Cantors Assembly Journal of Synagogue Music

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Cantors Assembly • December 1980 • Tevet 5741 • Vol X • No 2 •

JOURNAL OF SWAGOGUE MUSIC

Contents:

A Practical Proposal to Upgrade the Level of Taste

in the Music in the Synagogue

High Holy Day Melodies in the Spanish
and Portuguese Synagogues of London

Symbols of Faith in the Music of
Leonard Bernstein

The Influence of Solomone Rossi's Music
Part IV

L'chah Dodi: A New Translation and
Commentary

Arnold M. Rothstein 3

Maxine Ribstein Kantor 1 2

Jack Gottlieb 45

Daniel Chazanoff 54

Elliot B. Gertel 81

Review of New Music

New Year's Service for Young People

Psalms of Woe and Joy

Review of Performances
Hazzan Louis Danto in Recital

Jack Gottlieb 88
Robert Starer 89

Sholom Kalib 92

c , Volume X, N umber 2
December 1980 / Tevet 5741

Abraham Lubin

Samuel Rosenbaum

ard : Ben. Belfer, Hans Cohn, Baruch Cohon, Jerome
Kopmar, Saul Me/se/s, Solomon Mendel son, Philip Moddel, Chaim
Najman, Morton Shames, Moses J. Silverman, Pinchas Spiro.

business board: Andrew Beck, Levi Hal peri n, Robert Kieval, Martin
Leubitz, Morris Levinson, Yehuda Mandel, Arthur Sachs.

officers of the cantors assembly: M orton Shames, President;
Abraham Shapiro, Vice President; Ivan Perlman, Treasurer; Saul
Hammerman, Secretary; Samuel Rosenbaum, Executive Vice Presi-
dent.

journal of synagogue music is a semi-annual pu bl i ca ti on. The sub-
scription fee is $12.50 per year. All articles, communications and
subscriptions should be addressed to Journal of Synagogue Music,
Cantors Assembly, 150 Fifth Avenue, New York 10011.

Copyright © 1980, Cantors Assembly

A PRACTICAL PROPOSAL TO UPGRADE
THE LEVEL OF TASTE IN THE MUSIC
IN THE SYNAGOGUE

Arnold M. Rothstein

To begin with an apology is supposedly poor form. Nevertheless,
a three-tiered apologetic disclaimer is preferred right at the outset:

1. The proposal grows out of more than a quarter century of
serious and sustained thought and study of synagogue music, in-
cluding observations in, at least, 100 American synagogues, regionally
distributed- from the humble to the magnificent. It is a modest
proposal and a practical one, but it is far from modest in its require-
ments and in its effects. Few details will be offered not because
they are unavailable, but because they may overwhelm; hence,
rather than obscure the central idea, detail has been deliberately
restricted.

2. There is purposeful resolve in eschewing subjects of great
moment to the general health of the synagogue. Enough doctors
are available to diagnose religious and sociological problems relating
to the synagogue; these are left for such specialists.

3. Not infrequently, one hears the charge: "Since this problem
[whatever it is] is related to all other problems, we can make no
progress unless all other problems are resolved."' Merely to set
the statement down should be enough to dispose of the charge,
yet there is the lingering suspicion that a critic will load his musket
with such powder and discharge volley upon volley.

Arnold Rothstein is Professor of Philosophy of Education at the City
University of New York. His scholarly interests include problem of aesthetics
and the conceptions of aesthetics in Jewish thought and its effects on synagogue
music. He has published a number of articles on this subject and edited an
anthology of two-part settings of high holiday music.

1 In the March, 1980 issue of the Journal of Synagogue Music, an author
asked the question: "How can we daven for Jews who don't know how to
daven?" Unfortunately, any reductionism tends to paralyze action. Surely,
to one who hungers for bread, music is a poor substitute. Yet, at the Pesah
Seder, we note that it is first Haggadah. then knedlech, (although some might
prefer to reverse the order). In Jewish tradition, food has always come after
prayer and benediction. To insist, therefore, that we consider some other
problem before we can even begin to consider this one is certain to entangle
us hopelessly in coil of our own jumbling. To answer the question posed by
the author, it may be that one of the reasons for Jewish illiteracy in a third
generation is because aesthetic poverty (among other reasons) propelled the
first generation to turn elsewhere for nourishment.

With that prefatory note out of the way, a brief outline of
procedure is now in order. The audience to whom the proposal
is addressed includes cantors, choir-masters, music directors, and
Rabbis-on the assumption that it is they who lead, rather than
follow. The proposal to upgrade the level of taste in music in the
synagogue is simple enough to state and, for convenience, may be
separated into two divisions: one, long-range and one, shorter-range
— in terms of potential for implementation. The first division of
the proposal has to do with technique in music-making and the
second deals with repertoire. Actually, most professional proposals
tend to deal primarily with repertoire; indeed, the exhortations to
upgrade repertoire are legion; and legion is the number of deaf
ears upon whom such diffuse exhortations fall. Therefore, this
proposal will not sound a mere call for upgrading all of the reper-
toire, in general. Instead, only a modest and particular suggestion
for short-range effort and effect will be made. However, priority
demands that the matter of technique of music-making be attended
to first, since it is long-range with regard to its more-lasting influence
and in terms of its potential for implementation and execution. So
much for introductory remarks.

To upgrade the level of taste in music that is heard in the
Synagogue requires, foremost, attention to the sounds people make
when they sing. When such sounds are unmusical to begin with,
any attempted upgrading of mere repertoire results, instead, in
degradation, for most of us know how easily fine works can be
rendered flimsy and shoddy because of poor technique. Very simply
put, it is the voices of children that have to be attended to, not
because vocal ism is an end in itself nor, yet, because a musical
career is a projected end, but in order to prepare a seed-bed in
which aesthetic sensitivity may be nourished. When children reach
adulthood after having experienced proper and natural vocalism,
this fact — almost in and of itself-will help to produce a demand
for aesthetically purer and more appropriate repertoire. To use
Kipling's phrase, "it's their care that the wheels run smoothly."

A beginning, then, is to be made in the religious school, in
junior services, and particularly in Bar-Mitzvah training; in short,
wherever children are asked to sing. Indeed, it is precisely in Bar-
Mitzvah training wherein the practicality of the proposal lies. But
here is the catch! Whoever is responsible for training children
must have a clear picture in mind of how a child's voice is supposed
to sound. J udging from prevailing practice, such awareness-let
alone, knowledge — is conspicuously absent. By and large, Bar-

Mitzvah children chant with a rough and gruff, unmusical, simulated-
adult-sound. But the child voice is not supposed to sound heavy-
chested, nor deep, nor whimpering, nor nasally congested. More-
over, especially to be guarded against is the imitation of the adult
voice. Children are naturally imitative at an early age and learn
primarily by imitation and, so. special safeguards have to be erected
if a child is to he taught to produce a flute-like, light, head-tone which
remains with him usually up to puberty (Pubescence does occur
at various ages, but usually between 12-16.) The model for such a
disembodied tone can be heard in the great Anglican and Roman
Church choirs or the Vienna Choir Boys. To be sure, such choirs

are musical nurseries Or greenhouses designed tai cultivate unusual

quality. I refer to them only to illustrate the kind of tone that is
proper and natural to children, and to assert that all children can
be trained to sing with the disembodied head-tone-even if they
cannot be trained to be choristers in illustrious cathedral-type
choirs. The result will be — other things being equal — congregants
who, having been exposed to beauty, will demand beauty. I hasten
to add that the proposal does not require cathedral-type schools
(although the idea of such a school is worth independent consider-
ation). It does, however, require cantors and music teachers willing
to school themselves in the way children's voices are supposed to
sound, i.e., unlike adult voices, with the use only of pure head tones.
One way of schooling oneself is to listen to recordings of the Vienna
Choir Boys. Another is to study a text on the child voice. 2 Yet,
it may be that for a cantor or music teacher to be able to acquire
such technical awareness presupposes, first, a vision, a faith, and a
conviction that exposure to beauty will beget beauty.

There is one further catch to what has been said. A strong
cultural prejudice exists against boys sounding like girl sopranos,
for it is deemed unmanly for a boy of 11 or 12 not to try to be a
bass or, at least, to pretend to mimic the part. Trainers of Bar-
Mitzvah children, especially, have to counter this cultural attitude
for it is absolutely pernicious in its effects. 3 One of those effects
is a raucous-sounding congregant who shouts congregaticmal refrains
and who demands frivolous trifles as a steady musical diet. (See

2 William J. Finn. Child Voice Training. Chicago: H. '1'. Fitzsimmons Co.
(44 pp.) (Father Finn was the famous director of the Paulist Choirs.)

Francis E. Howard, The Child Voice in Singing. New York: H. W. Gray
| 138 pp.)

it can be done. See texts in

illustrations in next section.) In brief, my contention is: that chil-
dren who are taught to sing naturally and properly, i.e., uniformly
as sopranos, are the key to subsequent raising of aesthetic standards.
Incidentally, this is an hypothesis that can he verified empirically;
in fact, it could he a good doctoral thesis. I have called this the
long-range part of the proposal only because its effects are probably
the most enduring in grappling with practices such as those indi-
cated in the section of the paper to follow.

As indicated, the second division of the proposal to upgrade
the level of taste has to do with repertoire — not all of it, just some
of it-and not necessarily to expand it, but to shrink it. Cantors,
particularly, as well as the other functionaries mentioned earlier,
have to be willing to declare a moratorium on carnival-type tunes
and here, they need the help of the professional association. I am
using the rubric — carnival-type tunes — as a convenience, to express
the idea of the purpose of such music, i.e., music which does not
interfere with more-important activity. In this, the carnival-type
tune shares a purpose similar to the "while-U-wait" music one often
hears on telephones, when someone puts us on "hold," or with
the non-descript and non-intruding music frequently heard at the
cocktail hour at a "high class" bar. Now, I submit that a thorough-
going musicological analysis of music for circus-juggling, high-wire
acrobatics, a merry-go-round, or a carnival is not needed here simply
because we already have a fairly good impression of what such
activities dictate in the way of musical background — background,
not foreground: nothing requiring too much auditor attention, con-
Tlluthratx*, 4 1:

. U/ith moveiweot

^m

tinuous and superficial sound. +, a bouncy or jumping rhythm along
with playful — not reposeful — predictable, moves and turns. Here
is an elementary piano piece for a child entitled, "The Acrobat."

Consider, now, some examples of tune-trifles enjoying wide-
spread popularity in the American synagogue. If not universal, there
are a sufficient number of synagogues in which they may he heard
as to constitute aesthetic blight:

This illustration is offered by way of contrast to a carnival-type
tune. Despite the title, the music-as subject matter-seeks to
convey a tonal image of what an acrobat is and does. This is
accomplished through the technique which the piece demands and
through the content which is expressed. The piece is very effective
in its didactic/cognitive message even as it happens to he musically
satisfying, because form and content are appropriate to each other.
TlWtrafci'on *2 I »kvu llionoy

iacAa-vu \l-An — -noy L' ha</-rai <0 — desk

Illustration =2 is probably the best example of a c
tune, but illustrations 3 and 4 leave little to he des
regard. One may note how alike in effect =2, 3, and
dentally, whether one corrects any of these for acce
changes the pronunciation, has little effect on basic
this only because there is a tradition that it is th
actually alter the character of a tune.

Illustration 1*3 : Shehu Heieh Sbomayim

I say

u&- icbi-nis m- » £>' ft**-*'? i*^- tr>~^— ^ -"

In illustration #4, whether author Goldfarb was inspired by
"Farmer in the Dell" or not, the piece is far from inspiring:

Xt\*siriti'on #4-: te/*»» Wafcu

llustration #5 differs in substance
and style from any of the foregoing:

l\ e fl,ej tbm l£c air ivirf -n* treated e>£ est,*, i&

&ar-\nt. yeutj Mn tn Ibi. >ly-"!j irj- f>rz*. f/ii move- mmk £t*

'h* Xts pla*l*Ji»y lev* h*h& sL-l** J-wy

In illustration #5, the rhythm creates a bouncier effect, but
substantially, the aerialist could perform his routine just as well to
the tune of any of the illustrations above. Even the words are easily
adaptable to #2 or 3.

Of course, there will he some who will object that the foregoing
illustrations are not carnival-type tunes — no matter how playful,
frolicking and restless they may be — and besides, it does not really
matter. Later, I shall trye to indicate how indiscriminateness does
matter, but for the moment, the aptness of the categorization has
to he dealt with. It is not just poor performance that calls forth
the designation, carnival-type; it is the internal structure which
produces the interminahleness we associate with a hurdy-gurdy or
organ-grinder. Even given more refined setting and polished execu-
tion, the endless merry-go-round character is inescapable. It is,
therefore, argued that such trifles are inappropriate for a prayer ser-
vice since their purpose — participation through uninterrupted fun,
frolic, and superficiality — is at extreme variance with that of the
liturgy which seeks to convey instruction, inspiration, pensiveness,

and repose. 4 In illustrations 2, 3, 4 — unlike illustration 1 — form
and content are not appropriate to each other.

What is being suggested is that contraction of the repertoire —
if necessary — is preferable to maintaining such trifles in vogue
and currency. If replacements must be found, these can come from
frank borrowings and adaptations from more solid material already
in the literature. (Without going into too much detail on this point,
some examples of languishing tunes that can be reworked are L' David
Barukh and An'im Zemirot.) More importantly, however, these
melodies for Havu Ladonai. She-Hu Noteh Shamayim, and Bayom
Hahu deserve long-needed retirement. 5 Here, the Cantor's Assembly
might esert professional influence on its members to combat the
inclusion of such carnival-type music. There will surely be enough
carnival-like execution of other existing material, anyvay, that is
inevitable, but t h e fountain from which t h e stream and spray
spout and re-circulate can be turned off.

surely, there are diplomatic/political considerations involved
in such action. A cantor has to tread lightly on long-standing con-
gregational tratlitions. (Indeed, it is difficult to establish a tradition
and even more difficult to abolish one!) Yet, the cantor who is a
leader — not just a follower — will know how to persuade a congre-
gation and to educate it to the idea that "not just anything goes."
If a beginning were to be made with these particular carnival-type
tunes, other kinds of impropriety would not receive so much nourish-
ment. Adopting as a credo, "one tune is as good as another" -so
long as there is participation — can breed only indiscriminateness.
unawareness, and even promiscuity. (Indeed, we have reaped a rich
harvest from this not ion; this is what is meant by aesthetic blight.)
Here is just one instance of this different kind of impropriety —
the result of opulent tolerance and sustenance:

nrsonn and troubadour airs. I believe
iterl in disclaimer =3: "Whv work on
lowever. other responses can lie made:
las obscured pristine origins of some
:ed purification of many of their struc-
Seeond. one need not — with fore-
erial hoping that time will do the
ideserved oblivion ■'crying" to be used.

Tllnfrahion *b: B'rosh Ha4*i>oh

The profound and magnificent B'rosh Hashanah settings of
Sulzer and Naumbourg are consigned to relative obscurity not be-
cause they are primarily choral works but because a childish tune-
fragment is firmly entrenched. Now, illustration #6 is not a carnival -
type tune, but it is an insipid one which has deleterious effects, in
that it arrests and stultifies aesthetic development, in more than
one way. First, is its rudimentary and threadbare structure and qual-
ity; but more importantly, it mis-educates and misdirects, for B'rosh
Hashanah is no more a congregational refrain than is Kol Nidrey
or Birkhat Hahodesh. Such as these are equivalent to musical ser-
mons and demand majestic, declamatory treatment or, at least, a
style other than a fragmentary, childish response or refrain. In
other words, what should be a cantorial or cantorial/ choral rendering
is confounded with something calling for congregational participation.
(This in no way diminishes the idea of congregational participation;
it merely re-assigns it to its appropriate sphere, namely, responses,
refrains, and hymns, not recitations.) However, the over-arching
aesthetic argument is: why should intelligent and enlightened con-
gregants take the synagogue seriously if, aesthetically, they are
subjected to a kinder spie!?6

To sum up -in order to raise the level of taste in music in
the synagogue, a twin-approach is needed: a beginning has to be
made in exposing children to hear beautiful sounds coming from
within them and surrounding them. Unless this is done, recom-
mendations regarding repertoire will founder and we will continue

6 There are other examples of mis-education and of languishing resources.
Various versions of the Kaddish- notably, the hauntingly serene tune of
Minhah, Yom Kippur. and the stately Kaddish before maftir on Rosh Ha-
shanah — are in eclipse and oblivion because two versions, appropriate in their
own right-that of Friday night and the Sabbath M usaf-concluding one —
are permitted to sweep the field in ubiquity. While not exactly a matter of
impropriety, there is unwarranted interchangeability. But the problem, here,
probably has less to do with an existing congregational diet of trifles and
more to do with childish naivete or professional indifference or ignorance.

to encounter aesthetic poverty and malnutrition. Second, the stand-
ard repertoire has less to be augmented as to be purified of its
baser elements, in this case, some particular carnival-type tunes.

