Description

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In The Shofar: Its History and Use, Jeremy Montagu offers a detailed study of the ram's horn of the Bible, describing its history and use, both ritual and secular, from biblical times to the present day. Because most of those who hear--and use--the shofar hear the same blower each year during the Jewish high holidays, few are aware of the wide differences among communities around the world in which the shofar-blowing tradition exists, the varying points in the Jewish liturgical service when the shofar is blown, what sound combinations and even possibilities exist, and the many varieties extant. This is an ideal work for Jews and Christians, scholars of religion and musicologists, and even practicing musicians seeking to understand the critical role played by this instrument in the life of a people.

About the Author

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Jeremy Montagu is former curator of the Bate Collection of Musical Instruments and lecturer at the University of Oxford. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London and of the Royal Anthropological Institute, and an Emeritus Fellow of Wadham College, University of Oxford. He is also the president of the Galpin Society, the premier international society for the study of musical instruments. He is the author of a variety of books on musical instruments, including Musical Instruments of the Bible (Scarecrow Press, 2001), Origins and Development of Musical Instruments (Scarecrow Press, 2007), and Horns and Trumpets of the World (Rowman and Littlefield, 2014). A resident of Oxford, England, he has blown the shofar in synagogues since the early 1960s and is a regular worshipper in the synagogue there.