Rozovsky Shlomo (1878-1962)

Rozovsky (Rosowsky) Shlomo (Solomon Borisovich) (1878, Riga – 1962, New York) — Jewish composer, pedagogue, and musicologist.

Shlomo Rozovsky was the son of the cantor and synagogue composer Baruch-Leib Rozovsky (1841–1919).

He graduated from the Faculty of Law of Kyiv University (1902) and from the St Petersburg Conservatory, where he studied composition under Jāzeps Vītols and Anatoly Lyadov (1909). In 1904–1908 he studied music theory under Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Alexander Glazunov. In 1908, together with Lazare Saminsky, Mikhail Gnesin, and others, he took part in founding the Society for Jewish Folk Music, in which he played a prominent role.

Between 1908 and 1917 Rozovsky composed the symphonic poem Hasidim, a Piano Trio, two wind quintets — Endless Melody and Moshe the Shoemaker — and the piano pieces Badkhn and Poem. These works were based on folkloric material (not on traditional Hasidic music but mainly on more modern melodies of Jewish folk songs and dances) or on original themes composed by the author in a Jewish folk style.

In 1919 he directed the musical department of the Jewish Theatre-Studio in Petrograd (see GOSET), composing music for productions such as God of Vengeance (after Sholem Asch) and Uriel Acosta (after Karl Gutzkow), among others. In 1920 he moved to Riga, where he participated in the establishment of the Jewish Conservatory.

In 1925 Rozovsky repatriated to Eretz Israel and settled in Jerusalem, where he devoted himself to teaching, composition, and research. He taught theoretical subjects and composition at the Shulamit Conservatory (founded in 1910). As a teacher and composer he was among the first to attempt to combine elements of local folklore and liturgical music with the foundations of European musical culture—classical harmony, polyphony, orchestration, and related techniques. For this purpose he studied in depth the traditions of folk and synagogue music among various Jewish communities.

He composed music for numerous theatrical productions: for the Habima Theatre — Otzar (The Treasure, after Sholem Aleichem), Keter David (The Crown of David, after Pedro Calderón de la Barca), and The Golem (after H. Leivick); for the Ohel Theatre — Ya‘akov ve-Raḥel (Jacob and Rachel, after Nikolai Krasheninnikov) and Shabtai Zvi (Sabbatai Zevi, after N. Agmon [Bystritsky]); and for the Jerusalem Theatrical Society — Mashiaḥ ben Yosef (Messiah, Son of Joseph, after B. Shteiman), among others.

Among Rozovsky’s compositions are the Funeral Ode for symphony orchestra, a Rhapsody for cello and piano, chamber works, and art songs. He published a collection of synagogue melodies edited by him, Shirei Tefillah (Prayers), based on the repertoire of his father, as well as the song collection Mi-Zimrat ha-Aretz (From the Songs of the Land).

In the late 1920s he began work on a study of Jewish cantillation, particularly the deciphering of the Masoretic signs (ta‘amei ha-mikra) in the interpretation of Ashkenazi communities, especially those of Lithuania. In 1945 the Department of Education of Mandatory Palestine made the study of Rozovsky’s system compulsory in religious educational institutions in the country.

Among his students in Eretz Israel were the composers Mordechai Ze‘ira, Shlomo Postolsky (1893–1949), Immanuel Amiran (1909–1993), Moshe Shalem (1904–1975), and others. Rozovsky received the Joel Engel Prize and the Tel Aviv Municipal Prize for musical and educational activity (both in 1946).

In 1947 he moved to the United States. In 1957 his major work “Biblical Cantillation: The Pentateuch of Moses” was published in New York in English.

Work: The Cantillation of the Bible. New York, 1957.

Lit.: Sources:

Tidhār Encyclopedia. Vol. 4. Tel Aviv, 1950, pp. 1898–1899;

Shorter Jewish Encyclopedia. In 11 vols. Vol. 7. Jerusalem, 1994, pp. 267–268;

Bibliographical Dictionary of Musicians. 6th ed.