April 15th, 1932. fHE S.A. JE\"/ISH CHRONICLE... 271
Music in • the Synagogue.
By A. W. BINDER.
~11111111u11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 11111111 1111111111u111111111111111rn1u 1111 11no1u 11111 u 1 111u111111111111111[!]
::-
~=========_I In this article Mr. A. W. Binder, a noted American musman and !
Director of Music for the Y.M.H.A.'s of New York, discusses the p lace of music in the
Synagoz~w.In the field of Jewish music, Mr. Binder's operettas and arrangements of Palestinian, East European
and Synagogue music ha·1e become authoritative.
0 ... : ...
u ... " ' ' " " ' ' ... 00Thc> story is to!d of a young man living in Foland who was unable to secure a wife from a religious family, because he could not distinguish the difference btwecn the kiddasb tune of the Sabbath and that of the holy day . For in former years this was an important 9art of the educational equipment pf the kw.
Almost e\ery Jew knew how to chant all of the home en, ices; know in~ also the different tunes and mod s of each. It was quite frequent to find a large number of men in a community who could read the Torah
\\it 1 the traditional trop, and could lead thP r Pliirious ::ericc at any time of the year vvith tlie prop~r tunes and proper modal prayer- motif. Sorn' of tlu· ordinaiy tra<J,. rrwn in a ,·ornmunit < ould, in many <'a. • do <'Vt 11
l Pttr. · I han the salaried cantors. And if per ac <-:id nt the BaalT'filoh or the cnntor would
<"h:rnc-c or mi~take one traditional tune for another, snickc>ring: and humming could he hc'ard from all parts of the synaf!ogue. One could rest assured that that cantor would not be rc-~nga<j~d for the fol lo\\ ing ye<.r, or if hc> ' ere n real Baal T'filoh he would not L. allo\\ed lo mount the 'uh~t an·;1in.
W r: arc> even told of the wife who refused to al1ow her husband to drin - t e kiddash
\\ ine. hcause he had made a mistake in th~
I idcbsh melody.
The Prayer-Motifs.
In past fr.enerations the nussach or modal prayer-motifs were adhered to with great religiosity. The Jew could not conceive of SaLbath Eve service without the beautiful mode which was associated with V'shomru.
How could he truly believe that it was the Sabbath day without the Yissmach Moshe
mode~ or the Misheberach style? What would Passover be without its traditional Seder and synagogue tunes, or Hall el modes?
And would the New Year or Day of Atone- ment be complete without its sacred chants, like those of the Kiddash, the Pi j utrim, the A vodah, or the N eetah?
These are but a few of the traditional rnr>dfS w ich were zealously guarded by our forefathers. For in Rabbinic literature we very often come across passages which te1l us of those like in our own day who att mpted to brin~ into the s nagogue secular and popular melodies of the day. Many 1\.·e ·e the attempts to substitute these for the exi[ting traditional modes, and lTir'ny were the Rabbinic assaults which these innovators encountered. For the Rabb;s maintained that in these traditional Nischoath lay the spirit of the Jew. Take these away from
th<'! synagogue. and you rob the synagogue of a most precious and most spiritual heritage. For in our prayers and in our melod:e. the innermost soul of the Jew finds exp re sion.
!\s time \\ ent on and the art of mu it:
developed these modal prayer-motifs came into their O"\\'n. With the deYelopment of choral music, and the rein talement of the cho · r and orcran in Lo the modern synagogue.
Jewish mu~icians Looi· to the task of develop- ing the choral art of their housc!-i of worship.
Many \\C're the <"antors and choirmastc>rs who undertook the tt.sk of eompo~ing music for the> synagogu<>. All ·:;ort. of £Lyles and sd10ol · cl<welo1 ed.
'1fr. A. W. Binder.
But il was not until the appearance of Soleman Sulzer, the famous Viennese cantor in 1826, that the attempt to utilize the yna- 1'!:ogue nussach in the newly developed synaho'wc chornl music was made.
