25. 09. 2025

Bar Zemach – shofar / horn / natural horn
Prof. Dr. Jascha Nemtsov – piano and moderation

The blowing of the shofar is one of the most important rituals of the Jewish High Holidays, which begin this year on September 22. The ritual horn shofar is not only mentioned 72 times (more often than any other musical instrument) in the Hebrew Bible, it also appears several times in the New Testament in connection with messianic and apocalyptic ideas – the sound of the shofar is also an expression of direct divine intervention in earthly events in Christianity.

The concert program presented compositions that either come directly from or are inspired by the Jewish spiritual tradition of Rosh HaShanah (New Year) and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), including the famous Kol nidre by the German Protestant composer Max Bruch in the version for shofar and piano.

Photos: © Heiner Schlote