Re: Broadway composers

[Eliott Kahn <Elkahn...>]

>The name Irving Berlin was mentioned in the same digest, and at the same time 
>I'm playing in a pit band for a USY production.  I'm reminded of a Kiddush by 
>Kurt Weill, and I wonder if List members are familiar with other Jewish music 
>by composers more usually associated with Broadway: Richard Rogers, Steven 
>Sondheim et al.
>
>Fred Blumenthal
>xd2fabl (at) us(dot)ibm(dot)com 


Fred:

You should be aware that the Park Avenue Synagogue in New York City had a 
commissioning/performance series for Shabbat music from 1943-1976. The idea was 
initiated and carried out by Park Avenue's Cantor David Putterman during all 
those years. The idea was supported from its beginning by Park Ave.'s Rabbi 
Milton Steinberg, who was a pupil of Reconstructionism's founder Mordecai 
Kaplan.

Special annual services included music from Kurt Weill (Kiddush), Leonard 
Bernstein (Hashkivenu), Darius Milhaud (Borchu, Shma), Mario 
Castelnuovo-Tedesco and David Amram (complete services), among others.

We have all Park Avenue's scores and papers here at our Library. (I catalogued, 
 arranged and described them.)  The finding aids are not yet available on the 
web, but you may look at the bib records for the scores on our OPAC at 
http://sefer.jtsa.edu  Just search under author= Park Avenue Synagogue and look 
at which records were from the commissioning series.

Many of these scores were published in G. Schirmer's 1951 anthology, "Synagogue 
Music by Contemporary Composers," and the Cantors Assembly 1979 anthology, 
"Mizmor l'David." 

Eliott Kahn



Dr. Eliott Kahn
Music Archivist
Library of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
3080 Broadway
New York, NY 10027
WK: (212) 678-8076
FAX (212) 678-8998
elkahn (at) jtsa(dot)edu

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