Sulzer\; chief contribution through his two olumes of " Shir Zion " lies in the fact that he laid the foundation for the manner and style through which the nussach could be emt >d · ed in the cla sical formP. \fore so in his trcs.i,mcnt of the rec;tatives for the cantor tha!1 in his cho~al par~s. His logic:al successor tc thi: io~k was Louis Le-.vandow ki (1823- 1891), ,/10 in his two volumc:s of "Todah V's"mrah," developed the style and founda- tion whjch Sulzer began to build, but in a much broader manner. Then came Naum- bourg in PariP, und Weintraub in Koenigs- bun;, who \\ere able to weave these precious modal praye:·-motifs, not only into the sec- tions allotted to the choir. But the synagogue composer par excellence was r~ally David Nowakowsky of Ode~sa. Nowakowsky was a man who, m his own quiet way, sat in
'•
Odessa and composed work after work for the synagogue in which he was choirmaster, and the late Pincha Iinkowsky, the cantor.
This O\\'akowsky was surely a genius. For in his only two short published works, which con ist of " Shir David," a Sabbath Eve ser-
\'ice, and eel ah (the closing ervices for the Day of Atonement), and a few manu-
~cri pt \\orks wh"ch have been circulated around the Jewish musical world, one feels such musicianship, such grandeur and above all, sul'h "onderful Jewish spirit expressed, as never before. One must only hear his '"Ana 'I <noh ., (l)a) of tonement Ser\'icc) for double chorus to realize the immensity of his JP\\ ish "'oul and his marvellous rnusician-
hip.
111 ll('L\H'<'n the~• grcal rnaslers, an<l in our o rn day. therP ha\e been and are till such men as Grunzweig, Gerovitch, Lowen Lamm.
Shorr Rose, Zivi, Birnbaum and the very talc>nted Samu 1 Alman of London and many others of merit.
[ n our own country the greatest conlribu- Lio11 to synagogue music has been made h ' the late Josef Stat-k, who fo1• 111< ny years
\a, the cantor of Temple Emanuel of San FranciPco, was imbued with the pirit of the :=;ynacrogue and its music from early child- hood. This opportunity he later on use ,
d1e~ he took to composing synagogue music, to the, al that time, new version of thP prayer book, now known as the Union Prayer Book. Of the majority of his works, it may be said that they arc not only distino-uished for their musical value, but also for the fact tliat they ridhere in detail, or in spirit, to the traditifJnal mu~ical modes of the synagogue.
These great men of geniu realized the importance of µ:muinc " ~usic for the Syna-
rro~ue." Thfl leaders and the Rabbis of mosL of thr modern syna~ogues of Europe realized thf' all important part which music plaved in Jewish worship; that the proper music at the proper time, not only et tht>
right Lone and the ricrht spirit, but was really the b3ckbone of the service and th background to the sermon.
In our country conditions are deplorable.
There is, first of all, very little r alization of the importance of the traditional Nussach of the variou services. We sometimes hear a Rosh-Hashana " Kedushah" on an ordinary Sabbath,as well as other exchanges that are similarly sad. We are constantly borrowin2;
melodies from secular sources, and in reform svnagogues seventy per cent. of the music, which has been composed for the Union Praver Book, and of the music which is sun-;, has been composed by non-Jews.
(Continued on Next Page).
Activities at Paarl.
ANNUAL MEETING OF JEWISH LIBRARY.
( FIW~[ A CORRESPONDE:S-T.)
On Sunday morning, the 10th inst., the first annual meeting of the Paarl Jewish Library took place in the Talmud Torah Hall. There was a very fair attendance over whom Mr. M. Lazar, Chairman of the Library, presided. Mr. S.Heiman acted as
ecretary.
The Chairman delivered his report, and from this it could he seen that there had been much activity performed during the year by the Committee. The · membership campaign had been quite successful, over fifty members having been enrolled. A sum of close on £40 had been collected and spent on books. The collection of books was a fine one, and provoked interest among members to read. Over three hundred book had been given out during the last two months.
