Composers of Classical Music of Jewish Descent

Book excerpt: This important book attempts to analyze the reasons for the predominance in classical music of composers of Jewish descent while highlighting their role within the production of works of significant importance, particularly over the last two hundred years. Written in two parts, the larger second section provides an invaluable compilation of biographical sketches for over 250 composers of Jewish descent; some are well known as composers, for example, Mendelssohn, Mahler, Schoenberg, Copland and Gershwin, others are better known as performers or conductors, for example, Klemperer, Schnabel, and yet others are often not generally identified as of Jewish descent, for example, Finzi. Each composer entry has a brief bibliography. The book contains an extensive glossary of Hebrew and musical terms.