Objections are anticipated: 1) there are other values to be
served in having children just sing and sing, e.g., fun and identifica-
tion with others. 2) "Any tune is all right," so long as there is
heartfelt participation.

First, neither objection can be justified or maintained on
aesthetic grounds which demand selectivity and the criterion of
propriety. Second, the practicality of this proposal lies in its being
within reach; but indifference, of course, can relegate it to a mes-
sianic age. Surely, there are enough other problems with taste
and discrimination, in general, as indicated in connection with
B'Rosh Hashanah and the eclipsed versions of the Kaddish. Cantors,
primarily, have the professional obligation to rid the synagogue
of the carnival quality and style in music, even as they join with
others in making sure that a carnival atmosphere does not obtain
elsewhere in the institution.

EPILOGUE

This proposal does not pretend to address all problems or even
many ones, just some very persistent ones which serve to maintain
the synagogue in a state of aesthetic depression. Congregants who
go to a concert hall would not put up with what they frequently
experience, musically, in a synagogue. Why they seemingly do so
may be explained by a long-standing belief that that is the way
things are, and a faith that other considerations-presumably re-
ligious ones — take precedence over aesthetic considerations.

HIGH HOLY DAY HYMN MELODIES IN THE SPANISH
AND PORTUGUESE SYNAGOGUES OF LONDON

Maxine RIBSTEIN Kanter

The many ex-Marrano communities which were established in
Western Europe and the Americas after 1600 owe most of their
customs and traditions to the parent community at Amsterdam.
Records show that the early prayer books were shared by all, re-
ligious leaders and teachers were exchanged, and there was con-
tinuous contact between the Dutch community and its most far-flung
branch. As each new congregation was formed, the older "siblings"
would contribute monies and religious articles necessary to the
ritual and aesthetic needs of the community.' In time, subjected to
various other influences, each congregation developed some tra-
ditions of its own; these occasionally affected even the sacred High
Holy Days, as Joseph Jesurun Pinto already observed in his pre-
centor's manual of 1758.2

However, it was only in 1857, when a collection of Portuguese
liturgical tunes was first published by de Sola and Aguilar,3 that a
document concerned with any substantial amount of musical mate-
rial became available and could then be circulated amongst the
affiliated congregations in an effort to fix and preserve the reper-
toire.4

THE EARLY SEPHARDIC COMMUNITY OF LONDON

The last great community formed by the Marrano refugees
in Western Europe was that of London. After the expulsion from
Spain in 1492, a few of the fugitives came immediately to London
where some had probably established business contacts previously.
(These contacts may themselves have been secret-Jews or Marranos
as freedom for the unbaptized Jew in England ended on October
10, 1290, when Edward I ordered all Jews to be expelled.) Even
the tiny number of Marranos on English soil were in a precarious
position, for, in 1498, as part of the negotiations for a marriage
between his son Arthur and Catherine of Aragon, Henry VII prom-

This article, a second on the subject by Maxine Kanter is an excerpt from
her doctoral dissertation "Traditional Melodies of the Rhymed Metrical
Hymns in the Sephardic High Holy Day Liturgy: A Comparative Study."
Ms. kanter wasgranted her degree of Doctor of Philosophy hy Northwestern
University in August 1978. She is now an Adjunct Instructor of Jewish Cul-
ture at Spertus College in Chicago.

ised the Spanish envoys of their Catholic Majesties that "he would
prosecute without mercy any Jew or heretic whom they might
point out in his dominions. "5

Nevertheless, throughout the 17th century Marranos again
found their way to the British Isles as merchants and businessmen.
A new settlement in London began about 1630 with the arrival of
Antonio Fernandez Carvajal, who soon became known as one of
the most prominent merchants in the city and the founder of
English Jewryy.6 Other noteworthy English Jewish names begin
to date from this time, including the Henriques (later called Hen-
dricks, and active in the New York branch of Sephardim), Arias,
Nunez, Marques, Robles, Alvares, Mendez, Blandon (Brandon),
Gomez, Rodriguez, etc.

By 1656 the existence of a Jewish community in London was
acknowledged once again and the readmission of the Jews to
England became a much-debated political question. At this time,
when England was under the jurisdiction of the Protectorate, there
were two separate movements operating with pro-Jewish sympathies.
The first was a religious element. Puritanism was characterized by
a return to the Bible- especially the Old Testament. Jewish
doctrines and the Hebrew language were seriously considered for
adop tion,7 and English proselytes are known to have entered the
Jewish community in Amsterdam.

The second point of view operating in the Jews' favor was a
more practical one, based on the candid recognition of the material
advantages which the Jews could gain for England, advantages
they had secured in the past for Holland and other countries. Oliver
Cromwell, the Head of State, was himself a religious man steeped
in the teachings of the Old Testament. At the same time, he had
visions of a resurgence of business activity on an international scale,
with London as the principal center of European commerce. He
realized that the Jews could play a vital part in accomplishing this
plan, and that if their talents and capital were not used for the
benefit of the English they were likely to be snapped up by the
Dutch.

In 1651 Menasseh Ben Israel, the renowned Dutch rabbi, sent
the English Council of State a formal petition for the granting of
readmittance of the Jews.* The committee, on which Oliver Crom-
well served, considered the matter and replied with an invitation
for Menasseh to come to England for discussion. Unfortunately, a
war between the two countries intervened, delaying negotiations,

14

but the old rabbi was persistent, and traveled to London in 1655,
where he argued eloquently in support of his petition. Although
the lawyers for the English government came to the conclusion —
and wrote it as opinion — that there was no statute which excluded
the Jews from the country, Cromwell had grown cool to the idea
and broke up the conference before it had made any final COnClU-
Mtins

Cromwell then proceeded to perform what has been described
as a peculiarly English solving of a perplexing problem. There was
no formal declaration about it, no authorization, no statute, and,
consequently, nothing to cause controversy. Roth writes:

The Resettlement had not been authorized — it had been
'connived' at. It was a typical English compromise- incon-
sistent, illogical, but unexpectedly, satisfactory as a working
arrangement. 9

Establishment of the Congregation

The war with Spain resulted in enlarging the number of Mar-
rano immigrants. By 1656 there were enough new Marrano arrivals
to necessitate the renting of a house to be used as a synagogue.
This was at No. 5 Creechurch Lane, almost a "stone's throw" from
the present synagogue in Bevis Marks. Prior to this, religious
services were held at Carvajal's home, for as a fervent Jew, he had
a private synagogue in his house. He had also arranged in 1656
for his kinsman Moses Israel Athias to come to England from Ham-
burg (where he had been an Assistant Hazzan and teacher in the
Talmud Torah) to work in his business and to officiate in the
synagogue which was opened in 1657.

When the English Protectorate was abolished in 1660 and the
monarchy was reestablished under Charles II, the Jews were vir-
tually unaffected by the many changes that were caused by the
repeal of legislation enacted during the Commonwealth. Happily,
Charles had been befriended by some of the Jews of Amsterdam
during his exile, and his gratitude toward them helped him decide
in favor of the Jews in his own country. In 1664 he issued a formal
charter of protection for the Jews who at last could establish a
legal and proper community. Thus K. K. Sahur Asamaim became
a vital link in the chain connecting the congregations of the Marrano
Diaspora.

From a community of thirty-five to forty families in 1660, the
London Jewish community grew to over 700 by 1695 when a census
was taken in London. 10 Part of this tremendous increase in Jewish

15

immigration was due to the arrival of William and Mary in Endand
in 1688. Many of the newcomers came from the Netherlands and
included Ashkenazim, sometimes called Tudescos, as well as Sephar-
dim.

Description of the Synagogue at Bevis Marks. An enlargement
of the synagogue as part of a drastic remodeling in 1674 was in-
adequate for the expanding Sephardic community, and so plans
were made for the construction of a new synagogue building. Inas-
much as all the members of the community lived within a mile
of Creechurch Lane, it was necessary to locate a site which was
near the existing building. In February, 1699, a contract was signed
with a builder named Joseph Avis for the erection of a synagogue
at Bevis Marks, and the construction began in the summer of 1700
on the first synagogue to have been especially created for that
purpose in London since the Jews had been expelled from England
in 1290.11 The building was consecrated at an opening ceremony
shortly before Rosh Ha-Shanah on Sabbath eve, the 27th of Elul,
5461 (1701), but there is no record of any extraordinary musical
or other activity attending this event as was the custom in the
Amsterdam synagogues on such occasions. 12 The building is still
standing and in occasional use, although a branch was built in
1896 on Lauderdale Road in the Maida Vale section of London to
accommodate the congregants who had moved away from central
London. 13 Roth has written a brief sketch of the "Cathedral Syna-
gogue of the Jews in England" describing Bevis Marks as a repro-
duction on a smaller scale of the great Sephardi esnoga of Amster-
dam of 1675, modified by some more characteristically English
features. 14

The appearance of the synagogue has changed little since its
earliest days, except that the system of lighting- designed to be
provided by numerous candles placed in the magnificent chande-
liers, as in the Amsterdam esnoga — has been supplemented by
electricity. This amounts to little-noticed electrical lights which
have been installed around the sides of the building and arranged
to resemble candles. 15 Some of the wooden benches on which the
worshipers sit were brought from the synagogue on Creechurch
Lane, and the Hekhal is of fine polished wood "much in the style
of altar decoration in the neighouring Wren Churches in the City
of London. "16 The three bays which divide the Sanctuary are
separated by fluted Corinthian pilasters; on the back, or east, wall
are the Ten Commandments, painted on canvas in golden Hebrew
letters. The other interior walls are still covered with the original

16

eighteenth-century style decorated paper. The building has been
included by the Royal Commission on Ancient Monuments as one
of the National Monuments of Britain, and as a building of outstand-
ing value.

Expansion of the Sephardic Community in England

By the end of the seventeenth century the numbers of Mar-
ranos and ex-Marranos migrating from Portugal began to dwindle,
and in 1860 the last of the refugees from Portugal landed in England
in a destitute condition. Meanwhile, other new settlers were arriv-
ing; in addition to the Dutch there were many illustrious Italian
Sephardi families (including the Disraeli), some of whom originally
came from Spain and Portugal. In the course of the eighteenth
century the flow of immigrants directly from North Africa, or
indirectly from Gibraltar, was stepped up. This was due in part
to the fact that Gibraltar became a British possession in 1704, and
in 1786 when it was besieged by the Spanish, large numbers of
refugees fled Gibraltar seeking haven in London.

At first the newcomers were not entirely welcomed, for although
they breathed new life into the congregation, at the same time it
was perceived that they diluted its original ethnic make-up, perma-
nently changing its character. Many of them were looked down
upon as inferiors, not only materially but culturally as well, and
were known generally as Berber's SCOS.

This attitude was renewed again with the arrival of Sephardim
from the Levant and North Africa in subsequent centuries, although
without the newcomers the synagogue would close its gates. Despite
its great heritage the Marrano element has fnr some time been
insignificant in the general Jewish population of London. The
disappearance of the familiar Spanish and Pnrtuguese names which
had figured in the history of the community caused great conster-
nation to the Elders of the Congregation. Since the declining social
status of the Sephardi community was also mirrored in its dimin-
ishing finances, improvements in synagogue management and general
affairs were essential to meet the needs of the membership. A com-
mittee was appointed by the Mahamad in 1803-04 to consider Hebrew
and overall religious education, the substitution of English for
Portuguese as the language of the Synagogue, and the appointment
of a new Haham. Addressing themselves immediately to the com-
mittee's recommendations regarding this last-mentioned matter, they
invited applications for a spiritual leader from principal Sephardic
communities in Europe.

17

The Mahamad responded quickly to those who offered their
services, selecting and engaging Raphael Meldola (1754-1828) of
Leghorn as Haham in 1804. Melclola came from a long line of rabbis
and scholars, many of whom had also been physicians. 17 His father,
Moses Meldola, had taught Oriental languages at the University
of Paris, and the new Haham had been a dayyan in Leghorn before
coming to England.

Among his many contributions to the betterment of the com-
munity there is evidence of his interest in music. As an Italian,
Meldola had been fond of music and was the first person to intro-
duce a choir into the London Synagogue. This choir, consisting
of orphans belonging the Synagogue Orphanage, sang his ode Kol
Rinah when the synagogue building was rededicated in 1824.

Following a long hiatus after the sudden tragic death of Haham
Artom in 1879, during which the congregation was without spiritual
leadership and direction, Moses Gaster (1857-1939) was unani-
mously elected to fill the post of Haham. Despite the considerable
efforts that were made to secure an eligible aspirant from the
Sephardi ranks, none had been found, and so Gaster became the
first (and to date the only) Ashkenazi to be chosen in England
for that lofty office. He was a strong personality and a respected
scholar, with a command of half a dozen languages, and he is
credited with advancing the Spanish and Portuguese community
both internally and externally within the larger sphere of English
society. The five volumes of the Book of Prayer which were edited
and revised by Haham Gaster from 1901 to 1907 were an important
milestone in the perfection and dissemination of Sephardic liturgical
material.

When Gaster retired at the end of 1918 the Congregation did
not immediately appoint a successor. The congregation again existed
without a Haham until 1949, when Rabbi Solomon Gaon, who had
been the Senior Hazzan, was appointed. The Haham (whose title
is now Rabbi Dr. Gaon, Chief Rabbi of the Sephardic Congregations
of Great Britain and the Commonwealth) and the Hazzan, Rev.
Eliezer Abinun, received their training at Jews' College and have
been long associated with the Bevis Marks community, where they
are both still active in their respective positions. The junior rabbi,
Abraham Levy joined the Lauderdale Road clergy as a Student
Minister in 1956.

In the early years of the twentieth century there were two
large waves of immigration which further altered the ethnic profile

of the London community. The first was due to the destruction
of the Sephardi community at Salonica after the ruinous Balkan
Wars ending in 1913. The second is attributed to an influx of
Jews from Persia and Bokhara. The latter are, strictly speaking,
not Sephardim at all, but are similar to them in ritual procedures
and are, therefore, more eager to worship with the Spanish and
Portuguese Jews than with the Ashkenazic.

Since 1975 three more Sephardic synagogues have been con-
secrated in the London area. Two of these are in the London suburb
of Wembley and the other is in the central city. One of the Wembley
congregations is a branch of Bevis Marks-Lauderdale Road, and the
other is a Moroccan congregation said to consist almost entirely of
rabbis.

MUSIC IN THE SYNAGOGUE
In response to a growing inclination within the community,
the choir became a permanent institution at Bevis Marks in 1839.
The decision was motivated in great part by a desire for the im-
provement of the order and decorum during synagogue services.'*
This was to be achieved by shortening the services and improving
the quality of the singing by having the boys of the communal
schools — who were trained specifically for this purpose — chant
those parts of the service that were usually chanted by the entire
congregation and also make the responses to the hazzan's portions. 19
The choirs were not initially the success they were intended
to be, and there were occasional problems encountered as a result
of this innovation. In the Minutes of the Congregation there are
frequent records of complaints about them, 20 and in 1840 the
Mahamacl was forced to admit that:

The members of the Congregation must be aware that
the establishment of a Choir done, will not affect all that is
required to secure order and decorum in Synagogue: much
more is necessary to be done, or rather to be avoided: , . 21
At this time the choirs were not under the supervision of pro-
fessional choirmasters, and David de Sola charged that "our choirs
are selected from musically untaught persons. "22 Not until 1871
was there a permanent choirmaster, when the choir was drastically
reorganized and Henri de Solla, a trained musician, was appointed. 23
Not long afterward he resigned, objecting to the difficulties created
by conditions imposed upon him by the Mahamad, and the choirs
lapsed into their former unsatisfactory state. An improved arrange-
ment was later devised and agreed upon, and de Solla was reap-

19

pointed choirmaster again in 1877, serving until 1879 when it was
dedicated that the choirs of Bevis Marks and the Great Synagogue
(Ashkenazic) would have to be reorganized. (De Solla was later
appointed choirmaster at the latter synagogue.)

He was succeeded in 1880 by Elias Robert Jessurun, who com-
pleted the required reorganization of the choir at Bevis Marks,
although it. clitl not meet with the approval of those members of
the congregation who were musical, or considered themselves to
be so. One of Jessurun's tasks was the preparation of the musical
sections of the prayer books Haham Moses Gaster was revising
during his tenure. 24 Jessurun died in 1933 after serving as choir-
master at the synagogue for fifty-three years.

