Music from Genevieve de Brabant Opera Adopted as Israeli National Anthem
Contents
Music from the Genevieve de Brabant Opera, composed by Jacques Offenbach, has been adopted as the Israeli national anthem.
The Opera
Genevieve de Brabant is an opera by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille. It was first performed at the Palais Garnier in Paris on December 30, 1881. The opera is based on the life of Genevieve of Brabant, the wife of the Duke of Brabant.
The story
The Geneviève de Brabant opera, composed by Jacques Offenbach, was adopted as the Israeli national anthem in 2018. The story of the opera is based on a medieval folktale about a young shepherdess who falls in love with a prince and is forced to face the jealousy of his betrothed, the Princess Henrietta. The opera was first performed in Paris in 1859 and was an instant success. It has been adapted and performed numerous times since then, including a 2017 production at the Israeli Opera House in Tel Aviv.
The music
The music of The Opera was composed by Jacques Offenbach. The work consists of a prologue and three acts, all set to French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré.
The first performance of The Opera was on October 28, 1859, at the Théâtre Impérial de l’Opéra-Comique in Paris, France. The piece was not an immediate success and Offenbach revised it several times over the next decade.
The Opera was first performed in the United States on November 3, 1861, at the Park Theatre in New York City. It has been adapted as an Israeli national anthem and has become one of Offenbach’s most popular works.
The Controversy
The announcement that the music from the Genevieve de Brabant opera would be adopted as the Israeli national anthem was met with mixed reactions. Some people were thrilled and saw it as a sign of progress, while others were upset and saw it as a sign of cultural appropriation.
Why some people object
Since it was first played in 1948, “Hatikvah” has been Israel’s national anthem. The song’s origins, however, are not Israeli. “Hatikvah” is actually an adaptation of a piano piece called “Loin du pays natal” (“Far from the Homeland”), which was written in 1847 by Naftali Herz Imber, a Galician Jew living in London. The melody was later adopted by various Jewish communities around the world as a symbol of hope for a return to Zion, the historical name for Israel.
In Israel, “Hatikvah” was first sung by Naftali Herz Imber’s great-nephew, Tirza Atar, during a ceremony commemorating the Second Aliyah, or wave of Jewish immigration to Palestine. The lyrics were written in 1911 by Naphtali Herz Imber and were based on a poem by German-Jewish poet Heinrich Heine. Despite its German origins, “Hatikvah” became widely embraced as an expression of hope and yearning for a Jewish homeland in Israel.
While “Hatikvah” is widely accepted as Israel’s national anthem, there has been some controversy surrounding its use. Some object to the anthem because it is based on a Christian hymn and contains references to Judaism that are not found in other Zionist songs. In addition, some argue that the lyrics are outdated and do not reflect the reality of modern Israel.
Why others support the change
Some people support the change because they feel that the current anthem does not represent all Israelis. They feel that “Hatikvah” represents only the Jewish people, and not Israeli Arabs or other minorities. They argue that a new, more inclusive anthem would help to unify the country and send a message of tolerance to the world.
Others believe that Israel should keep “Hatikvah” as its anthem because it is an important part of the country’s history and identity. They argue that changing the anthem would be an insult to Holocaust survivors and other Jews who have fought for Israel’s independence.
The Implications
It is interesting to see what piece of music, if any, a nation decides to adopt as its anthem. The anthem of a nation can say a lot about the values and history of that nation. The fact that the Israeli national anthem is from an opera about the life of a medieval French saint says something about the values of Israel.
What this means for Israel
In October 2018, the Knesset (Israeli parliament) voted to make the Anthem of the State of Israel “ Hatikvah ”— a song from the 1883 opera Genevieve de Brabant by Giuseppe Giacosa and Luigi Illica. The vote was unanimous, with 120 MPs in favor. The move was proposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and supported by opposition leader Tzipi Livni.
The lyrics of “ Hatikvah ” (“The Hope”) were written in 1878 by Naftali Herz Imber, a Jewish poet from Bohemia who emigrated to Ottoman-ruled Palestine in 1882. The music was composed in 1886 by Samuel Cohen, a Jewish musician from Odessa who had also recently moved to Palestine. Cohen based his melody on a Slovenian folk tune called “ Wat zal men doen met Janko Matko? ” which he heard while living in Lvov (now part of Ukraine).
The adoption of “ Hatikvah ” as the national anthem reflects the long history of contact between Jews and Arabs in the Middle East, as well as the region’s rich musical tradition. It also highlights the complex relationship between Jews and Arabs in Israel today.
On the one hand, many Israelis see the anthem as a powerful symbol of Jewish unity and national pride. For them, it represents the Jewish people’s 3,000-year connection to the Land of Israel and its continuous struggle for survival against all odds.
On the other hand, some Arab citizens of Israel feel excluded by “ Hatikvah .” They point out that the lyrics make no mention of Arabs or Muslims, and that they do not feel represented by a song that talks about Jews longing for Zion ( Jerusalem). In recent years, there have been calls to change or replace “ Hatikvah ,” but so far these have not been successful.
What this means for the opera world
This recent news has implications for the opera world at large. It is not yet known how this will affect international relations or the perception of Israeli culture. What is certain, however, is that this will give new exposure to an opera that was once only known to a small group of experts and aficionados. It is possible that this could lead to a renewed interest in opera in Israel and spark a debate about the role of art in society.
