History of Ethnomusicological Minority Research at the mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (2024-2026)
A research project at the MMRC
Fox-Rosen is currently a research fellow at the Music and Minorities Research Center at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (mdw). More information about this project can be found here.
This research project focuses on the history of ethnomusicological minority research at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna (mdw). The Department of Folk Music Research, founded by Walter Deutsch in 1965, focused in its first 20 years primarily on Austrian and European instrumental and vocal music within the tradition of European folk music research. During the late 1980’s, however, this focus began to expand beyond expressions of ‘national’ folk music, considering other ethnic and religious groups within Austria. Beginning with a series of externally funded research projects, more resources were dedicated to the study of minorities and to engaging in international networks of minority music research. Gerlinde Haid’s leadership of the department (1994–2011), and in particular the hosting of the international symposium “Traditional Music of Ethnic Groups / Minorities” in 1994, were firm steps in this direction. By 2002 the newly renamed Department of Folk Music Research and Ethnomusicology (IVE) had become a major center of ethnomusicological research, and a central hub in international networks of minority music research. Ursula Hemetek’s pioneering and significant body of research, her founding and longstanding leadership of the ICTMD Study Group on Music and Minorities, her extensive mentorship of scholars, and her leadership of the department from 2011 until 2022 stand as significant and long-lasting contributions to the broader field and in particular to the IVE.
This project considers multiple approaches to framing the history of a scholarly discipline as well as the institutional reflections of such change, addressing the following questions: how does minority music research fit into the history of the mdw and how does it fit into international ethnomusicological discourses? Does minority music research represent a paradigm shift, or rather a natural development of the scholarly theories and methods used throughout the history of the Department of Folk Music Research and Ethnomusicology? How does the department’s archive reflect the scholarly shift in focus?
This transformation is examined primarily through three areas of inquiry: generational changes and mentorship, scholarly networks, and theoretical developments.[1] These three areas will be researched through engagement and analysis of the archival holdings of the IVE, the collection and analysis of oral history interviews, as well as engagement with the robust scholarly output of the department. This project situates these developments within the wider frame of Austrian political and cultural developments and discourses, considering the relationships between minority music research and political advocacy.
[1] Bolz, Sebastian, Kelber, Moritz, Knoth, Ina and Langenbruch, Anna. 2016. “Wissenskulturen der Musikwissenschaft: Eine Einleitung.” In Wissenskulturen der Musikwissenschaft: Generationen – Netzwerke – Denkstrukturen, edited by Sebastian Bolz, Moritz Kelber, Ina Knoth and Anna Langenbruch, 9–20. Bielefeld: transcript Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783839432570-001
Project lead: Ursula Hemetek and Malik Sharif
Project team: Benjy Fox-Rosen
Project duration: 2024–2026
Funding: Austrian Science Fund FWF Grant-DOI 10.55776/Z352
A research project at the MMRC
Fox-Rosen is currently a research fellow at the Music and Minorities Research Center at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (mdw). More information about this project can be found here.
This research project focuses on the history of ethnomusicological minority research at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna (mdw). The Department of Folk Music Research, founded by Walter Deutsch in 1965, focused in its first 20 years primarily on Austrian and European instrumental and vocal music within the tradition of European folk music research. During the late 1980’s, however, this focus began to expand beyond expressions of ‘national’ folk music, considering other ethnic and religious groups within Austria. Beginning with a series of externally funded research projects, more resources were dedicated to the study of minorities and to engaging in international networks of minority music research. Gerlinde Haid’s leadership of the department (1994–2011), and in particular the hosting of the international symposium “Traditional Music of Ethnic Groups / Minorities” in 1994, were firm steps in this direction. By 2002 the newly renamed Department of Folk Music Research and Ethnomusicology (IVE) had become a major center of ethnomusicological research, and a central hub in international networks of minority music research. Ursula Hemetek’s pioneering and significant body of research, her founding and longstanding leadership of the ICTMD Study Group on Music and Minorities, her extensive mentorship of scholars, and her leadership of the department from 2011 until 2022 stand as significant and long-lasting contributions to the broader field and in particular to the IVE.
