SCARCE OFRA HAZA SIGNATURE & DEDICATION ON PH0TO CARD 1980 ISRAEL

Description: OFRA HAZA SIGNATURE & DEDICATION ON PH0TO CARD 1980" ISRAEL __________________________ Ofra Haza (Hebrew: עפרה חזה; 19 November 1957 – 23 February 2000) was an Israeli singer, songwriter and actress, commonly known in the Western world as "the Madonna of the East",[1] or "the Israeli Madonna".[2] Her voice has been described as a "tender" mezzo-soprano.[3] In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked Haza at number 186 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.[4] Of Mizrahi Jewish (Yemenite-Jewish) descent, Haza performed music known as a mixture of traditional Middle Eastern and commercial singing styles, fusing elements of Eastern and Western instrumentation, orchestration and dance-beat, as well as lyrics from Mizrahi and Jewish folk tales and poetry.[5] By the late 1980s, Haza was an internationally successful artist, achieving large success in Europe and the Americas and appearing regularly on MTV.[6] During her singing career, she earned many platinum and gold discs and her music proved highly popular in the club scene.[6] By the 1990s, at the peak of her career,[7] she was regularly featured in movie soundtracks,[6] such as that of Dick Tracy (1990) and famously in The Prince of Egypt (1998), and her vocals were popularly sampled in hip hop. Her death in 2000 from an AIDS-related illness shocked Israeli society. Haza was a highly influential cultural figure in Israel, and is considered one of the country's biggest cultural icons,[7] who helped popularize Mizrahi culture.[8] Early life Ofra Haza's birth house in Tel AvivBat-Sheva Ofra Haza was born in Tel Aviv, Israel,[9] to Mizrahi Jewish parents from Yemen who had immigrated to Israel in 1949[10] with eight children.[11][8][12] She was the youngest of nine children[13] (six sisters and two brothers) to Yefet and Shoshana Haza. They were raised in a Masorti household[14] in the Hatikva Quarter, then an impoverished, working-class[7] neighborhood of Tel Aviv.[12][15][13] Although named Bat-Sheva by her parents, her sisters disliked the name, and preferred to call her by her middle name, Ofra, instead.[citation needed] Haza's earliest musical influences included her learning traditional Yemenite songs from her parents;[16] Haza's mother in particular, Shoshana, proved a major influence on her musical direction. Shoshana had been a professional[17] singer in Yemen and often performed at family celebrations, with Haza also recalling her mother singing to her children from an early age.[11][17] Additionally early influences in her music came from Israeli folk songs, the Beatles, and Elvis Presley.[16] Haza herself began to exhibit a similar musical inclination to that of her mother, and began singing at an early age, including at local weddings and as a soloist in her school choir.[11] At the age of 12, Haza joined a local protest theater troupe, named “Hatikva” (The Hope) which had been recently founded by a neighbor of hers, Bezalel Aloni.[8][17] Haza soon emerged as one of the most gifted performers in the troupe,[17] and manager Bezalel Aloni soon noticed her singing talent. He spotlighted her in many of his productions, and later became her manager and mentor. At 19, she was Israel's foremost pop star, and news articles have retrospectively described her as "the Madonna of the East".[18][19] Haza served two years in the Israel Defense Forces.[12] Ofra Haza on Dan Shilon's show, with Peres, Netanyahu and Yehoram Gaon, 1995International artistShe represented Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest 1983, with the song "Hi", finishing second with 136 points. Her major international breakthrough came in the wake of the album Shirei Teiman ("Yemenite songs"), which she recorded in 1984. The album consisted of songs that Haza had heard in childhood, using arrangements that combined authentic Middle Eastern percussion with classical instruments.[20] Further recognition came with the single "Im Nin'alu", taken from the album Shaday (1988), which won the New Music Award for Best International Album of the Year.[21] The song topped the Eurochart for two weeks in June that year and was on heavy rotation on MTV channels across the continent. In the annals of classical hip-hop this song would be extensively re-released, re-mixed and sampled, for example on Coldcut's remix of Eric B. & Rakim's "Paid in Full". The single made only a brief appearance in the UK top 40 singles chart, but became a dance floor favorite across Europe and the US, topping the German charts for nine weeks. Subsequent singles were also given the dance-beat / MTV-style video treatment, most notably, Galbi, Daw Da Hiya and Mata Hari, but none quite matched the runaway success of her first hit. Im Nin'alu would go on to be featured on an in-game radio playlist of the video game Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, released in 2005 and featured on Panjabi MC's album "Indian Timing" in 2009.[citation needed] Haza also received critical acclaim for the albums Fifty Gates of Wisdom (1984), Desert Wind (1989), Kirya (1992) and Ofra Haza (1997).[citation needed] In 1992, Kirya (co-produced by Don Was) received a Grammy nomination.[21] In 1994, Haza released her first Hebrew album in seven years, Kol Haneshama ("The Whole Soul"). Though not an initial chart success, the album produced one of her biggest hits to date, Le'orech Hayam ("Along The Sea"), written by Ayala Asherov. The song did not have any substantial chart success upon its release to radio but became an anthem after Haza performed it on the assembly in memorial to deceased Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, a week after he was assassinated. Radio stations around the country began to play it. Its lyrics became even more symbolic following Haza's own death in 2000.[citation needed] Collaborations and performances A memorial to Ofra Haza in the Hatikva Quarter garden, Tel Aviv Memorial plaque in memory of Ofra Haza at her childhood home in 39 Boaz Street, Tel Aviv.Her collaborative work with internationally established acts included the single "Temple of Love (Touched by the Hand of Ofra Haza)", recorded with The Sisters of Mercy in 1992. Thomas Dolby co-produced Yemenite Songs and Desert Wind, on which he was also a guest musician. Haza guested on Dolby's album Astronauts And Heretics (1992), singing on the track "That's Why People Fall in Love". She recorded "My Love Is for Real" with Paula Abdul in 1995 and on Sarah Brightman's album Harem, Haza's vocals were included on "Mysterious Days", thanks to an idea by Brightman's partner Frank Peterson (ex-Enigma), who produced both Harem (2003) and the album Ofra Haza (1997). Haza also sang backing vocals on the song "Friend of Stars" by the German electro-pop band And One, from the Spot (1993) album. For the Kirya album, Iggy Pop, a friend of Don Was, performed the narration on "Daw Da Hiya" and Haza joined him and a host of other stars for the video and single release "Give Peace A Chance" in 1991. She also sang on the soundtracks of Colors (1988), Dick Tracy (1990), Wild Orchid (1990), Queen Margot (1994) and The Prince of Egypt (1998). For Dick Tracy, it was Madonna, who also participated in the movie, that wanted Ofra Haza to record for the movie's soundtrack and encouraged her to do so.[22] Madonna would go on to sample Haza's 1988 hit, Im Nin'alu, in her song Isaac from the Confessions On A Dance Floor (2005) album.[23][circular reference] Haza in 1997In The Prince of Egypt, she provided her voice for the role Yocheved, singing "Deliver Us". When Hans Zimmer, who was working with Haza on the music for The Prince of Egypt, introduced her to the artists, they thought that she was so beautiful that they drew Yocheved to look like the singer. For the film's soundtrack, Haza sang the song "Deliver Us" in 19 languages, about half of which were sung phonetically, including: Czech — "Tak vyveď nás"Dutch — "Verlos ons, Heer"English — "Deliver Us"Finnish — "Johdata"French — "Délivre nous"German — "Erlöse uns"Greek — "Eleftheri"Hebrew — "Hoshia Na"Hungarian — "Szabadíts"Italian — "Ascoltaci"Norwegian — "Befri Oss"Polish — "Uwolnij nas"Portuguese (Brazilian and European) — "Liberte-nos"Romanian — "Izbăvește-ne"Slovak — "Vysloboď nás"Spanish (Latin and Castilian) — "Libéranos"Swedish — "Befria Oss"On the soundtrack of The Governess (1998), Haza is the featured singer on seven of the twelve tracks and worked closely with film music composer Edward Shearmur. In 1999, she performed (together with late Pakistani artist Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan) the track "Forgiveness", on the contemporary symphony album The Prayer Cycle by Jonathan Elias. As a featured background vocalist, Haza's voice has been recorded, re-mixed or sampled for Black Dog's "Babylon" single, Eric B and Rakim's "Paid in Full (Coldcut Remix)", "Temple of Love (1992)" by The Sisters of Mercy, and for the M/A/R/R/S hit "Pump Up The Volume". The single "Love Song" has been re-mixed by DJs many times, its powerful vocal performance and comparatively sparse musical arrangement making it the perfect vehicle for a dance-rhythm accompaniment. Covers of songs by other artists included the Carole King/James Taylor song "You've Got a Friend", Madonna's "Open Your Heart", Gary Moore's "Separate Ways", and Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir". There were many live performances and Haza spoke with fond memories of her visits to Japan and Turkey. She performed at the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, where she appeared alongside Irish singer Sinéad O'Connor. "Paint Box" was written specially for the event. Her 1990 live recording, Ofra Haza at Montreux Jazz Festival was released in 1998. Haza shared duets and concert performances with Glykeria, Yehudit Ravitz, Paul Anka, Paula Abdul, Michael Jackson, Iggy Pop, Hoite, Buddha Bar, Ishtar, Gidi Gov, Whitney Houston, Tzvika Pick, Khaled, Prachim Yerushalaim, The Sisters of Mercy, Thomas Dolby, Stefan Waggershausen, Eric B and Rakim, Gila Miniha, Hans Zimmer, Hagashash Hachiver, Yaffa Yarkoni, Dana International, Shoshana Damari and posthumously with Sarah Brightman. In late 1999, Haza recorded new material for a new album that she worked on with Ron Aviv, a music producer from Petah Tikva. At the time, she also worked with the Finnish violinist Linda Brava, who released a previously unreleased track called Tarab on her MySpace page on 14 May 2010. On the track, Haza sings in English, Arabic and Hebrew, while Brava plays the electric violin. The track is possibly Haza's last recording.