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Chapter 6 Thought Questions

  1.  What evidence do we have indicating the nature of musical life among the Jews in medieval Christian Europe?
  2. Write a letter to a young Jewish musician living in Spain in 1490 advising him on where to emigrate to in Christian Europe that would provide the best opportunities to practice his profession.  Give the young man several alternatives, evaluating each.
  3. What distinguishes a folk song from an art song?  Who were some of the people whose names we can associate with Jewish folk music in medieval Christian Europe?
  4. Make up several “help wanted” ads for musical professionals that might have been posted in, say, the 15th or 16th century.   Give the job title, job description, and qualifications required for each.
  5. Identify several Jewish professional musicians who functioned in the concert world of European music in 17th and 18th centuries, describing the musical circumstances or contributions of each.