RE: Adon Olam et al

[elkahn <elkahn...>]

I include my original post below so it may be read in its entirety.

I do not oppose people praying for themselves; it is certainly
the essence of Judaism and a very Eastern, meditative and successful
spiritual activity. I do not oppose people singing together; the joy of
anyone singing, especially collectively with others, is a heartfelt
emotional release and -- sometimes -- a genuine aesthetic experience.

What I do oppose are banal, awful tunes that have no connection to any
sort of spiritual history (i.e. nusah) and that are just plain BAD MUSIC.
Perhaps in the Orthodox shtiebels the tunes are of a better quality. I
repeat, in many Reform, Reconstructionist and and some Conservative
synagogues the tunes are simply awful -- simply because of the ignorant
desires of non-musical boards and -- yes -- non-musical rabbis. 

If you
listen to great traditional liturgical tunes like Kol Nidre, the Yom
Kippur Yigdal, the "Leoni" Yigdal, Adon Olam, Ein Adir, Ein Keloheynu (yes
it's German and secular-based), the "great" High Holiday Aleynu, Binder's
Mi Chamocha, the Aguilar-De Sola "Etz Chajim, Helfman's "Ahavat Olam," the
traditional "Av Harachamim"...need I go on...you will realize that most of
the tunes that are being foisted upon the public now as "participatory,"
such as DEbbie Friedman's "And thou shalt love," numerous other Camp Ramah
songs and the pseudo-Hassidic niggunim are -- in my estimation --
musically inferior. Friedman's melodies need a guitar to work at all; just
as melodies, I'm afraid they're not that great.

Again, I do not wish to pass myself off as an authority on Hazzanut; I am
not. I was always under the impression, however, that the role of the
Sh'liach Tsibbur -- the predecessor of the Hazan -- was as messenger of
the people, to sing prayers up to God. Please, someone jump in and correct
me, if I have mis-interpreted. While I am aware that many late 19th, early
20th century cantorial pieces were performed at concerts, there appears to
be a rich tradition of fabulous cantorial singing at least back to the
17th century. Congregants did not sing along with the great cantors of the
Ukraine and Eastern Europe, however I'm sure they did participate at the
congregational sections. There were large nineteenth century choirs of
Meshorerim consisting of boys and men who accompanied the cantors,
sometimes in counterpoint. Surely the congregation didn't sing with them.

And, of course, in Germany a very rich cantorial and choral tradition
developed in the music of Sulzer, Lewandowski and other composers for
4-part choirs -- male choirs in the Orthodox, mixed choirs in the Reform
and Liberal congregations. These congregations joined in for hymns and
other important prayer sections. They certainly did not sing along with
the cantor during his solos or with the choir during theirs.

What I'm merely advocating is congregations employing professionals who
are trained as cantors, choir directors, soloists, organists, whatever,
and letting them do the job they were trained to do and raise the musical
standards in our synagogues. 

Eliott Kahn  

On Fri, 5 Feb 1999 elkahn (at) JTSA(dot)EDU wrote:

