Citing Gaza war, prominent German choir drops Handel’s 1739 ‘Israel in Egypt’ song
Critics accuse the state-funded RIAS Chamber Choir of cowardice and cultural censorship over move, which occurs amid a rise in antisemitic assaults
Cnaan Lidor is The Times of Israel's Jewish World reporter
Citing Israel’s war with Hamas, a prominent choir in Germany dropped from its program a musical piece written in the 18th century by composer George Frideric Handel that contains the word Israel in the title.
The award-winning RIAS Chamber Choir, which receives most of its budget from the government, announced on December 6 that it is removing from the program of its 75th-anniversary celebration the oratorio “Israel in Egypt,” which was first performed in 1739 and references stories from the Hebrew Bible.
“In the oratorio, there is a one-sided and all-conquering power, which is represented primarily by the choir. We do not consider it appropriate to perform this depiction for our audiences in the new year, even if it originates from the Old Testament, given the current situation. Rather, it is our concern to begin the year with a request for peace,” the choir wrote on its Facebook page.
The announcement noted that “The world is in turmoil. The Russian attack on Ukraine continues and claims casualties every day. The war in the Middle East also has no end in sight and brings endless suffering to civilians on all sides.”
Instead of the oratorio, the choir will perform Psalm 122, which extolls Jerusalem, the statement said. “Jerusalem is a holy city for Jews, Muslims and Christians alike. Fanaticism, antisemitism and hatred have never contributed to peaceful coexistence. However, we do not want to lose hope for a mutual understanding characterized by… tolerance and mutual respect,” the choir wrote.
The cancelation drew a rebuke by two scholars from the University of Oldenburg, Benedikt Hensel and Michael Sommer, who wrote a critical op-ed published Friday by the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
In it, the scholars defend the oratorio and its origins. “To this day, the Exodus [from Egypt] narrative remains a basic narrative of human striving for freedom. Martin Luther’s Reformation, the American civil rights movement under Martin Luther King, and the Landless Workers Movement in Latin America gained their strength from this story,” they wrote.
In an interview with The Times of Israel, Sommer, a professor of ancient history, added: “The decision to drop ‘Israel in Egypt’ may be connected to anti-Israel sentiment but I suspect it really is the result of cowardice on the part of the choir, because we’ve seen the response to anything reminiscent of Israel and Jews on the streets of Berlin in recent weeks.”
The Federal Association of Departments for Research and Information on Antisemitism, a German watchdog group, last month documented an explosion in antisemitic incidents in connection with Israel’s war on Hamas in Gaza, which broke out on October 7 with the killing of more than 1,200 Israelis by Hamas terrorists, the vast majority of them civilians. Unverified sources in the Gaza Strip say Israel’s offensive has killed more than 18,000 people.
Anti-colonialist sentiment is responsible for the removal or sidelining of multiple cultural assets in Germany, Sommer said. “But it’s rarer to find this applied to Jews and the Hebrew Bible, and in this respect, the RIAS Choir’s move is something unusual.”
The RIAS Chamber Choir did not immediately respond to a request by The Times of Israel for a reaction to the claims made against its decision.