This project considers multiple approaches to framing the history of a scholarly discipline as well as the institutional reflections of such change, addressing the following questions: how does minority music research fit into the history of the mdw and how does it fit into international ethnomusicological discourses? Does minority music research represent a paradigm shift, or rather a natural development of the scholarly theories and methods used throughout the history of the Department of Folk Music Research and Ethnomusicology? How does the department’s archive reflect the scholarly shift in focus?
This transformation is examined primarily through three areas of inquiry: generational changes and mentorship, scholarly networks, and theoretical developments.[1] These three areas will be researched through engagement and analysis of the archival holdings of the IVE, the collection and analysis of oral history interviews, as well as engagement with the robust scholarly output of the department. This project situates these developments within the wider frame of Austrian political and cultural developments and discourses, considering the relationships between minority music research and political advocacy.
[1] Bolz, Sebastian, Kelber, Moritz, Knoth, Ina and Langenbruch, Anna. 2016. “Wissenskulturen der Musikwissenschaft: Eine Einleitung.” In Wissenskulturen der Musikwissenschaft: Generationen – Netzwerke – Denkstrukturen, edited by Sebastian Bolz, Moritz Kelber, Ina Knoth and Anna Langenbruch, 9–20. Bielefeld: transcript Verlag. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783839432570-001
Project lead: Ursula Hemetek and Malik Sharif
Project team: Benjy Fox-Rosen
Project duration: 2024–2026
Funding: Austrian Science Fund FWF Grant-DOI 10.55776/Z352
"Zogn Tkhines: Archival Silence and Post-Vernacular Prayer." Paper presentation at the 39th European Seminar in Ethnomusicology, Zagreb 19 - 23.09.2024, Panel with Ursula Hemetek and Isabel Frey.
Tkhines were an exceptionally popular form of Jewish prayer in the vernacular language (Yiddish) for Ashkenazi Jews who did not have access to education in the Hebrew language, primarily women and the poorest members of society. The prayers were available in printed form, achieving a highpoint in distribution in the mid 19th century, but continuing into the 20th century as Ashkenazi communities emigrated in large numbers. This genre of prayers, however, was almost entirely left out of ethnographic fieldwork in the early 20th century, resulting in a tremendous archival silence, with several exceptions.
In the last four years there has been a renewed interest in this prayer form, particularly amongst queer and non-binary Yiddishist. Rabbi Noam Lerman’s der tkhines proyekt, offers “resources and interactive workshops which teach new melodies paired with old Yiddish tkhines, and uplifts the tradition of zogn tkhines, of speaking and writing spontaneous prayers as practiced by generations of Jewish grandmothers and trAncestors.” Since October 2023, der tkhines proyekt has recorded a significant body of newly written prayers, prayers of peace and prayers of mourning, in response to the violence inflicted on civilians in Gaza, providing a radical post-vernacular use of this traditional, but largely dormant form of prayer.
Please also see: Rabbi Noam Lerman, “Der Tkhines Proyekt,” Der Tkhines Proyekt (blog), 2024, https://www.spontaneousprayer.com/.
Tkhines were an exceptionally popular form of Jewish prayer in the vernacular language (Yiddish) for Ashkenazi Jews who did not have access to education in the Hebrew language, primarily women and the poorest members of society. The prayers were available in printed form, achieving a highpoint in distribution in the mid 19th century, but continuing into the 20th century as Ashkenazi communities emigrated in large numbers. This genre of prayers, however, was almost entirely left out of ethnographic fieldwork in the early 20th century, resulting in a tremendous archival silence, with several exceptions.
In the last four years there has been a renewed interest in this prayer form, particularly amongst queer and non-binary Yiddishist. Rabbi Noam Lerman’s der tkhines proyekt, offers “resources and interactive workshops which teach new melodies paired with old Yiddish tkhines, and uplifts the tradition of zogn tkhines, of speaking and writing spontaneous prayers as practiced by generations of Jewish grandmothers and trAncestors.” Since October 2023, der tkhines proyekt has recorded a significant body of newly written prayers, prayers of peace and prayers of mourning, in response to the violence inflicted on civilians in Gaza, providing a radical post-vernacular use of this traditional, but largely dormant form of prayer.
