[HANASHIR:9700] Re: High Holiday Choir complaint

[WINSTON WEILHEIMER <nusach...>]

first, is this person in the choir?  i would remind him that much of our 
traditon (especially in the reform movement) comes from these composers as well 
as lewandowski and sulzer.  many of the melodies he considers churchy are only 
thus in the minds of the listener.  Perhaps (not really) the church took the 
music from us!  Be that as it may, the churchy sound is perhaps because of the 
harmonics of the piece, plus if you use an organ, many Jewish "ears" find that 
chruchy.   

Music in and of itself is not churchy.....its the words that are put to it or 
associated with it.  Therefore the "music" of silent night is not churchy, but 
the words are christian and thus have been associated with the music.  The 
music of Kol Niedre is not inherantlyh Jewish, but the words linked to it are 
and thus the music is.   

Just as my ears were unaccustomed to hearing female cantors and it was strange 
to me, after a while it became a beautiful sound, so the music of your choir 
will also become such for him, if he lets it.  Listen to the words of the 
prayers, not the music.  It IS JEWISH because the prayers are.  If Jewish 
prayers were sung to silent night....now that would be churchy!

btw...if the choir records...i would love to have the recordings for the nusach 
internet radio netork!

winston weilheimer
owner/host
NUSACH INTERNET RADIO NETWORK
NUSACH....THE ORIGINAL JEWISH SOUL MUSIC!




----- Original Message -----
From: Susan Schanerman
Sent: Saturday, September 01, 2001 11:59 AM
To: Hanashir (E-mail)
Cc: Guild of Temple Musicians (E-mail)
Subject: [HANASHIR:9698] High Holiday Choir complaint


We have a persistant congregant (who happens to have a lot of influence) who
believes that our high holiday choir is "churchy".  What has happened over the
last three years is that our former director (elementary school music teacher
and friend of this guy) quit and our new director (non-Jewish PHD candidate in
vocal music) has transformed our choir from a primarily 2-part group to a
proficient 4-part group.  The pieces that this man seems to be objecting to are
pieces (that I select) by Steinberg, Isaacson, Richards, Osborne.  (Almost
everything we sing is in Hebrew).

We are a Reform congregation.  How do I address this man's concerns?  My guess
is that they have more to do with the change in personnel than with the change
in music - but I don't want to go down that road.  I want him to feel that we
are listening to his opinions and considering them seriously (which we are.)

The choir has lots of positive feedback from other congregants every year.
Maybe it's those who were raised in conservative synagogues who don't like
choirs?

Todah,
Susan

Susan Schanerman
Director of Education, Cantorial Soloist
susan (at) emanueloftempe(dot)org



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