[HANASHIR:9099] Re: Non-Jewish musicians

[Andy Curry <acurry...>]

Chevre,

Were you to take Itzchak Perlman and plunk him down in the middle of a
bluegrass band, he wouldn't cut the mustard.  Even were he to have the
music perfectly transcribed for him, it wouldn't sound "right" when he
played it.

Is he capable of playing bluegrass?  I would think so.  But only after
immersing himself in its language, including accents and idioms.  And he'd
certainly want to know what the songs were about.

I could play in a black church, because I'm familiar with and have played
those styles.  But I wouldn't want to do it without attending the church
several times first and practicing a lot.  Still, I dare say, I wouldn't be
as good as someone who had the same musical talent AND had attended that
church for a while.

Now, if synagogue music is for you "Let Us Adore the Ever-living God" and
"All the World Shall Come to Serve Thee", then probably any good Lutheran
church organist will do.  But to expect her to play Carlebach's "Tov
L'hodot" effectively is to require a level of commitment and interest
(shall we say "immersion"?) beyond that purchased by $75 a service.

My two shekalim.

Andy

At 11:11 PM 5/15/01 -0500, you wrote:
>I know I'm gonna get clobbered for saying this, but say it I must:
>
>I think it can make a difference whether the person playing the organ (or
>the piano or digital keyboard, or guitar, or human voice, for that matter)
>is Jewish, has a Jewish soul, and understands the Hebrew in the original.
>
>There are far too few synagogue musicians out there like myself who are both
>skilled musicians and have that Jewish neshoma that brings a certain
>"kavanah" to their playing that makes it work. (That, of course, is not
>entirely surprising since our religion prohibits the use of instruments in
>the synagogue on Shabbat. But times have changed and are changing.)
>
>Andy's comments are on the mark. And so are Cantor Contzius'. What you don't
>play is often more important than what you do play. Less is often more.
>Musicians who are primarily soloists don't always have the skills or
>temperament or subtlety needed to accompany a cantor, a soloist, or an
>entire congregation. But I submit that knowing how much is enough, and what
>styles to play, what tempo, dynamics, etc. is enhanced when a Jewish
>musician is the one playing. Being a skilled musician is not always
>enough-unless your only objective is a good, clean, solid musical
>performance, as opposed to a meaningful worship experience.
>
>Now I know that Cantor Contzius and others have probably had wonderful
>experiences with competent non-Jewish synagogue musicians. I have as well. I
>employ non-Jewish "ringers" for my High Holidays choir. And, as an
>accomplished musician myself, I have great respect and admiration for their
>musical skill. And I try to share with  them as much of my Jewish knowledge
>as I can to help them bring their best to their performance. But it can
>never be more than a performance for them. A prayer is not about
>performance.
>
>I suspect many of my non-Jewish organist/pianist colleagues out there will
>not suffer for lack of work in churches as opposed to that extra synagogue
>gig, should there suddenly be an upsurge in competent Jewish synagogue
>musicians. So, from my mouth to Gd's ears, it should only happen....
>
>Adrian
>
>------------------------------------------------------------------------
>Adrian A. Durlester, M.T.S.  - adrian (at) durlester(dot)com
>http://www.durlester.com/
>Hebrew, Judaica & Music Instructor, Akiva School, Nashville TN
>Music Director, Congregation Micah, Nashville, TN http://www.micahnash.org/
>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/
>Evening Program Chair, CAJE 26, Aug. 5-9, 2001, Colorado State University
>Member-at-Large, CAJE Board of Directors
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: owner-hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org [mailto:owner-hanashir (at) 
>> shamash(dot)org]On
>> Behalf Of Marsha Fensin
>> Sent: Tuesday, May 15, 2001 6:08 PM
>> To: hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org
>> Subject: [HANASHIR:9079] Re: wedding music & the organ
>>
>>
>> Hi all,
>>     I'm glad Erik said his few words about organs.  I have been shopping
>> for an appropriate instrument for my congregation for many months now, and
>> have checked out Clavinovas, Kawai digital pianos, synthesizers,
>> keyboards--you name it, I have tried it out.  I was hoping to find one
>> instrument that could do it all. We needed something thast was as
>> versitile as possible, but still give us wonderful organ sounds when we
>> needed them.( My accompanist has his PhD in Organ performance and he loves
>> doing music ministry ( his words) with organs.) Anyway, we ended up
>> getting a Rogers electronic organ with two manuals that has very sweet
>> organ sounds, AS WELL as a Midi interface that can sound like a piano all
>> by itself as well as being able to mix the organ sounds with piano, cello,
>> harp, oboe, etc.  I am in heaven.)
>>     I have found over the years that there can be a very "Jewish" way to
>> use an organ and there is also a way to encourage congregational singing
>> WITh an organ.
>>     Thanks Erik.
>> Marsha Fensin
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
>
*******************************
Andy Curry
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Office: 913-312-4739
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