[24] In 2023, Israeli producers teamed up in creating a collaboration between Haza and Zohar Argov, another famous deceased Israeli singer known as "The king of Mizrahi music".[25][26] The song "Kan Le Olam" ("Here Forever") was created through artificial intelligence. The song was released on 13 April, 2023 and, according to the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation, is "the first song in the Hebrew language whose voices have been reproduced using artificial intelligence technology. The song was produced in honor of the 75th Independence Day of the State of Israel at the initiative of the Israel Broadcasting Corporation here by the Session 42 company."[27][28] MarriageOn 15 July 1997, Haza married businessman Doron Ashkenazi. The couple had no children, but Ashkenazi had an adopted son, Shai, and a biological daughter from his first marriage.[29][30] Death Ofra Haza's grave in Yarkon CemeteryOfra Haza died on 23 February 2000, at the age of 42, of AIDS. While the fact that she was HIV-positive is now generally known, the decision by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz to report it shortly after her death was controversial in Israel.[31] After Haza's death was announced, Israeli radio stations played non-stop retrospectives of her music. Then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak praised her work as a cultural emissary, commenting that she also represented the Israeli success story — "Ofra emerged from the Hatikvah slums to reach the peak of Israeli culture. She has left a mark on us all." Haza's death from an AIDS-related illness added another layer to the public mourning, bringing the disease into the spotlight. The revelation of Haza's illness caused much surprise among fans, along with debate about whether the media invaded her privacy by reporting it; Haza had hidden the disease even from the Tel Aviv hospital workers who first treated her in an emergency room two weeks prior.[31] The managing director of Haaretz, Yoel Esteron, commented at the time:There is hardly a house in Israel in which the word AIDS did not get spoken in recent days [...] And in these circumstances to continue not to publish is to publish something that is not true. Ofra Haza was a public figure, and to a certain extent public property in her life. In her death it is impossible to leave this chapter in darkness. We are talking about a human disease like any other, and there is no reason to demonize it.[31] On the other hand, the Health Minister spokesman Yoram Malca said:There was a consensus to keep silent, even after her death. I think today Haaretz broke all the norms and ethical and moral standards that we still have in this country. I think that it's a person's right to guard his privacy. What do we have left in life, or after our deaths, if not that little bit of knowledge that we can live and die with dignity?[31] There was also speculation about how she had acquired the virus. Immediately after her death, the media placed blame on her husband, Tel Aviv businessman Doron Ashkenazi, for infecting her with the disease.[32] Haza's manager Bezalel Aloni supported this belief, writing in his book that Haza acquired AIDS through sex with her husband.[33] Later, it was revealed that her husband believed Haza became infected because of a blood transfusion she received in a Turkish hospital following a miscarriage. Ashkenazi himself died of a drug overdose roughly one year later on 7 April 2001, leaving a daughter from a prior marriage and a 14-year-old adopted son, Shai Ashkenazi.[34] Doctors who treated AIDS patients were reportedly "horrified" after learning of Haza's decision to hide her illness. Dr. Zvi Bentwich, head of the AIDS Center at the Kaplan Medical Center in Rehovot, commented:It brings us back to the beginning of the epidemic with the near-demonization and stigmatization of a disease that actually we are dealing with much better. [...] And in this unfortunate case, without having all the details, it appears that Ofra Haza almost died of the embarrassment, from the terrible fear to reveal her illness.[31] Haza is buried in the Artists section of Yarkon Cemetery in Petah Tikva. LegacyBezalel Aloni, Haza's manager and producer of 28 years, published a book Michtavim L'Ofra (Letters to Ofra) in 2007. The book is partly Aloni's autobiography and partly a biography of Haza, and includes letters written by Aloni.[33] On 22 March 2007, on the seventh anniversary of her death, the Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality and the Tel Aviv Development Fund renamed part of the public park in the Hatikva Quarter Gan Ofra (Ofra's Park) in her honor. The park is placed at the end of Bo'az street, in which Haza's childhood home stood. The park features a children's playground, symbolizing her love for children and the old quarter she grew up in and always came back to. On 19 November 2014, Google celebrated her 57th birthday with a Google Doodle.[35] Pakistani blogger Sarmad Iqbal who is known for his pro-peace stance, praised Ofra Haza enthusiastically in his blog post titled A Pakistani's love letter to Israeli pop music and cinema for The Times of Israel in 2017. Sarmad wrote "She was more than just a cultural icon of Israel as she also tried to bridge the wide gap between Israel and her Arab neighbors as her songs spread to a wider Middle-Eastern audience defying all the barriers to peace and friendship between Arabs and Israel."[36] In the 2005 video game Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, her track "Im Nin'Alu" is featured in a fictional radio station which plays Middle Eastern and Indian music. TributesTouched By the Hand of Ofra Haza Fanzine (2008–09) was a tribute fanzine.Sharim Ofra (Singing Ofra) 2002 – A tribute concert to commemorate the life of Ofra Haza where Israeli singers sang Haza's songs.Fulfilled Wish is a digital EP by Russian ambient- and downtempo duo Koan, released in 2007.DocumentariesLife & Death of Ofra Haza (2002) – Aired on the Israeli channel 2, 29 January 2002. This documentary in Hebrew focuses on Haza's entire life and career until her death.Sodot (Secrets) (2005) – Aired on Israeli channel YES, this documentary in Hebrew and partly English is about Haza's life and attempts to answer questions surrounding her death.Dokoceleb Ofra Haza (2007) – Aired on the Israeli entertainment station HOT, 22 February 2007. This documentary in Hebrew focuses on Haza's career, achievements and marriage.Lost Treasure of Ofra Haza (2010) – Aired on the Israeli channel 10, 22 February 2010. This documentary in Hebrew and partly English focuses on Haza's legacy.DiscographyAlbumsStudio albums1974: Ahava Rishona • First Love (with Shechunat Hatikvah Workshop Theatre)1976: Vehutz Mizeh Hakol Beseder • Apart from that All Is OK (with Shechunat Hatikvah Workshop Theatre)1977: Atik Noshan • Ancient Old (with Shechunat Hatikvah Workshop Theatre)1977: Shir HaShirim Besha'ashu'im • The Song of Songs (with Fun)1980: Al Ahavot Shelanu • About Our Loves1981: Bo Nedaber • Let's Talk1982: Pituyim • Temptations1982: Li-yeladim • Songs for Children (children's album)1983: Hai • Alive1983: Shirey Moledet • Homeland Songs1984: Bayt Ham • A Place for Me1984: Yemenite Songs • Shiri Teyman (aka Fifty Gates of Wisdom)1985: Adamah • Earth1985: Shirey Moledet 2 • Homeland Songs 21986: Yamim Nishbarim • Broken Days1987: Shirey Moledet 3 • Homeland Songs 31988: Shaday1989: Desert Wind1992: Kirya1994: Kol Haneshama • My Soul1995: Queen in Exile1997: Ofra HazaLive albums1998: Ofra Haza at Montreux Jazz FestivalCompilations1983: Selected Hits (with Shechunat Hatikvah Workshop Theatre)1986: Album HaZahav • Golden Album2000: Manginat Halev Vol. 1 • Melody of the Heart Vol. 12004: Manginat Halev Vol. 2 • Melody of the Heart Vol. 22008: Forever Ofra Haza (remix album)SinglesYearSinglePeak positionsAlbumUK[37][38]IRENEDBEL(FLA)FRAITAGER[39]AUTSWISWENORUS Dance[40]1981"Tfila"————————————1988"Galbi"————————————Shaday"Im Nin'alu"151629146231212115"Galbi" (reissue)—————18201921——"Shaday"————————————1989"Eshal" (ITA only)—————43——————"Wish Me Luck"—————22——————Desert Wind"I Want to Fly" (JAP only)————————————1990"Ya Ba Ye"———————————20"Fatamorgana"————————————1991"Today I'll Pray (Oggi Un Dio Non Ho)" (from Sanremo – ITA only)————————————single only1992"Daw Da Hiya"————————————Kirya"Innocent – A Requiem for Refugees"————————————1994"Elo Hi"————————————La Reine Margot OST1995"Mata Hari"————————————singles only1996"Love Song"————————————1997"Show Me"————————————Ofra Haza1998"Give Me a Sign"————————————"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released.Soundtracks1988: Colors1990: Dick Tracy1990: Wild Orchid1994: La Reine Margot (Queen Margot)1998: The Prince of Egypt1998: The Governess1999: The King And I (Hebrew version)2000: American Psycho: Music from the Controversial Motion PictureSee alsoBiography portalflagIsrael portaliconPop music portalList of Israeli musical artistsList of mezzo-sopranos in non-classical musicHonorific nicknames in popular music Devotional poetry written by a 17th century rabbi isn’t your typical pop chart fodder. But then Ofra Haza, born on this day in 1959, wasn’t your typical pop star… Devotional poetry written by a 17th century rabbi isn’t your typical pop chart fodder. But then Ofra Haza, born this day in 1959, wasn’t your typical pop star. Born in the poor Tel Aviv neighborhood of Hativah as the youngest of nine children in a traditional Yemeni family, Haza began performing in a local workshop theatre troupe when she was 12. The troupe became popular for its politically charged productions and she spent the next seven years performing with them under the tutelage of Bezalel Aloni, who would later become her manager. She left the theater at 19 to start her solo career, a pursuit interrupted by a compulsory two-year enlistment in the Israeli Defense Force. When she returned, she became one of Israel’s top singers, her first album in 1980 containing a slew of hits – one of them shooting to No. 1 even when it was