Dov Seltzer – Father of the original Israeli musical

By: Prof. Moshe Zorman

There are moments in art history, in which the encounter between extraordinary individuals and the correct cultural climate produces rare achievements that could not have been conceivable at other points of time. Such is the encounter between the producer Giora Godik, musician Dov Seltzer and the State of Israel in the 1960's – optimistic, energetic and visionary.more »

Dov Seltzer – Father of the original Israeli musical

By: Prof. Moshe Zorman

There are moments in art history, in which the encounter between extraordinary individuals and the correct cultural climate produces rare achievements that could not have been conceivable at other points of time. Such is the encounter between the producer Giora Godik, musician Dov Seltzer and the State of Israel in the 1960's – optimistic, energetic and visionary.
In these years Dov Seltzer created the Israeli answer to the popular genre of the Musical. As the most prominent product of the American stage and musical film, the Musical created a wondrous world of illusion and glamor, presenting exceptional virtuosity of performers who could sing, dance and act, and left behind an abundance of music by greats such as Gershwin, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Jerome Kern, Richard Rodgers and others.

For years the Israeli theater refrained from dealing with the Musical due to high costs and lack of suitable performers or experienced writers who could face this tough challenge. Dov Seltzer was the first (alongside Sasha Argov, perhaps) who dealt with the genre and turned it into an original and intriguing Israeli creation. Seltzer, like the great American composers whom I have mentioned, created a body of songs that served the Musical in its stage or film versions, but continued to live on even after the performances ended or were forgotten – songs that have become staples of the Israeli music scene.

What, then, is the secret of the Seltzerian charm?

First and foremost, Seltzer created a marvelous merge between musical language and text. The music added the sound picture that was perfectly suited to the time and place depicted on stage. Here are several examples:

The song "Yesh Makom" ("There is a place") from Kazablan, depicts an idyllic home scene through an ascending melody (similar to "Somewhere over the rainbow" from The Wizard of Oz), and seemingly seeks its way to a world that was lost across the sea. The melody is supported by rich chromatic harmonies and creates a background that distances it from the harsh Israeli reality in which the protagonist lives. From Kazablan we can also mention "Tered mimeni, Kazablan" ("Let me be, Kazablan"), a wonderful dramatic song, in which Seltzer uses a recitative that enables the protagonist to cry out forcefully. There are, of course, also more "folkloristic" songs, such as "Kulanu Yehudim" ("We are all Jews") and "Kol Hakavod" ("Good for you"), which combine eastern melodic embellishments with dance rhythms of Hora and other Israeli folk dances.

Kazablan was a Musical breakthrough: a great drama about the cultural battles in a society that is a social and ideological melting pot. In the children's Musical "Ootz Li Gootz Li", Avraham Shlonsky's wonderful poetic text receives simple (but not simplistic) melodies, which make it more catchy for the young viewers. Songs such as "Shir Ha'etza" ("Song of Advice") or "Boker Tov" ("Good morning") are a model for theater songs of a local Israeli flavor (due to the use of the Mixolydian mode in "Shir Ha'etza" for example) and for the use of melodic patterns compatible with Shlonsky's high Hebrew, and which expose the beauty of the language.

The songs of The Megillah (1965) and Choumesh Lieder (1970) are a wonderful example of bringing textual material originating in Yiddish (songs by Itzik Manger) closer to contemporary Israeli culture. There isn't a hint of Klezmer music or eastern European Jewish music here, but, rather, a melodic line (see "The Golden Peacock") with a nostalgia for a lost world (found in the waltz triple meter), but also a search for fresh color (in the use of a modal melody).

All the shows mentioned, as well as others (such as "I Like Mike" from 1968 or "Revisor" from 1965), are surprisingly condensed into five amazing years of achievement, both in terms of quantity and quality of works produced.

Seltzer has since written hundreds of songs, film music, concert music and others, but his contribution to the world of theater and Musicals in Israel will always be extraordinary and will set a high standard for anyone attempting to deal with the significant task of creating a popular Israeli culture in this important genre.

Prof. Moshe Zorman

August 2008