Abraham Idelsohn (1882-1938) is widely considered the pioneer of modern Jewish musicology. Born in todays Latvia, he travelled extensively and recorded the musical traditions of the diasporic Jewish communities. Over the course of 20 years, Idelsohn surveyed the musical traditions of various Jewish communities in Palestine and throughout the Diaspora, including Babylonian, Persian, Bukharian, Oriental Sephardi, Moroccan, German, Eastern European, and Hassidic communities, and published the final volume of his collection in 1932. The two volumes offered here form part of his monumental and very rare work, collecting the songs of the Yemenite and Babylonian Jews. Idelsohns survey and catalogue of the songs encompass Synagogal and Non-Synagogal songs, comprising of songs for the Sabbath, feasts and high feast, working days as well as lamentations, penitential songs and songs for other occasions and folk songs. In his monumental work, he presented an extensive introduction to the musical culture of the Jewish tribes and extensive commentary on the variations within the chant. Idelsohns works were printed by Breitkopf & Härtel in Leipzig, the worlds oldest music publishing house and renowned for their high quality musical scores.
Idelsohn travelled extensively. During his stay in Jerusalem, he observed a rich variety of musical traditions among the Jewish communities there. By studying these traditional tunes, he discovered recurring patterns and sequences unique to Jewish music. This led him to conclude that these musical phrases had a common origin dating back to the first century C.E in Israel and Palestine. He found that these motifs were categorized into three tonal centres, corresponding to the Dorian, Phrygian, and Lydian modes of ancient Greece. Each of these modes produced a specific emotional response - the Dorian was used for elevated and inspired texts, the Phrygian for sentimental and emotional texts, and the Lydian for lamenting and confessions of sins. Idelsohn also categorized musical motives as those that prepare, begin or conclude a musical phrase.
In Jerusalem, Idelsohn started his career as a cantor and music teacher at the Hebrew Teacher's College. He was deeply influenced by the diverse Jewish community in Palestine and embarked on a massive project to document their unique musical and linguistic traditions. He received a research grant from the Academy of Science in Vienna and a phonograph to assist with his field work. In 1914, he released the first volume of his landmark ten-volume work, Thesaurus of Oriental Hebrew Melodies, which focused on the Yemenite community in Palestine. Idelsohn was particularly interested in this community as he believed that their Hebrew pronunciation and musical heritage dated back to the first century CE and had remained relatively untouched by outside influences due to their migratory history and isolated location.
With the owners mark of composer Ludovicus Mirandolle (1904-1974) in all volumes. The bindings of ad 1 show slight traces of use, the paper wrappers of ad 2 are partly detached. A few pencil marks to the pages. Otherwise in good condition. Bohlmann, Central European Folk Music, 60.