banned from the radio for its suggestive lyrics. Movie appearances and two more hit albums followed, but her fame reached an international level when she was chosen as Israel’s representative in the 1983 Eurovision Song Contest. Her performance was a symbolically charged moment, as the competition was staged in Munich, Germany – where 11 years previously Israeli Olympians were taken hostage and killed by a Palestinian terrorist organization – and her song “Chai” featured the lyric “Israel is alive.” Haza took second prize and the song became an international hit. It also brought her an unprecedented level of stardom in her home country. She next recorded Israeli folk songs for domestic consumption, but her first big international album came with 1985’s Yemite Songs, a record based on devotional poetry written by 17th-century rabbi Shalom Shabazi. In 1988 a remixed version of her song “Im Nin Alu” topped the Eurochart for two weeks and was an especially big hit in Germany, where it was number one for nine weeks in a row that summer. The single helped her album Shaday sell more than a million copies. And it wasn’t just Europe that had now discovered Haza. The album was successful in the United States – where it won The New Music Award for the International Album of the Year – and Japan, where “Im Nin Alu” took top honors at the Tokyo Music festival. In the years since its release “Im Nin Alu” has been sampled by hip-hop acts like Eric B. & Rakim, Snoop Dogg and Public Enemy. Madonna even used part of the song in her 2005 album Confession on a Dance Floor. World tours followed. Having relocated to Los Angeles, she collaborated with a number of Western artists, including Iggy Pop, Don Was, Paula Abdul, Thomas Dolby and The Sisters of Mercy. She also contributed to film soundtracks such as The Prince of Egypt (1988), in which she voiced a minor character and sang one song in 17 different languages. In 1992 she was nominated for a Grammy for her album Kirya, and in 1994 she performed at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony. But in the second half of the 1990s, her career started waning. And despite her international stardom, many in her own conservative Yemeni family saw her as essentially a ‘nobody’ because she was unmarried and had no children. After long searching for a husband, at 39 she married businessman Doron Ashkenazi. Longtime manager Bezalel Aloni, the most important man in her life to this point, disapproved of her choice of a mate, and clashed with his star client and friend. Despite her desire to raise a family, Haza was still childless two and half years into her marriage. In the fall of 1999, she was working on a new album of her own as well as collaborating with Finnish violinist Linda Brava. Neither project was completed when she died Feb. 23, 2000, of AIDS-related organ failure at age 42. That she’d been infected with HIV had been kept secret and Israel was shocked when the Ha’aretz newspaper revealed the cause of her death. Haza had enjoyed a squeaky-clean image, and was the first Israeli celebrity to die of a disease whose discussion was very much taboo. Many blamed her husband, Ashkenazi, for infecting her with the virus, though no evidence he had HIV was ever brought forward. He died of a drug overdose less than two years later. Today Haza is remembered as not simply another tragic pop star, but as an artist whose music helped bridge cultural and political gaps. Asked about her popularity in the Arab world, Haza told KCRW-FM in Los Angeles, “I get fan letters from Cairo, Kuwait, Dubai, Jordan, Syria. It’s wonderful to see that music has nothing to do with politics. We don’t have the power of politicians, but we have our power to unite people.” Ofra Haza earned an international reputation as a singer for her blend of pop and traditional Yemeni music. Haza's first hit song was “Ga’agu’im.” In 1979 she performed in the film Shlagger, her breakout success, leading to her four-year reign as Singer of the Year from 1980 to 1983. In 1983 she placed second in the Eurovision competition, and her album Shirei Teiman became an international sensation. In 1988 she won the Golden Lion competition in Germany and the International Song Festival in Tokyo, and her album Shaday sold more than a million copies. In her brief career, she recorded 27 albums. She performed in concerts throughout Europe, America, and Israel. Haza died suddenly, in 2000, of what was revealed to be an AIDS-related illness. Contents1 Early Life and Family2 Singing Career3 Legacy4 Discography of Ofra Haza for the years 1974–2000:Early Life and FamilyOfra Haza was born on November 19, 1957, in the Hatikvah quarter of Tel Aviv to parents who had immigrated from Yemen with their eight sons and daughters. Her mother, already a singer in Yemen, would often perform at family celebrations. Haza herself sang from an early age and was a soloist in her local school choir. As part of the neighborhood program of the Tel Aviv Municipality, the Hatikvah Quarter Theater Workshop was established under the leadership of Bezalel Aloni. Haza was accepted into the workshop at the age of twelve and it was through this program that in 1973 (1974?) she sang the song “Ga’agu’im” (Yearning), which became famous, reaching first place on the hit parade. At the Mizrachi Music Festival of 1974, the song “Shabbat ha-Malkah,” performed by Haza, took third place. Following her army service, Haza decided to make singing a career. Since Israel’s major songwriters initially rejected Haza’s requests to write songs for her, her manager Bezalel Aloni began composing works for her himself. In 1979, Haza appeared in the film Shlagger (Hit) performing the song “Shir ha-Freha,” written by Assi Dayan and Svika Pick. The song became a huge hit and Haza led the hit parades on all the radio stations, earning the title “Singer of the Year” four times from 1980 to 1983. Singing CareerSee Also:Brachah Zefira 1930sEncyclopedia: Brachah ZefiraIn Israel’s “Pre-Eurovision” song competition in 1983 Haza performed the winning song, entitled “Hai,” by Ehud Manor and Avi Toledano. She traveled to Germany to represent Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest, where the song took second place. Her major international breakthrough came in the wake of the album Shirei Teiman (Yemenite songs), which she recorded in 1984. The album consisted of songs that Haza had heard in childhood, using arrangements that combined authentic Middle Eastern percussion with classical instruments. The composer-arranger Izhar Ashdot, who remixed the album’s songs, added electronic instruments to the song “Galbi” (Libi [My heart] in Hebrew). Set to a Middle Eastern beat, the song became a “dance music” hit. A DJ from the Voice of Peace radio station passed along Ashdot’s version to friends in Europe, and the song was released by German record giant BMG, which distributed it throughout Europe, particularly in France and Germany. “Galbi” became a huge international hit. Haza’s star continued to rise, both in Israel and abroad. In 1988 Izhar Ashdot and Yair Nitzani did a remix of the song “Im Nin’alu,” first recorded by Haza for her Shirei Teiman album in 1984. After hip-hop artists and sampling pioneers Eric B & Rakim inserted the original version plus an addition by Haza in English and German into their song “Seven Minutes of Madness,” Haza’s “Im Nin’alu” soared to international fame. By the end of 1987 the song had sold more than two million copies worldwide. Sales of another Haza album, Shaday (1988), passed the one-million mark in Europe, adding to Haza’s international recognition. That same year, Haza placed first in the Golden Lion television competition in Germany and the International Song Festival in Tokyo. In 1989 she moved to New York and also made a successful appearance at the London Palladium. Such renowned music producers as Arif Mardin and Thomas Dolby asked to work with her and ultimately produced her Desert Wind album (1989). Singers Paul Anka and Cliff Richard recorded duets with her. Haza also recorded a duet in 1997 with the singer Iggy Pop for his album, which was nominated for a Grammy award that year. In 1989 Haza was invited by Steven Spielberg to perform the song “Deliver Us” for the animated feature The Prince of Egypt. She recorded the song in twenty-nine languages and even voiced the role of Yokheved, mother of Moses, in the film. In 1990, Haza turned down an offer by singer Michael Jackson for a joint international concert tour. In the course of her meteoric rise, the top Israeli songwriters, including Naomi Shemer, Ehud Manor, Sasha Argov, Moshe Wilensky, Svika Pick, and many others, offered her their songs. A large part of her repertoire was written by Bezalel Aloni, her manager of many years. Other songs were written by Haza herself, in collaboration with Aloni or with composers and lyricists who wrote for her. A considerable proportion of Haza’s repertoire was based on traditional Yemenite songs LegacyDespite her extensive international career, Haza never ceased performing in Israel, where her appearances always drew large audiences. She frequently appeared at army bases in the North and South of the country. While returning from one of these shows, the plane carrying her and Aloni crashed; miraculously, the two survived. Haza performed at numerous Israeli song festivals for children and adults, generally singing the winning song. Ofra Haza fan clubs were set up in various locales around Israel. In 1997 Haza married businessman Doron Ashkenazi and shortly thereafter severed her ties with Bezalel Aloni. In 1998 she was chosen to perform Naomi Shemer’s “Jerusalem of Gold” at the official ceremony marking Israel’s fiftieth anniversary. See Also:A-WA Bayti Fi Rasi album coverThis Week in History : A-WA Release Worldwide Hit "Habib Galbi"In February 2000 Haza was rushed to Tel Hashomer Hospital suffering from massive organ failure. She died on February 23, 2000. Ofra Haza is one of the major links in the chain of Yemenite women singers who have played such a prominent role on the Israeli music scene over the years. Their ranks have included Brachah Zefira, Esther Gamlielit, Shoshana Damari, Ahuva Tzadok and Achinoam Nini. Discography of Ofra Haza for the years 1974–2000:1974 – Ahavah Rishonah. 1976 – Ve-Hutz mi-Zeh Ha-Kol be-Seder. 