The Jewish holiday of Passover is about the liberation of the ancient Israelites from slavery in Egypt. It’s a story that is relevant throughout history, and that resonates in every culture, inspiring wonderful music from many traditions. When Giuseppe Verdi composed his opera, Nabucco, in 1836, the Italian peninsula was dominated by the Austrian Empire. To Verdi, the suffering of the ancient Jews was similar to the anguish of the Italians under foreign domination.
It is the struggle of an oppressed people for freedom. Nabucco is based on the biblical story of Nebuchadnezzar. The Jews were taken as prisoners, and led by chains to the foreign land of Babylon. In the famous “Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves”, the Jews are resting after a long day of forced labor. They lament their unhappy fate as prisoners, singing: “Va, pensiero, sull’ali dorate…” “Go, thought, on golden wings…”
The thought is of their beloved homeland. They yearn for their homeland, singing: “Oh, my country, so beautiful and lost!”
In celebrating Passover, or Pesach in Hebrew, there is food and music, and it’s springtime. On the first night of the holiday, there is a ritual feast called the Seder meal. Seder means “order”, everything according to a formula, which is laid out in a book called the Haggadah, which comes from the Hebrew word “tell”. What’s being told is the story of the exodus of the Jews from Egypt, returning to their homeland, thousands of years ago.
When the Jews were freed from slavery, they left Egypt in such a hurry that they didn’t have time to let their bread rise, so it got baked as is, and the result was “Matza”. The Hagadah refers to Matza as “Ha Lachma Anya”, the bread of affliction.
According to tradition, the youngest person at the table recites 4 very important questions, preceded by this question: “Why is this night different from all other nights?”
The answer begins with: “We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt. But God led us out of there with a mighty hand, and an outstretched arm.” In Germany in the 1930s, when Hitler’s persecution of Jewish citizens was already well underway, Jewish composer Paul Dessau set that part of that text in his oratorio, “Hagadah Shel Pesach”.
Another classic is the spiritual, “Go Down, Moses”: “”Thus spoke the Lord”, bold Moses said, “Let my people go! If not, I’ll smite your firstborn dead.”
“When Israel was in Egypt’s land, Let my people go,
Go down Moses, way down in Egypt land.
Tell old Pharaoh to let my people go.”
Ostensibly, the words present a pious reiteration of Scripture. But the lyrics could convey the idea of taking up arms against the pharaohs of America. Spirituals strengthened the determination of the slaves to survive, and raised the spirits of an oppressed people. “Go Down Moses” helped the slaves prepare to escape to freedom in the North.
Moses told Pharaoh to let his people go, but Pharaoh didn’t listen, so God smote all the 1st born of Egypt, the chief of all their strength. Handel set this to music in his oratorio “Israel in Egypt”, in which he relates the last and worst of God’s 10 plagues on the Egyptians.
The composer, Ernst Toch, was an Austrian Jew who emigrated to the U.S. in 1934. While Hitler’s forces were goose-stepping their way into Vienna, Toch wrote his “Cantata of the Bitter Herbs”, which lays out the first 9 plagues.
After the 10th plague, Pharaoh was so frightened that he said the Jews could leave, so they rushed to the Red Sea. However, they were at a loss as to how they could cross it. Moses then prayed to God for help. Rossini set that prayer to music in his French opera, “Moses and Pharaoh”.
After this prayer, God parted the waters of the Red Sea so the Israelites could cross it. As written in the 106th Psalm, “He rebuked the Red Sea and it was dried up. He led them through its depths as if it were a desert. But the waters overwhelmed their enemies.” Handel depicts this in his masterpiece, “Israel in Egypt”.
Cecille B. De Mille created 2 movies entitled “The 10 Commandments”. The first one was made in 1925 as a silent film, starring Theodore Roberts as Moses. 33 years later, he made the 10 Commandments again, this time with Charlton Heston as Moses, with music by Elmer Bernstein. In both movies, De Mille ingeniously depicted God’s parting of the sea, the Israelites crossing through it to the other side, and Pharaoh’s army of soldiers, horses, and chariots following in hot pursuit, only to be caught in the midst of the sea as God closes it back up.
Dayenu: It would have been enough. The Haggadah says Delivering us from Egypt, punishing the Egyptians, giving us the Torah, getting us safely into the land of Israel, any one of those things by itself would have been enough, but God did all of them.”
Passover has inspired many composers. Jacques Fromental Halevy’s opera “La Juive”, The Jewess, contains a Seder scene. The story takes place in medieval Europe, where the Jews were being persecuted, so the Seder is conducted in secret. It includes the prayer: “Oh God of our fathers, come down to us. Oh God, keep our secrets hidden from those who wish to do us harm. You who light up our world, come down to us now.”
During the Spanish Inquisition, the Marranos – or hidden Jews – had to hide their Seder. In a Yiddish song, one Marrano asks another:
“So Marran, tell me, where will you hold your Seder?”
The friend answers: “In a cave, in a little chamber. So, Marran, what will you do if your voice is heard?”
Marran: “If the enemy catches me, I’ll die with a song on my lips.”
On the 1st morning of Passover, there is a solemn prayer for dew: “T’filas Tal”. Dew is a symbol for revival, not just for plants in the spring, but for the Jewish people. Dew signifies favor, enlightenment, sweetness and abundance. Dew represents blessing, a gift from God.
As the Hagadah says: In every generation, our enemies rise up to destroy us.
Jewish composers were moved to compose pieces on Jewish themes during the 1930s and 40s.
The Austrian composer Eric Korngold is best known for his wonderful Hollywood film music. But he also wrote a beautiful Passover Psalm composed in exile in Los Angeles, in 1941.
The Passover story of freedom has taken on many associations over the centuries. Black slaves in the United States saw the bondage of the Jews and their eventual liberation reflected in their own situation. Some of their songs were powerful during the fight for civil rights.
Some Jews use the Seder to commemorate the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, which began on the 1st night of Passover in 1943. The great Paul Robeson sang the “Song of the Warsaw Ghetto” in Moscow!
Towards the end, there is the grace after meals. There’s a beautiful recording by the legendary Cantor, Yossele Rosenblatt, singing Psalm 126, “Shir Hamaalos, A Song of Ascents”.
This part of the Seder is devoted to praising God: from Psalm 118, “Hodu Lashem, Give Thanks to the Lord”.
“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.
Let Israel say: ‘His love endures forever.”’
Let the house of Aaron say: “His love endures forever.”
Let those who fear the Lord say: ‘His love endures forever.’”
Another song is Adir Hu:
He is mighty.
God Is Mighty
May He soon rebuild his house.
Speedily, speedily and in our days, soon.
God, rebuild! God, rebuild!
Rebuild your house soon!
Thirteen are the attributes of God.
Twelve are the tribes.
Eleven are the stars.
Ten are the Words from Sinai.
Nine are the months of childbirth.
Eight are the days for circumcision.
Seven are the days of the week.
Six are the orders of the Mishnah.
Five are the books of the Torah.
Four are the matriarchs.
Three are the patriarchs.
Two are the tablets of the covenant.
One is our God in Heaven and Earth.
To end the Seder, everyone says: “Next year in Jerusalem.” At the end of the Seder is a song for the children:
“My father gave me Chad Gadya, one little goat.
Then God came and defeated the Angel of Death that killed the butcher,
that slaughtered the ox,
that drank the water
that put out the fire,
that burned the stick,
that hit the dog,
that bit the cat,
that ate the goat,
that my father bought for just two coins.
One little goat, one little goat!”