
-
œ œ œ œ ˙
ba
œ œ œ œ ˙
ta-chat
œ œœœ œ
ha - ya - ven, yom
ha
œ œ œ œ ˙
la,
rav mim cha na - pi
˙
œ œ œ œ ˙
la,
-
˙
rav mim - cha na - pi
œ œ œ œ ˙
-
la,
rav mim - cha na - pi
œ œ œ œ ˙
-
rav mim - cha na - pi
-
˙
la,
181
nech - shak - ta
ne - fesh
cha - mor nid
œ œ œ œ œ œ
nech - shak - ta
œ ˙
œ
ne - fesh
cha - mor nid
œ œ œ œ œ œ
œ œ ˙
-
-
ki
nech - shak - ta
ne - fesh
cha - mor nid
-
ki
nech - shak - ta
ne - fesh
cha - mor nid
-
˙
-
œ œ œ œ
œ œ œ œ œ œ
œ œ œ œ nœ
œ œ
œ ˙
œ œ œ œ ˙
la,
rav mim - cha na - pi
˙
œ œ œ œ ˙
la,
˙
-
˙
rav mim - cha na - pi
œ œ œ œ ˙
-
la,
rav mom - cha na - pi
œ œ œ œ ˙
-
rav mim - cha na - pi
-
˙
la,
la!
..
˙
..
˙
..
la!
la!
˙
la!
..
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