1977 – Atik Noshan; 1978 – Shir ha-Shirim be-Sha’ashuim. 1980 – Al Ahavot Shelanu. See Also:Yemenite Women Encyclopedia: Yemenite Women in Israel: 1948 to 20051981 – Bo Nedaber. 1982 – Pitu’im. 1982 – Ofra Haza Le-Yeladim. 1983 – Chai. 1983 – Shirei Moledet A. 1983 – Mivhar Shirei Ofra Haza ve-Lahakat Shekhunat Hatikvah. 1984 – Bayit Ham. 1984 – Shirei Teiman. See Also:HAIMEncyclopedia: Jewish Women in Contemporary Popular Music: 1950 to Present1985 – Adamah. 1986 – Shirei Moledet B. 1986 – Yamim Nishbarim. 1987 – Album Zahav. 1988 – Shaday. 1989 – Gates of Wisdom. 1989 – Desert Wind. 1992 – Kirya. See Also:Rachel Galinne in red outfit posed and smiling while at piano adding notation to sheet musicEncyclopedia: Women in Israeli Music1994 – Kol ha-Neshamah. 1995 – Queen in Exile. 1997 – Ofra Haza ’97. Ofra Haza: From Hatikva to HollywoodJERUSALEM POST STAFF(February 24) - Ofra Haza was an artist whose roots were the core of her music and her world-wide success - Raised as the youngest of nine children to a traditional Yemenite family in the Hatikva neighborhood of Tel Aviv, Haza's fairy-tale climb to fame and fortune has become the stuff of local legend. At age of 12, she joined the Hatikva Theater group. With the encouragement of the group's founder Bezalel Aloni, who later became her manager, Haza took on stronger and more demanding leading roles within the Hatikva group, and by the time she was 19, her solo career was launched. After serving two years in the IDF she recorded her first solo album and quickly rose to become one of the country's top singers. She was voted second in the 1983 Eurovision Song Contest with "Chai" and released 16 gold and platinum albums. Then, the unlikely idea of matching traditional Yemenite songs with a throbbing dance beat unexpectedly launched an international career. In 1985, Haza, released her first international album, Yemenite Songs, a collection of interpretations of devotional poetry written by 17th-century rabbi, Shalom Shabazi. Then in 1988, Ofra appeared in the remix of "Paid in Full" in the Colors movie soundtrack. Not long after, Ofra's song "Im Nin Alu" reached No. 1 in the German charts for nine straight weeks and No. 1 in the Euro charts for two weeks, making her an international name. Haza focused on the international arena, relocating to Los Angeles, but she returned home a number of times each year for performances and visits. On February 3, 1987, Haza survived an airplane crash in a Cessna aircraft on the Israeli/Jordanian border. Her next album, Shaday, continued her international success, selling over one million copies worldwide and receiving The New Music Award for the International Album of the Year in New York City in 1989. The success of Shaday broke into the US, Canadian, and Japanese markets as her tour continuously sold out and her single, "Im Nin Alu," won first place at the Tokyo music festival. Her visual image, with her colorful national dress and the exotic mixture of Middle Eastern ballads and rhythms blended with western styles, helped to make her Israel's best-known female solo singer in the US and Europe. In 1992, Ofra's album Kirya was nominated for the Grammy Awards for the best album in the World Beat category. At the request of the late prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, Haza performed at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo in December 1994. "I'm happy with what I have. I thank God. I am the first Israeli to have this kind of success, so why should I complain about anything?" she told The Jerusalem Post in 1994. Haza continued to appear in many projects in recent years, including the DreamWorks Prince of Egypt soundtrack and The Governess soundtrack, both in 1998. Haza married businessman Doron Ashkenazi in 1997. The couple had no children. Ofra Haza (born November 19, 1957, Tel Aviv, Israel—died February 23, 2000, Ramat Gan) was an Israeli singer and pop star known for blending traditional Yemeni and Jewish folk elements with current pop music trends. Known as the “Madonna of the East,” Haza represented Israel in the 1983 Eurovision Song Contest and maintained her national and international celebrity presence until her tragic AIDS-related death at age 42. Early lifeHaza was born in the Hatikvah quarter of Tel Aviv, a working-class neighborhood known as a melting pot of cultures and backgrounds. Her parents, who were among some 50,000 Yemeni Jews airlifted from Yemen to Israel in Operation Magic Carpet (1949–50), raised her along with her eight siblings in the rich Jewish-Yemenite musical tradition. Her mother, who was a professional singer in Yemen, encouraged Haza from childhood to sing in the local choir and participate in the protest group Hatikvah Quarter Theater Workshop. In 1973 Haza performed her first hit, “Gaʿaguʿim,” at the workshop and was invited to perform the song “Shabbat ha-Malkah” at the Mizrahi Music Festival in 1974, which gained her critical acclaim within the Mizrahi (Middle Eastern) Jewish community. After appearing in a variety of television and radio shows, Haza released her first album at age 18. Upon completing mandatory service in the Israel Defense Forces, she decided to pursue a singing career. Early careerHaza struggled to find songwriters willing to work with her until Bezalel Aloni, the director of Hatikvah Quarter Theater Workshop, took on the dual role of her songwriter and manager. With Aloni’s assistance, Haza’s fame quickly grew, as she mixed her Yemenite musical heritage with inspiration from the Beatles and Elvis Presley to make a new, unique genre of pop music. Her early lyrics expressed her battles both as a woman navigating a conservative and traditional community and as a Mizrahi Jew facing discrimination from all sides. Music and film careerHaza released about two dozen albums and singles through her career. Although her early albums had little success, in 1979 the song “Shir ha-Frichah,” which Haza performed in the film Shlagger, became her breakout hit. She then became one of Israel’s top musical artists in the 1980s. In 1983 Haza broke into the international scene when she was chosen to represent Israel in Eurovision, a singing competition broadcast across Europe and a few other countries, including Israel. She won second place with the song “Chai,” written by Ehud Manor and Avi Toledano. Her Eurovision appearance launched her career to new heights and brought her next album, Shirei Teiman (1984), to an international audience. Haza continued to achieve great success abroad and sold more than a million copies of her mixed Hebrew- and English-language album Shaday (1988). Following the success of Shaday, Haza began recording albums of only English-language music, beginning with Desert Wind (1989), which she promoted with a U.S. tour; her music was becoming a world beat, a music style with global appeal. In 1993 she earned a Grammy nomination for best world music album with Kirya (1992). In film, Haza had a supporting role in the animated movie The Prince of Egypt (1998) as the voice of Yochevet, the mother of the biblical figure Moses, and she contributed to the soundtrack of American Psycho (2000) with “Im Ninʿalu.” Personal lifeHaza spent many years as an ambassador of the Israeli music scene. She was especially known for the religious undertones in her music, a clean public image, and a general lack of relationships or scandals. In 1987 a Cessna aircraft carrying Haza and her manager, Aloni, crashed into a mountain on the border of Israel and Jordan. After several hours of searching the nearby desert, the country rejoiced when she was found unharmed. Haza had no publicly known paramours until she fell in love with Tel Aviv businessman Doron Ashkenazi, whom she married in 1997. In February 2000 Haza was admitted to the hospital and died 13 days later of AIDS-related organ failure. Her fans struggled in the wake of her death to reconcile her clean public image with her disease, which was associated with drug use and sexual promiscuity despite being transmissible through other means. Some speculated that she had contracted HIV (the virus that causes AIDS) from her husband, who died a year later from a drug overdose. Sophia DecherneysingingTable of ContentsIntroductionSinging versus speakingThe character of Western singingBel canto from the 17th to the early 19th centuryMid-19th century departure from bel canto styleSinging since the turn of the 20th centuryReferences & Edit HistoryRelated TopicsVideosLearn about an Australian study on twins to investigate if the singing ability is inherited or environmentally determinedQuizzesYoung girl wearing a demin jacket playing the trumpet (child, musical instruments, Asian ethnicity)Sound Check: Musical Vocabulary QuizAmerican opera singer Rosa Ponselle in "Le Roi d'Ys"; photo dated c. 1920 - 1925.Singers, Musicians, Composers, and More QuizRelated QuestionsWho first recorded Elvis Presley?What were some of Frank Sinatra’s most famous recordings?Read NextQueen Elizabeth II addresses at opening of Parliament. 