[HANASHIR:5024] Re: Michael Isaacson's ``L'maaseih V'reicheet

[Daniel A. Singer <dasinger...>]

"I open the floor for debate."

There's nothing like a good healthy debate.

I'm not one of the co-commissioned, nor am I a cantor, but I have my own
opinion of this project.  I am not an advocate of singing along with
recordings, nor do I believe in the exclusion of anyone from worship,
especially within our own religion, but I disagree with the phrasing of
Adrian's email.  

"am I the only one troubled by the advent of Milli Vanilli in our synagogues?"

   Milli Vanilli was a pop group that decieved the public by essentially
stealing vocals from someone else, taking credit for what was not theirs.
They were not trying to create uplifting music to inspire congregations to
worship.  The comparison is simply not valid.  
   I agree with some of the intentions of the project.  I think that by
having this recording, congregations that are unable to afford a live
orchestration could be able to enjoy hearing it while using their own
voices to join in worship.  This would allow more than one congregation to
hear the composer's intentions and hopefully inspire participation and
possible interest in a live performance.  How else does one discover the
beauty of an orchestral work without hiring an orchestra or flying the
entire congregation to LA?  
   It makes me think of of incredible compositions written by famous
composers that have been forgotten and only hundreds of years later
discovered and eventually performed.  Perhaps this was because so few
people had the opportunity to hear the work around the time of its debut?
Although this manner of presenting Mr. Isaacson's work does't even come
close to a live performance, it has a positive intention.  
   I believe, however, that this recording should not take the place of
live performances of the work.  Rather, it should be considered an
opportunity to preview what could be performed if the resources were made
available.  Certainly nothing can replace the value of live music.
Otherwise we'd all be visiting our cyber-synogogue listening to our online
cantor chant prerecorded chazzanut.  Nobody wants to attend a prerecorded
service, but I'm sure they'd be interested in hearing what Mr. Isaacson's
work is all about.
   Of course, as we've already heard, it is very difficult to sing along
with a recording and it is potentially embarrassing to perform this way.
It is like trying to match a chorus with a metronome.  Also, the
limitations of CD sound quality are apparent, but that's a completely
different discussion.  No matter which way you cut it, nothing beats live
music, and I'm sure that anyone who sees Isaacson's music performed this
way could be left unsatisfied, perhaps wishing for a live performance of it
that will inspire the congregation to participate in worship.

"And by a "brotherhood" effort that uses a technique that would
deliberately exclude orthodox and more traditional conservative
congregations from participating?"

   Now, as far as the exclusion of the orthodox and traditional
conservative, or the "brotherhood" tactics implied, I'm not sure how to
answer.  I suppose that a CD player is not really considered a musical
instrument, and therefore theoretically an orthodox syogogue could have a
full orchestration, chorus, etc. during services if they wished, but I
don't know how congregants would react to that.  I thought that most
conservative and orthodox shuls do not use instrumentation during their
services.  If that's the case, why would conservative or orthodox be
interested in such a recorded performance?  We already have many pieces
that are composed with Reform or Orthodox congregations specifically in
mind.  Why are we suddenly making this into an issue of a "brotherhood" or
some sort of exclusive tactic?  

"Perhaps an a capella work might have been more suited to such an effort."

   I'm sure it would be feasable to arrange an a capella piece based upon
Mr. Isaacson's work, especially if congregations supported it.  But if he
composed the work with an orchestra specifically in mind, I see no reason
to change the conception of an artist.  I think that it's really up to
those who invested in the project and the composer.

"Just my two shekels."

   I guess I'll call it my 2 agorot.  They're worth less than shekels, but
they're still kesev.

Sincerely,

Dan Singer, Devil's Advocate.



At 08:14 AM 1/19/00 -0600, you wrote:
>Not everyone on this list may be familiar with this project, so, a little
>background:
>
>On Jan 21, Shabbat Shirah, about 40 synagogues across the U.S., Reform,
>Conservative and Reconstructionist will premiere, simultaneously, a new work
>by Michael Isaacson called ``L'maaseih V'reicheet-- To Recreate the World:,
>a service of about 20 pieces.
>
>At each synagogue, cantors and children's choirs will performed to the
>accompaniment of a pre-recorded CD of orchestral and choral arrangements.
>
>The piece was co-commissioned by the involved synagogues, with the effort
>spearheaded by Cantor Jay Frailich of University Synagogue in West Los
>Angeles. To finance the $100,000 project, each of the participating
>synagogues contributed $2,500.
>
>Now, while this is a wonderfully innovative and exciting idea, and while I
>have great respect for Mr. Isaacson and his music, am I the only one
>troubled by the advent of Milli Vanilli in our synagogues? And by a
>"brotherhood" effort that uses a technique that would deliberately exclude
>orthodox and more traditional conservative congregations from participating?
>Perhaps an a capella work might have been more suited to such an effort.
>Just my two shekels. I open the floor for debate.
>
>Adrian
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Adrian A. Durlester  -  durleste (at) home(dot)com
>http://members.home.net/durleste/
>Student, Vanderbilt University Divinity School
>http://divinity.lib.vanderbilt.edu/vds/vds-home.htm
>Music Director, Congregation Micah, Nashville, TN http://www.micahnash.org/
>Home phone (615) 646-9788 Nextel cel-phone (615) 207-2661
>You can page me from http://www.nextel.com
>List-Owner for hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org; Co-Owner for L-Torah (at) 
>shamash(dot)org
>http://uahc.org/hanashir
>Editor, Bim Bam (for Torah Aura Productions) http://www.torahaura.com/
>Alternate Email: aad (at) iname(dot)com  adriand (at) aol(dot)com
>
>


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Daniel A. Singer        H: (734) 397-1950  W: (810) 238-1350 ext. 4253
1713 Glenshire Dr.      Flint Institute of Music, Temple Beth El
Canton, MI 48188        Bass Voice, Guitar
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"If I am not for myself, who will be for me?
         If I am for myself alone, who am I?
                           If not now, when?"
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