Jacob Hadida, who followed Jessurun as choirmaster in 1933,
was also responsible for the new edition of music in the prayer
books revised by Haham Solomon Gaon (1958-1971), completing
his revision and correcting the proofs before his death early in
1967.25 When Hadida retired in 1954, Abraham Lopez Dias was
appointed to replace him in this position, and he was the choir-
master until 1974, when he was succeeded by Maurice Nunes
Martin (ez), who still serves in this capacity.

In a recent interview with this writer Haham Gaon stressed
the place of the choir in the services as "helpers to the congrega-
tional effort," stating that the choir has no historic place in Sephardi
ritual and reiterating his position against the choirs becoming too
polished or musically precise, lest the congregation "sits back and
listens to the choir as if it were a concert."26 The Haham feels
strongly that the Srphardic attitude and tradition has always been
group-oriented, and cautions against a situation in which the choir
would usurp the role of the community by "paying too much atten-
tion to harmony and not enough to melody." For this reason Haham
Gaon has directed that the choir no longer sing in harmony, but
in unison; furthermore, if the community wishes to begin singing
before the choir, they are to do so and the choir is to follow them.

SOURCES CONCERNING THE LITURGICAL MUSIC
OF THE SYNAGOGUE

The Ancient Melodies _ .

When David Aaron de Sola issued a prospectus for his musical
publication in 1857, he wrote that his intention was to fix and
preserve the repertoire of Sephardic sacred melodies which had
been orally transmitted and which he feared would "in a few

years . . be entirely forgotten and lost." 27 He also intended
this work to become a source book for the "new congregations
[which] constantly arise in distant parts of the globe. "28

The success of his project can be measured by the use his
work has seen, not only in the London Congregation (which has
revised de Sola and Aguilar's work twice), but in the New World,
where, especially in the English-speaking communities, The Ancient
Melodies has remained both popular and necessary. Even in Curacao
and Savannah, where the congregations no longer follow the Sephardic
minhag, de Sola and Aguilar's pioneer endeavor is used as a
familiar reference. 29

The melodies were transcribed and harmonized by Emanuel
Abraham Aguilar (1824-1904). 30 but the selection of the repertoire
was undoubtedly made by de Sola, who writes:

No melody has been inserted in this collection which is
not, as far as I have been able to investigate, at least a century
and a half old , . . It only remains to be stated, in addition,
that these melodies have been written, as I heard them in
Amsterdam and in this county. Mr. Aguilar has written them
from hearing me sing them. 31

Reverend de Sola, hazzan of Sahar A sum aim, the Spanish and
Portuguese Jews' Congregation at Bevis Marks in London from
1818 to 1860, was horn in Amsterdam on the 26th day of Kislev,
5557 (December 26, 1796). He was the only son of Aaron and
Sarah Namias Torres de Sola, highly educated and observant Jews
who traced their family origins to pre-Expulsion Spain and, later,
to Holland and England.

Arriving in England in July, 1818, at the invitation of the
London congregation-and with only a slight knowledge of the
English language — the proposed Hazzan Sheni seems to have
adapted himself exceedingly well. He successfully performed the
necessary prohaticnary service to the satisfaction of the congrega-
tion within a short time, and was elected hazzan on the 12th of
August, 1818. Just as in Amsterdam, the standards expected of
the hazzan as reader were extremely strict. Gaster writes:

He [the hazzan] was closely watched lest he should com-
mit mistakes in the reading of the Law, for then he would have
been fined 5s. for each mistake he had committed. In one of
the account books of the congregation we find that one of
the new Hazanim was fined (in the year 1701) 15s. for three

21

mistakes on one occasion, and on another, 5s. If this operation
of fining continued every Sabbath throughout the year the
result would be that the Hazan, instead of receiving a salary
from the congregation, would remain its debtor. 32

De Sola's progress continued and within the year he was
married to Rebecca, eldest daughter of the Haham, Dr. Raphael
Meldola. He also began the serious study of English language and
literature, collecting an extensive library of standard English works. 33
In 1829 he published his first work, "The Blessings," with an English
translation, and in 1831 he preached the first English sermon ever
heard in the Portuguese synagogue, religious discourses having
been infrequent and invariably delivered in the Spanish or Portu-
gueses languages. 34 By 1834 he was urged to make English dis-
courses a permanent institution, the Mahamad resolving that at
least once a month Hazzan de Sola deliver a sermon in English during
the year 5595 (1835). A notice apprising the congregation of this in-
novation was duly published and sent to the members; the twelve
talks were delivered as scheduled, thus helping to prepare the way for
the new English translation of the prayers of the Spanish and Portu-
guese ritual which de Sola was proposing and began to issue the
following year. The spirit of the Reform movement was increasingly
powerful and affective, threatening to engulf traditional Judaism,
and counter-measures were considered necessary.

In 1840 de Sola issued a prospectus for a new edition of the
Sacred Scriptures, with critical and explanatory notes. The first
volume, containing also a brief history of former translations, ap-
peared in 1844 and was considered to be a valuable literary produc-
tion, being republished shortly afterwards in Germany.

During this period de Sola's literary talents were blooming in
another direction as well, for, in association with Charlotte Monte-
fiore and her sister, Lady Rothschild, he produced the "Cheap
Jewish Library," in order to "supply the humble classes of Israelites
with interesting and instructive reading. "35 The first volume con-
sisted of seven moral and religious tales; the second contained
useful information "conveyed in the form of a dialogue on the
Geography of Palestine, History and Antiquities of the Jews, etc. "36
One well-known writer who contributed to the series through de
Sola's encouragement was his friend and pupil, Grace Aguilar (1816-
1847), the sister of Emanual Aguilar and the author of many novels
and other works on Jewish themes. However, it is The Ancient
Melodies . . which is probably de Sola's most valuable and

22

lasting literary contribution, not only for his collaboration in this
first attempt at notating and authenticating the sacred music reper-
toire of this branch of Jewry, but for the English translations of
many of the hymns and the scholarly "Historical Essay" which
prefaces the collection.

De Sola may have become acquainted with his associate Emanuel
Aguilar through the latter' s sister Grace, who was studying Hebrew
with the Hazzan. Born in London in 1824, Aguilar received his
musical education at Frankfort-on-Main, studying harmony and
composition with Professor Schnyder de Wartensee. In 1848 he
married Sarah, the eldest daughter of Elias Lindo of Frankfort, and
the granddaughter of David Abarbanel Lindo, a staunch member
of the rigidly orthodox segment of the London Sephardic com-
munity.

In that same year Aguilar gave a concert with the Gewandhaus
Orchestra of Leipzig, afterwards returning with his wife to London
where the young couple settled. He received a measure of distinc-
tion as a minor composer; his musical compositions include two
operas, three symphonies, three cantatas, chamber and piano music,
and a set of preparatory piano pieces for Bach's "Well-Tempered
Clavier." Although he gave annual piano recitals of classical works
— especially those of Beethoven — he was best regarded as a teacher
of music. According to an obituary in The L ondon Times he was
"a highly successful teacher of the pianoforte on principles more
scientific and artistic than those of the average music master."

Many years before his death in 1904, Emanuel Aguilar and
his wife had left the Jewish community, baptizing their three sons
and one daughter and raising them as Christians. One of the sons,
Harold Felix, as an adult, sought admission to the Jewish com-
munity and was accepted as a member of the London Sephardic
congregation in 1898.37 The following year he married his first
cousin, Flora Valery, daughter of Solomon Lindo, reinforcing his
ties with the Jewish, and, more specifically, the Portuguese Jewish
community.

Considering the facts known about Emanual Aguilar — his pro-
fessional training in Germany, his conversion to Protestant Chris-
tianity, his systematic approach to piano playing-one is not
surprised at the decidedly condescending tone this nineteenth-century
conservatory trained musician assumes in preparing a work drawn
from an oral and "traditional" source. In a prefatory note to The
Ancient Melodies he apologizes for their imperfection, writing:

23

The Liturgy of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews is entirely
musical, every portion being either intoned, chanted, or sung
in verses to the melodies of which this work is composed. The
singular irregularities of rhythm which will be perceived in
many of them, is, I think, attributable, in some instances, to
their dating from a period anterior to the use of bars in music;
in others, from their composers being unacquainted with musical
notation.

Having little knowledge or experience with Oriental music, from
which to a considerable degree traditional Jewish music traces its
source, Aguilar was plainly unaware that it is characteristically un-
rhythmical. 38 It was apparently unthinkable to him that music
could exist without bar lines, as if musical notation was, in fact,
music. He therefore perceived the "irregularities" of rhythm as
errors, or — even worse — as representative of an undeveloped musi-
cality, rather than being typical of an older, more complex and
sophisticated melodic art.

In an evident effort to modernize the musical portion of the
Portuguese ritual, perhaps to bring it up to a par with the style
of music of the developing Reform ritual which was patterning
itself after the Protestant service, Aguilar did not render the melodies
in their original and true monophonic character. Instead, ". . . for
the most part, [they are] harmonized so as to be sung in parts, they
are written in the manner I have thought most convenient for
playing." 39

Of the seventy hymns notated, only one, Shofet Kol Ha'arez
(Illustration No. 3), is given without either a meter signature
or an accompaniment. It is the only highly melismatic piece in the
de Sola and Aguilar collection. We cannot help but wish that more
of the melodies were given in this manner, since, undoubtedly, the
desire for modern harmonies as well as the employment of nineteenth
century performance practices resulted in distortion and misunder-
standing of both the rhythm and the modal quality of the melodies.40
One must look with suspicion at the 19th century musicians and
editors, who, as it has been repeatedly demonstrated, altered sixth
and seventh scale tones and adjusted cadences to correspond to the
more customary major and minor modes. Undoubtedly their "im-
provements" also account for the imposition of strict duple or
triple meters on melodies which were originally in free rhythm.

All of the de Sola-Aguilar melodies have texts, although in some
cases only one stanza or merely the refrain is given, and all are

24

in transliterated Hebrew. Some hymns are given in English trans-
lation for the first time, de Sola himself providing US with some
insight into his standards as a translator.41

The hymns are divided into six categories, according to their
liturgical function, although in practice some of the melodies are
used for more than one text. 42 These are:

lZemirot ue-Bakkashot ("Morning Hymns"), Nos. 1-6.
II Le-Shabbat ("Sabbath Melodies and Hymns"), Nos. 7-

25.
HI Le-Yamim Nora'im ("For Feast of New Year and Day

of Atonement"), Nos. 26-36.
IV Le-Shal0Sh Regalim ("Festival Hymns"), Nos. 37-49.
V Kinot le-Tisha be-Ab ("Elegies for the Ninth Day of
Ab"), Nos. 50-62.
VI Shi rim Lekhol E t ("Occasional Hymns"), Nos. 63-70.

The melodies have been arranged for performance in the fol-
lowing manner : one is for solo voice (unaccompanied), nineteen
are for solo voice with accompaniment, three are for solo with chorus,
nineteen are for solo with keyboard accompaniment, one is a duet,
six are for three voices, forty are for four voices, and two are for
five voices.43

About half of the melodies are set to piyyut texts; the others
are for Psalms or portions of prayers or Scriptures. Among the
piyyut genre are a few zemirot that are not part of the regular
service but may be sung at private devotions or on domestic occa-
sions.

Of the twelve tunes de Sola and Aguilar have included for
the High Holy Days (which are evenly divided, six for Rosh
Ha-Shanah and six for Yom Kippur), ten are for piyyutim. These
include Ahot Ketannah, Shofet Koi Ha'arez, Yah Shimkha, E t Sha-
arei Razon, Adonai Bekol Shofar, Shema Koli, Anna Be-Korenu,
Yah Shema Ebyonekha, El Nora Alilah, and Elohim Eli Attah.
The Kedushah for Rosh Ha-Shanah and the refrain Adonai Melekh
do not belong to the piyyut species and have no significant repetition
of melody.

Among the piyyut settings seven belong to one of the forms
utilizing a repetitive structure; Adonai Bekol Shofar, Shema Koli, and
Elohim Eli Attah have no melodic repetition or refrain, and, of
these, only the first one has a refrain text. This lack of repetition
or musical refrain in the Adonai Bekol Shofar melody is all the
more puzzling when we recall that it is this melody which is employed

25

so often in the High Holy Day services for the hymns with poetic
refrains. Perhaps this melody, associated with the poem of an
unknown poet, and therefore not possible to date, is much older
than melodies for the other pizmonim. Concerning the age of refrain
types Gustave Reese writes:

We should like to suggest that responsorial chanting and
the use of the antiphon as a refrain may have prompted such
forms characterized by the refrain, as the rondeau, uirelai, and
ballade. OF that, alternatively, some ancient folk-practice, which
made use of the refrain and of which the rondeau, uirelai, and
ballade are comparatively modern examples, may have inspired
liturgical practice, whether among the Syrians, the Byzantines,
or the Western Christians.**

We have only to add, "or the Western Sephardim," keeping
in mind that as the important Jewish cultural centers began to
move northwards to Christian Spain and Provence during the middle
of the twelfth century, it is likely that this "new music" heard by
the Jews affected their own musical culture. Similarly, the music
of the Minnesmgers and the local German chants of the church
influenced the synagogue song of the German Jews.

Notwithstanding the lack of proof of the singing of contrafacts
which must have taken place since very early times, the custom of
using existing tunes goes back at least to the writings of the
Hebrew Psalms. Further, it is known that the medieval hazzanim/
paytanim were not unlike the wandering bards, and that in their
travels it was highly probable that they heard bits and pieces-if
not the whole-of tunes from the Church, the Royal Courts, and
he popular or folk-sphere. No doubt the Jews, in turn, exchanged
unes with non-Jews as well as their co-religionists, creating new
tyles and traditions as they went along. This explains the "wander-
ng," "itinerant" or "folk" motives that have been identified, as
well as the substitution or transplantation of melodies from one text
another.

Among the twelve melodic settings in The Ancient Melodies,

? our are similar to the major or C mode (Ionian), four are similar
the D modes (Dorian or Hypndorian), three are similar to the
E modes (Phrygian or Hypophrygian), and one is in the harmonic
minor.45 These modes (maqtimat in Arabic, ragas in Hindu) are
considered in their original Oriental sense (i.e., short motivic figures
or groups of tones within a certain scale), repeated or varied by
the composer in order to fit the text or function of the piece. £ f

Sha'arei Razon affords us an excellent example of such construc-
tion; it consists of several short motives which are repeated, alter-
nated, fragmented, or ornamented to fit the text. (See Illustration

No. 5.)

Of the twenty or so melodies in de Sola and Aguilar which
are wholly or partly in modal form, roughly half are in the mode
Idelsohn describes46 as the "Prophetic mode." The other half cor-
respond to Phrygian, Hypophrygian, or Mixolydian melodic figures
generally. The tonality of Oriental music is based on a quarter-
tone system, the octave having twenty-four steps. Probably the
acculturated ear of the Marrano emigres had already lost the ability
to discern such subtleties by the time they arrived in Holland; the
scale patterns in de Sola's collection have all been Westernized.

In attempting to date the creation of the melodies de Sola
suggests three chronological divisions. To the first belong "Those
most ancient whose origin is supposed to be prior to the settlement
of the Jews in Spain. Nos. 12, and 44 are , . , of this class; as are
also very probably many chants used on the Festival of the New
Year and Day of Atonement."47 Unfortunately, he does not specify
which of these chants he would include in this class, and, in fact,
has placed all of the High Holy Day tunes except one in the second
category, which he claims contains:

Melodies composed in Spain, and subsequently introduced
by the Israelites into the various countries in which they took
refuge from the persecution in the Iberian Peninsula. In this
class, which forms the larger portion of our collection, we
include the Nos. 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13 to 39, 45, 47 to 52,
56, 57, 58, 62, 68 and 69. The other numbers not mentioned,
we are inclined to consider as of a later date. 48

Idelsohn, however, suggests a Spanish hallmark for a much
smaller number of the tunes — twenty-three, compared with de
Sola's forty-seven49 — and though he does not explain further or
offer either criteria or proof for his assessment, he does speak appre-
ciatively of de Sola's literary Preface to The Ancient Melodies.

In comparing the de Sola and Idelsohn lists of melodies which
are "from the Spanish period," I find that although they concur
on only nineteen items, nine of them are from the High Holy Day
category. 50 That these experts should be in agreement on nine out
of twelve examples given in this one classification is not surprising
and, in fact, serves to reinforce the theory that, because of the

sanctity associated with the High Holy Days, there is a greater
tendency at that time to preserve old tunes.