Please also see: Rabbi Noam Lerman, “Der Tkhines Proyekt,” Der Tkhines Proyekt (blog), 2024, https://www.spontaneousprayer.com/.
"The Vienna Stadttempel Choir: Musical Practice, Change, and Meaning"
Master's Thesis, Submitted in 2022, abstract below, and full pdf also available below.
The Vienna Stadttempel Choir has existed more or less continuously since the founding of the Stadttempel in 1826. The choir has been a constant in the musical practice of the historical synagogue amidst significant historical, cultural, political, and musical upheaval. Using ethnographic methods such as participant observation and interview, as well as extensive recordings of rehearsals and access to the choir’s archive of sheet music as the basis for analysis, this thesis posits that the choir represents a relevant and fruitful space of inquiry to reflect on the shifting musical practices of the Stadttempel and the sometimes complex and multilayered meanings towards which musical practice points. This thesis represents a singular contribution to research on the current musical practice of a unique and historically significant synagogue, one of the very few remaining active “choral synagogues” in Europe.
Master's Thesis, Submitted in 2022, abstract below, and full pdf also available below.
The Vienna Stadttempel Choir has existed more or less continuously since the founding of the Stadttempel in 1826. The choir has been a constant in the musical practice of the historical synagogue amidst significant historical, cultural, political, and musical upheaval. Using ethnographic methods such as participant observation and interview, as well as extensive recordings of rehearsals and access to the choir’s archive of sheet music as the basis for analysis, this thesis posits that the choir represents a relevant and fruitful space of inquiry to reflect on the shifting musical practices of the Stadttempel and the sometimes complex and multilayered meanings towards which musical practice points. This thesis represents a singular contribution to research on the current musical practice of a unique and historically significant synagogue, one of the very few remaining active “choral synagogues” in Europe.
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“On Not Understanding: Performing Yiddish Song Today.” In Yiddish and the Field of Translation, edited by Olaf Terpitz, pp. 231-242. Wien: Böhlau Verlag, 2020. https://doi.org/10.7767/9783205210306.231
As a composer and performer of Yiddish music, I constantly confront the fact that most members of my audience do not understand the language of the texts I perform. What then do they understand? In this essay I investigate this question by first categorizing different levels of textual comprehension of contemporary Yiddish music performance before reflecting on the ways that my own compositional choices for the song-cycle Two Worlds: The Poetry of Mordechai Gebirtig inform this delicate yet volatile hierarchy. In thinking about my music and performance, I want to explore what Jeffrey Shandler terms the “secondary, or meta-level of signification” of Yiddish as it appears in a musical context. Shandler differentiates between using Yiddish for communicating information as the primary function and using the language for its symbolic value, which he asserts is of increasing import. In the context of most Yiddish music performances, this question of how or whether to communicate the primary signification of texts is ever-present. Music does not communicate information in the same way as language, but can certainly lead listeners towards specific associations and meanings. There are multiple instances in which translation, imagined or guided, takes place during a musical performance and as a composer and performer I am a crucial mediator of these processes.
Full article available here.
As a composer and performer of Yiddish music, I constantly confront the fact that most members of my audience do not understand the language of the texts I perform. What then do they understand? In this essay I investigate this question by first categorizing different levels of textual comprehension of contemporary Yiddish music performance before reflecting on the ways that my own compositional choices for the song-cycle Two Worlds: The Poetry of Mordechai Gebirtig inform this delicate yet volatile hierarchy. In thinking about my music and performance, I want to explore what Jeffrey Shandler terms the “secondary, or meta-level of signification” of Yiddish as it appears in a musical context. Shandler differentiates between using Yiddish for communicating information as the primary function and using the language for its symbolic value, which he asserts is of increasing import. In the context of most Yiddish music performances, this question of how or whether to communicate the primary signification of texts is ever-present. Music does not communicate information in the same way as language, but can certainly lead listeners towards specific associations and meanings. There are multiple instances in which translation, imagined or guided, takes place during a musical performance and as a composer and performer I am a crucial mediator of these processes.
Full article available here.
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