[HANASHIR:1411] On Behalf of Cantor Contzius

[Adrian A. Durlester <durleste...>]

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To: hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org
From: "Erik L. F. Contzius" <contzius (at) mail>
Subject: use of the organ in jewish worship

>I think the fact that the organ is the instrument used in churches is
>absolutely a sufficient reason not to use one in a synagogue. We live in an
>age where fully 50% of the Jewish people are intermarrying, and many of
these
>become lost to Judaism.  By eroding the differences between our religion
and
>the Christian religion, whether it is in celebrating Chanukah like some
>kind of
>Jewish Christmas, or by using organ music in a synagogue, we accelerate
this
>process.

Then why cannot one use the same argument, viz:

"I think the fact that there is so much 'secular' sounding music getting
into the synagogue that we should only sing nusakh, cantilation and misinai
tunes. By eroding the differences between the sacred and secular world, we
accelerate the process of assimilation."

I have to speak up in _favor_ for the "King of Instruments" not only
because I love the pipe organ (which, sadly, in Reform and Conservative
Judaism, you rarely hear a decent instrument, which is part of the
problem--usually they are cheaper electronic instruments which do not do
justice to the actual sound of a real pipe organ).

Since emancipation and enlightenment, Jews have adapted many of the secular
and Christian cultural trappings available now to us--and made it our own
through our own compositions, harmonizations, and particular ways of
implementing the organ. The Organ has always been a congregational
instrument. This is how it is used in the church, and should be as well in
the synagogue.

Instead of me making the point, i'd rather quote an article written by a
Jewish organist, Kimberly Marshall, D. Phil. I'm afraid the following might
sound a little self serving, but this article will appear in a booklet in
an upcoming CD release Ms. Marshal and I made (hence, why she makes
references as such). But I include the article because i'm passionate about
the instrument.

There's another article worth mentioning about the Jewish spirituality of
the Organ by Herman Berlinski, but unfortunately, i do not as yet posess
that article. still looking for it.

The following is copyrighted. As such, please do not reprint the following.
thank you:

=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+

The use of the organ in the Jewish Liturgy (by Kimberly Marshall):

The organ is a relative newcomer to Jewish liturgical music, and its
participation is generally limited to accompanying services in the Reform
tradition. Despite the intricate and opulent use of instrumental music in
the liturgies of the First and Second Temple (as documented in Chronicles I
and II and the Talmud), following the Second Temple's destruction in 70
C.E., no attempt was made to reinstate this musical practice. On the
contrary, instrumental music was banned from the Jewish litrugy to
symbolize mourning over the Temple. This is reflected in passages from the
Talmud: "From the day the Temple was destroyed, there has been no day
without a curse" and "when the rabbinical court [Sanhedrin] ceased to
exist, song ceased from the places of feasting." (M. Sotah IX, 12, 11).
Indeed, an extremist view states that no one should even smile until the
Temple and its sacrifical rite are restored. But this exclusion of
instruments from the synagogue did not reflect a negative attitude towards
them by the Jewish authorities; rather, instrumental music was an essential
part of the sacrifical rite and as such held no place in the newly evolving
synagogue liturgies that developed after the Temple's destruction.

The organ was adopted to accompany singing during synagogue worship as part
of the reformed liturgical practices introduced in Germany in the
nineteenth century. The choice of the organ was clearly taken from the
mainstream culture of Christianity, as were other aspects of the early
Reform movement: Shabbat was observed on Sundays and much of the Hebrew
service was translated into the vernacular. Perhaps more significantly,
synagogues were considered to be modern Temples in their own rights,
without the emphasis on restoring a lost sacrificial rite. It was in this
frame of mind that many Jewish congregations in Germany and eastern Europe
installed impressive organs in their Temples, leading to a flowering of
musical composition for cantor, choirs, and organ.

During the twentieth century, there has been a backlash against the more
assimilationist facets of the early Reform movement, and this has led to
ambiguous views of the organ and its role within modern Jewish liturgical
practice. The very sound of the organ reeks of the Church to those who are
not knowledgeable of the fine tradition of Jewish music written expressly
for the instrument. As a sort of compromise between this fundamental
"distrust" of the organ and the need for an instrument to support singing,
some Temples have opted to buy pianos (at a fraction of the cost of an
organ), while others have resorted to synthesizers and electronic
imitations that at best fall very short of the finesse and subtlety
available on the organ. Only the largest and wealthiest congregations have
maintained the liturgical use of the instrument at the high standard with
which it was first introduced to Judaism. Yet despite the rather sad
current state of the organ within the Reform movement, a wealth of superb
music has continually been composed for cantor and organ, as reflected in
teh repertoire heard here.

This recording reflects my desire to honor the long tradition of Jewish
liturgical music for the organ with a two-fold purpose: to educate those
who would spurn the instrument on grounds of assimilation, and to make
known to a wider listening public the many gems of musical expression that
have been inspired by the Jewish liturgy. The organ has the greatest
variety of sounds and pitches of any single musical instrument, and it is
ideally suited to leading a congregation in worship, whether it be in
majestic praise of God or in quiet contemplation of the devine. The vast
palette of timbres necessary to convey the many styles of music that Erik
and I have included here is amply furnished by the Murray Harris organ at
Stanford University. Constructed in 1901, this specimen of one of America's
greatest builders has survived two major earthquakes (as well as the often
more damaging vicissitudes of changing aesthetics!) to remind us today that
a beautiful instrument never becomes obsolete, only misunderstood or
neglected. It is my hope that this recording will foster interest in the
fine repertoire of Jewish liturgical music for the organ so that it will be
understood and cherished.

erik l. f. contzius
contzius (at) home(dot)com
elkins park, pa
http://members.home.com/contzius/