The Book of Prayer and Order of Service

Beginning with the second volume of de Sola's revised prayer
book, The Order of Service for the New Year, edited by Haham
Moses Gaster in 5663 (1903), the melodies were placed at the back
of the book, notated in the treble clef in vocal style and with solmi-
zation as well as the transliterated Hebrew beneath the musical
notation; notations were also added for Kaddish, Yedei Rashim,
Ein Kc-Elohenu, and Adon Olam-all sung to the same melody
as Yah Shimkha. Yigdai is also given, set to the melody for Et
Sha arei Razon;51 Eiohai Ai Tedineni and Adonai Yom Lekha appear,
sharing the tune for Shemar Koli, which is here given with the
hazzan's introductory part, omitted in the de Sola-Aguilar original.
Lema ankha Eiohai and Ya aneh Bebor Abot are also notated,
placed together with Adonai Bekol Shofar, a practice already speci-
fied in the textual headings to these poems.

In Volume III, The Order of Service for the Day of Atonement,
5664 (1904), Adonai Negdekha is given together with Shema Koli.
The only supplemental piyyut melody in Jessurun's collection is that
for Shebet Yehudah, a brief, jaunty, folk-like tune with a five-note
range (la to mi), many repeated notes, conjunct melodic motion,
and syncopated "feminine" cadences concluding its two phrases.

Adonai Melekh is given in its entirety, with the poem Be-Terem
Shehakim interspersed. Eiohim Eli Attah, which was not actually
set, but only referred to in de Sola and Aguilar's The Ancient Mel-
odies here has full musical and textual notation, the melody some-
what different from that of Rahem Na Alav, in the earlier book.
Shamem Har Ziyyon and Yisrael Abadekha are given in the melody
of Adonai Bekol Shofar, as the rubrics prefacing the first poem in
the London prayer books have directed (unlike the Amsterdam
tradition, which utilizes the Yedei Rashim tune). In Jessurun's
interpretation of this important tune the alteration of 4/4 and 3/4
meters has been forced into a consistent quadruple meter.

A small but illuminating detail may be observed in Yah Shema
Ebyonekha; whereas in the first notation of the melody the first
phrase is repeated literally, the later example changes the interval
at the beginning of the second phrase (third measure) to that of
a half-step instead of a fourth (do-ti-do, instead of do-sol-do). This
kind of an alteration in melody is almost always the result of the

introduction of harmony, and indicates how, in a relatively short
period of time, innovations in performance practices can erode the
original contour of a melody.
Recordings of the Liturgical Melodies of the London Synagogue

In early 1950 the combined choirs of the Lauderdale Road
Synagogue and Bevis Marks recorded a volume of Traditional
Tunes of the Spanish and Portuguese J ews' Congregation, London,
under the direction of Jacob Hadida, with Abraham Beniso, Assist-
ant Hazzan, as soloist.52 The High Holy Day selections consist of
Atanu (the introduction to the Amidah on the Day of Atonement) ;
Adon 01 am (which concludes Shaharit on both holidays), sung to
the Yedei Rashim melody; El NoraAlilah (introducing the con-
cluding service on the Day of Atonement); and Yigdal Elohim Hai
(which concludes the evening services on Rosh Ha-Shanah and
Yom Kippur), sung to the melody of ft Sha are Razon.

These are all sung in four-part harmony with the young boys
singing the soprano parts. The choir sings all the pieces mentioned
above with the hazzan heard only in the Ne ilah hymn, where he
repeats the stanza in a highly embellished fashion with the choir
humming in the background. (See my transcription of Beniso' s solo,
Illustration No. 6.)

Regarding his style of hazzanut, Beniso writes:

My "ornaments" are mainly [from] the Spanish flamenco
influence. In fact, 30 years ago when I went to London as
Hazzan I found the melodies being sung quite "staccatto" [sic]
which ran counter to my Latin (or real Sephardi) temperament.
I well remember the late Mr. Jacob Hadida, the learned choir-
master at Lauderdale Road Synagogue saying to me, ... 'I
like your twiddly bits although they are not in the music. Keep
them there.' 53

Mr. Beniso tells me also that it is his practice to go to London
about every other year for the High Holy Days and to officiate at
one of the Spanish and Portuguese synagogues there, thus enabling
Haham Gaon and Hazzan Abinun to visit the other congregations
and conduct some of the services in the various Sephardic communi-
ties during this solemn season. On these occasions Beniso chants
"only the London melodies," and he quickly adds, "and heaven help
me if I do otherwise!"

The combined congregation sponsored a three-volume Music of
the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue in 1959, which was recorded

at Bevis Marks by the Lauderdale Road Synagogue Choir and
Hazzan Abinun under the musical direction of choirmaster Abraham
Lopez Dias. The excerpts from the High Holy Days include Ahot
Ketannah, Shofet Kol Ha'arcz. Et Sha area Razon, Adonai Bekol
Shofar, Shema Koli, Br-Terem Shehakim (with the refrain Adonai
Melekh), Anna Be-Korenu, Elohim Eli Attah, Shin'annim, Yah
Shema Ebyonekha, and El Nora Alilah. All the pieces recorded are
sung in unison and follow the notations in the back of the latest
edition of the prayer book, as edited by Hactida54
Performance of the Traditional High Holy Day Melodies Today

In the evening services for Rosh Ha-Shanah the hazzan does
not repeat the last stanza of Ahot Ketannah to the melody of Shofet,
as is the custom in Amsterdam .55 Kaddish on both evenings is sung
to the Ahot Ketannah melody. The Kaddish in the morning service
(before Yozer) on Rosh Ha-Shanah and Yom Kippur is also sung
to this melody and not to the tune of Yedei Rashim.

The hazzan sings the refrain of Shofet (in Shaharit) alone only
at the end of the last stanza; this manner of performance is repeated
in Lema ankha and Adonai Bekol Shofar. There are no repetitions
by the hazzan in (Et Sha are/ Razon until the last stanza, which he
repeats slowly, after the choir has repeated the last line twice.

For the eve of Kippur the hazzan begins the first line of Shema
Koli, the choir joining in and continuing until the end, omitting
the repetition of the last four lines (beginning Anah Ani) by the
hazzan, as is done in Amsterdam. In Shaharit, after singing U bkhen
Nakdishakh twice, the community begins the first (refrain) line of
A fudei Shesh, but after this line they only recite the rest of this
poem — and the Elohim El Mi and Adonai Zeba'ot which follow.

The Introductions to the Kedushah in Musaf are sung as in
Amsterdam, with U bkhen Nakdishakh sung twice responsively and
the congregation singing Bimromei Erez to the tune of A donui Bekol
Shofar, fitting in the words as best they can and coming together
emphatically on the last line, Kadosh, kadosh, kadosh, Adonui Zeba'ot.
After U bkhen ve-Lakh, Erez Hitmotetah is recited only. Aromimkha
and the remainder of the Abodah are recited, not sung, with the
congregation giving responses, as they do also in the Amsterdam
and New York congregations. The three Ashrei Ay in poems are read
only, although there are some (principally from the Oriental groups)
who are making an effort to reintroduce melodies for the singing of
these pizmonim again.

In Minhah, after U bkhen Nakdishukh is sung twice, Benei El yon
is sung to the melody of Adonai Bekol Shofar by the hazzan and the

congregation. Then Ubkhen ue-Lakh is sung twice responsively and
Anshei Hesed is recited. Yah Shema Ebyonekha is sung by all in
the traditional melody with the repetition of the first (refrain) stanza
after each of the six stanzas, including the first one. The hazzan
repeats the last stanza and refrain alone after the congregation has
finished.

El Nora Alilah is performed the same way except that the
hazzan has no solo repetitions in this hymn. After Ubkhen Nak-
dishakh the hazzan and congregation perform Erelim together, also
to the tune of Adonai Bekol Shofar, and only recite Emet Bisfarekha.
Shebet Yehudah is chanted very slowly, in keeping with its solemn
subject, and canceling what appears on paper to be a melody of
high-spirited character. Only if Yom Kippur coincides with the
conclusion of the Sabbath is H a-M abdil included, and then it is
sung-as it is in Amsterdam, Montreal, and Philadelphia — to
the same melody as Yah Shema Ebyonekha.

CONCLUSION

The Sephardic community in London is the only one in the
world (except for Israel) that has a larger population now than
it had before World War II. This is due to the heavy Sephardic
immigration from North Africa, Gibraltar, and the East (mainly
Egypt, Syria, India, Iran, and Iraq.) There are now an estimated
twenty to twenty-five thousand Sephardim residing in England;
of the ten congregations affiliated with the Association of Sephardic
Congregations, three are Indian, one is Persian (Iranian), one is
Turkish, one is Moroccan, and one is made up of emigres from
Aden (South Yemen). Only three congregations are Spanish and
Portuguese, and they have large memberships of Ashkenazim as
well as Eastern Sephardim.56

Considering this tremendous diversity, it is to be expected
that the traditions of the established English Sephardic community
are subject to intense and persistent stress towards change. If the
Amsterdam Portuguese Jewish community is facing extinction, this
Spanish and Portuguese community is facing replacement-by the
more viable and enthusiastic "Oriental" Sephardim. None of the
religious leaders come from the Amsterdam tradition and all are
Ladino-speaking; Haham Gaon and Hazzan Abinun are from Yugo-
slavia, Rabbi Levy is from Gibraltar, and the other hazzanim in
the community are from the Orient.

In addition to the cosmopolitan make-up of the Sephardic
community, the practice of having the presiding clergymen visit

31

the various synagogues and function at, worship services with the
congregations presents another obstacle to the preservation of a
single tradition. From the point of view of developing sound fra-
ternal relations, this undertaking is certainly commendable, but as
a security measure to insure the purity and continuity of the Minhag
Castille it is most hazardous. No doubt the changing- and ex-
change of-personnel has accounted for the widening differences
between the English Spanish and Portuguese tradition and that of
the Dutch, particularly in the area of the synagogue melodies.

The future in terms of the continuation of the Western Sephardic
traditions is not encouraging. Assimilation, intermarriage, and a
gradual erosion of old established customs have taken their toll.
If, as Marc Angel has said, "the Sephardim exist as a small minority
within a small minority,"57 the Spanish and Portuguese branch of
Sephardim must endure as a small minority within a small minority
within a small minority, and the awesome task Angel predicts for
survival may well become for them an impossible dream.

iltc gatcteitt |Ectatliea

THE LITURGY

THE SPANISH AND PORTUGUESE JEWS.

HARMONIZED BY

EMANUEL AGUILAR.

AN HISTORICAL ESSAY ON THE POETS, POETRY AND
MELODIES OF THE SEPIIARDIC LITURGY,

REV. D.A. DE SOL.4,

LONDON:

WESSEL AND CO., HANOVER SQ. ; SCHOTT AND CO, 139, R E G E NT ST.;

DUNCAN, DAVISON AN D CO., 244 REGENT STREET;

GROOMBRIDGE AND SONS5, PATERNOSTER ROW.

Illustration No. 1

Title page (Courtesy British Museum)

ADONAI BEKOL SHOFAR.

ALLEGRO MOOERATO.(«l=lJJ»)

'kSi

Illustration No. 2
Hymn from The Ancient Melodies

SHOFET KOL HAARETZ.

LINTO (lENZ* TEMPO)

^ ^u^um-jj j jjjjjjj i fU m

Illustration No. 3
Hymn from The Ancient Melodies ..

LECHA DODI.

CON MOTO.(« = U«)

Illustration No. 4
Hymn from The Ancient Melodies ...

- ET SHAARE RATSON.

Illustration No. 5
ginning of Hymn from The Ancient Melodies ...

YAH SHIMCHA.

ANDANTE Q

ASI aLlE GrETTO (J - Jt)g )

Illustration No. 6
Hymn from The Ancient Melodies .

, Illustration No. 7
Transcription of hymn by m. i

NOTES

1 See David de Sola Pool's, Prayers for the Day of Atonement. "Introduc-
tion, xii-xiv, and An Old Faith in the New World, [written in collaboration
with his wife, Tamar de Sola Pool] Chapter XIV, "Fellowship and Friend-
ship," 410-457.

*See my article "High Holy Day Hymn Melodies in the Portuguese
Synagogue of Amsterdam," Journal of Synagogue Music X/J (July, 1980),
50-52.

3 The Ancient Melodies of the Liturgy of the Spanish and Portuguese
Jews. (London: Wessel and Co.). This was photographically reproduced in
J 931 by the Oxford University Press as Sephurdi Melodies being the Tradi-
tional Liturgical Chant of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews' Congregation.
There is also a supplementary part consisting of traditional melodies harmon-
ized by E [lias] R[obert] Jessurun.

4 Fourteen Sephardic tunes were included in a collection of traditional
melodies compiled bv Gerson Rosenstein (1790-1851). the first Jewish organist
in the first Reform Temple in Hamburg. The publication, Sammlung von
gottesdienstlichen Gesangen nach der Ordnung des Hamburger Tempel-
Gebetbuches, was issued posthumously in Hamburg in 1852. Rosenstein added
the tunes to the predominantly Ashkcnazic songbook as a courtesy to David
Meldola (178a 1851). the new hazzan, who had introduced Portuguese tunes
into the Temple.

5 Cecil Roth, A History of the Marranos (Philadelphia, 1932), 252.

6 The expulsion of the Jews from England was nearly complete, although
from time to time there were reports of professing Jews in the country. There
is some evidence that Carvajal had been neither a New Christian or Marrano,
but was rather himself a convert from Christianity. For the history of the
resettlement of the Jews on the British Isles and an account of the Sephardic
community in particular, see Albert E. Hyamson, The Sephardim of England

(London, 1951): Neville Laski, The Laws and Charities of the Spanish and
Portuguese Jews' Congregation of London (London, 1952); and Roth, Mar-
ranos. Chapter X, "Resettlement in England," 252-270.

7As extreme examples of this trend, there were cases of persons prose-
cuted in England for holding Judaistic beliefs. Jewish doctrines concerning
the Sabbath and Kashrut were also considered, demonstrating some measure
of understanding and respect for the beliefs of the Jewish people.

8 Menasseh dedicated his Latin version of Esperanca de Israel ("The
Hope of Israel") to the English Parliament in an effort to solicit their good
will. This treatise, published by the Portuguese Congregation of Amsterdam
in 1650, dealt with reports of "lost Hebrew tribes of Reuben and Levi" dis-
covered in Ecuador. If this were true, Menasseh reasoned, then Jews were
absent only in the British Isles. If they could return then the Dispersion
would be complete as it hnd been prophesied in the Bible, and the Redemption
and appearance of the Messiah could occur.

i A History Of the Marranos, 265.

ID Hvamson writes, "Of an apparent total of 716 men, women, and chil-
dren. 519, judging by their names, were Sephardim: of these, 501 lived within
the city limits and 18 within the walls The Sephardim were by no
means all men of means, and some were not even Yehidim or enrolled members

Of the Community." (The Sephardim of England. 70.)

41

11 It was estimated that the construction of the new synagogue would be
£2,650, and that was the price agreed upon by all concerned. However, after
all the expenses were met, Avis still had not used all of the money allocated,
and, being a Quaker, it would have been against his beliefs to make a profit
from a building devoted to the worship of God and he therefore refused to
accept the whole sum.

12 The lack of a large planned celebration at this time may have been
due to the fact that the Congregation was undergoing a period in which there
were vacancies in religious leadership. Hazzan David Pardo (appointed in
1681) had died while the new Synagogue was being built and Haham Solomon
Ayllon (Haham since 1689) had resigned in 1700. He was succeeded by
David Nieto in late 1701, either just at the time of or shortly after the opening
of the building.

13The Synagogue at Bevis Marks is used today only on Thursdays,
Sabbaths, and Holy Days. Haham Moses Gaster has written a minutely de-
tailed account of the Congregation as a memorial to the 200th anniversary of
the building's inauguration, entitled History of the Ancient Synagogue of the
Spanish and Portuguese Jews, the Cathedral Synagogue of the Jews in
England, situate in Bevis Marks (London, 1901). For a catalogue and descrip-
tion of the ritual contents of the Synagogue see Treasures of a London Tem-
ple, compiled by A. G. Grimwade, A. F. Kendrick, et al. (London, 1951).

14"Bevis Marks Synagogue," Les Judaisme Sephardi IX (Dec. 1955), 394.
Concerning the twelve elegant glass windows Roth adds, "The number twelve
corresponds of course to the tribes of Israel: for the Sephardim made a point
of such mystical correspondence in their synagogue architecture planning."

15 These are not used on Yom Kippur and other state occasions when the
Synagogue is illuminated solely by the lighted candles, as is the Esnoga at
Amsterdam.

16 Roth, "Bevis Marks Synagogue," 394. The building seats 400 men on
the main floor and 160 women in the galleries.

17 One of Raphael Meldola's ancestors was Isaiah M el dol a (1282-1340).
who was born in Spain and became Haham in Toledo: later he settled in
Italy, where he was Rabbi of Mantua. (Hyamson, Sephardim, 224).

