Reply To: Jewish music

This is a very large and broad topic. Just a couple of points:
It is said that certain “groise rebbes” from the “frierdike doires” stole/borrowed/adapted peasant bar songs for use in Tefilah etc., and that surely was OK, so the source of the nigun is not necessarily an issue, dependent on subsequent “kavonois” and the greatness or lack thereof of the mechaber.
Also, some of our recent great composers who composed and/or performed some undeniably great Jewish music also borrowed from the goyim (MBD’s Yidden and Piamenta’s Asher Boro come to mind), and those songs were wildly popular with the Yeshivishe velt for years. So “Jewish” music is a pretty nebulous topic.