Salamone Rossi & Synagogue Choral Music A Renaissance composer
who applied the conventions of choral music to Jewish liturgy
Excerpted with permission from Discovering Jewish Music (Jewish
Publication Society). The Jews of Renaissance Italy enjoyed
intermittent tolerance by various rulers of the autonomous city-
states that dotted the northern province. Many achieved
prominence as court instrumentalists, singers, dancers, and
actors. Salamone Rossi (ca.157O-ca.1628) was the last and most
distinguished example. In 1587, he began his long association
with the Gonzagan Court, initially as a singer and violist. He
soon became the leader of Duke Vicenzo I's court musicians and
directed an instrumental ensemble probably composed of Jewish
musicians. He also became a leading composer, pioneering the
musical form known as the trio sonata. Rossi's great claim to
Jewish musical fame came with his publication in 1623 of Ha-
Shirim Asher li-Shelomo, a collection of 33 Psalms, hymns, and
other liturgical poems set for combi