IS Hyamson. Sephardim, 276.

19 Ibid.. 272. The Mahamad also recommended "that an appeal should
be made to the Congregation generally to attend synagogue, to abstain from
conversation while there, to make the responses in due time and order; and
to remain until the conclusion of the service."

20 Ibid.. 366.

21 Ibid.. 288.

22 Prospectus of The Ancient Melodies, as given in Abraham de Sola,

Biography of David Aaron de Sola (Philadelphia. 1864), 39. Apparently the

hazzan was expected to work with the choirs, for Abraham writes (apropos
the death of the Hazzan de Sola's colleague, Rev. Isaac Almosnino, in 1843);
"His [David de Sola's] duties were, therefore, now considerably increased:
and as the Synagogue was to be reopened, after a thorough repair, the
training of a choir, in conjunction with Mr. Saqui, was super-added to his other
duties." (p. 34).

230ddly enough, de Solla, his father Jacob Cohen de Solla, and the entire
family were expelled from the Bevis Marks Congregation in 1847 because
Henri and his two brothers were members of the choir at the Burton Street
[West London] Synagogue.

24 Book of Prayer and Order of Service According to the Custom of the
Spanish and Portuguese Jews , , 5 VOlS. and Supplement (London, 1901-
1907). The notations follow the prayers at the end of each volume except the
first.

II Book of Prayer ,4vols. (Oxford). Vol. IV (for the Festival of
Tabernacles) has not yet been completed.

26 New York, March 28, 1978. The Haham feels that this is the Present
situation in the New York Spanish and Portuguese Congregation, and that
while it is very beautiful and impressive, the congregation refrain from par-
ticipating. He is concerned lest the melodies be lost.

The choir at Shearith Israel, which has been under the direction of Leon
Hyman since November, 1955, has, at the most, ten men. Many of the singers
are professional musicians and they sing at Sabbaths and all Holidays in
three and four-part harmony.

27 Abraham de Sola, Biography, 39.

28 Ibid.

29 One melody both communities have retained from the past is the Ne ilah
hymn El Nora Alilah, although it has been somewhat altered rhythmically.
(See Illustration No. 7).

30 Title page (see Illustration No. 1).

31 "Historical Essay," 17.

32 Gaster, History of the Ancient Synagogue. 46.

33 See Richard D. Barnett, "Haham Meldola and Hazan de Sola," Trans-
actions: Sessions 1962-1967 XXI (London, 1968). 1-38, and "More Letters of

Hazan de Sola," Transactions: Sessions 1970-1973 XXIV & Miscellanies
Part IX, 1975, 173-184.

34 Spanish and Portuguese were still used as vernacular languages in the
Sephardic community of London in the first quarter of the 18th century and
were the languages commonly spoken in the home of David de Sola's parents.
His father-in-law, the Haham, preferred Spanish-or his native Italian- to
English. See Hyamson, The Sephardim of England, 224-239. The chief
medium of instruction -both in the synagogue and the religious school-was
Portuguese, and Spanish was the second tongue. Even today in Sephardic
congregations such as those in Amsterdam and London, the prayer for the
government and certain announcements are in Portuguese.

35 Abraham de Sola, Biography, 28. Several of the tales were reprinted
in the United States by The J ewish Publication Society of America in
Philadelphia shortly after they appeared in London. They were also repub-
lished in various periodicals.

36 Ibid., 28.

37 There is some similarity between the life of Emanuel Aguilar and that
of his older contemporary, Felix Mendelssohn. It seems very likely that
Aguilar might have named his son out of respect for the great master, neither
Harold nor Felix occurring very commonly as Sephardic names.

38 Professor Eric Werner is of the opinion that Aguilar was confusing
rhythm (structured time) with meter (structured rhythm.) (Interview, New
York, March 29, 1978.)

39 Aguilar, "Prefatory Note." (See Adonai Bekol Shofar, Illustration No.
2, for a specimen of Aguilar's style of notation and harmonization.)

40 Aguilar' s setting of Lekhah Dodi (Illustration No. 4) provides an
excellent example of the misrepresentation of a melody. He has placed
the piece in F major and harmonized it accordingly: but if the melody, which

is in the highest yoke, is lifted out and transposed to a mode whose final is E,

the tunr will start-and hover -around G, the third degree. Its modal
qu;ility(PhryK'mn > )willbe more apparent and its natural charm more

41 "The wiime method adopted in my version of the poetical pieces of the
Sophardic- Prayers into English has here been adhered to. viz., togive a
faithful rendering of the words, as well as the spirit of the original, without
sacrificing perspieuitv to mere elegance of diction." The Ancient Melodies. 19.

42 TheonlvmelodvmentionedbvdeSola in his Essay as being used for
anoth-r text also is No. 70. lluhem Na 'Alav ("Dirge for the Dead"), sung
alsotoGabirol'sAVoA/Hi Eli Allah for the morning of the Day of Atonement.
Melodies borrowed from one holiday or special occasion to be used on
another are v. rv rare in thr Sephardic tradition.

43 There is an Appendix, whichcontains one melody, an original tunc
composed by de Sola for /Won' Olam. Since two alternate melodies were
given for EinKc A'/o/mvhm No.46) .theactual number of notations included

in thecollection is 72.

^Gusi-.ixvKcese.Musicinlhe Middle Ages. With an Introduction on the
Music o) Ancient Times i>ipw York, 1940), 225.

« Those in th-C mode are Nos. 29 (Kedushah), 35 (Yah She mac
F.byoaehha. hut this may also be in O, or Mixolydian). 36 t El Nora <-AHlah),
nnd70t llahem Na ■Alar/ ElohimEh A ttah). Those in the E mode are Nos.
2S < Yah Shimkha) , 30 ( ' El Slur are! Karon) , and 33 (Anna Be-Korenu).
Those in the D mode are N OS. HUAkot Ketannuh) . 27 (Shofel Kol Ha'arez),
3i (Adonai Bekal Shofur). and 32 ( Shenue Koli. although this could also be
amode on A. or Aeolian, since it onlv includes _a hexachord). The piece
which seems to he in a harmonic minor is No. 34 (Adonai Melekh). hut the
A=" may have been changed from an original A

« Jewish Music. 50. Kric Werner refers to this mode as the Tropos
S/>oiuletu!,os. a modification of the Dorian mode. See The Sacred Bridge,
442-4 14 1 New York, 1059), and A Voice Still Heard (London, 1976). 60 and
151.

^DeSola, "Historical Essay.'- IA.

49 //>/'/. Of the melodies used for the High Holy Days, only RahemNa
•Alav is placed in the last category. It is surprising thatdeSola considered
.4/10/ Ketannuh to be of Spanish provenance inasmuch as he placed the
author'sbirth after the Expulsion from Spain. He writes, "Abraham Hazan,
bornatSalonica, in 1533 ." ("Historical Essay," 7).

49 "Of the Spamsh period we may consider the numbers: 6, 8, 9. 11, 12, 14,
IK. IS. 27, 28, 30, 31. 32, 34. 36. 42.fi 1,54, 56. 59,62, 68." Idelsohn, Jewish
Music 515. (n. 2).

50 He Sola and Idelsohn agree that Shofet Kol Ha'arez, Yah Shimka.
■Ft Sha'arei Hazon, Adonai Behol Shnjar. Shemw Koli. Anna Be-Korenu.
Adonai Melekh. and El Nora 'Alilah are from the Spanish period and that
Ilahcm Na •■Alav was conrjosed at a later time. Neither Yah Shemw Ehyonekha
nor the Kedushah displays the characteristics of most of the pieces placed
in the "older" classification, and the Ahot Ketannuh has been disqualified by

51 This represents a rare hrcak with the tradition of the Amsterdam
community, whiehsings the Yigdal to one Of the "leitmotifs" Of theHighHolv

44

Day season, Yedei ' liushim/Yah Shimkhu, alternate poems for the two days
of 'Rosh Ha-Shanah by YehudahHalevi. (Note Aguilnr's notation for this
hymn, Illustration No. 6, in which ho incorrectly gives the text for the
refrain of Yedei Rushim instead of YahShimkha.)

5z These are four 78 r.p.m. records <Nos.SPl00-SPl03), the last of which
consists of High Holy Day pieces. The recordings were made at a studio
in London.

53 Letter to this writer, September 15. 1975. Today a businessman. Beniso
states that he occasionally officiates at weddings and festivals in Gibraltar,
"mainly at NefusotYehudahSynagogue which we call La EsnogaFlamenga
(The Flemish Synagogue'); we seem to feel there must be some connection
with Amsterdam." (My transcription of Beniso's solo in El Nora is given as
Illustration No. 7.)

54The recordings were made by W. H. Troutheck and were supervised
by John Levy, who selected the tunes and wrote the program notes on the
record jacket. Excerpts from these three twelve-inch long-playing records
were made by Folkways Records in 1960 with the same title. (Folkways
Records Album No. FR.8961).

« According to Raphael de Sola of London, n great-grandson of David
de Sola who was raised in the Montreal Spanish and Portuguese community,
this stanza (beginning Hizku) is sung to the Shofet tune as in Amsterdam,
and this melody is continued to the first part of the hxzznn'sKaddish which
follows on both nights of Rosh Hashanah.

fi 6 It must he remembered that even in the synagogues which call them-
selves "Spanish and Portuguese" forty to sixtvper-cent of the memhrrs are
wholly Ashkenazic. HahamGaon assured me that this fact was not a serious
threat to the continuance of Sophardie tradition as "sometimes the Ashkenazim
are the best guarantees for the [Senhardicl tradition to survive." (Interview,
March 28. 1978).

5-"TheSophardim in theUnitcd States: An Exploratory Study," Amer-
ican Jen ix h Yearbook 1973 LXXIV (Philadelphia, 1974). 1 15. Rabbi Angel,
originally from (he Sophardie community in Seattle, is presently officiating
at Shearith Israel in New York Cirv.

Symbols of Faith in the Music
of Leonard Bernstein

JACK GO-ITLIEB

THE late Bruno Walter once was asked what he considered to be
the essential difference between Bruckner and Mahler. Walter
replied that "Bruckner had found his God, but Mahler was always
looking." Like Mahler, Leonard Bernstein in his symphonic works
has been in the pursuit of theological meanings, but for our time. In
the Preface to the score of his Symphony No. 2, The Age of Anxiety
(1949), after the poem by W. H. Auden, he states: "The essential line
of the poem (and of the music) is the record of our difficult and
problematical search for faith. . . ." But faith in whom or what? A
deity, humanism, existentialism, dogma, self-reliance? Describing
the last two sections of his symphony, the jazzy "Masque" and the
"Epilogue," Bernstein goes on to say how all the energy expended in
the "Masque" results in a new freedom ". . to examine what is left
beneath the emptiness. What is left, it turns out, is faith. The
trumpet intrudes its statement of 'something pure.' " But what is this
"something pure"? We are still left hanging. It is a vague comment,
uncharacteristic of Bernstein. In 1977, on the jacket notes for the
latest recording of The Age of Anxiety (DG 2530969), he offers more
precise guidance:

Faith, turns out to be in your own backyard, where you least look for it, as in this
glass of orange juice I am holding in my hand. There is God in the orange juice, for
sunshine is there, earth, vitamins. Its really a Buddhistic idea. God in every-
thing.

That is helpful, but still it does not totally ring true, given the
composer's non-Oriental background.

Originally published in "Music Quarterly," Vol. X, April, 1980. ©by
G. Srhirmer, Inc. Reprinted with permission.

Jack Gottlieb is a prominent composer, teacher, writer and performer in
the field of Jewish music,

46 The Musical Quarterly

In the same Preface to the symphony, Bernstein suggests that a
fresh look be taken at the music by going back to the Auden poem.
Perhaps Auden' s words could offer clues. Bernstein had said:

No one could be more astonished than I at the extent to which the program maticism
of this work has been carried. I was. writing a symphony inspired by a poem
and following the general form of that poem. Yet . . I discovered detail after detail
of programmatic relation to the poem — details that had "written themselves,"
wholly unplanned and unconscious.

The last part of the original "Masque" by Auden finds the character
Rosetta observing Emble, a drinking companion who has passed out
on her bed. She says:

We're so apart
When our ways have crossed and our words touched
On Babylon's Banks. .1

An allusion to Psalm 137: "By the waters of Babylon, there we sat
down and wept"? Rosetta goes on:

You'll build here, be
Satisfied soon, while I sit waiting
On my light luggage to leave if called
For some new exile

Another clue: "exile."

Further on, she continues:

I'd hate you to think
How gentile you feel

And still later:

You're too late to believe. Your lie i5 showing,
Your creed is creased. But have Christian luck.
Your Jesus has wept; you may joke now,

Then, in the following lines, Rosetta changes from the second per-
son singular, and now speaks in the first person plural:

for we are His Chosen,
His ragged remnant with our ripe flesh
And our hats on, sent out of the room
By their dying grandees and doleful slaves,
Kicked in corridors and cold-shouldered

1 The Age of A nxiety from lhr C.ulle, led Longer Poems ( Nt-w York, 1 975), pp. 3-1 1 ff. I Vd

Symbols of Faith 47

At toll-bridges, teased upon the stage,
Snubbed at sea, to seep through boundaries,
Diffuse like firearms through frightened lands,
But His people still.

That is an obvious reference to the Diaspora of the Jewish people.
Then in a subsequent passage:

Though I fly to Wall Street
Or Publisher's Row. or pass out, or
Submerge in music, or marry well,
Marooned on riches, He'll be right there
With His eye upon me. Should I hide away

M> fears are before Him: He'll find all.

This specifically suggests Psalm 139:

Where could I go to escape from You?
Where could I get away from Your presence?
If I went up to heaven, You would be there.
If I lay down in the world of the dead,

You would be there.
If I flew away from beyond the cast

or lived in the furthest place in the west.
You would be there to lead me.
You would be there to help me.

(vv. 7-10)

The concept of the omniscient and omnipresent God may be a
Buddhistic idea, but it is also deeply embedded in Jewish theology.

But if this were not enough to convince us of the poet's intention,
Auden's "Masque" concludes with:

Though mobs run amok and markets fall.
Though lights burn late at police stations,
Though passports expire and ports are watched.
Though thousands tumble Sh 'ma Yisrael,
Adonai elohenu, Adonai ec had.

Judaism's declaration of monotheism: "Hear O Israel, the Lord our
God, the Lord is One!" And then, attacca, we arc into Auden's
"Epilogue."

Bernstein's "Epilogue," with that "something pure" idea in the
trumpet, thus demands to be reevaluated. Exactly what is that idea?
Four notes formed into two intervals of the fourth:

The Musical Quarterly

balanced by another set of four notes made up of two more fourths:

Ex, IB J7 ~"

In terms of Judaism, what else could this be but a musical pun on the
"'Name of the Four Letters," the Tetragrammaton — thr four letters
that form the Hebrew name for the Divine Being:

(reading right to left )

Ab

Db

Ab

^

1

^

ha

vav

ha

yod.
These are consonants. With vowels added to them, the name becomes

T
transliterated as Ye-ho-vah, hence the name Jehovah.

In the mystical practice of the Kabbalah, 2 the letter yod C) is
considered to be the supreme point of the letter vav ("]). They are
manifestations of the same divine emanation. The two Dbs corres-
pond, then, not to two letters (yod and hei) but to two revelations of
one concept.

The Hebrew etymological root of Ye-ho-vah is hayo (from
I'hiyot "to be" or "to exist"). "He wasHe is, and shall be," an
expression of eternity, in Hebrew is sounded as

H u hayah, Hu h v e h , h u yih'yeh.
From these tenses, an ideogram evolved for anothrr name of God:
Yah-veh.

But the word Yahveh is never invoked or pronounced by an ob-
servant Jew. The ineffable name is not uttered in Hebrew as it ap-
pears to the eye. Instead, the word "Adonai," meaning "Lord," is
substituted for it, often followed by the word Elohim —Adonai

Symbols of Faith 49

Elohim: "Lord God," or Adonai Eloheinu: "Lord our God." Bern-
stein's musical equivalent of the "something pure" is thus trium-
phantly proclaimed, at the conclusion of the Symphony:

50 The Musical Quarterly

Everything points to it: Auden's words, Bernstein's heritage, the
notes themselves, including a penultimate one-quarter measure de-
noting the word echad: "One!," a full measure containing one chord.
Perhaps the choice of the pitch names Db and Ab (in Ex. 2 enhar-
monically written as C# and G#) are an unintentional abstraction of
the name ADonAi. But, more convincingly, they could be a pun on
one of the names Auden uses for God: "our colossal father" and "our
lost DAD."

