Re: Debbie Friedman article

[robert wiener <wiener...>]

Looking for common ground with Adrian what jumps out is "the call to
ask contemporary writers to become familiar with the now accepted
"traditional" nusach and find ways to incorporate it into their own
work."  If only we were steeped in nusah as the connective tissue of
our Jewish liturgical experience.  If only those who want to write for
the synagogue knew the history of Jewish liturgical music their work
would be more effective as a means of Jewish prayer.

It is often stated that to successfully break rules, one must first
know them well.  One of many examples is Picasso.  It was rremarkable
to see early his sketches in the classical style.  (As I write a TV
special on Picasso was just advertised.)

I do wish I would find that when I go into a synagogue the shaliah
tzibur knows the appropriate nusah to be used, for example for b'rahot
at the end of passages.

Here I would not say "traditional" nusah, as Adrian does.  I think
that would be redundant.  And I think that the phrase "the so called
"new American nusach"" may reflect a different understanding of the
meaning of nusah from the one that we've discussed -- leitmotifs that
identify the service for which they are used; melodies that can be
identified as being Jewish without text or context.  I know of no
attempt to develop such a thing in America,   Being able to say
that a tune sounds like it's by Debbie Friedman does not make for a
nusah.

So I would not say that "there is clearly a place for nusach" without
meaning that the place for nusah is in every Jewish prayer service.

It seems that we have no Jewish tradition in architecture.  But
we do have Jewish traditions liturgical music.  It may not be the
music of Miriam or even the music of the Temples, but to lose what we
do have would be a true pity.  I hope that there are not many Jews who
would say that any Jewish tradition that cannot be plainly traced back
to Mt. Sinai is automatically dispensable.  Precious little of Judaism
would survive.

So while we encourage the singing of new songs (as the psalmist said),
let us continue to sing the old nusah.

Bob

(Sorry for the delay in mailing this letter.  It was largely completed
days ago but languished in my draft folder.)

-----Original Message-----
From: Adrian Durlester <durleste (at) home(dot)com>
To: World music from a Jewish slant. <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org>
Date: Monday, April 19, 1999 6:07 PM
Subject: RE: Debbie Friedman article


>Bob and I are perhaps in agreement more than either of us think.
There is
>clearly a place for nusach, and, indeed, "traditional" nusach, which,
if not
>identical the world over, does have some sort of connection does
create a
>certain sense of time and space and a Jewish "feel." On that, I would
not
>argue. I feel it an experience it myself. (But I have also
experienced
>similar feelings with the so called "new American nusach." )
>
>But what I would argue is that new musical forms can and do serve the
same
>function for some people, and it is not our place to insist that only
the
>"traditional" nusach which some of us feel is "Jewish" in its core is
>capable of this.
>
>Yes, as (not if, but as or when) these newer musical styles find
their way
>into what becomes in the future the "traditional" nusach, there will
be some
>sense of loss, we will have lost just a little piece of some
connection to a
>tradition, whether of centuries or decades or millenia does not
matter.
>Thus, the call to ask contemporary writers to become familiar with
the now
>accepted "traditional" nusach and find ways to incorporate it into
their own
>work is an appropriate call, as long as we do not insist on it 100%
of the
>time, nor use it to define what is acceptable liturgical music.
>
>An apparently mistaken impression by A.Z. Idelsohn that the eastern
nusachs
>were, due to their simplicity, likely closer to the more ancient
forms
>resulted in a whole slew of new music based on these styles
purporting to be
>more authentic. Eric Werner and others have challenged Idelsohn's
thesis. So
>now we have this whole body of music that we have come to identify as
being
>more authentically Jewish sounding that in fact is probably no more
so than
>the Ashkenazic styles or any other.
>
>What is tradition? It is all very linked to minhag hamkom. Working as
I do
>as a music director in Reform settings, I see those who rail against
the new
>American nusach not desiring a return to the "traditional nusach" but
to the
>"traditional" music of Binder et al. One chorus of Binder's "All the
World"
>(an English Vayateinu) heard with one's ears closed and one would
certainly
>believe they were in a Protestant church. (Are there "new American
nusach"
>tunes that would have the same effect? Undoubtedly so. But just
because they
>sound non-Jewish, does that automatically make then non-Jewish? What
makes
>Nurit Hirsch's Ose Shalom sound Jewish other than our own
contextualizing it
>in that fashion?)
>
>Let's not throw out the traditions, and let us respect them, for they
are
>due such as Bob suggests, just for having achieved a "traditional"
status,
>but let us allow them to be open to further change and modification,
as they
>have been throughout their history.
>
>The mystics of Safed, realizing that music was yet another shard of
the
>shattered vessel, began to allow what the rabbis had prohibited for
>centuries. And secular music began to find its way back into
worship-because
>they way to make music holy and help repair the world was to use even
the
>most secular music in a sacred way. Today's contemporary songwriters
>continue this great tradition. We should honor them in that work.
>
>Adrian
>---------------------------------------------------------------------
---
>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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