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As candidates for the Republican Party's nomination for the 2024 presidential election take to the stage to debate the issues and each other, keep track of the facts you need to know with updated Britannica entries. As with every Bingo game, if you connect five tiles in a row, celebrate!Presidential Debate BingoQueen Elizabeth II addresses at opening of Parliament. (Date unknown on photo, but may be 1958, the first time the opening of Parliament was filmed.)All 119 References in “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” ExplainedEntertainment & Pop CultureMusic Theory & Compositionssingingmusic Written and fact-checked by Last Updated: Jul 30, 2024 • Article HistoryKey People: Bob Dylan Bruce Springsteen Frank Sinatra Elvis Presley Jimmy SwaggartRelated Topics: shape-note singing throat-singing choir Eurovision Song Contest scatsinging, the production of musical tones by means of the human voice. In its physical aspect, singing has a well-defined technique that depends on the use of the lungs, which act as an air supply, or bellows; on the larynx, which acts as a reed or vibrator; on the chest and head cavities, which have the function of an amplifier, as the tube in a wind instrument; and on the tongue, which together with the palate, teeth, and lips articulate and impose consonants and vowels on the amplified sound. Though these four mechanisms function independently, they are nevertheless coordinated in the establishment of a vocal technique and are made to interact upon one another. Singing versus speakingSinging is distinguished from speaking by the manner in which the breath is expended to vibrate the vocal cords. Singing requires more breath the louder, higher, and longer one sings. It also requires that the emission of breath be more firmly controlled. A pertinent analogy is the function of the instrumentalist’s breath in playing a reed instrument—e.g., a clarinet, an oboe, or a saxophone. The technique of singing depends ultimately on the coordination of the various anatomical mechanisms in order to produce a propulsion of sound in a steady flow. A further distinction between singing and speaking is the control that is required, in singing, of the movement and reflexes of the larynx. As one sings higher, the larynx tends to rise sympathetically and at a certain point becomes an interference causing the voice to break, or crack. Not much movement of the larynx occurs within a singer’s normal range, which is usually about an octave and a third. Beyond that range, either above or below, an element of technical accomplishment sets the professional off from the unschooled amateur. The character of Western singingYoung girl wearing a demin jacket playing the trumpet (child, musical instruments, Asian ethnicity)Britannica QuizSound Check: Musical Vocabulary QuizWestern singing is distinguished above all by its volume. Singers of other cultures may have a wider range, particularly a greater upward extension; but it is doubtful that they have sung louder. Western singing is also distinguished by its concern with pure sound, with the tone quality, or timbre, and with colour, with what is felt to be the sheer beauty of the voice itself. Both singers and their listeners, in Western music more than any other, have tended to lose sight of song’s roots in language and to think of singing as a purely instrumental production. Modern Western styles of singing largely derive from the Italian bel canto, which had its origin in a style associated with the polyphonic music of the 16th century. Because this music expressed the significance or the moods of the text, a great range of expression was required from the singers, who, in these polyphonic works, assumed something of the function of a vocal orchestra. The art of singing accordingly evolved to allow the singers the maximum power and variety of expression. (See also bel canto.) Bel canto from the 17th to the early 19th centuryBel canto singing from the 17th through the early 19th century was built primarily on the recognition that the intensity of vocal tone on a single note may be increased or diminished. The varying of this intensity was known as the messa di voce. There is, however, a difference between variation in intensity and variation in volume of vocal tone. The style depended on the technique of intensity; that is, tone was varied by increasing or decreasing the air pressure on the glottal lips and not by enlarging the oral chamber, which merely resulted in a larger tonal volume. The style was also based on the principle that the voice has two “tones,” a diapason tone produced when the larynx is in a relatively low position, and a flute tone when the larynx assumes a higher position. These distinctions, however, were largely obliterated when a broader style of singing was introduced by Richard Wagner and later composers. Physical aspects of the technique of bel canto singing demanded a stance in which the chest was raised and the stomach drawn in; the raising of the soft palate together with a corresponding lowering of the larynx; and the drawing back of the chin with the effect of opening the throat. Correct breathing was above all essential, and the Italians went so far as to declare that “he who knows how to breathe can sing.” By a contraction of the upper abdominal muscles, control is achieved over the diaphragm, which thus enables the flow of air pressure from the lungs to be kept steady. This principle, which was the basis of singing in the 18th century, was later adopted by the Spanish tenor Manuel García, who declared that “the lungs are for tone emission, the glottis is for pitch, the oral cavity is for vowel and timbre, and the front of the mouth is for consonants.” The function of the diaphragm is to regulate the pressure of air, while the larynx, as a nozzle in a water spray, determines the nature of the flow. Are you a student?Get a special academic rate on Britannica Premium.With the muscles in appropriate position and the reserve of air under proper control, accented notes in singing are given their full value not as startling percussive notes but in the manner of an accented note produced by a violinist who prepares his effect by the proper placing of his bow. An exercise known as vibrazione enables the singer to control the voice at the larynx and, by attacking a note softly, to increase the volume by pressure of the larynx. Mid-19th century departure from bel canto styleLater schools of singing paid much attention to the resonation of the voice in the “mask,” that is, the cavities of the head, though this resonation did not affect the radiative power of the voice but only its volume. These singers, and also the still-later parlando singers, who effected a union of speech and singing, made a conscious use of resonation in this way and differed from the bel canto singers in that they exercised less control over physical mechanisms. The development of the orchestra by Hector Berlioz, Giuseppe Verdi, and Wagner in the 19th century encouraged singers to seek means of amplifying their voices by methods of resonation unknown in the bel canto style, and a new method was established of “singing on resonance.” Jean de Reszke, who emphasized the function of the nose in resonation, was the main exponent of this school. Apart from the facial mask and the nose, other resonators were held to be the hard palate and the teeth. Demands made on the voice by the Romantic operatic composers transformed the principles of the style, largely because the human voice would have been submerged by the vast orchestral resources drawn upon by these composers. Especially in the later music dramas of Wagner, sheer weight of orchestral sound forced the singer to unprecedented vocal exertions. With Verdi it was the vehemence of dramatic utterance rather than the presumptions of the orchestra that called for louder and more emphatic singing than would have been thought seemly in the age of bel canto. Singers found it difficult, if not impossible, to be at once forceful and elegant. A strong reaction thus set in, especially in Germany, against vocal improvisation and embellishment of any kind. What had seemed the ultimate in singing from the 17th to well into the 19th century was now anathematized as presumptuous frippery. Singing since the turn of the 20th centuryFlorid song lived on into the 20th century in the surviving operas of the older repertoire, but it tended to become stereotyped and the property of specialists. Whereas until about 1830 all singers were expected to be masters of the devices of bel canto, they were now categorized as dramatic, lyric, coloratura (specialist in florid song), and so on. The traditional range classifications of soprano, alto, tenor, and bass were also widened to admit the mezzo-soprano, the baritone, and the bass-baritone. The second half of the 20th century produced a predictable reaction in favour of the singer, with a revival of public enthusiasm for nearly forgotten operas by Gioachino Rossini, Gaetano Donizetti, and Vincenzo Bellini, and even of the true bel canto operas of George Frideric Handel, and the emergence of singers capable of acquiring the requisite technique imposed by music that left much to the singer’s invention and discretion. The popular singer, too, relieved by the microphone of the necessity of raising his voice, and exploiting the improvisatory conventions of jazz, employed intuitively many ornaments and expressive devices nearly identical to those of bel canto. The vocal requirements of avant-garde music extended beyond those of traditional operatic singing to include wider flexibility of timbre, techniques such as Sprechstimme (musically pitched speech), and improvisational fantasy drawing on sounds formerly excluded from the trained singer’s vocal resources. The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Adam Augustyn.musicTable of ContentsIntroductionHistorical conceptionsTheories of musical meaning since the 19th centuryReferences & Edit HistoryRelated TopicsImages & VideosBobby McFerrintraditional musictraditional musictraditional Chinese musictraditional Greek musicMattia Preti: Boethius and PhilosophyMartin LutherJohannes KeplerImmanuel KantRichard WagnerFor Students music summaryQuizzes(Left) Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee (Ramon Luis Ayala Rodriguez) perform during the 2017 Billboard Latin Music Awards and Show at the Bank United Center, University of Miami, Miami, Florida on April 27, 2017. (music)2010s Music QuizYoung girl wearing a demin jacket playing the trumpet (child, musical instruments, Asian ethnicity)Sound Check: Musical Vocabulary QuizIllustration of musical notes. classical music composer composition. 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Industrial Revolution EnglandInventors and Inventions of the Industrial RevolutionEntertainment & Pop CultureMusic, Classicalmusic Written by Fact-checked by Last Updated: Sep 9, 2024 • Article HistoryKey People: Ludwig van Beethoven Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Johann Sebastian Bach Lizzo Roberta FlackRelated Topics: opera Western music Native American music harmony choral musicRecent NewsSep. 