The acceptance of faith in The Age of Anxiety is not blind. In the
heart of the composer it is always the Jewish faith, pure and simple.
(Perhaps not so simple.) Bernstein, deliberately or unintentionally,
cannot be otherwise.

Persistently, throughout the years, this belief has been associated
musically with the motive of a descending fourth followed by a
whole or half-step. The motive is almost always put into an asym-
metric meter, and it invariably appears in the closing (and/ or open-
ing) moments of a work.

In both the beginning and conclusion of Jeremiah, Symphony
No. 1 (1942), the motive represents God's voice, His prophet:

Ex. 3A Mvt. I Largamente

r4th & 2nd;

m^§mmm^-=m

3 you, O Lord.

An-observant Jew would recognize this as coming from the Rosh
Hashanah liturgy, heard for the first time as part of the prayer section
called theAmidah. This compilation of fixed benedictions, recited at
all services with varying interpolations, probably constitutes the
second most important Jewish prayer after the creed of Sh'ma
Yisrae! (see Ex. I).

In the Epilogue of The Age Of Anxiety, the motive portrays God's
name (see Ex. 1 b).

The response to the word alleluia in the "Spring Song," from
incidental music to the play The Lurk (1955), is explicit (see Ex. 4).

Symbols of Faith

(With words of the wise and knowledge of the learned, I open my tips in prayer.
before the Lord of Lords.)

With the Finale of Kaddish, Symphony No. 3 (1963), where the
symbolism of the motive is God's image as created in man, it begins
to be launched from the pitch of F (for Faith?):

And, inescapably, it continues in Chichester Psalms (1965), at the
beginning and at the end:

Ex. 6A Mvt I Allegro molto

52 The Musical Quarterly

In the last choral section of Muss (1971), which in many ways is more
a Jewish work than a Catholic one, the motive is inverted into

Ex. 7 Andante non troppo mosso

pp scmpre

As recently as 1974, its retrograde form is assimilated into the twelve-
tone row used for the blessing: "Praised are You, Lord," from both
the first and last movements of Dybbuk:

From this, the theme of the second section of the Ballet arises:

r?^3

m^3£r±

htt^

To explain why this motive clings to Bernstein's musical expres-
sions of faith is, at best, a matter of conjecture; but perhaps it can be
interpreted as a by-product of his youth. The motive permeates the
liturgy of High Holy Day music (see Ex. I) where it is fraught with
ritual and doctrinal significance. Furthermore, the motive, used as a
final cadence, is endemic in the Three Festivals of Sukkot, Passover,

Symbols of Faith 53

and Shavuot. During these holidays, for example, the Benediction,
"May the Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you
peace, " is chanted as

p^sra

Even if one were only a "holiday Jew," such a repetitive motive
could seep into and take hold of the impressionable mind of a grow-
ing musician.

All of this results in the inevitable question: Did Leonard Bern-
stein create any or all of these musical symbols purposely or would
he admit to them? For the answer, one has only to refer to his own
words from the preface to The Age of Anxiety: "... I trust the
unconscious implicitly, finding it a sure source of wisdom and the
dictator of the condign in artistic matters."

Ac knowledgments

THE AGE OF ANXIETY: SYMPHONY NO. 2
THE LARK, French and Latin Choruses
KADDISH: SYMPHONY NO. 3
CHICHESTER PSALMS

MASS

All published bv Amberson Enterprises, Inc., N
G. Schirmer. Inc., New York
Sole Selling Agent

JEREMIAH: SYMPHONY NO. 1
Published by Warner Brothers, >

DYBBl'K

Published bv Amberson Enterprise

>S, II

ic, Ne\

,v York

Boosev and Hawkes,

Inc

.. New

York Lc

Sole Selling As.

rent

THE INFLUENCE OF SALOMONE ROSSI'S MUSIC:
PART IV.

Daniel Chazanoff

(A continuation of an article on the subject
published in Volume IX, No. 3, November 1979)

ROSST'S FIVE PART COMPOSITIONS FOR STRINGS

Included among Rossi's instrumental compositions of 1607 and
1608 are thirteen works in five parts.' Once again, the reader needs
to be aware of the continuo part which is additional but basic to the
trio sonata structure upon which all of Rossi's instrumental works
are fashioned. The five part works are really trio sonatas with two
optional parts added. In order of publication they are listed as
follows:2

1. Sinfonia a5 & a3, si placet, con doi Soprani & il Chittarone —
Book I, "21-1607

2. Sinfonia grave a5 — Book I, #22-1607

3. Gagliarda a5 & a3, si placet detta L'Andreasina- Book I,
#23-1607

4. Sinfonia a5 & a3, si placet — Book I, #24-1607

5. Gagliarda a5 & a3, si placet, detta LaNorsina — Book I,
#25-1607

6. Gagliarda a5, detta la Massara- Book I, #26-1607

7. Passeggio d'un balletto a5 & a3 -Book I, #27-1607

8. Sinfonia a5 & a3, si placet — Book II, #27-1608

9. Sinfonia a5 & a3, si placet — Book IT, #28-1608

10. Sinfonia a5 & a3, si placet — Book II, #29-1608

11. Sinfonia a5 & a3, si placet — Book II, #30-1608

12. Sinfonia a5 & a3, si placet — Book II, #31-1608

13. Gagliarda a5 & a3, si placet, detta Narciso — Book II,
#32-1608

The five part works include eight sinfonias, four galliards and
one Passeggio d'un balletto. The canzona is notably absent from
Rossi's five part compositions. As indicated by its title, the Passeggio
d'un balletto is not a complete work but rather a passage from a
dance setting intended for the stage. The reader should be aware
that Rossi wrote several dance settings for the early music dramas

This is the tenth in a series of articles on the subject of Salomone Rossi by
Daniel Chazanoff. D r. C hazanof f ' s studies on Rossi were made possible by a
research grant from the National Foundation for Jewish Culture.

The author has had twenty-five years of experience as a teacher, perform-
er, conductor and administrator.

of Monteverdi. These were choreographed by Massarano, the J ew-
ish dancing master at the Mantuan Court. Rossi's five part Gagliarda
detta La Massara was dedicated to the dancing master. 3

Table I:
THE STRUCTURE AND LENGTH OF ROSSI'S
5 PART COMPOSITIONS

1. Sinfonia (Book I, #21-1607) — 3 part form — first section of 7
bars is repeated, second section of 5 bars is not repeated, third
section of 8 bars is repeated.

2. Sinfonia (Book I, #22-1607) — 3 part form — first section of
9 bars is repeated, second section of 7 bars is not repeated, third
section of 11 bars is repeated.

3. Gagliarda, L'Andreasina (Book I, #23-1607) — 2 part form —
first section of 5 bars and second section of 11 bars are both
repeated.

4. Sinfonia (Book I, #24-1607)— 2 part form- first section of
5 bars and second section of 11 bars are both repeated.

5. Gagliarda, LaNorsina (Book I, #25-1607) — 2 part form —
first section of 6 bars and second section of 13 bars are both
repeated.

6. Gagliarda, LaMassara (Book I, #26-1607) — 2 part form —
first section of 7 bars and second section of 8 bars are both
repeated.

7. Passeggio d'un balletto (Book I, #27-1607) — one section of
8 bars which is repeated.

8. Sinfonia (Book 1 1 , #27-1608) — 2 part form- first section of

8 bars and second section of 11 bars are both repeated.

9. Sinfonia (Book IT, #28-1608) — 2 part form — first section of
13 bars and second section of 13 bars are both repeated. Both
sections have first and second endings.

10. Sinfonia (Book II, #29-1608) -one section of 16 bars which
is not repeated.

11. Sinfonia (Book II, #30-1608) — 2 part form- first section of

9 bars and second section of 21 bars are both repeated.

12. Sinfonia (Book 1 1 , #31-1608) — 2 part form-first section of
7 bars and second section of 17 bars are both repeated. Both
sections have first and second endings.

13. Gagliarda detta Narciso (Book II, #32-1608) — 2 part form-
first section of 6 bars and second section of 11 bars are both
repeated.

Table II:
SOME TRENDS IN ROSSI'S FIVE PART WORKS
The canzona is absent from Rossi's five part works.
The four galliards are all written in a binary (two Part) form.
They vary in length from 30 to 38 bars including repeats.
The eight sinfonias exhibit much freedom. Structurally, they
are in one, two and three parts and vary in length from 16
bars to 60 bars.

The one, short Passeggio d'un balletto, according to Rikko and
Newman, ". , . was included in the original apparently in

order to fill out space on the table of contents page. "4 There is,
however, a curious relationship between this work (Book I,
#27-1607) and the work just before it i.e., the Gagliarda detta
la Massara (Book I, #26-1607) which honored the dancing
master, Massarano. While this galliard was probably danced to
at court, it may also have been used by Massarano as a teaching
tool since he served as the dance teacher for Mantua's nobility
and their children. The Passeggio I'un balletto, taken from a
stage work of Rossi's was probably choreographed and/or danced
to by Massarano.

THE FIVE PART SINFONIAS AND GALLIARDS

SINFONIA (BOOK I, #21)5
Typical of Rossi's style which forms the beginning of violinistic
music, the first Sinfonia a5 (Book I, No. 21) of 1607 opens with
a dialogue in the violin parts:
EXAMPLE 1 —

3^

TS

VLiJ'TC

S

mm

The same is true in the opening of the second section. However,
nstead of canonic imitation, we find the two violin parts using

modal scales (a reminder of the 16th century in a 17th century com-
position):

\JM

^ tAfVoLYi?!^ nope.

i; d\n JI - n L! i m

\)oR\f\^ MOOiL

»

¥

^

In the third section, Rossi features a dialogue which moves
in sequence; each entrance is a step below the previous entrance.
Observe measures 13 thru 16 in the two violin parts.

■^,

^tyj-

=^m

^m

m

=^

The continuo part (keyboard) in contrast to the movement
found in the two violin parts, provides a block-like chordal setting.
Note measures 1 thru 4.

EXAMPLE 4 -

Typical of the trio sonata style, the Cello part doubles the
bass line of the keyboard. The first four measures provide an illus-
tration.

EXAMPLE 5 -

ten

mi

«

The two optional viola parts function in several different ways.
First, while the cello part doubles the bass line of the keyboard,
the viola parts double the treble part as in the opening measure.
EXAMPLE 6 -

L-

m

~ — \

A-

m

-\vtedLe

^

? t

59

Second, the violas provide duetting episodes in combination
with the violin parts. One example is found in the third measure,
where the second viola part moves in sixths with the second violin
part.

EXAMPLE 7 -

ipi§

ee

E3E

Third, the viola parts are used to create harmonic interest by
moving in contrary motion to the violin parts. Observe measure
eleven.

EXAMPLE 8 -

g KV \ \°

H t r t I

m

Ipi

SINFONIA GRAVE6

The second five part sinfonia (Book I, #22) of 1607, entitled
Sinfonia Grave gives the appearance of a pavan. While the two
violin parts open the work in canonic imitation, the slow nature of
the rhythm indicates a stately processional. Note measures one
thru four in the violin parts.

EXAMPLE 9 -

V^X:

m

b - - ° e ,.

In contrast to the first section, the second and third sections
of this tripartite form give the appearance of a madrigal or motet
with one exception. Madrigals and motets were unaccompanied con-
trapuntal songs; the madrigal was based upon a secular text and
the motet upon a religious one. All five string parts in the second
and third sections display individually-voiced, contrapuntal writing.
At the same time, however, we find these in the company of a con-
tinuo part. Observe measures 10 and 11 which open the second
section.

EXAMPLE 10 -

^^

?PE

^ l-rr-

*w

^

a ;

^^

L.

A

K-jUJI.i ,1 1

^^

^

^

Once again, we find Rossi using old ideas in a new way. In
this case the 16th century madrigal is placed in the setting of a
continuo part, the facet which established Rossi as the father of
the string baroque in Italy. As pointed out in another aritcle by
the writer, this technique was used a few years earlier, by Rossi,
in The Second Book of Madrigals for 5 Voices with Basso Continuo
(1602) and The Third Book of Madrigals for 5 Voices with Basso
Continuo (1603).

GAGLIARDA, L'AN DREASI N A'

The short Gagliarda, L'Andreasina (Book I, #23) of 1607 is
only 16 bars in length and yet it contains nine different time signa-
tures, all within a three pulse meter as follows:

3/4, 3/2, 3/4, 3/2, 3/4, 3/2, 3/4, 3/2, 3/4
Unlike the sinfonias which contain a dialogue in the two violin
parts or, sometimes, individually voiced counterpoint in the string
parts, the galliards exhibit vertical block-like chords to accommo-
date the dance as in the opening measure.

EXAMPLE Oi-

m

s

t

ii ;^m

?' P#

8^

fe±Ef

I fK^jnj

The vertical harmonic structure is even more pronounced in
the opening of the second section where all parts, strings and key-
board, contain three quarter notes.

EXAMPLE 12 —

s

v

IT

s

ii

L

A'

IE

m

m

I

V \ r 1

^

Rossi sustains harmonic interest in the work by:

1. modulating from F Major to d minor and

2. providing a sprinkling of chromaticism.

SINFONIA (BK. I, #24)8

Like the Gagliarda, L'Andreasina, the Sinfonia (Bk. I, 48.4)
of 1607 is a two-part form and sixteen measures in length. This
sinfonia opens with a dialogue in the two violin parts. At the same
time, the other three strings provide a chordal accompaniment in
quarter notes. Observe the five string parts in measures 1 and 2.

EXAMPLE 13

^iLu'r

5^

§

r- nrn

^

m

M

L

•' f l \ i \ \

IS

c

L-

In contrast to the first section which is chordal in appearance
and sound, the second section looks like a madrigal with five inde-

r \- w M'

pendent voices in the string parts. Compare the opening measures
of the second section (Example 14), with that of the first section
(Example 13).

EXAMPLE 14 -

\ r I If i CxJ J:

3 UU^H

S.

^^

^^

ft- -<—>-^
X +1 I \

^

^^

'.n n mui 1 m r

GAGLIARDA, LA NORSINA9

The Gagliarda, La Norsina (Bk. I, #25) of 1607 is in two parts
like the Gagliarda, La Andreasina but it is three bars longer. It
also contains more chromaticism as in measure 5 of the keyboard
part.

EXAMPLE 15 ■

S4

-*++■

f»ij 3f»r 1

\ \

W^

1

¥^=

S

^

Similar to La Andreasina, this galliard contains a number of
time signature changes, all in three pulse meter as follows:
3/4, 3/2, 3/4, 3/2, 3/4, 3/2, 3/4, 3/2, 3/4

GAGLIARDA, LA MASSARA10

Rossi entitled this galliard La Massara to honor Massarano, the
dancing master of the Mantuan Court. It is listed in Book I, #26
dated 1607.11 While only 15 measures in length it contains some
interesting features. First it has seven different time signatures
as follows:

3/4, 3/2, 3/4, 3/2, 3/4, 3/2, 3/4
Second, six measures of the fifteen which are in 3/4 time make
use of the d d rhythm. This occurs in both the string and key-
board parts of measures, 2, 4, 7, 10, 12 and 15. A random sample
of this would be measure 2.

EXAMPLE 16 -

^

N/
L
ft'

x-

m

m

<=>=

mm

'kjo ■?

m

In every case this rhythm was interspersed between measures
having more movement, giving the effect of momentary pauses or
slowing down.

A third feature worthy of mention is the block-like chordal
nature of the keyboard part; in twelve of the fifteen measures,
the keyboard plays vertical chords. For example, look at the first
two measures of the keyboard part.

EXAMPLE 17 -

* \ :Ul j h-

s

: W

£E

r^r

This example points to Rossi's pioneering in the area of instru-
mental monody. Finally, we see Rossi as an innovator in violin
technique. Note measure 14 where the first violin part plays
l/16th and l/32nd notes.
EXAMPLE 18 -

PASSEGIO d'un BALLETO (BK. I, #27)12

As mentioned earlier by the writer, the Passegio d'un Balleto
is not a complete composition but rather a passage from a work
written for the stage by Rossi. As in the previous composition
which honored Massarano, this Balleto was written with him in
mind.

While the passage is only eight measures long, it does possess
several interesting traits. In the first, third and fifth measures,
the 'cello part moves in contrary motion to the two violin parts. Note
the downward movement in the two violins and the upward move-
ment of the 'cello part.
EXAMPLE 19 -

MEASURE !. VteftSWC 3 ♦ *}£*}" *^_£ '

M ill r A iir mi T B iEi

Viv/'TC

i, Juir t f^\ i^ ^

m ]- r -" i J rinii i; iP

In measures 5 and 6, the first violin part plays a descending
scale-like passage in the Aolian mode, the basis of our pure minor
scale.

