RE: Jewish Folk Music?

[Rachelle and Howard Shubert <shubert...>]

I loved reading your thoughts on this.

Rachelle Shubert
shubert (at) total(dot)net

At 15:12 03/03/98 -0600, you wrote:
>The term "new" is the whole point. Slowly, the style of this contemporary
music 
>may come to replace the "traditional nusach" of t'filla. Is it inconceivable 
>that, several centuries from now, Jewish musical scholars will be debating
the 
>origins of the so called "kleppereise" "friedmanish" "cotlerian" perhaps
even 
>"gershonian"  styles of nusach?
>
>You speak of the "correct nusach" as if it were mi-Sinai, and we both know
that 
>is not the case. The liberal Jewish movements are, to some degree, reshaping 
>and re-arranging the traditional t'fillot. It is not at all surprising then 
>that
>new musical modes may become the underlying nusach of this new liturgy. Good 
>songwriters strive to make their music match the intent of the text. Does
not 
>traditional nusach do the same? What makes one superior to the other?
>
>Just because something is more fun doesn't mean it isn't classic or 
>traditional, either.
>
>Now, that being said, I have a great affinity for the so-called
"traditional" 
>nusach, and wish more songwriters were familiar with it and worked it into 
>their music (as some are.) In so doing are they not creating a "New American 
>Nusach" ?
>
>And on the subject of Jewish folk music:
>Is not Torah cantillation the ultimate "folk melody" ? For it served to help 
>people learn the text even when they didn't know how to read it, or what it 
>meant. And is that also not the goal of the nusach? If the contemporary
music 
>being used and written serves this purpose during t'filla, then it is, by 
>definition, nusach.
>
>Just my two shekels,
>
>Adrian
>
>On Tuesday, March 03, 1998 13:38, QuelliPG [SMTP:QuelliPG (at) aol(dot)com] 
>wrote:
>> I don't like the term "new American nusach" at all.  Nuschaot refer to
>> specific musical modes.  When a service is chanted, a specific mode, a
>> specific scale is used for each section of the service and specific to the
>> day
>> and time of day.  There are contemporary songs and liturgical settings
which
>> fit within each mode, including some of Jeff and Debbie's and others'
>> including my own.  To call all contemporary liturgical settings "new Amer.
>> nusach" implies that they all fit in a particular musical mode and also
that
>> they are interchangable with traditional nusach.  While in many places they
>> ARE used in place of traditional nusach, they do not necessarily reflect
the
>> correct nusach.  In more traditional synagogues, they would be reserved for
>> non-traditional settings (youth service, family retreats, etc.)  They are
>> great educational tools for teaching people the words and in many cases the
>> meanings of the prayers.  And yes, they are usually more fun to sing
than the
>> traditional melodies.  But they are NOT nusach.
>>
>> On another topic, one of my pet peeves is the way people sing Adon Olam.  I
>> used to think it was fun to sing it to all kinds of irreverent tunes,
>> especially since its iambic pentameter rhythm allows it to fit easily to
>> almost any tune.  But after studying the text with a rabbi friend in
Detroit
>> a
>> few years ago, I am no longer able to do that.  And when my kids sing it to
>> the Gopher's rouser (go U of M) at their day school or to Gilligan's Island
>> theme it drives me crazy!  This prayer is a strong declaration of faith in
>> God.  The first half speaks of God as all powerful, all-knowing, creator.
>>  THe
>> second half speaks of a personal God who is protector, refuge in  times of
>> need, etc.  It is a powerful message that God is and can be both things at
>> the
>> same time.  I'm working on a melody that reflects these 2 moods/images of 
>God.
>>
>> Does anyone else have either a great melody or an opinion on this???
>> Raquel (singer/songwriter/music teacher/Jewish educator/occasional
cantorial
>> soloist/etc. etc.  sorry I never introduced myself)
>
>
Rachelle Mingail Shubert
Montreal
shubert (at) total(dot)net