RE: Jacob Wasilkowsky?

[medelman <medelman...>]

Sam, thanks very much for the info.

MBE
  -----Original Message-----
  From: owner-jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org
[mailto:owner-jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org]On Behalf Of Sam Weiss
  Sent: Sunday, October 26, 2003 6:33 PM
  To: World music from a Jewish slant
  Subject: Re: Jacob Wasilkowsky?


  At 03:19 PM 10/22/03, medelman wrote:

    Can anyone provide any biographical information on Cantor Jacob
Wasilkowsky
    (1886-1944)?

  The following biography of Wasilkowsky appears in his book "Ma'ariv Chants
for the Entire Year" compiled and edited by Moshe (=Macy) Nulman, published
in 1965 by Yeshiva University.  Note the different birth and death years
given here.
  -S.W.

  JACOB LEIB WASILKOWSKY (1882-1942)
  The gifted Eastern European synagogue composer Cantor Jacob L.
Wasilkowsky, was given prominent recognition when about twenty selections
from a manuscript prepared by him in 1906 were included in "The Thesaurus of
Hebrew Oriental Melodies" (vol. VIII), written in 1927 by Abraham Z.
ldelsohn, the foremost musicologist in the field of Jewish music of the
early 20th century.
  Jacob Wasilkowsky, the son of poor parents, was born in Swislicz, a
province of Grodno, Russia. As customary in that era, his parents saw to it
that he received a thorough Jewish education. In his twelfth year he was
sent to the academy at Horodna, a nearby town, where he studied the Talmud
and other Jewish subjects. It was in these formative years that he absorbed
the deep Jewish piety and fervent emotion which later influenced his musical
work. While in Horodna, he became quite popular because of his alto voice
and was chosen to be the leading soloist in the choir of the noted Cantor
Joseph Altshul (1840-1908), sometimes called "Yoshe Slonimer". From Horodna
the young Wasilkowsky journeyed to Biyalistok and from there to Kalish,
Poland, where he was appointed choir-leader to Cantor Noach Lieder.
  Up to the age of fifteen Wasilkowsky had little formal musical education.
He was admitted to musical circles only because of his gracefulness and his
innate musicianship. His first experience with theoretical musical knowledge
was in Warsaw, where he devoted all his time to musical studies and
composition. It is here, too, that he met his wife, Sheena Esther Cantor,
daughter of the famed hazzan-shohet, Nahum Kantor of Goniondz. Wasilkowsky's
thirst for musical knowledge was still unquenched, and before he turned
twenty he journeyed to Konigsberg, Germany, to study with Edward Birnbaum
(1885-1920), distinguished cantor and musicologist. His musical development
was furthered by his contact with Otto Fiebach, director of the Conservatory
of Konigsberg.
  Despite his success in his secular schooling, Wasilkowsky felt an "inner
calling" to serve his people as cantor, choir-leader and composer. In the
next few years, prior to World War I, he went through several job-changes as
cantor; first in the United Synagogue of Manchester, England, and then in
Shavel, a province of Kovno, Russia. After a long struggle during the war
years, he finally came to the United States in 1920.
  As a composer, Wasilkowsky is essentially a follower of the Eastern
European synagogue style. His works, closely tied to Jewish tradition, are
in the folk tune style. Undoubtedly, his most important contributions to
synagogue music are his "Rinath Amcho" (1922) and "Rinoh Us'filoh" (c.
1924). Both are arranged for cantor and choir in 2 and 3 part settings. As
early as the first quarter of the 20th century, Wasilkowsky envisioned the
future of choral singing in the traditional synagogue of the Americas and
his first attempt at 2- and 3- part settings set an example for future
synagogue composers.
  In his notation of "Ten Recitatives for the High Holidays," Wasilkowsky
again focuses on the future. Although these are elaborate recitatives, they
omit the flowery embellishments and virtuoso cadenzas so often found in the
recitatives of this period. They strive to enhance the service with musical
variation of the nusah.
  Wasilkowsky not only delved into music for the synagogue but, just like
the paytan (poet) of the middle ages, he also composed shirim (poems) on
various aspects of Jewish life. By virtue of these creations the appelation
hazzan-maskil has been associated with his name.
  In 1931 he wrote a collection of five Yiddish songs for voice and piano.
Here, Wasilkowsky's texts speak of matters of one's personal longings
("Parnosoh"), love for Zion ("Vuhin"), immortality ("Kol Yisroel") and above
all, piety ("Ani Ma'amin" and "Al Tiroh").
  His unpublished scores for the Jewish theater and his general musical
works are further evidence of his great versatility.
  CANTOR MOSHE NULMAN
  Assistant Director
  Cantorial Training Institute
  Yeshiva University
  April, 1965

  _____________________________________________________________
  Cantor Sam Weiss === Jewish Community Center of Paramus,
NJ ---------------------- jewish-music (at) shamash(dot)org 
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