The Chairman thanked the members of the Committee for a isting him in the work.
Those who had he n of par;ticular service were Me~srs. Radin, Heiman, Swiel, B . ...,hapiro, S. Rabinowitz and M. and
J.
Bach.Mr. M. Bach then delivered the financial statement. It was clear that the Library '"as in a fairly sound financial po ition.
· Both reports w re adopted unanimou ly.
Th election of a new committe to~k place ith the following re ults: Chairman, Mr. S. Rabinowitz~ Vice-Chairman, Mr. M.
Lazar: Treasurer, Mr. Moses Bach; Secre- tar), :.\Ir. Ma Bach~ Committee: Me sr . H.
Radin,
J.
Berman andB.
Shapiro. Me , r Swiel and Trope (Wellington) were e1ectecl a a11ditor1.:.'I h 111 I ti11 r \\a 'lllll'IUd1 d \itii a \ol of thnnl ~ to tlw chair..
General.
J\'1ri::. Lily · rL hman recently visited Pam l
1n conrH•ction with her late ln~shand·~ work-.
+:~ t:·
1 r. I. Gerslernkorn. of Pale 'tine. spenL the la t \\eek-e1Hl at Paarl, and he succeeded in raising a Quhslantial amount for the Bnei- Brak Colom'.
*
*
*i\lac;;ter Gerald Goldstein, the only on uf :\Ir. and \'lrs. Gold tein, of Fren~h Hoek, celebrated his Barmitzvah last undav, afler having read his Portion at the Paari Svna- gogue on Saturday. An "At Home" 'wa held at the residence of Ir. and Mrs. Gold- stein at French Hoek, where Mr. L. Berman acted as. chairman. ThoEe who spoke on the 0cf·a.ion \\ere Rev. trelitz, Mes rs. M. Lazar, I. Gersternkorn, :\I. ~emer. E. Horwitz and others. The Barmitzvah and his father suitably replied.
Worcester Jewish Ladies' Society.
ANNUAL GENER AL MEETING.
(.From a Corre~pondent.)
A general meeting of the Worcester Jewi h Ladies· ociety and re- lection of offioe- bearer was held on April 12th. There wa a good attendance of member • The report and balance she t, ho' ing a sati factory
tale of affairs, was adopted.
<Continued in Second Column).
THE 5.A. J EW ISH
CHRONICLE.Jew ish Success in Mun icipa l By- Elect ion.
MR. S. SCHER.
The h artiest congratulations are extended to Mr. S. Scher, of Simonslown, on his ucceEs m the ~fonicipal by-election at imonsto\\n this \-\eek. There were three candidates for the vacancy caused by the resignation of Mr. H. J. Petts, and Mr.
'cher was elected by a comparatively large majority.
Mr. Scher came to South Africa from Ru Eia about thir~y-one years ago and ha since then lived at Simonstown. He is a well-known business man there and owns coneiderahle property. He has always taken a keen and active intere t in communal affair' and for the last fifteen year ha been the Chairman of the Simonsto~·n Hebrew Congregation and Zionist Society. Mr.
cher is the moving spirit in all Jewish endeavour in the suburb.
Jews and the Quota A ct.
A LETTER FROM DR. MOSES GASTER.
Rahbi
t.
\l. Levy, of Durhan, ha been~ood enough to allo\\ u~ lo publi.'h the f o I lo\ i I 1r , Ir H I fro 111 1 p j ·1 t ) ptl 1 r I 11 J 1m f ll l l 1 llnhn111 l>r. lu-e (,n '"'· tlw , ·-Chief RulilJi of Lhe .. >ani h and in London. Dr. Gaster\•
the .. \Jl!l ll .
r,
ica11 I 111111iirr;1! io11Bill hould pro e of interest lo
r.~ • • • t\nd the 1oc·a1 poljtir._ and the Im\ of t' du i11n "hich ha he ·n introduced affec.:tip.t mo, tly our own people coming from tll' Ea ... lt'm parts of Em ope. It is no ex.agg ration to ~av that thev have contri- Lutl:'d to a v •r: large ext nt t~ the pro perilv of oulh Africa, but what distre sed me mo~L i;:, that I have heard- and I will hope it is not true- that many of the Jew there fayoured that la\\ of exclusion. Well, it is a boomnang. It will hit them very soon People ought to he grateful for the-liberl\
which has been won for them before and they ought to be the last to try and curtail it. One small change in the currency and all their money '"ill disappear and all their riches will mrlt away.
