Re: Improvising nusach (was RE: Yismekhu or Yismechu)

[Sam Weiss <SamWeiss...>]

At 06:21 PM 4/2/03, Seth Rogovoy wrote:
>This is very interesting to hear. How traditional is it for the shaliach
>tzibur to improvise a melody? Presumably some basic musical standards
>apply (the modes?)?

Improvisation is the rule, rather than the execption, for a Shaliach 
Tzibur. That a traditional mode is associated with a particular prayer or 
prayer-group does not imply that there can be no improvisation.  Au 
contraire -- the modes primarily function as vehicles for improvisation. In 
some instances, the traditional manner of chanting a particular prayer also 
includes regular melodic patterns (e.g. Kol Nidre, Akdamut) but these too 
are subject to individual variation.
Occasionally some prayers acquire fixed melodies (e.g. Ma'oz Tzur, Sh'ma 
Yisrael, Vay'hi Binso'a) that seem unshakably attached to 
them.  Ironically, these attachments are normally less "traditional," 
though more beloved and expected by the congregation, and therefore harder 
to change.
Finally, there is a category of prayers (usually metrical Piyyutim like 
Adon Olam, L'cha Dodi, Melech Elyon) which have no traditional chant, mode, 
or melody attached to them; the expectation is for the Shaliach Tzibur to 
choose a melody of his own liking or -- if he is as talented as Roger Reid 
--to improvise one.

---------------------- jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org ---------------------+