Avraham Tsvi Idelsohn

Born in Filsberg in the Russian Empire (today Jūrkalne, Latvia), Avraham Tsvi Idelsohn was the son of a butcher and prayer leader. Idelsohn studied ḥazanut (cantorial studies) after finishing his yeshiva studies, eventually moving to Germany to study in conservatories in Berlin and Leipzig while working as a cantor. In 1907, he moved to Palestine—following a brief cantorial stint in Johannesburg—where he became known as the “father of Jewish musicology.” His pioneering research, which he published in essays and songbooks throughout his life, explored Jewish folk music from the diaspora, liturgical music, and Middle Eastern maqam (melodic modes). Idelsohn wrote the first modern Hebrew opera, Yiftaḥ (1922). His magnum opus was his ten-volume Thesaurus of Hebrew-Oriental Melodies, published in many languages from 1914 to 1933. In 1924, Idelsohn was appointed chair of Jewish music at Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati.