[HANASHIR:15233] Re: synagogue music conundrum

[I. Oppenheim <i.oppenheim...>]

On Tue, 2 Sep 2003, erik contzius wrote:

> one way we dealt with the congregational issues at
> the recent rozhinke retreat was emphasizing
> something that hazzanim of 100 years ago
> did--especially folk like rosenblatt: put in
> refrains for the congregation!

I agree completely.
In fact, my favourite Rosh Hashanah piece is
"Meloch Al Kol Ha'olam Kullo" by Samuel Alman.
It combines a majestic recitative with a sweet
tune in the middle that calls for community singing.
The piece ends, appropriately, with an immitation
of the shofar in the melody line.

You can get the sheet music, together with a midi,
from my site:
http://www.joods.nl/~chazzanut/misc/misc-002.html


Information on Alman (1877-1947) can be found here:
http://www.joods.nl/~chazzanut/articles/alman.html

Regarding the High Holidays, Alman also composed a
beautiful recitative for "Al kein Nekaveh" and a
superb choir piece for "Shomeir Yisra'eil."

Al kein is also available on my site:
http://www.joods.nl/~chazzanut/misc/misc-004.html

Shomeir Yisra'eil is available on the LJMC page:
http://www.ljmc.org.uk/sheetmusic/display_all

If you're still looking for a nice "Hayom Harat Olam"
suitable for community singing, here is one:
http://www.joods.nl/~chazzanut/misc/misc-001.html

Of course there is one romantic choir piece that
everyone will enjoy: Lewandowski's sublime setting for
"Zacharti Lach." No Rosh Hashanah service is complete
without it.

In short, there's so much beautiful material out there
for the High Holidays! In old fashioned libraries and
even on the internet. Yes, chazzanut is a calling, and
it is the task of the Chazzan to put a program together
that strikes a balance between improvised nusach,
composed recitatives, community singing and choir
singing. Where the balance is depends on the chazzan
and on the community, but Nusach is the fundament on
which the whole building stands.

> rosenblatt was infamous for ending many of his
> recicatives with something for everyone to sing
> along with.

Why infamous :-)



 Groeten,
 Irwin Oppenheim
 i(dot)oppenheim (at) xs4all(dot)nl
 ~~~*

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