12, 2024, 11:49 AM ET (The Standard)Sergio Mendes: Music great who brought Brazillian Bossa to the world passes onBobby McFerrinBobby McFerrinThe universality and innate nature of music, and the pentatonic scale, as demonstrated by singer Bobby McFerrin. See all videos for this articlemusic, art concerned with combining vocal or instrumental sounds for beauty of form or emotional expression, usually according to cultural standards of rhythm, melody, and, in most Western music, harmony. Both the simple folk song and the complex electronic composition belong to the same activity, music. Both are humanly engineered; both are conceptual and auditory, and these factors have been present in music of all styles and in all periods of history, throughout the world. Music is an art that, in one guise or another, permeates every human society. Modern music is heard in a bewildering profusion of styles, many of them contemporary, others engendered in past eras. Music is a protean art; it lends itself easily to alliances with words, as in song, and with physical movement, as in dance. Throughout history, music has been an important adjunct to ritual and drama and has been credited with the capacity to reflect and influence human emotion. Popular culture has consistently exploited these possibilities, most conspicuously today by means of radio, film, television, musical theatre, and the Internet. The implications of the uses of music in psychotherapy, geriatrics, and advertising testify to a faith in its power to affect human behaviour. Publications and recordings have effectively internationalized music in its most significant, as well as its most trivial, manifestations. Beyond all this, the teaching of music in primary and secondary schools has now attained virtually worldwide acceptance. traditional musicAfro-Cuban street musicians playing traditional music.But the prevalence of music is nothing new, and its human importance has often been acknowledged. What seems curious is that, despite the universality of the art, no one until recent times has argued for its necessity. The ancient Greek philosopher Democritus explicitly denied any fundamental need for music: “For it was not necessity that separated it off, but it arose from the existing superfluity.” The view that music and the other arts are mere graces is still widespread, although the growth of psychological understanding of play and other symbolic activities has begun to weaken this tenacious belief. Music is treated in a number of articles. For the history of music in different regions, see African music; Oceanic music and dance; Western music; Central Asian arts: Music; Chinese music; Japanese music; Korean music; Islamic arts; Native American music; South Asian arts: Music; and Southeast Asian arts: Music. See also folk music. Aspects of music are treated in counterpoint, harmony, instrumentation, mode, music criticism, music composition, music performance, music recording, musical sound, music notation, rhythm, scale, and tuning and temperament. See also such articles as blues, chamber music, choral music, concerto, electronic music, fugue, jazz, opera, rhythm and blues, rock, symphony, sonata, theatre music, and vocal music. Musical instruments are treated in electronic instrument, keyboard instrument, percussion instrument, stringed instrument, and wind instrument, as well as in separate articles on individual instruments, such as clarinet, drum, guitar, kayagŭm, piano, tabla, and theremin. Historical conceptions(Left) Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee (Ramon Luis Ayala Rodriguez) perform during the 2017 Billboard Latin Music Awards and Show at the Bank United Center, University of Miami, Miami, Florida on April 27, 2017. (music)Britannica Quiz2010s Music QuizMusic is everywhere to be heard. But what is music? Commentators have spoken of “the relationship of music to the human senses and intellect,” thus affirming a world of human discourse as the necessary setting for the art. A definition of music itself will take longer. As Aristotle said, “It is not easy to determine the nature of music or why anyone should have a knowledge of it.” traditional musicMan playing a traditional Indian musical instrument.Early in the 20th century, it was regarded as a commonplace that a musical tone was characterized by the regularity of its vibrations; this uniformity gave it a fixed pitch and distinguished its sounds from “noise.” Although that view may have been supported by traditional music, by the latter half of the 20th century it was recognized as an unacceptable yardstick. Indeed, “noise” itself and silence became elements in composition, and random sounds were used (without prior knowledge of what they would be) by composers, such as the American John Cage, and others in works having aleatory (chance) or impromptu features. Tone, moreover, is only one component in music, others being rhythm, timbre (tone colour), and texture. Electronic machinery enabled some composers to create works in which the traditional role of the interpreter is abolished and to record, directly on tape or into a digital file, sounds that were formerly beyond human ability to produce, if not to imagine. Early Indian and Chinese conceptions Are you a student?Get a special academic rate on Britannica Premium.From historical accounts it is clear that the power to move people has always been attributed to music; its ecstatic possibilities have been recognized in all cultures and have usually been admitted in practice under particular conditions, sometimes stringent ones. In India, music has been put into the service of religion from earliest times; Vedic hymns stand at the beginning of the record. As the art developed over many centuries into a music of profound melodic and rhythmic intricacy, the discipline of a religious text or the guideline of a story determined the structure. In the 21st century the narrator remains central to the performance of much Indian traditional music, and the virtuosity of a skillful singer rivals that of the instrumentalists. There is very little concept of vocal or instrumental idiom in the Western sense. The vertical dimension of chord structure—that is, the effects created by sounding tones simultaneously—is not a part of South Asian classical music; the divisions of an octave (intervals) are more numerous than in Western music, and the melodic complexity of the music goes far beyond that of its Western counterpart. Moreover, an element of improvisation is retained that is vital to the success of a performance. The spontaneous imitation carried on between an instrumentalist and narrator, against the insistent rhythmic subtleties of the drums, can be a source of the greatest excitement, which in large measure is because of the faithful adherence to the rigid rules that govern the rendition of ragas—the ancient melodic patterns of Indian music. traditional Chinese musicMusician playing a traditional Chinese fiddle, the erhu, at the 2008 Moon Festival.Chinese music, like the music of India, has traditionally been an adjunct to ceremony or narrative. Confucius (551–479 bce) assigned an important place to music in the service of a well-ordered moral universe. He saw music and government as reflecting one another and believed that only the superior man who can understand music is equipped to govern. Music, he thought, reveals character through the six emotions that it can portray: sorrow, satisfaction, joy, anger, piety, love. According to Confucius, great music is in harmony with the universe, restoring order to the physical world through that harmony. Music, as a true mirror of character, makes pretense or deception impossible. Ancient Greek ideas traditional Greek musicDancers in traditional clothing at an Easter celebration in Heraklion on the island of Crete, Greece. Musicians are playing Greek musical instruments, including a Cretan lyra (left) and a bouzouki.Although music was important in the life of ancient Greece, it is not now known how that music actually sounded. Only a few notated fragments have survived, and no key exists for restoring even these. The Greeks were given to theoretical speculation about music; they had a system of notation, and they “practiced music,” as Socrates himself, in a vision, had been enjoined to do. But the Greek term from which the word music is derived was a generic one, referring to any art or science practiced under the aegis of the Muses. Music, therefore, as distinct from gymnastics, was all-encompassing. (Much speculation, however, was clearly directed toward that more-restricted meaning with which we are familiar.) Music was virtually a department of mathematics for the philosopher Pythagoras (c. 550 bce), who was the first musical numerologist and who laid the foundations for acoustics. In acoustics, the Greeks discovered the correspondence between the pitch of a note and the length of a string. But they did not progress to a calculation of pitch on the basis of vibrations, though an attempt was made to connect sounds with underlying motions. Plato (428–348/347 bce), like Confucius, looked on music as a department of ethics. And like Confucius he was anxious to regulate the use of particular modes (i.e., arrangements of notes, like scales) because of their supposed effects on people. Plato was a stern musical disciplinarian; he saw a correspondence between the character of a person and the music that represented him or her. Straightforward simplicity was best. In the Laws, Plato declared that rhythmic and melodic complexities were to be avoided because they led to depression and disorder. Music echoes divine harmony; rhythm and melody imitate the movements of heavenly bodies, thus delineating the music of the spheres and reflecting the moral order of the universe. Earthly music, however, is suspect; Plato distrusted its emotional power. Music must therefore be of the right sort; the sensuous qualities of certain modes are dangerous, and a strong censorship must be imposed. Music and gymnastics in the correct balance would constitute the desirable curriculum in education. Plato valued music in its ethically approved forms; his concern was primarily with the effects of music, and he therefore regarded it as a psychosociological phenomenon. Yet Plato, in treating earthly music as a shadow of the ideal, saw a symbolic significance in the art. Aristotle carried forward the concept of the art as imitation, but music could express the universal as well. His idea that works of art could contain a measure of truth in themselves—an idea voiced more explicitly by Plotinus in the 3rd century ce—gave added strength to the symbolic view. Aristotle, following Plato, thought that music has power to mold human character, but