[HANASHIR:13705] Musical Avot / G'vurot

[Cantor Brad Hyman <cantorb...>]

Fran asks two great questions: One being if musical accompaniment exists,
and two whether it should exist at all. The second question is vastly more
complicated. To help with the first, I'm sure any guitar slinger would be
willing to put down some easy chords for you (I am capable of doing this if
it has not already been done). The second question borders on what is
customary of the place in which we pray, and also what was intended by the
use of our particular T'filah melodies.
Cantor Adolph Katchko's (1877-1958) life works were firmly secured in 1952
by then head of the School of Sacred Music, Dr. Professor Eric Werner. In
the opening preface to one of the three volumes of Katchko's Thesaurus,
Werner says "the entire work is now the exclusive property of the School (of
Sacred Music) for teaching purposes, thus serving "K'lal Yisroel" in
accordance with the goal of the School." This goal, though unspoken here,
was to standardize the repertoire of the Reform movement. Katchko's works,
if you have not studied them, are the basis for Reform nusach. The Reform
movement's clergy does NOT exclusively study the cantorial works of Katchko,
but rather the music is shared with JTS and many other fine places of
learning because of its accessibility and ease of absorption.
The melody many of our places of worship sing for the reiteration of the
Avot was taken, more or less, from Kachko's melody (pg. 24 in Volume One),
and has been used in various incarnations by congregations, camps, and many
other diverse places. The same cannot be said for the entirety of the
G'vurot, of which some of Katchko is used, but mostly it focuses on the
musical deviation at "m'chalkeil chayim b'chesed..." where we get a bit
sing-song-ish.
The fact that both of these selections have their roots in chazanut has been
lost. Most people would label this music as "traditional." When our
congregations pray these melodies, they are unknowingly keeping part of our
rich cantorial tradition alive. To add musical accompaniment to this is in
my opinion, not necessary, but can add a slight bit of functionality to our
praying. It can be argued that music will help some worshipers follow along
more easily, but seeing as how these melodies have been "canonized" (note:
the pun has nothing to do with the musical form) we must ask if it is more
aesthetic than anything else.
I'm just happy that we indulge in some form of chazanut. Even a little taste
of chazanut is better than none. In the voice of a good leader, these
melodies can take on a whole other life and can be just as powerful as any
congregational tune.

With much respect,

Cantor Brad Hyman
Temple Sinai of Glendale
1212 N. Pacific Avenue
Glendale, CA 91202
(818) 246-8101 phone
(818) 246-9372 fax
(818) 244-2547 The "Bat Phone"


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