'·Wherever the Jews have become intolerant they have no right to xpect mercy from otl1er..: or tolerance from oth r ."
(Continued from First Column).
The follo\\ ing Committee wa lect d to hold offic for the ensuing year: Chairlady.
Vlr'. L. Sadman; Vice-Chairlady, 1r . D nin ~ Trea urer, lrs.
J.
J. Wilk; Secretary, Mis H. Levin: Committee, Mesdames A.J.
Gros', Sandler. H. Simon, I. J. Sennett. B.
Shirken, 1\]isse S. Broudie and ohen.
April 15th, :932.
<!&bituarp
MRS. N. WOLMAN.
A cable from Marseilles this week announces the death of Mr . Wolman, re- cently of "Muizenberg and for many years a resident of W ynberg. which took place on the 11th in t.
Mrs. Wolman, accompanied by her hu - band, was on her way to Palestine to visit her son who i settled there. She took ill on board, and after spending several days in a hospital at Port Said, was being taken tu England. She succumbed on the way.
The deceased was a very well known per- sonality in the Peninsula. She was an ex- ceedingly great help to her husband who is
a devoted social and charitable worker and a keen and active Zionist, and performed very valuable communal service herself.
Before the dPparture of Mr. and Mrs. Wol- man on their trip in February, a farewell was <?;i en to them at Wynberg, and the Keren Hayesod campaign was launched there.
Mr.. Wolman ha pa ed away rn the prime of her life. To her husband, her thrf'e son and other relatives the deepest sympathy is extended in their aid bereave- ment. She i,. ~e under~tand, to be buried in J erw:;alem.
MUSIC IN THE SYNAGOGUE.
(Continued from Previous Page).
\v
ith such a wealth of material as is our heritaµ-e from the pen. of Sulzf'r( Lewan<lo\.V-i, Ht1111ho111°, Pi11t1<111h Lown o v.
. tar' and othc·rs, j-; it n ce ..;al'y to go to 11011-Je\\ish !:iOlllTe fo1 musi · Lo accompany Jewish worship'( Can we hope to retain that
\rnndt rful traditional spirit '"hich pervaded the s, nagoguP of our father, by injecting foreiµn elements into the synagogue of lo-day'? If we are to retain it we must ''Orne to realizP the important part ,\l1ich musi(' must hold in the synagogue. W must realize, as did our forefather~, that our old modal prayer-motifs must be retained for e\ery service and holiday and every other evenl in Jewish life. Even the reinstatement of the reading of the portion of the Law on Lhe ahhath and holidays with the very old sv tern of cantillation will bring back into the merican Temple a Jewish tone which in many instances i greatly lacking.
\re arr often told that the great masters of , ynagogue mu ic compo ·ed only for the orthodox ritual, and that their works are not suited to the new version of the Union Prayer Book. To this '\e mu t an. wer that mu ician- ship, plus some knowledge of Hebrew, mixed with a little judgment (for this surely ought to be part of the equipment of a dealer of
mw~ic in the synagogue) can adopt any one of their works for use in our modern yna- gogue .
~o that. with the portals of this Lremendou alld valuable library of synarrogue music vpened, let us now enter and draw from the
t:.""~1i ~nd . pirit of love and inspiration
,.;hi· h thP~e men poured into their work . Let u zealou ly guard our traditional melodies, for they are. t~e ou~d-post~ of our Faith. ·- ,