he would admit all the modes, recognizing happiness and pleasure as values to both the individual and the state. He advocated a rich musical diet. Aristotle made a distinction between those who have only theoretical knowledge and those who produce music, maintaining that persons who do not perform cannot be good judges of the performances of others. Aristoxenus, a pupil of Aristotle, gave considerable credit to human listeners, their importance, and their powers of perception. He denigrated the dominance of mathematical and acoustical considerations. For Aristoxenus, music was emotional and fulfilled a functional role, for which both the hearing and the intellect of the listener were essential. Individual tones were to be understood in their relations to one another and in the context of larger formal units. The Epicureans and Stoics adopted a more naturalistic view of music and its function, which they accepted as an adjunct to the good life. They gave more emphasis to sensation than did Plato, but they nevertheless placed music in the service of moderation and virtue. A dissenting 3rd-century voice was that of Sextus Empiricus, who said that music was an art of tones and rhythms only that meant nothing outside itself. The Platonic influence in musical thought was to be dominant for at least a millennium. Following that period of unquestioned philosophical allegiance, there were times of rededication to Greek concepts, accompanied by reverent and insistent homage (e.g., the group of late 16th-century Florentines, known as the Camerata, who were instrumental in the development of opera). Such returns to simplicity, directness, and the primacy of the word have been made periodically, out of loyalty to Platonic imperatives, however much these “neo” practices may have differed from those of the Greeks themselves. In the 21st century the effects of Greek thought are still strongly evident in the belief that music influences the ethical life; in the idea that music can be explained in terms of some component such as number (that may itself be only a reflection of another, higher source); in the view that music has specific effects and functions that can be appropriately labelled; and in the recurrent observation that music is connected with human emotion. In every historical period there have been defectors from one or more of these views, and there are, of course, differences of emphasis. Music in Christianity Mattia Preti: Boethius and PhilosophyBoethius and Philosophy, oil on canvas, by Mattia Preti, 17th century.Much of the Platonic-Aristotelian teaching, as restated by the Roman philosopher Boethius (c. 480–524), was well suited to the needs of the church; the conservative aspects of that philosophy, with its fear of innovation, were conducive to the maintenance of order. The role of music as accessory to words is nowhere more clearly illustrated than in the history of Christianity, where the primacy of the text has always been emphasized and sometimes, as in Roman Catholic doctrine, made an article of faith. In the varieties of plainchant, melody was used for textual illumination; the configurations of sound took their cue from the words. St. Augustine (354–430 ce), who was attracted by music and valued its utility to religion, was fearful of its sensuous element and anxious that the melody never take precedence over the words. These had been Plato’s concerns also. Still echoing the Greeks, Augustine, whose beliefs were reiterated by St. Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225–74), held the basis of music to be mathematical; music reflects celestial movement and order. Martin LutherPortrait of Martin Luther, oil on panel by Lucas Cranach, 1529; in the Uffizi, Florence.Martin Luther (1483–1546) was a musical liberal and reformer. But the uses he envisioned for music, despite his innovations, were in the mainstream of tradition; Luther insisted that music must be simple, direct, accessible, an aid to piety. His assignment of particular qualities to a given mode is reminiscent of Plato and Confucius. John Calvin (1509–64) took a more cautious and fearful view of music than did Luther, warning against voluptuous, effeminate, or disorderly music and insisting upon the supremacy of the text. 17th- and 18th-century Western conceptions Johannes KeplerJohannes Kepler, oil painting by an unknown artist, 1627; in the cathedral of Strasbourg, France.In reviewing the accounts of music that have characterized musical and intellectual history, it is clear that the Pythagoreans are reborn from age to age. The German astronomer Johannes Kepler (1571–1630) perpetuated, in effect, the idea of the harmony of the spheres, attempting to relate music to planetary movement. René Descartes (1596–1650), too, saw the basis of music as mathematical. He was a faithful Platonist in his prescription of temperate rhythms and simple melodies so that music would not produce imaginative, exciting, and hence immoral, effects. For another philosopher-mathematician, the German Gottfried von Leibniz (1646–1716), music reflected a universal rhythm and mirrored a reality that was fundamentally mathematical, to be experienced in the mind as a subconscious apprehension of numerical relationships. Immanuel KantImmanuel Kant, pencil portrait by Hans Veit Schnorr von Carolsfeld; in the Kupferstichkabinett, Dresden, Germany.Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) ranked music as lowest in his hierarchy of the arts. What he distrusted most about music was its wordlessness; he considered it useful for enjoyment but negligible in the service of culture. Allied with poetry, however, it may acquire conceptual value. Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831) also extolled the discursive faculties, saying that art, though it expresses the divine, must yield to philosophy. He acknowledged the peculiar power of music to express many nuances of the emotions. Like Kant, Hegel preferred vocal music to instrumental, deprecating wordless music as subjective and indefinite. The essence of music he held to be rhythm, which finds its counterpart in the innermost self. What is original in Hegel’s view is his claim that music, unlike the other arts, has no independent existence in space, is not “objective” in that sense; the fundamental rhythm of music (again an aspect of number) is experienced within the hearer. After the 18th century, speculations upon the intrinsic nature of music became more numerous and profound. The elements necessary for a more comprehensive theory of its function and meaning became discernible. But philosophers whose views have been summarized thus far were not speaking as philosophers of music. Music interested them in terms extrinsic to itself, in its observable effects; in its connections with dance, religious ritual, or festive rites; because of its alliance with words; or for some other extramusical consideration. The only common denominator to be found, aside from the recognition of different types of music, is the acknowledgment of its connection with the emotional life, and here, to be sure, is that problematic power of the art to move. Various extramusical preoccupations are the raison d’être of “contextualist” explanations of music, which are concerned with its relation to the human environment. The history of music itself is largely an account of its adjunctive function in rituals and ceremonies of all kinds—religious, military, courtly—and in musical theatre. The protean character of music that enables it to form such easy alliances with literature and drama (as in folk song, art song, opera, “background” music) and with the dance (ritual, popular entertainment, “social,” ballet) appears to confirm the wide range and influence that the Greeks assigned to it. Theories of musical meaning since the 19th centuryBefore the 19th century, musicians themselves seldom were theorists, if theorist is defined as one who explicates meaning. Music theory, when it was something other than the exposition of a prevalent or emerging style, was likely to be a technical manual guiding vocal or instrumental performance, a set of directions for meeting current exigencies in church or theatre practice, or a missive advocating reforms. Prolific masters, such as Johann Sebastian Bach, produced not learned treatises but monuments of art. Richard WagnerRichard Wagner, drawing by Franz von Lenbach, c. 1870.The 19th century saw the emergence of composer-critics (Carl Maria von Weber, Robert Schumann, Hector Berlioz, Franz Liszt), versatile artists with literary proclivities who were not, to be sure, propounding comprehensive theories or systems of thought. Richard Wagner, an active theorist, presaged a new species, the composer-author. But he did little to advance music theory. He proposed a unity of music and drama (Gesamtkunstwerk)—a reflection of the programmatic preoccupations of 19th-century composers—but its multiplicity of musical and extramusical elements only added to the confusion of musical thought. The distinctly musical character of Wagner’s genius, clearly discernible in The Ring of the Nibelung (Der Ring des Nibelungen), a set of four operas, is in no way explained by his discursive credos. Igor Stravinsky, Arnold Schoenberg, and other composer-authors of the 20th century were somewhat more successful in elucidating their techniques and aims. The concept of dynamism Friedrich NietzscheIdeas of music as a type of symbolism owe much to two German philosophers, Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) and Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900), who brought to the theory of music a new concept, articulated by each in different ways and in divergent terms but faithful to the same principle—dynamism. Both saw in music an art that is not “spatialized” (hence not “objective”) in the way that other arts are by the very conditions of their manifestation. Music is closer to the inner dynamism of process; there are fewer technical (and no concrete) impediments to immediate apprehension, for an entire dimension of the empirical world has been bypassed. Arthur SchopenhauerGerman philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, 1855.Schopenhauer looked upon Platonic ideas as objectifying will, but music is by no means like the other arts, the copy of the Ideas, but