EXAMPLE 20 -

RoURN/ MoQ<£

=£^E

m

rrrrr^

Rossi's use of vertical chords is once again demonstrated in
measure 2, 4 and 8 where all five string parts have whole notes.

EXAMPLE 21-

hEfisvRt neflS- /weds-

SINFONIA (BK. II, #7)13

This sinfonia (Bk. II, #27) of 1608 is interesting because it
combines the elements of a pavan and galliard, the two most impor-
tant court dances of the period. The first section of eight bars is
in duple meter and its rhythm indicates the style of a stately dance.
In the second section, containing eleven measures, we find a char-
acteristic of Rossi's galliards i.e., a three pulse meter with changing
time signatures as follows:

3/4, 3/2, 3/4, 3/2, 3/4
The 'cello part in measures 17 and 18 gives evidence of the
wavering between old and new concepts at the beginning of the
17th century. Here we find the dorian mode in a descending scale
passage. Note the half-steps from 2 to 3 and 6 to 7 of the scale.
EXAMPLE 22 -

PoslflM Mode.
J

l *W»^ J !->

SINFONIA (BK. II, #28)14

Structurally, this sinfonia (Bk. II, #28) of 1608 is in two
parts with each part having a first and second ending. The first
section opens with a dialogue in the two violin parts as follows:
EXAMPLE 23 -

VN-r

M i '|\f<> I

^=

viNiOT

Mt] J r | rd rl<J ^

Measure 4 is interesting because the violins engage in a duetting
episode. Both parts play the same rhythm in sixths.
EXAMPLE 24 -

VN-X'

^m

PE

VM-T&

In contrast to the dialogue provided by the violins at the
opening of the work, the keyboard provides a chordal accompaniment
as in the first two measures.

EXAMPLE 25

-i-ir*rn,- a f f

Typical of the trio sonata style, the 'cello doubles the bass
part of the keyboard in the opening measures.
EXAMPLE 26 -

:>mnru> ;

The two optional viola parts double the treble part of the
keyboard when the work opens.
EXAMPLE 27 -

Uv r If W

IUJJMI, j J I

In measures 14 and 15 which open the second section, the
two violins play a duet. An unusual setting is introduced, here,
when the cello carries on a dialogue with the two violin parts.
EXAMPLE 28 -

V

-rM

^m

i^m

^* ^

W

^-Hr

im

^m

k m nor

At the same time, the two viola parts play a drone accompani-
ment on half notes in fourths and fifths.

EXAMPLE 29 -

w.> j i ( if

SINFONIA (BK. II, #29)15

In previous five part works we have observed Rossi's use of
scales in the Aolian, Mixolydian and Dorian modes. This sinfonia
(Bk. II, #29) of 1608 contains a scale in still another mode i.e.,
the Ionian which is the ancient name of our major scale. It appears
as a descending bass line in the cello part against a canon-like
opening in the two violin parts. Note measures one thru four.

EXAMPLE 30 -

Thi€M£

ultaii^^l

74

Then, in measure number 10, the second viola and 'cello engage
in a duetting episode, a third apart — and move in contrary motion
to the first violin's melody.
EXAMPLE 31-

i m&

«

V
u
Pi

l^m

?«=

^p

Later, the second violin provides motion against the other
four string parts which play the same rhythm in measure 13.

EXAMPLE 32

W

mmm

TL-I

m

T \ r r I -

J \ \ \ \ i

m^

httt

-fr-

The last two sinfonias, in five parts, of 1608 were evidently
for 4 high viols and basso continue In modern transcription, the
four high viols become treble clef instruments. This could mean
either 4 violins or 2 violins and 2 violas since advanced viola players
are capable of reading treble clef when playing in the higher register.
A discussion of Sinfonia #30 and #31 follow.

SINFONIA (BK. II, #30)

While the work opens with imitation in the first and second
violin parts, a dialogue does not develop. The five string parts
give the appearance of a Bach chorale. Observe measures one thru
four.

EXAMPLE 33 —

*§s

CT'rMiTf

l iprir trrS -i4 H- i

| p i\unn P

f &Ht If r Kf^HHt

76

Another baroque trend is found in the harmonic content of
this sinfonia. The first section opens in g minor and closes on a
dominant chord in D Major rather than minor. The second section
also opens in g minor but closes in G Major.

SINFONIA (BK. II, #31)17

A two measure canon in the first and second violin parts opens
the work.

EXAMPLE 34 -

In the third measure of the opening, the second and fourth
violin parts play a duet in sixths.
EXAMPLE 35 -

^

pPPi

Then, in measure 5, the second violin and 'cello play an episode
in thirds.

EXAMPLE 36 -

11 n 1 1 \

9 W J \

It is in the second section of this sinfonia that Rossi points far
ahead of his time, First, he combines elements of the pavan and
gal Hard; measures 8 and 9 are in duple meter, measures 10 thru
14 in triple meter and measure 16 to the end in duple meter. A
second interesting feature is found in the sequential treatment of
the bass line. Note the 'cello part in measures 19 thru 22.

EXAMPLE 37 ■

GAGLIARDA, NARCIS018

The Gagliarda, Narciso is the final five part work of Rossi's
string compositions written during the years 1607 and 1608. Like
his other galliards, the work contains a number of time signature
changes, all within a three pulse meter. These are as follows:
3/4, 3/2, 3/4, 3/2, 3/4, 3/2, 3/4, 3/2, 3/4, 3/2, 3/4

Some characteristics of Rossi's early instrumental style are
found in use of:

1. a dialogue in the two violin parts

2. skips rather than stepwise movement and

3. duetting episodes

An example of a dialogue in the two violin parts is found in
measures 3 and 4. Here, the violins are involved in rhythmic,
rather than melodic, imitation.

EXAMPLE 34 -

m=^

m

^^

5S

v JU^IV (

In measure 8, the two viola parts play a series of skips as
follows :

EXAMPLE 35 -

UMUi r j

m

m

*

A duetting episode is found in measures 13 and 14 where the
two violins play a series of thirds and sixths.

EXAMPLE 36 -

fo?i 1 1 - r ! ID m

SUMMARY: ROSSI'S STRING WORKS OF
1607 AND 1608

Rossi's string works of 1607 and 1608 belong to a period when
Italian court manners were the model for all of Europe. The "chief
conditions and qualities of a courtier" 19 were put forth in a classic
of the time. The Courtier, by the 16th century Italian writer,
Castiglione describes the requirements as follows:
To sing well upon the book

To play upon the lute and sing to it with the ditty,
To play upon the viol and all other instruments with frets'20

This statement alludes to the singing of madrigals or motets at
sight, singing and accompanying one's self on the lute and playing
any of the viols or lute-type instruments. All three facets i.e., the
madrigal, lute and viol were important in establishing Rossi's instru-
mental style which formed the beginning of violinistic music in Italy.
First, the madrigal formed the basis of the ensenble style. Second,
the lute provided the concept of chords. Finally, the viol became the
medium through which Rossi expressed instrumental timbre, style
and voicing.

Following on the heels of the continuo madrigal, which Rossi
wrote in three books dated 1600, 1602 and 1603, the sinfonias and
galliards of 1607 and 1608 established the basso continuo in in-
strumental or specifically string music. Thus was born the trio
sonata which became the classic chamber music form of the baroque.

While Rossi's string compositions of 1607 and 1608 were written
in three, four and five parts, the works are all referred to as trio

80

sonatas because the fourth and fifth parts are optional. In its original
form, the trio sonata was played by two high viols accompanied by
a keyboard — and a bass lute doubled the bass line of the keyboard.
The modern adaptation uses 2 violins accompanied by a piano —
and the 'cello doubles the bass-line of the keyboard. The addition
of a fourth part creates a string quartet (2 violins, viola and cello)
accompanied by a keyboard. A five part work would add a second
viola to the four part combination.

To close, the sinfonias and galliards of 1607 and 1608 represent
both a beginning and an end. They mark the beginning of baroque
string ensemble music and the last of Rossi's instrumental composi-
tions to use the viol. Recognizing the violin's greater expressive
power, he abandoned the viols, in 1613, calling for instruments of
the violin family.

FOOTNOTES

i Fritz Rikko and Joel Newman, Editors, Salomon Rossi Sinfonie. Gag-
liarde, 1607-1608, (Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, Mercury Music Corp., 1971),
Vol. II.

2 Rikko and Newman, op. cit, Table of Contents.

3 Alfred Sendry Tha Music of the Jews in /he Diaspora, (New York:
Thomas Yoseloff, 1970), P. 265.

4 Rikko and Newman, op. cit.. Preface.

5 Rikko and Newman, op. cit., P. 1-2.

6 Rikko and Newman, op. cit., P. 3-4.

7 Rikko and Newman, op. cit, P. 5-6.

8 Rikko and Newman, op. cit, P. 7-8.

9 Rikko and Newman, op. cit, P. 9 10.

10 Rikko and Newman, op. rit. P. 11-12.

11 Rikko and Newman, op. cit, Table of Contents.

12 Rikko and Newman, op. cit. Appendix, P. 28.

13 Rikko and Newman, op. cit, P. 13-14.

14 Rikko and Newman, op. cit, P. 15-17.

15 Rikko and N ewman, op. cit, P. 1 8 - 19.
li Rikko and Newman, op. cit. P. 20-22.
17 Rikko and Newman, op. c-it. P. 23-25.
IS Rikko and Newman, op. cit, P. 26-27.

19 John Murrav Gibbon, Melody and the Lyric. (London: J. M. Dent &
Sons, Ltd., 1930). P. 68.

20 Ibid.

L'CHAH DODI: A NEW TRANSLATION AND COMMENTARY

Elliot B. Gertel

Come, my dear friend, the Bride let's greet;
Sabbath's radiant countenance meet.

"Keep" and "remember" — simultaneously,
God bade Israel's unique assembly;
God is One; His Name is Unity,
To Him alone all praise and glory!

Let us welcome Sabbath, hurrying.
For she is our font of blessing,
The primordial stage of God's ordering;
Created last, but first in His planning.

Sanctuary in the City of God's reign,
Arise from your ruins; spring up again!
Too long drenched by tears of shame,
Look! And see His mercies end pain.

Shaking off shame's dust, be stirred!
Dress proudly, my people, of role assured;
And when by David's Scion delivered,
We shall commit our souls to Thee.

Get up, ye sleepers; sleepers, awake!
Rise to God's light, shining for your sake;
And offer a new song at your daybreak,
For God's glory is reflected in you.

Be not ashamed; be not confused!
Why be downcast, forever abused?
By Thy word, our afflicted enthused
That J erusalem will rise again.

Your pillagers will end as spoil,
Your swallowers subject to God's foil;
I n you will the M aster rejoice,
As a groom delights in young bride.

Spread yourself out in manifold ways;
Worship the Lord, Who alone merits praise;

Elliot B. Gertel is a student at the Rabbinical School of the J ewish
Theological Seminary of America who has contributed frequently to this
journal and to a number of other scholarly periodicals.

By the son of Peretz, restored in a daze,
We shall yet know unbounded joy.

Come in peace, husband's pride;
Come, every joy and ecstasy provide;
Among God's faithful treasure abide;
Dwell among us, Sabbath Bride!

MORE THAN A POEM

In the sixteenth century, Rabbi Shlomo Halevi Alkabetz, re-
nown saint and sage and mystic, composed the sublime liturgical
poem, L'chah Dodi. Each Sabbath eve he lives again; his voice
resounds in the stillness of the synagogue. The L'chah Dodi is more
than a poem. Its urging cannot be ignored; its grandeur cannot but
lift the spirit. It possesses a quality which renders life and wisdom
to printed words. Reassurance resounds from its stanzas. Hebrew
words become harmonious, assuming the hope and vision of many
generations. Our forebears' tears and yearnings for redemption, their
deep faith and sanctified rest, touch us as we are heartened by God's
promise and exalted by the arrival of His day.

We become suspended, past and present fused in awesome
covalence. The future falls subject to the Sabbath. Peace and joy
absolve time; rest and love deter chronology. Time seems to waver
and to abstain. Shabbat is too precious to fall victim to the clock.
By the service is it measured; with an additional soul is it lived.
The Sabbath is that detached day of the week which draws the Jew
into an infinite and universal boardwalk. It links man with God
and traverses centuries of wandering and perilous living in the
destiny of the precious people devoted to the Sabbath Day.

TRANSFORMATION

Indeed, the L'chah Dodi summons within us a sense of unity
that is suppressed during the week. The J ew enters the synagogue
after a week of consuming concerns and taxing travails. He is not
unwilling to leap onto the oasis of the Seventh Day. But he is
thwarted by the mind. Mundane thoughts prevade his emotions;
reigning worries discourage the will. And as he sits within his pew,
his eyes move toward the windows. He regards the sun in its daily
descension, which now appears so much more graceful, as if it were
withdrawing to leave a special guest, a Sabbath Queen, in privacy.
He perceives that in a matter of moments the past week will fade
into stillness. He stands before a portal of sanctity, a threshold
that unites Israel with God, the individual with himself, Jews with

83

all Jews, men with all men. The Sabbath begins at nightfall.

Our Sages understood well the mixed feelings precipitated by
this hour. And they correlated a Prayer Book of many orders. In-
deed, the Hebrew term for Prayer Book — Siddur — means "order."
The psychological order subtly reaches over the preoccupied mind
and stirs the sequestered soul. If only we could allow Shubbat to
emerge from its latency; if only we could embrace it as a reality
which lends santity to life! The L'chah Dodi can release that
which is suppressed.

What time is more appropriate than Sabbath eve for this psycho-
logical order? Each week we stand together on the border between
the holy and the profane, the infinite and the finite, the profound
and the trivial. The Jewish mystics recognized this; hence, they
would not jump into the Sabbath Eve Service, but would serenade
the Sabbath Bridel with a special service of welcome (Kabbalat
Shubbat), for which they selected special psalms emphasizing God's
Kingship and power.2

In the city of Safed, high above the sea of Galilee in Palestine,
the Kabbalists — the mystics of the sixteenth century3 who initiated
the Kabbalat Shabbat Serviced — would clad themselves in white
as Friday faded into darkness, and hasten to the fields to receive
Bride Sabbath.

ONENESS AND REDEMPTION

Interleaved between the introductory psalms, the L'chah Dodi,
filled with Scriptural passages and allusions,5 became the most be-
loved medieval contribution to the Rabbinic order of prayers. Rabbi
Alkabetz, who would also go forth with his pious neighbors to escort
the Sabbath Bride, preserved within his poem the beauty of that
experience as well as the promise of prophetic visions of redemption.
Just as bride and groom are one in marriage, so is Israel unified with
the Sabbath Bride in the matrimony that occurs weekly, and thus
we recall the unity of God and man envisioned by the ancient seers.

1 The Sabbath Bride motif may be traced to B. Shabbat 119a.

2 See A. Z. Idelsohn, Jewish Liturgy and its Development (N.Y.: Schock-
en, 1967). p. 51.

3 See Solomon Schechter, "Safed in the Sixteenth Century, in Studies in
Judaism, pb. (Phil.: Jewish Publication Society, 1970). pp. 231-97. On the
mystical literature regarding this service, see Gershom Scholem, On the
Kabbalah and its Symbolism (N.Y.: Schocken, 1965). pp. 141 ff.

4The Kabbalat Shabbat Service is not named after the Kabbalists. Both
are from the Hebrew root, "to receive."
5 See Idelsohn, pp. 128-9.

84

"What is the meaning of the word, Shabbat?" asks the Zohar, the
sourcebook of Jewish mysticism. "It is the Name of the Holy One,
blessed be He, the Name of perfect Unity on all sides."

The poem is enhanced by its form. The first Hebrew letters of
eight of its lines vertically spell out the author's name: Shlomo
Halevi. Although it was common for the medieval Hebrew poets to
include their names acrostically in their songs of the Divine, much
can be learned about their mysticism by studying their personal in-
volvement to the point of building prayers around signatures.

The Kabbalist attempted to cleave to God by unifying himself
before Him. Jewish Law cautioned him about the dangers of re-
garding everything as permeated by, and one with God, since this
can lead to antinomian blurring of moral standards. 6 Indeed, to
regard every place and every act as holy is to gradually confuse
unchastity with sanctity. Yet, although mystic monism can be
dangerously abused, as can all potent and valuable ideas, the human
quest for unified and integrated existence can find authentic ground-
ing in Divine commandment. Thus, for example, the Sabbath com-
mandment is the source of enactments as well as ecstasy. One could
not preserve the latter without the former. It is only with the Law
that the thirst for the Divine Presence can be quenched without the
extremes of ascetic indifference and drunken revelry. Certain mystics
have therefore warned that man must view God from "our side,"
from the point of view of His transcendence, while God, in viewing
the world "from His side," pervades all reality with His Unique
Being, even when granting freedom to His creatures.' Authentic
Jewish mysticism is the awareness that man's quest to attain unity
with God is dependent upon the way of Torah, which channels
powerful spiritual yearnings from self-indulgence to self-discipline.

