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The Cambridge Companion to Jewish Music. Edited by Joshua S. Walden. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2015.

Reviewed by Simone Salmon

By creating and editing The Cambridge Companion to Jewish Music, Joshua Walden addresses the question, “What is Jewish Music?” This volume includes Biblical Music, Liturgical Music, Music in Judeo-Spanish, Klezmer, Yiddish Theater, Haskalahic Synagogue Music, European Art Music, and Israeli Art Music. The topics covered are ontology, diaspora, hybridity, separation from source, musical reform, identity negotiations, and bi-directionality. The works included span the ancient, modern, and contemporary periods. The book contains three main sections: conceptions of Jewish music; Jewish music in religious, folk, and popular contexts; and periods, places, and genres of Jewish music composition.