the copy of the will itself. This is why the effect of music is so much more powerful and penetrating than that of the other arts, for they speak only of shadows, but it speaks of the thing itself. In contrast to Kant he accords a special efficacy to music: The effect of music is stronger, quicker, more necessary and infallible. Men have practiced music in all ages without being able to account for this; content to understand it directly, they renounce all claim to an abstract conception of this direct understanding itself. Schopenhauer acknowledged a connection between human feeling and music, which “restores to us all the emotions of our inmost nature, but entirely without reality and far removed from their pain.” Music, which he is presenting an as analogue of the emotional life, is a copy or symbol of the will. Nietzsche posed an Apollonian-Dionysian dichotomy, the former representing form and rationality and the latter drunkenness and ecstasy. For Nietzsche, music was the Dionysian art par excellence. In The Birth of Tragedy from the Spirit of Music, Nietzsche anticipated the 20th-century discovery that symbol making (whether in dreams, myth, or art) is a necessary and to some extent even automatic human activity. The rich suggestiveness and prescience of his insights embraced the concept of the symbolical analogue—the artistic function of ordering and heightening the ingredients of the actual world—and the polarities of experience symbolized in the Apollonian-Dionysian conflict itself, which Stravinsky also explored. Nietzsche gave short shrift to mathematical aspects of music, and like Schopenhauer he deprecated blatantly programmatic music that abounds in obvious imitations of natural sounds. Discerning a power in music to create myths, he looked upon mere tone painting as the antithesis of its essential character. Efforts of theorists to account for the universal appeal of music and to explain its effects have, since the 19th century, been various, contradictory, and highly controversial. In identifying the chief points of view that have emerged, it must be emphasized that there are no completely isolated categories, and there is usually considerable overlapping; a single spokesman, the 19th-century English psychologist Edmund Gurney (1847–88), for example, may incorporate formalist, symbolist, expressionist, and psychological elements, in varying proportions, to explain the phenomenon of music. Although some disagreements are more apparent than real because of the inherent problems of terminology and definition, diametrically opposing views are also held and tenaciously defended. Referentialists and nonreferentialists Eduard HanslickEduard Hanslick, 1865.Among those who seek and propound theories of musical meaning, the most persistent disagreement is between the referentialists (or heteronomists), who hold that music can and does refer to meanings outside itself, and the nonreferentialists (who are sometimes called formalists or absolutists), who maintain that the art is autonomous and “means itself.” The Austrian critic Eduard Hanslick, in his The Beautiful in Music (originally in German, 1854), was a strong proponent of music as an art of intrinsic principles and ideas, yet even Hanslick, ardent formalist though he was, struggled with the problem of emotion in music. Hanslick’s views have been classified as a modified heteronomous theory. Igor StravinskyRussian-born composer Igor Stravinsky, c. 1920.One looks in vain for an extremist of either persuasion, referentialist or nonreferentialist. Igor Stravinsky first achieved fame as a composer of ballet music, and his works throughout his career were rich in extramusical associations. It would be a comfortable simplification to ally referentialism with program music and nonreferentialism with absolute music. But the problem cannot be resolved by such a choice, if only, first of all, because extramusical referents can vary in complexity from a mere descriptive title to the convolutions of the Wagnerian leitmotif, in which a particular musical phrase is consistently associated with a particular person, place, or thing. Referentialists do not require an explicit program, and nonreferentialists do not necessarily denigrate program music, though they make a point of distinguishing between the extramusical program and the musical meaning. The American musicologist and theorist Leonard Meyer, in his Emotion and Meaning in Music (1956), spoke of “designative” and “embodied” meanings; he recognized both kinds in music but appeared to give equal weight to the extrinsic and intrinsic. If there is intrinsic, or embodied, meaning, one may well ask what meaning is embodied and how it is to be apprehended. An extreme formalist would say that the acoustic pattern itself and nothing more is the sense of music; Hanslick, indeed, said this, though he did not hold consistently to the view. But most nonreferentialists regard music as, in one way or another, emotionally meaningful or expressive. Referentialists, too, find expressive content in music, though this emotional content may be extramusical (even if not explicit) in origin, according to the American theorists John Hospers in Meaning and Truth in the Arts (1946) and Donald Ferguson in Music as Metaphor (1960). Meyer made the observation that while most referentialists are expressionists, not all expressionists are referentialists. He made the useful distinction between absolute expressionists and referential expressionists and identified his own position as “formalist–absolute expressionist.” In acknowledging that music can and does express referential (designative) meanings as well as nonreferential ones, Meyer exhibited an eclectic and certainly permissive view. But he has been criticized for failing to make clear the modus operandi of this referential meaning in music. Intuition and intellectMost theorists agree that music is an auditory phenomenon and that hearing is the beginning of understanding. Beyond this there is little agreement. There is contention especially between proponents of intuition, such as Benedetto Croce (1866–1952), and champions of intellectual cognition, such as Hospers. Gurney was constrained to postulate a special musical faculty that need not reside exclusively either in the mind or the heart. The main problem for theorists arises from the inveterate tendency to dichotomize thought and feeling. Henri Bergson (1859–1941) broke with this tradition when he spoke for “an intellectual act of intuition.” In the first half of the 20th century, a reawakened philosophical and artistic concern for the concept of organic unity revealed strong affinities among such disparate works as Gurney’s The Power of Sound (1880), the American philosopher Susanne K. Langer’s Philosophy in a New Key (1942) and her later works, John Dewey’s classic Art as Experience (1934), and the American composer Roger Sessions’s The Musical Experience (1950). It is apparent that music is connected in some way with human emotional life, but the “how” continues to be elusive. Sessions (echoing Aristotle) stated the problem fairly: No one denies that music arouses emotions, nor do most people deny that the values of music are both qualitatively and quantitatively connected with the emotions it arouses. Yet it is not easy to say just what this connection is. It was long fashionable to speak of the “language” of music, or of music as the “language of the emotions,” but, since a precise semantics is wanting in music, the analogy breaks down. Two or more listeners may derive very different “meanings” from the same piece of music, and, since written and spoken language cannot render these musical “meanings,” whatever they may be, in consistent and commonly recognizable terms, verbal explication often seems to raise more questions than it settles. Philosophical analysts who hold that all meaning is capable of rendition in language therefore pronounce music—unless it can be saved by the referentialists—without meaning, confronting thoughtful listeners, thereby, with a proposition that seems clearly to contradict (and trivialize) their own experiences. The difficulty, of course, is a semantic one and explains why some theorists have substituted such terms as import, significance, pattern, or gestalt for meaning. Recognizing an incompatibility between the modalities of nonverbal arts and their treatment by discursive thought, it is hardly surprising that music aestheticians have been few. Symbolist contributionsSignificant contributions to music theory were made in the mid-20th century by several investigators who may be classified as symbolists, though most of them exhibited formalist, expressionist, and psychological elements as well. Some of the most influential (and controversial) work was done by Langer. Her most adamant critics (such as John Hospers) objected to her use of the term symbol, which, in their lexica, must stand for something definite; she took pains to ascribe this more limited usage to the term signal. The more general use of the term symbol that she endorsed already had a long history, notably in such 19th-century figures as Goethe, Thomas Carlyle, and the French Symbolist poets. Langer was accused of having somewhat weakened her argument through a vacillating terminology, and she described the musical symbol as “unconsummated” because of its ambiguity. But the validity of her theory did not depend upon the term symbol; her thought, indeed, had much in common with that of Edmund Gurney, who did not employ the term and whose ideal motion, if substituted for symbol, would remove most of her critics’ objections. Her use of symbol was nevertheless defensible; she construed art as a “symbolic analogue of emotive life,” rendering the “forms of sentient being” into intelligible configurations. She was a naturalist; she saw art as organic in origin, and she echoed the view, long held among symbolists, that artistic form and content compose an indissoluble unity that each art manifests according to its peculiar conditions. The symbolism of music, she contended, is therefore tonal (or, at its broadest, auditory) in character and can be realized only in time; in psychological experience, time assumes an ideal guise. (Painting and sculpture, in their distinct

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