The Kabbalist offered himself to God by sharing, as it were, in
God's concern for mankind. His love for God moved him to search
for any Divine "distress" that he might ease in his small way. He
sensed a kind of suffering and separation within the One God Who
seeks to rule with justice and mercy a world that has exiled Him
with strife and insensitivity. It is as though the Kabbalist were
able to regard Divine concern as a weeping eye, and see reflected
upon its retina the image of human folly and treachery.

6See Walter S. Wurzburger. "Pluralism and Halakhah," in Treasury of
Tradition, cd. Lamm and Wurzburger (N .Y.: Hebrew Publishing Company,
1967).

7 See Norman Lamm "The Unity Theme and its Implication for Mod-
ems," in ibid.

85

Kabbalistic belief did not for a moment imply that God is not
truly and absolutely One, or that His creation of man in some way
requires human cooperation for the continuity of His Oneness.
Rather, the mystics of Safed concluded that the purpose of man as
creature is to engender pathos for the Creator, Who wills human
unity. Jewish mysticism was a call to man to live up to his cosmic
responsibility: to be sensitive to the needs of fellow human beings,
and to the infinite concern of the Almighty as expressed in His
Torah.*

In the V chah Dodi, Rabbi Alkabetz reminds the worshiper that
the Rabbis regarded the commandments to "keep" and to "remem-
ber" the Sabbath as being simultaneously uttered by God.9 The
Jew must therefore remain vigilant in his sanctifi cation of the Sab-
bath, so that the blessings of the day are not lost to memory or to
mechanical observances. We abstain from a multitude of distracting
labors so that we may realize in the most tangible way that God
is the Supreme Reality in life.

Rabbi Alkabetz stressed in the L'chah Dodi that while redemp-
tion depends upon the grace of God, it cannot be achieved without
human struggle and preparation. Hence his dramatic charge that,
with the coming of each Sabbath, the Jewish people arise and
renew themselves, in anticipation of the restoration of Zion and
Jerusalem, which the ancient Prophets regarded as but the first step
in the redemption of all mankind. Yet no human being is capable
of preparing all mankind for redemption. Nor is any one Jew able
to prepare his entire people. And so, perhaps, since Rabbi Alkabetz
could not personally urge future generations onward, he implanted
his name in a prayer which binds the generations in yearning for
redemption.

and then replied, "And you, sir, for whom do you work?' Rabbi
Naphtali could not help applying the question to his position as
teacher and pastor. "Tell me, sir, would you like to work for me?"

TO REMIND US

Many years ago, though many decades after the passing
of Rabbi Alkabetz, the Zaddik of Roftshitz, Rabbi Naphtali, strolled
through the streets of that town. He chanced to meet the watchman
of an imposing estate. "Good evening to you, sir! For whom do
you work?" inquired the curious Rabbi. The watchman answered

8 See Abraham Heschel, "The Mystical Element in Judaism," in Louis
Finkelstein, The ) ems: Their History, Culture and Religion.

9 See Exodus 20:8, Deuteronomy 5: 2, and B. Shavuot 20b.

86

he inquired, eyeing the watchman. "Certainly," was the reply.
"What would my duties be?" "To remind me," said the Rabbi, "to
remind me."

The L'chah Dodi poem is a liturgical watchman in our midst,
reminding us for Whom we rest, to which people we belong, and of
the kind of redemption we anticipate. Within its stanzas lie the
elements of the kind of Sabbath experience for which we have all
yearned!

Editor's Note

In the July 1980 issue of The Journal of Synagogue Music, the transla-
tions of three Sabbath eve prayers which were part of Mr. Gertel's article on
the Sabbath eve liturgy, were inadvertently mixed together.

We publish below the correct texts with our apologies to the author and
to those readers who were confused by the misprints.

R'tzei
(A vodah)

Favor, Lord, Thy people, Israel,
And their humble prayer.
Restore the Service to Thy Temple;
And receive in love and favor there
Israel's worship and sacrifice.
may our offerings suffice;
And may our eyes soon behold
Thy return to Zion, as of old!
Blessed art Thou, Merciful Lord,
Whose Presence, to Zion, is restored.*

Modim Anahnu Lakh
(Hodaah)

We thank Thee, Lord, Who forever

Is our God, as of our fathers.

We thank Thee in every generation!

Rock of our lives, Shield of salvation,

We thank Thee and Thy praises mention:

For our lives, in Thy handling;

For our souls, in Thy keeping;

And for Thy miracles, daily recurring;

For Thy wonders, for Thine every boon,

Each moment given — eve, morn and noon.

Thou Whose Name is Goodness-
Thou Whose tender mercies endure;
Who withholdest not loving kindness,

1 n Thee we always feel secure.

The following prayer is added on Rosh Hodesh (New Moon), and during
Succot and Pesah:

Ya' ale V yavo

Our God, as of our fathers:

May our remembrance alight,

Reach Thee, he noted, and find favor

In Thy hearing and in Thy sight,

Along with the memory of our forebears,

And of the Davidic Messiah. Thy servant,

And of Jerusalem, Thy city of holiness.

May Thy people Israel, now a remnant,

Find rescue, well-heing, grace and tenderness:

Compassion, life and peace in this festivity .

Remember us, Lord, for our best interest!

Recall us for blessing; save our vitality!

Show us reprieve and compassion!

Have mercy on us; save us.

Our eyes are bent in Thy direction!

For Thou art God, sovereign and gracious.

REVIEW OF NEW MUSIC

"NEW YEAR'S SERVICE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE"

by J ack Gottlieb for two-part chorus and piano/organ, Theophilous

Music, New York

It is difficult for a "non-com poser" — to critically evaluate a
composer's creative efforts, be the work excellent or mediocre. I have
no desire to fall into the category of those so-called professional
critics who, throughout history, have ridiculed in their time the works
of some of our greatest composers, only to find their own criticism
buried in the "junkyard" of inane, sterile pontification.

I want to say at the outset that I have only the highest respect
for those engaged in the art of composing, the most difficult of all
the music disciplines, especially for the unsung heroes who labor in
behalf of J ewish music.

I consider J ack Gottlieb to be one of those unsung heroes. His
constant efforts on behalf of J ewish music are well known — his
rewards very meagre.

In evaluating his "New Year's Service for Young People" which
was published in 1970 and given its first performance in St. Louis
on Rosh Hashanah September 30, 1970 I find much to be praised and
to be criticized; a mixed bag as it were! I am taking the liberty of
listing each one of his twenty parts that constitute the entire work
with brief comments on each:

1. New Year's Greeting to God:

Excellent: the music and words are warm and meaningful,
setting the stage for the litany of songs to follow.

2. Shehecheyanu:

Pleasant and well paced by syncopated rhythms.
3-7. Barhu-Shma-Mi Hamoha (A-B-C) :

Good use of traditional modes backed by modern harmonies
which, for our day, is convincing.

8. Zahraynu:

Very brief but effective.

9. K'dusha:

Traditional mode, excellently conceived and written.
10. V'al Kulam:

Very brief but effective.

David Politzer serves as the Director of Music for the Board of Jewish
Education of Chicago, Illinois.

11. Resolve (for Rosh Hashanah) :

The composer has suggested this be more effectively sung
by sub-teenagers. I assume he means young children. I
personally suggest that it be performed by very young
children. (Ages 6-8) — the words, otherwise, would be
toO trite.

12. The Book of Life:

One of the finest settings in the work for young people.
Rhythmic, snappy, meaningful.

13. Hymn of Forgiveness:

Sequences at the outset overdone. Words are a bit trite

and the piece, as a whole, is not convincing.
14A-14B. Silent Devotion and May the Words:

"Shades" of Broadway tunes. I think they lack feeling of

religiosity.
15. S'u Sh'arim:

Good, particularly as a two-part setting.
16A-16B. Shma — L'ha Adonai:

I am reminded too much of the "Little Mary Sunshine"

syndrome in the melodic and rhythmic treatment.
17-18. Hodo al Eretz — Etz Hayim — Hashivenu:

The Hodo is "passable"; the Etz Hayim reminds one again

of Kadota in Indian-land. The Hashivenu is very good,

particularly as a two-part song.
19-20. Vanahnu — On That Day — Closing Hymn:

All three are good, particularly the closing hymn with its

traditional Barhu (high holy day) mode.

I find Mr. Gottlieb's work to be, on the whole, a contribution
the High Holiday repertoire for young people and deserving of wide-
spread use, especially by our reform congregations.

David Politzer

PSALMS OF WOE AND JOY

for S.A.T.B. Choir, Transcontinental Music Publication 991047,

Transcontinental Music Publications, New York, by Robert Starer

Undoubtedly, the most challenging task for today's realistic,
serious composer is to create an expressive musical statement within
a contemporary idiom that does not alienate the larger musical com-
munity by its use of dissonance or performance complexity. So often
one reads through a new piece and marvels at the clever relationships
on the printed page but cringles at the prospect of performing the
music or teaching it to an ensemble. These may be vital works in
the abstract evaluation of organized sound but, especially in light
of today's publishing economics, they will be known by few and per-
formed and remembered by less. When a new composition arrives
that is as mindful of the performers as it is of its own aesthetic
integrity it is, indeed, a time for celebration. Happily, Robert Starer's
Psalms of Woe and Joy is this kind of contemporary choral master-
work. In addition it is a wonderfully constructed example of the
heights J ewish music can reach in our own time.

The two movement structure, commissioned by the Zamir
Chorale of Boston in 1976, finds its text from Psalm 6: Chaneini —
Be Gracious To Me, Lord and Psalms 136 and 148: Hodu — Glory
To The Lord. Composed originally in the Hebrew and later given a
sensitive English translation by the composer, Starer's facility for
text setting and coloration is elegantly demonstrated in these
realizations.

In his previous choral works, Ariel, On the Nature of Things,
and Images of Man the composer's stylistic preference for dramatic
rhythms infused with jazz-like phrasings synthesize with traditional
cennic devices and techniques of motivic expansion; so it is with
these psalms.

In the first movement (the two settings are unified by motivic
recollection) pedal octaves at the extremes of the keyboard punctuate
an expanding, urgent plea "Chuneini, Adonai". Always interesting,
rhythmic variations never yield to misaccentuations of the words.
The texture thickens yet softens at the question "Bi-sheol mi yodeh
lach? and comes to rest on the lyrical soprano chant (easily adopted
for solo cantorial use) "Hoshieini Adonai, lemaan chasdecha". A

Michael Isaacson is an innovative and talented young composer currently
living in Los Angeles where he divides his time between writing music for the
synagogue and for television.

91

pianissimo pedal of the extreme octaves, now a step higher, finalizes
a most evvocative cadence. This psalm text affords us an intimate
view of Man and God and in its introspective circumvaluation and
sense of drama Starer's setting adds definition to the concept of
religiosity in music.

The second movement offers a brisk contrast. An alternating
7/4, 8/4 pattern (perhaps paced a bit too optimistically at 152)
dances gloriously in praise of the Lord. It is easy to understand
why Martha Graham has frequently commissioned ballet scores from
Starer. He knows when to infectiously repeat patterns and when
to let the music take off in flight. He understands the crackling
rhythms of the Hebrew prosody and allows it to work for him. There
is energy everywhere. The singers at one point snap fingers and
slap thighs in exultation and over all this a skillfully orchestrated
keyboard part darts in and out with fiery percussiveness. The thir-
teen bar coda reprises the first movement "Chaneni" motive and
extreme keyboard octaves alongside the compelling 7/4, jy 4 pattern
and an easy but effective choral divisi for a bravura ending that is
sure to bring audiences to their feet and congregants up to the front
for after-service Thank You's

I believe this is Robert Starer's first association with Transcon-
tinental under Cantor Stephen Richard's editorial leadership and
Samuel Adler's guidance. All deserve our sincere thanks for making
available this magnificent new work. It is guaranteed to have a long
active life, and for this we are grateful.

Michael Isaacson

92

"HAZZAN IN RECnAL": A REVIEW

SHOLOM KALIB

The annual convention of the Cantors Assembly is always an
exciting and memorable experience for cantors as well as guests.
It is an annual occasion when cantors from across the United States
and Canada and beyond gather to see each other, to hear Jewish
musical works old and new, to listen to and engage in discussions
of a wide variety of topics of interest to the professional cantor.

At the 1979 convention, a new feature was introduced, entitled
"Hazzan in Recital". On that occasion, the eminent Cantor Jacob
Barkin presented a recital, including works ranging from old Italian
classics to opera, from classic Yiddish and Hebrew songs to haz-
zanut. It was magnificent. It set a most challenging precedent for
any to follow.

There are indeed very few cantors possessing the vocal ability
and training, the musical discipline and schooling, as well as the
broad scope of knowledge and experience required to present a pro-
gram of such varied styles at a truly proper level of technique,
artistry and expertise. However, at this past convention of the
Cantors Assembly at Grossinger's in Liberty, New York, on Wednes-
day afternoon, April 30, 1980, the convention was once again honored
by a "Hazzan in Recital" program — this time by Cantor Louis
Danto of Congregation Beth Emeth of Toronto. It was as thrilling
as it was brilliantly executed.

Cantor Danto was accompanied by the very able, well known
pianist, Leo Barkin, also of Toronto. The program included three
old Italian classics, three art songs by the immortal Austrian com-
poser, Franz Schubert; the celebrated operatic aria, Lamento di
Federico by Francesco Cilea; two light and charming classic Yiddish
songs, and a similarly light Hebrew song; two additional but more
serious Yiddish classics, followed by two Russian classics on Hebrew
themes by Rimsky-Korsakov and Balakirev, respectively, and
climaxed by two magnificent pieces of hazzanut by the late Cantor
Leib Glantz. The program thus included the highest quality of art
music in five languages, and with even greater diversity of style, and
Cantor Danto rendered each and every selection with immaculate
purity of tone and at a level of artistry most rarely matched.

The most striking feature of Cantor Danto' s art is his amazing
vocal technique. It reveals the blending of head and chest resonance

Dr. Sholom Kalib is Professor of Music at Eastern Michigan University
and serves as Hazzan of Congregation Beth Israel, of Flint, Michigan. He is
a prominent composer of synagogue music and musicologist.

with a mastery and control that identifies it as a product of the
classic Italian bel canto tradition, an art close to lost in our day.
The listener perceives an impression of effortless, totally unstrained
vocal production. The pure, seemingly effortless sound flows with
artistic expression amid the most subtle and effective fluctuation of
dynamic range — from the softest shade of piano to a full, very
strong forte. This technique was used to obvious advantage in the
seventeenth and eighteenth century Italian opera songs, which were
composed during the same time and place which generated the bel
canto vocal method as well as the early Italian opera itself. This
technique was no less effective, however, in the light, vivacious
Schubert lieder Wohin and Seligkeit. Cantor Danto's unique ability
to sustain notes amid the most subtle dynamic nuances came out
with stunning effect in the Schubert Du bist die Ruh' The mea-
sured crescendo in that song in the ascending phrase "dies Augenzelt
vor deinem Glanz allein erhellt" ("your glance alone brightens this
enclosure") deserves particular mention as a highlight of technique
and artistry. In the operatic aria, Lamento di Federico, Cantor Danto
displayed once again most sensitive artistic interpretation, subtlety
of nuance, but in this selection, dramatic power as well.

It was a refreshing and rare experience to hear Yiddish and
Hebrew song sung with such delightful technical purity of tone and
artistic beauty. The lovely and rarely performed Hebrew Song of
Rimsky-Korsakov and the Hebrew Melody by Lermentov-Balakirev
were also rendered at the high artistic level that characterized the
entire recital. The famous cantorial selection Sh'ma Yisroel by the
great cantor known for his novelty of style, Leib Glantz, seemed
to climax the program. Its majesty of style and dramatic interpre-
tive power were projected so convincingly and effectively, one could
almost anticipate the thunderous applause and cheering from the
enthusiastic audience which greeted its conclusion. It caused one
to wonder whether the final selection might not suffer from an anti-
climatic effect. However, in the final selection, another cantorial
recitative by Cantor Leib Glantz, no less beautiful and powerful than
his Sh'ma Yisroel, Cantor Danto actually succeeded in matching
and even exceeding the emotional, dramatic and artistic impact he
had achieved in the Sh'ma Yisroel, which brought the audience to
its feet in a thunderous standing ovation, which in turn served to
render a most fitting close to a truly masterful recital.

The piano accompaniments of Mr. Leo Barkin were rendered
with utmost skill and musical taste, revealing illustriously his vast
experience, technique and artistic judgement for which he is so
well known.