[HANASHIR:15204] Re: High Holy Day choices

[elerner1 <elerner1...>]

----- Original Message -----
From: "PAPE Janet, IEA/OME" <Janet(dot)PAPE (at) iea(dot)org>
Date: Monday, September 1, 2003 5:38 am
Subject: [HANASHIR:15194] High Holy Day choices

> I want to discuss something with all of you that is beginning to 
> bother me.
> That is, that as the years pass >>

Dear Janet, I'm SO GLAD you have brought this topic up. This has been bothering 
me for a number of years.

<<I feel a pressure to switch to "easier
listening" renditions, but every time I drop a traditional piece from the
repetoire, I know it will have vanished from the aural memories of the
congregation forever.
>>
 
The current attitude that the congregation has to sing everything, and 
everything is watered down has been bothering me for quite some time. In my 
smaller congregation where I sing as a soloist, the situtation is different 
than from the larger synagogue where I have belonged and volunteered.  In the 
smaller shul, I try to do old and new melodies, but I still feel that push to 
be more inclusive, which means melodies of yore don't get sung. I don't have an 
accompanimist there and the services are not held every week so musically I 
cannot to too much more than I'm doing.

In my larger synagogue, the music has become mundane and I miss the challanges 
and the older traditions and some of the formaility that make up our heritage. 
If I were to persue a cantorial degree, I would be so frustrated, I think, to 
come out with all the knowledge of Jewish music and the nusach, and then not be 
able to use it much because the "congregation" wants to be spoon fed. On the 
other hand, my guess is the temple would feel it would cost too much to  hire 
outside musicians for a higher level of music (which also can cause political 
problems within)  and the music would perhaps become to complicated for the 
congretation as it used to be. The congregations have very short memories. They 
used to love the music of yore, but many have already forgotten or they are too 
young to have ever known.

Again I am so glad there are others who feel the way I do. 

I would also like to mention that I sang in the choir at my larger synagogue 
almost every Sat. for about 15 years or so. It was a volunteer choir and we 
were a part of synagogue life, bar/bat mitzvah's, special ceremonies, etc. 
until we got a new Rabbi recently. And in the past year, the volunteer weekly 
choir was told they would no longer participate everyweek. The choir was never 
consulted or included in this decision. We were very hurt! As it was, the past 
few years our repetoire had become more simplified, capable individuals had 
less of a role, and we were gradually starting to be cut down in the number of 
Saturdays we sung, not included in special ceremonies, and not used in the way 
the made us feel we were instrumental to the synagogue, but we still had our 
comradary and our nitch.  Instead we were told there would be a monthy choir 
with a rehearsal the Thursday before and that would be more attractive to 
people and the choir would flourish;I hear from the grapeline t!
 hat the l

Thanks for bringing this up.

E. Lerner
Rochester, Ny



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