> Adrian:
> 
> Yes, "a well-wrought blend of tradition and modernity," I completely agree
> with you. But congregants singing EVERY prayer is not a blend. It's too
> much participation.
> 
> Why is it we Jews must always "participate?" Couldn't congregations sit in
> silence for awhile and just "listen" to good music? You are as familiar as
> I with church services: Protestant congregations will sing sing three
> hymns and listen to the rest. Depending on the church, there will be two
> or three "special music" sections per service. This seems like a
> good balance to me.
> 
> I believe the intoning of Hassidic niggunim ("di, di") is a bad mistake
> for American liberal denominations: i.e Conservative, Liberal, Reform. It
> works for the Hasidim because nigunim are alive to them and an integral
> part of their culture. But most liberal Jews lead far different lives,
> have received a far more secular education and work and live in a more
> assimilated environment. There's nothing more embarrasing -- yes
> embarrasing -- to me than a group of well-educated, secular Jews who are
> familiar with the great artworks of Western Civilization, going into their
> house of worship and intoning "di, di, di" as some sort of holy
> incantation. Surely we can do better than that.
> 
> Perhaps it wouldn't be such a "miracle" getting people into a synagogue if
> we offered them music that both stirred them to worship and challenged
> their intellectual and emotional sensibilities.
> 
> Eliott Kahn
>    
> 
> On Fri, 5 Feb 1999, Adrian Durlester wrote:
> 
> > And I would respond that it is exactly because of what I have learned from
> > seriously studying nusach and Jewish musical history that I decry this
> > traditionalist insistence on not stepping outside some arbitrary musical
> > boundary.
> > 
> > While, being one myself, I agree with the need for trained musical
> > professionals, nevertheless I see their role as helping to guide
> > congregations into a well wrought blend of tradition and modernity.
> > 
> > I also believe too much emphasis is being placed on the keva, and not the
> > kavanah. We can't get inside peoples' brains to determine if "ignorantly
> > intoning di-di-di" is or is not effective in praising, asking, petitioning,
> > and thanking G-d. While I take every opportunity I can to demonstrate to
> > them how they can use traditional nusach (and music in that style) and
> > t'filah to achieve whatever end they seek in worship, and have that rare
> > occasion when someone finally grasps the possibilities, I would never
> > presume to sit in judgment of someone who does not make the connection. If
> > they are there, in the synagogue, worshipping, that is in itself (sadly,
> > these days) a miracle.
> > 
> > Adrian
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: owner-jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org
> > [mailto:owner-jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org]On Behalf Of elkahn (at) 
> > JTSA(dot)EDU
> > Sent: Friday, February 05, 1999 8:33 AM
> > To: World music from a Jewish slant.
> > Cc: elkahn
> > Subject: Re: Adon Olam et al
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > Ameyn. And may I also add that after learning a bit about Nusah and
> > studying Jewish musical history over the past few years, American Jews
> > should be extremely concerned right now about the state of music in their
> > synagogues. From what I've observed in COUNTLESS synagogues in the NY
> > metro area, it's deplorable.
> > 
> > The communal singing that was introduced in the sixties has finally borne
> > its bitter fruit: congregants ignorantly intoning di-di-di for every other
> > blasted prayer, singing the "Sh'ma" (not such a hot tune to begin with) at
> > a largo tempo to invest it with solemnity, lay song leaders leading
> > prayers in stratospheric keys that only a chipmunk could sing in, an on
> > and on...ad nauseum.
> > 
> > I am NOT speaking of Orthodox synagogues because I don't worship there,
> > rather the Reform, Reconstructionist and some Conservative branches.
> > 
> > Why do congregants -- and especially board members -- believe they can do
> > without trained cantors and other music professionals? Is the next step
> > that they can do without trained rabbis?
> > 
> > Democratization of prayer and song are good things -- but within reason.
> > When there are no trained professionals around, the results are that the
> > inmates take over the asylum. That is not my idea of a vibrant, living
> > Judaism.
> > 
> > Eliott Kahn
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > Adrian A. Durlester  -  durleste (at) home(dot)com
> > http://members.home.net/durleste/
> > Student, Vanderbilt University Divinity School
> > http://divinity.lib.vanderbilt.edu/vds/vds-home.htm
> > Music Director, Congregation Micah, Nashville, TN
> > http://www.micahnash.org/
> > Home phone (615) 646-9788
> > Nextel cel-phone (615) 207-2661
> > You can page me from http://www.nextel.com
> > List-Owner for hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org; Co-Owner for L-Torah (at) 
> > shamash(dot)org
> > http://uahc.org/hanashir
> > Editor, Bim Bam (for Torah Aura Productions)
> > http://www.torahaura.com/
> > Alternate Email: aad (at) iname(dot)com  adriand (at) aol(dot)com
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> 
> 
> 

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