Singing for the Bride and Groom in Early Modern Ashkenaz

Max Weinreich Fellowship Lecture in East European Arts, Music, and Theater The Joseph Kremen Memorial Fellowship Admission: Free

Singing for a bride and groom from 1500-1800 was very different from what we know of Ashkenazic wedding traditions in Eastern Europe and beyond. In the West, there was no badkhn to entertain an audience and female singers sang for the bride while her hair was being braided. During this period, the division between men and women during the entertainment portions of a wedding was not yet absolute and such activities led to several complaints by Jewish authorities. As such, wedding songs in Ashkenaz were by no means static – their contents shifted in accordance with the changing morals and ethics of their time.

This lecture will reveal the nature of singing during Jewish weddings in Ashkenaz and will answer questions such as: who was allowed to sing what to whom and when? And which repertoire did female singers perform and how?

About the Speaker

Diana Matut, PhD, is lecturer in Jewish Studies at the University Halle-Wittenberg. In 1999 she earned her Diploma in Hebrew and Jewish Studies at Oxford University, followed by an MA in Yiddish Studies at SOAS, London. She participated in the Advanced Seminar for Yiddish Studies at JTS – taught in Yiddish. She regularly teaches and lectures at universities in Europe and in Israel.

Outside of her academic career, Diana is singer and leader of the band Simkhat Hanefesh (Joy of the Soul) which performs Jewish music and Yiddish songs of the Renaissance and Baroque period. She teaches old Yiddish song and the children’s song workshops at Yiddish Summer Weimar and has produced a CD with Yiddish songs for and with children (Far dem nayem dor – For the New Generation). Diana is also the translator of children’s poems by Kadia Molodowsky.
www.simkhat-hanefesh.com