Re: Jewish liturgical music in English

[Robert Cohen <rlcm17...>]

P.S. to Gideon and whoever else is listening:  I've never heard Shlomo's 
"Pitchu Li" in English, but he managed to (regularly) do a rendition of 
"L'Ma'an Achai v'Reiai" (Because of My Brothers and Friends) in English that 
I find really (again) "works"--on the (quite fine original) recording and 
before "mixed" audiences (i.e., not only Orthodox or knowledgeable Jews; or 
Jews and non-Jews, as at "New Age" settings like the Open Center).  Indeed, 
some Catholics started an English-language version (I think their own) of 
this wonderful niggun. I also have a charming recording of Shlomo singing 
"Esau Einai" in English at the legendary Fox Hollow Folk Festival, o"h.  A 
lot of English-language liturgy (original or translated), again, doesn't 
make it for me, but w/ sensitive and graceful English and the right heimish 
melody, sometimes it can--and it can, perhaps, open up davening _and_ 
musical worlds for some non-Hebrew literates.


>From: GAronoff (at) aol(dot)com
>Reply-To: jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org
>To: World music from a Jewish slant <jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org>
>Subject: Re: What is Jewish Music?
>Date: Thu, 8 Jul 1999 15:41:29 EDT
>
>Robert -
>
>In your work on the contemporary liturgical folk pop compilation did you 
>only
>use new settings of prayers in Hebrew or did you also include newer English
>spiritual songs?
>
>To my ear many of the Hebrew songs/prayers are quite powerful in this style
>of music while much of the English comes across as dorky.  Even Shlomo's
>songs like Pichu Li come out sounding strange to me when I hear English
>renditions.
>
>This may be the challenge of trying to write Jewish songs in English and 
>why
>subtle Jewish performers like Himmelman, Dana Mase or Dylan are harder to 
>pin
>down as Jewish but survive on the non-dorky front.
>Gideon
>
>
>


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