Related Research Articles
A hazzan or chazzan is a Jewish musician or precentor trained in the vocal arts who leads the congregation in songful prayer. In English, this prayer leader is often referred to as a cantor, a term also used in Christianity.
Israel Schorr was a prominent cantor during the Golden Age of Hazzanut. Born in Khyriv, the Polish region of Galicia then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire to a Hasidic family, Schorr began his career as a boy, singing soprano in the courts of various Hasidic masters, notably the Rebbe of Rymanow. In 1904, Schorr replaced his distant relative Hazzan Boruch Schorr as the official cantor for the rebbe of Rymanów.
Jewish music is the music and melodies of the Jewish people. There exist both traditions of religious music, as sung at the synagogue and in domestic prayers, and of secular music, such as klezmer. While some elements of Jewish music may originate in biblical times, differences of rhythm and sound can be found among later Jewish communities that have been musically influenced by location. In the nineteenth century, religious reform led to composition of ecclesiastic music in the styles of classical music. At the same period, academics began to treat the topic in the light of ethnomusicology. Edwin Seroussi has written, "What is known as 'Jewish music' today is thus the result of complex historical processes". A number of modern Jewish composers have been aware of and influenced by the different traditions of Jewish music.
For the purposes of this article, “contemporary” refers to the period from 1967 to the present day, “Jewish” refers to the various streams and traits of Judaism practiced. Many Orthodox Jews use the term “religious” to refer to a strict adherence to Jewish law. For the purposes of this article, “religious” refers to the content and context of the music itself: liturgical or implicit references to the divine.
This article describes the principal types of religious Jewish music from the days of the Temple to modern times.
Joseph Malovany is an Israeli-born American tenor soloist. A world-famous cantor, serving as Hazzan of New York's Fifth Avenue Synagogue since 1973, and a Distinguished Professor of Liturgical Music at Philip and Sarah Belz School of Jewish Music, Yeshiva University. Malovany possesses a brilliant spinto tenor voice, described by the London Guardian as “most powerful, beautiful and expressive spinto technique…sturdy and heroic” and by the Swedish newspaper Goteborgs Posten as “Judaism’s Jussi Bjorling”.
Moritz Henle was a prominent German composer of liturgical music and cantor of the Jewish reform movement.
Benzion Miller is a cantor, schochet and mohel (circumciser), as was his father, Aaron Daniel Miller. He was born in a displaced persons camp in Fernwald, Germany.
Louis Harry Danto was a lyric tenor and cantor. He was acclaimed for his cantorial music, concert appearances and recordings of Italian, Russian, and French opera repertoire. Danto performed throughout North America, Europe and Israel, and recorded 24 solo albums.
Leib Glantz was a lyrical tenor cantor (chazzan), composer, musicologist of Jewish music, writer, educator, and Zionist leader.
The modern Reform Cantorate is seen as a result of developments that took place during the 19th century, largely in Europe. The process continued to evolve in America following the emigration of German Reform Jews towards the end of the century.
Mikhail Davidovich Alexandrovich, a.k.a. Misha Alexandrovich was a Latvian Jewish tenor, and cantor, internationally acclaimed as a fine performer of classical and popular repertoire in several languages.
Mordecai Hershman was a Ukrainian-born American Jewish cantor ("chazzan") and singer.
Hazzan Abraham “Abe” Lubin is a London-born American Conservative Jewish Hazzan and former President of the Cantors Assembly, who is the cantor emeritus at Congregation Beth El in Bethesda, Maryland.
Julius Mombach was a 19th-century English synagogue composer. Tunkel (2012) regards him as "the most important of the composers of synagogue music in the Anglo-Jewish tradition of the 19th Century" whilst Elton (2003) doesn't even restrict this assessment to England.
Sylvan (Sholom) Kalib is an American music theorist, musicologist, cantor, conductor, pedagogue and composer. His primary work falls broadly into two categories: 1) Schenkerian music theory and 2) the musical tradition of the Eastern European synagogue.
David Roitman was a Russian-American hazzan and composer. Early in his career he worked as cantor in villages and cities in Russia such as Vilna and Odessa. In 1921 he immigrated to the United States and eventually joined the Congregation Shaare Zedek. Renowned for his lyric tenor compositional recordings and cantorial recitatives, Roitman became known as "the poet of the pulpit".
Sol Zim is an American cantor. He lives in Queens, New York.
In Judaism, musical nusach refers the musical style or tradition of a community, particularly the chant used for recitative prayers such as the Amidah.
Jack A. Kessler (1944–2024) was an American hazzan, musician, and educator. After working as a cantor for synagogues for 20 years, he organized several musical ensembles including Atzilut, a group of Jewish and Arab musicians, which toured venues around the world including the United Nations. He also adopted the practice of chanting trop for haftarah and other biblical texts in both Hebrew and English to make the text more vivid and alive for synagogue worshippers.
References
- ↑ "Max Wohlberg". www.ashbournemusicpublishing.com. Retrieved August 4, 2024.
- 1 2 Thomas Jr., Robert McG. (April 26, 1996). "Max Wohlberg, 89, a Liturgical Composer". The New York Times. p. D19.
- ↑ Belskin-Ginsburg, Hazzan W. "History of the CA (1947-1972)". www.cantors.org. Cantors Assembly. Archived from the original on July 18, 2011.
- ↑ "Israel's Statehood Seen Reflected in Jewish Music Here". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. February 25, 1949. p. 8 – via newspapers.com.
- 1 2 Rosenbaum, Samuel (June 1977). "Hazzan Max Wohlberg" (PDF). Journal of Synagogue Music. VII (3): 3–4.
- 1 2 Kim, Patricia Costa (1997). "Transmission of Music in the Hebrew Tradition: Learning from the Songs of the Synagogue". The Bulletin of Historical Research in Music Education. 19 (1). Sage Publications: 49. JSTOR 40214945.
- 1 2 Davidson, Charles (1992). "An Analysis of Three Unaccompanied Recitatives of Max Wohlberg" (PDF). Journal of Synagogue Music. XXII (1–2): 13–23.
- ↑ "Deaths Elsewhere | Max Wohlberg, New York". The Atlanta Journal. April 27, 1996. p. D10 – via newspapers.com.
 | This biographical article about a person notable in connection with Judaism is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |