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J O U R N A L

OF SYNAGOGUE MUSIC

December 197 1/TEVET5732

Volume III
Number 4

CONTENTS

A J ewish Mass or a Catholic Mitzvah? Jack Gottlieb 3

The Incongruities of the Translations

in the English Bibles of the Hebrew

Musical Terms in the Tanach Alfred Sendrey 8

Music in the American Synacocue Samuel H. Adler 15

A. M. Bernstein (1866-1932) : An Exploration

In the Form of a Chronology Albert Weisser 22

DEPARTMENTS

Music Section 31

S'mirothl'El Chaj Synagogengesange by Max G. Lowenstamm

Review of New Music 60

Psalm xxx by Herman Berlinski
Psalm 137 by Steven Richards

Sabbath Eve Service by Robert Starer

The Hush of Midnight by Charles Davidson

Hegyon Lihi, Sabbath Eve Service by Michael Isaacson
Fioe Opening Anthems by Herbert FrOIYllTl

Shabbat N usach S'fard by E manurl Rosenberg

Meditation for Organ by Arthur Horvit

BOOK Review 64

The Music of the Jews in the Diaspora by Alfred Sen dry

JOURNAL OF SYNAGOGUE MUSIC, VolUVUe III, Number 4

December 1971/Tevet 5732

Published by Cantors Assembly

editor : Morton Shames

managing editor i Samuel Rosenbaum

editorial board: Lawrence Avery, Joseph Bach, Gerald H. Hanig,
Saul Meisels, David J. Putterman, Moses J. Silverman, Pinchas Spiro,
Dr. Max Wohlberg.

associate members: Irving Kischel, Chairman, Louis Klein, Abra-
ham Shapiro, Harry Weinberg.

officers of the cantors assembly: Yehuda Mandel, President;
Gregor Shelkan, Vice President; Kurt Silbermann, Treasurer;
Morton Shames, Secretary; Samuel Rosenbaum, Executive Vice
President.

journal of synagogue music is a quarterly publication. The sub-
scription fee is $5.00 per year; $10.00 per year for patrons. Second-
class postage paid at New York, New York. All articles, communica-
tions and subscriptions should be addressed to Journal of Synagogue
Music, Cantors Assembly, 150 Fifth Avenue, New York 10011.

A J BMSH MASS OR A CATHOLIC MnZVAH?

J ACK G OTTLIEB

The verdict is in. Even though there are voices yet, to be heard
from, it is safe to say that the critical reception to Leonard Bernstein's
new "Mass," written for the opening of the Kennedy Center, has
resulted in a hung jury. The New York press has damned it, while
the Washington contingent shouted hosanna! (Provincialism, per-
haps?)

Time magazine says that the music "reflects a basic confusion,"
but, Newsweek calls it "inspired on all counts." The first nighters
were determinably more cool than the less uptight preview audiences.
But in all the brouhaha about this great split decision of 1971, only
passing mention has been made of a remarkable fact: that a dis-
tinctive J ewishness pervades this Catholic work.

This is not because it is historically the first mass ever to be
written by a J ew, but that it could have never been conceived by a
"dyed- in -the- A gnus- Dei" Catholic in the first place. Those who
would dismiss it, however, as a "show-biz" mass have a fundamental
misconception, since it is not a mass that incidentally uses theatrical
devices, but as the composer subtitles it: "A Theater Piece for Singers,
Players and Dancers" that uses the mass structure as its point of
departure.

It is Bernstein's first theatrical effort since "West Side Story"
(1957), although there have been two aborted attempts since then:
one based on Thornton Wilder's 'The Skin of Our Teeth" and the
other on Bertolt Brecht's 'The Exception and the Rule," parts from
both having found their nesting place in the "Mass." Not only is
the massive "Mass" more musically sophisticated than the 1957 land-
mark musical, but it also dims the lustre of the more recent "J esus

J ack Gottlieb was born in New Rochelle, New York. He was first en-
couraged in composition by the late Max Helfman. His formal study began
with Karol Rathaus at Queens College in New York. He went on to study with
Irving Fine at Brandeis University and with Burrill Phillips at the University
of Illinois from which he received the degree of Doctor of Musical Arts. From
1958-1966 he was Assistant to Leonard Bernstein at the New York Philhar-
monic. In 1970 he was appointed Music Director at Temple Israel in St. Louis,
Missouri. His liturgical works include three services: "Love Songs for the
Sabbath/' "New Year Service for Young People," "Torah Service for the
Family Service." He has also composed an opera based on the entire biblical,
"Song of Songs."

This article was first published by the St. Louis J ewish Light in October
1971.

Christ Superstar." At the same time it certainly is lower than the
angels when compared to Beethoven's exalted "Missa Solemnis" or
the austere "Mass" by Stravinsky, composers whose presences are
felt in the Bernstein work.

Nothing like it has ever been witnessed and experienced in a
church or, for that matter, on a Broadway stage.

But the reasons why a Roman Catholic composer could not or
would not have geven birth to this mass go beyond its non-liturgical
aspects, since most intriguingly, Bernstein has imposed upon it a
decidedly J ewish weltanshauung. And in order to accept this, the
listener first had to decide for himself if a musician, in the fullest
sense of that word, is qualified also to be a theologian. Or is this
man a victim of a kind of megalomania?

In any case, the roots for the philosophic theme date from his
"Kaddish" Symphony of 1963 (dedicated to the memory of J ohn
Kennedy) which has a spoken text written by the composer. The
Speaker, representing humanity, says of the Divine, 'Together we
suffer, together exist and forever will recreate each other." This
J ewish view of life, of an ongoing interaction between God and Man,
is like Martin Buber would have put it: the "I " is part of the 'Thou"
and vice versa. God thus is seen as a never-ending creative force, over-
coming chaos in cooperation with man; and the composer's text for
the "Mass" vividly dramatizes this on-going process.

If one regards classical J udaism as a religion of law and tradi-
tional Catholicism (that is, prior to Vatican II) as a religion of
dogma, it might then be said that the one tells us what to do, while
the other tells us what to believe. Blind faith is not as acceptable to
the J ew as it has been to the Catholic. The Latin Missal ironically,
then, is a more commodious vehicle for Bernstein than the Hebrew
Siddur since it affords him the doctrinal targets for doubts, questions
and even ridicule. But it must also be made clear that parts of the
worship format, as used by him, are already passe since the house
cleaning of Vatican II. Catholics in 1971, therefore, would be less
likely to take offense at the so-called "blasphemies" than they would
have before that innovative Council took place in 1962-63.

Sections of church prayer do, of course, originate in synagogue
prayer. Psalm fragments liberally dot the landscape in "Mass," for
example, in the prefatory sequence; and the De Profundis (part of the
Offertory in "Mass") is Psalm 130 in its entirety. The Lord's Prayer
is derived from the Kaddish prayer, theTe Deum from the Aleinu, and
the Sanctus grows directly out of the Kedushah. Bernstein explicitly
stresses this latter kinship in a magical transformation from Latin

to Hebrew — a particularly poignant moment that is both stunning
for its theatricality and religiously moving for its unexpectedness.

During the Offertory scene, some golden ritual artifacts are
brought to the front of the stage, and just as the mice will play
while the cat's away, a bacchanalian dance develops around them,
only to be stopped dead in its tracks by the arrival of Big Daddy,
the central character of the Celebrant. Could it be the dance around
the Golden Calf and the sudden appearance of Moses? This Celebrant,
who has been characterized as everything from a Christ-figure to a
symbol of the Establishment, and who dissolves from innocence of
belief (in blue jeans) to madness, as he loses grip on that belief
(now richly clad in his props of burdensome robes) later on rein-
forces the Moses idea by smashing these same artifacts (not a crucifix
as some viewers have reported) at the height of his disintegration. The
tablets of the Ten Commandments hurled down from Mount Sinai?

But there is more subtle J ewish content than this. Leading up
to that hair-raising moment of destruction, the climax of the "Mass,"
there is a chilling metamorphosis that seemingly twists the slogan of
"war is heir into '"peace is hell." The stage writhes in a Dante-esque
kind of infernal nightmare as the entire company goes hysterical with
the plea: "dona nobis pacem" (give us peace).

One group screams: "We're fed up with your heavenly silence,
and we only get action with violence," a couplet that might have
come right out of the Book of J ob (19: 7) : "Behold, I cry out:
Violence!' but I am not heard I cry aloud, but there is no justice."
Another group proclaims: "We're not down on our knees, ... We're
not asking you please; We're just saying: give us peace now!"

Such a demand, not a request, is in the J udaic tradition of the
Biblical Prophets and the series of personal confrontations with their
Maker. Furthermore, there is the famous J udgment Against God by
Rabbi Levi Isaac of Berditchev (18th century Ukranian) who de-
clares to God: "I will not stir from this spot until there be an end
to our persecution."

The Credo is set in mechanistic formula writing, using 12 tone
procedures and sung in Latin by a stuffed-shirt type of choir in
robes, while juxtoposed to it is a rock style Non-Credo, sung in
English by Street People in mod clothing, which has the chutzpah
to say: 'You, God, choose to become a man, To pay the earth a
small social call; I tell you, Sir, you never were a man at all. Why?
You had the choice when to live, when to die, and then become a
God again."

This kind of Talmudic disputation is further substantiated by
male choral responses of "possibly yes, probably no." One is strikingly
reminded of hassidic disciples at the feet of their beloved Rebbe
wrangling over details of Biblical law and interpretation.

This Jewish penchant for playing with words is exploited,
through the form of acrostics and puns, by Bernstein and his col-
laborator, Stephen Schwartz (who, along with the conductor Maurice
Peres, form a Trinity of Jews in the "Mass" hierarchy). Thus the
musical syllables of "mi" and "sol" become "me" and "soul" (surely
a more meaningful punning than Oscar Hammerstein's saccharine:
"Do, a female deer," etc.). In the hauntingly beautiful mad scene
(oddly reminiscent of the mad scene in Britten's "Peter Grimes")
"Amen" is transformed into "I'm in" ("a hurry") "If it all ends
today" (read as 'De') "Profundis" and the Hebrew word for Lord,
"Adonai" (read as V)" don't know, I don't no"-( that is, 'know')-
"his, misere nobis."

There are musical puns also. The composer quotes a phrase from
his "Kaddish" Symphony in one of the opening Kyries. He takes a
Chilean folk song (Mrs. Bernstein was raised in Chile) called
"Versos por la Sagrada Escritura" (Verses for the Sacred Scripture)
as a setting for the Epistle reading, proclaiming loud and clear: 'You
cannot imprison the word of the Lord." This also gives him the
opportunity to quote actual letters from a conscientious objector and
a member of the Catholic left (Daniel Berrigan? The Director of
"Mass," Gordon Davidson, incidentally, directed 'The Trial of the
Catonsville Nine," a play about the travails of the Berrigans). An
orchestral meditation, later incorporated into the mad-scene, is a
passacaglia on the prophetic 11-tone sequence from the last movement
of Beethoven's "Ninth Symphony" (with reference, naturally, to the
idea that "all men are brothers.")

The music obviously, then, is highly eclectic. But this is nothing
new with Bernstein; his output has always been thus. Nor is eclec-
ticism in art a dirty word anymore these days. So-called "quote-
pieces" abound. Lukas Foss's "Phorion is based on Bach's E Minor
"Partita." Luciana Berio interweaves a movement from Mahler's
Second Symphony in his Symphony. Wesley Bolk's opera "Faust
Counter Faust" is filled with previous Faustian musical izations. In
the "Mass" there are also unintentional evocations of Kurt Weill (in
"World Without End," an ecological plea), Gershwin's "Porgy and
Bess" (in the taunting "Half of the People" and a Sporting Life
kind of song called "Easy"), Mahler (the motive for "Kadosh,
Kadosh"), Marc Blitzstein (in the song 'Thank You") and others.

But the interesting thing is that Bernstein quotes mostly from
himself. The opening psalm "A New Song" uses a tune not unlike
one found in the first movement of his violin concerto "Serenade."
The clarinets which accompany the song "I Go On" remind us of
the opening of the "Age of Anxiety" (although the sung melody un-
fortunately comes out sounding like the pop song "I Remember
You"). One of the dances suggests the "Profanation" Movement of
the "J eremiah" Symphony; another breaks into a phrase straight out
of the "Candide Overture." The Gospel-Sermon "God Said" is a close
relative of "Gee, Officer Krupke" from "West Side Story," Part of
'Things Get Broken" could trace its ancestry to the aria 'There Are
Men" from 'Trouble in Tahiti." The "Sanctus" sounds like harmonic
sequences used in his incidental music to "Peter Pan."

Bernstein has somewhat justified all this melange by stating that
everything that he has composed up to the time of the "Mass" was,
in someway, a preparation. His accomplishment is truly a spectacular
triumph of mind over matter. For despite its incredible diversity
(which no other composer could have technically handled so well)
and even in spite of its moments of questionable taste, he has suc-
ceeded gloriously in his intention "to communicate as directly and
universally as I can, a reaffirmation of faith," and, one might add,
of tonality.

Because of my professional relationship with Bernstein over the
years, I have had to restrain myself to be as cooly objective as pos-
sible in this report. But if the reader will allow me to throw caution
to the winds, I cannot help but say that "Mass" is the most
significant breakthrough in the musical theater of our time. Amen,
brother, Amen.

INCONGRUITIES OF THE TRANSLATIONS IN THE ENGUSH
BIBLES OF THE HEBREW MUSICAL TERMS IN THE TANACH

Alfred Sendrey

There are, in the English Bible translations, bizarre and incon-
gruous misinterpretations of many simple and easily understandable
musical terms which, with a little logical (and musical!) thinking,
could easily be reproduced in English, so that the original Hebrew
is not "raped." The crux of the matter is that most of these trans-
lations were made by persons who had only a smattering of musical
knowledge. But to translate musical terms, one must have at least
an elementary familiarity with music.

Of course, a translation cannot always give the correct meaning
of a term or a phrase. Ben Sirach realized this when he stated in the
introduction to the apocryphal book of Ecclesiasticus:

"For the same things uttered in Hebrew, and translated
into another tongue, have not the same force in them."

He spoke of translations from Hebrew to Greek, made by earlier
as well as contemporary writers. The time span between Biblical
Hebrew and the English tongue did not facilitate matters either.
Translations from other languages into English sometimes rendered
bizarre results. The following translations from classical Greek into
English will illustrate my point.

The famous Greek poetress Sappho (born about 630 before the
Common Era) lived on the island of Lesbos. She founded there, to-
gether with other literary colleagues, a movement for the revival
of Greek poetry. She wrote a poem in which she eulogized the instru-
ment generally used at those times as an accompaniment to lyric
poems. ' Her poems were translated into English by a number of
illustrious English poets, among them Henry Wharton in 1877, and,
after him, by Edwin Cox, J . M. Edmonds, David Robinson, and more
recently by De Vere Stockpole.

This is how Wharton translated Sappho's poem:

"Come now, divine shell, become vocal for me."
Edmonds, 50 years later, interpreted it as:

"Up, my lute divine, and make thyself a thing of speech."
Robinson had another idea; he translated:

1. The quotations from Paul McPharlin, The Songs of Sappho (New
York, 1942).

"Come now, divine tortoise, mayest thou become endowed with
speech for me."

Cox came back to the shel I , thus:

"Come, ocome, divine& shell,

And in my ear thy secrets tell."

Thus, the shell, not the lute or tortoise was made to utter Sappho's
words.

Stockpole used another metaphor:

"Singing, a shell divine,

Let now thy voice be mine."
Thus, the shell, not the lute or tortoise was supposed to utter
Sappho's words.

None of these illustrious Hellenists sensed that the instrument
with which Sappho and the other poets of the epoch accompanied
their poems, was the widely used kithara.

Why do I compare the English translations of Biblical terms
with the fate that befell Sappho's poem? Simply to illustrate how a
relatively simple and well known instrument of the Greek musical
practice could be so grievously misunderstood by five learned inter-
preters. Now, there are a dozen or more English translations of the
Biblical books, which offer much more opportunity for errors and
misinterpretations than that found in a single Greek poem. And
such errors are galore.

The first English translation made by J ohn Wycliffe, and shortly
after him, in a corrected version, by J ohn Hereford, both in the 14th
century, follow basically the Greek Septuagint and the Latin Vulgate
translations of the Hebrew original. After these pioneers, a host of
other English translations cropped up, destined for Protestant,
Catholic and J ewish usage, always supposedly improved, but never-
theless full of misconceptions and erroneous translations, as far as
musical terms are concerned. Ten of the numerous English trans-
lations were scrutinized by me. This is what I found, among others.

Let's start with the earliest mention of music in the Old Testa-
ment, in Genesis 4: 21, where J ubal is said to have been the patron
"of all such as handle the harp and the organ."

Now, in classical Greek language all musical instruments are
termed organon mousikon (in Latin organum musicum), sometimes
with, and sometimes without the qualification referring to music.
Thus nothing was more simple than to translate the Hebrew ugab
as "organ." What all these translators did not realize was that at
the beginning of Hebrew musical history, and long before Biblical

times, such a complicated mechanism as the organ could not have
existed. To build an organ-like instrument, even in its primitive form,
required many centuries of experimentation as well as technical know-
how, which the ancient Hebrews in their nomadic existence could
not have acquired. Nevertheless, the "organ," this anachronistic
term, perpetuated by the classical Protestant Bible in the King
J ames Version (publ. 1612), persisted almost until the present time.

Other bizarre interpretations of the Hebrew ugab were:
"kithara," "flute," "syrinx," "hydraulis" (the Greek water-organ),
and only occasionally "pipe," which is the correct English equivalent
for ugab.

Take the word kinnor, the ancient J ewish lyre, mentioned to-
gether with ugab in Genesis 4:21. It is called alternately "psaltery,"
"harp," "zither," "lute." Even the authoritative J ewish translation,
following the Masoretic text,2 still calls the kinnor "harp." Only in its
most recent, 1962 edition, is kinnor correctly translated as "lyre."

The nebel was the harp of Biblical times. It is translated alter-
nately, "nabla," "naula," "nablion," (using the Greek and Latin
forms of the original), as well as "kithara," and "psaltery."

In later translations it was identified with the Arabian "santir,"
and with a medieval instrument, the "dulcimer." This was a flat
sounding board, on which strings were stretched, and played by being
struck with small sticks. Idelsohn, the great Jewish scholar, who
should have known the exact meaning of the Biblical musical terms,
identified the nebel as a "bagpipe," despite the fact that bagpipe-like
instruments appeared many centuries later. Other manifestly errone-
ous interpretations of the nebel in the English Bibles are "lute,"
"gittern" (the medieval term for "zither"), and in one instance "viol,"
an instrument played with a bow, despite the fact that the bow for
stringed instruments did not exist in Biblical times.

I have to skip the Biblical terms to which a double meaning was
attributed, some translators considering them as being musical instru-
ments, others giving them extra-musical interpretations. Such terms
are : l gittit," considered by some interpreters as an "instrument from
Geth (or Gath) ," a city in which King David was exiled for some
time. Others interpret "gittit" as a "vat", in which the grapes were

2. Published by the J ewish Publication Society of America, Philadelphia,
1917.

trodden. The sabbekah, sumponyah, kathros, mashrokita, and
pesanterin, mentioned only in the Book of Daniel (3: 5 ff) , are mani-
festly foreign, heathen instrments, not used in J ewish musical prac-
tice. — Neginot, alternately rendered as a "stringed instrument," "a
song," or simply "music." Shushan is interpreted in most diversified
manners; sometimes as the initial word of a song, but also as
"trumpet," "flute," "cymbal," but mostly as the flower "lily."

Other terms with a double meaning are: nekeb, interpreted by
many Biblical expounders as "flute," by others, as a "hollow cavity"
of jewels, in which precious stones were set. — Then the terms
nehilot and mahol, rendered by some translators as "flutes," but
others doubt this meaning and maintain that both refer rather to
"dancing," while a third interpretation is that of "inheritance,"
referring to the land that the Hebrews "inherited." So, take your
choice!

Alamot and sheminit have so many different interpretations
that simply to mention them would by far exceed the space allotted
to this paper. Suffice to mention that alamot refers to almah,
"young maiden," or to the range of the female singing voice, while
sheminit, to the contrary, refers to the sound of men's voices.

The same fate as befell ugab befell the other pipe-like instrument
of the Hebrews, the halil, and its later variant, the abub. Both
were almost unanimously rendered as "flutes," sometimes as "double-
flutes," the two pipes of which were attached either in a parallel
manner, or at a certain angle, but blown simultaneously by a single
mouthpiece.

Nothing would have been simpler for the translators than to
render the hazozerot, blown in the liturgy by the priests as their
exclusive privilege, as what they really were, the "trumpets" of the
Hebrews. We find such variants in our translations as "trump,"
"tromp," "bugle," "cornet," even "shawn," which was a medieval
oboe-like woodwind instrument. But this last rendering would have
required some historical knowledge, which was evidently not the
province of the Bible translators.

Theshofar is rendered variously as "horn," "ram's horn," "wild
goat's horn," which are all correct in themselves, but it cannot be
understood why a term so familiar to the J ews should have three
different renderings in our English Bibles. A uniform term, "horn," or
"ram's horn" would be appropriate.

The translations of keren, the horn made of the bovine cattle
is not differentiated in our English Bibles from that of the shofar,
although they are manifestly different instruments. Consequently,

keren should be distinguished from the shofar by terming it "neat's
horn."

The same applies to yobel, the big horn that was blown to
introduce the fiftieth year of the J ewish calendar. It is almost unani-
mously translated as shofar, despite the fact that it was manifestly
a different instrument, different in construction as well as in sound.
Theyobelwas provided with a metal resounding bell, which could
be put on and taken off from the instrument, as we know from the
Mishnah. This bell acted as a megaphon, increasing considerably the
sound of the instrument. It would be therefore proper to translate
it as a "high-sounding horn," or, as the "horn of the Jubilee," a
quality derived from the Latin translation of the term.

Among the Biblical percussion instruments, solel, the tof,
the "hand-drum," received adequate and almost uniform translations,
as "tabret," or "timbrel." Its rendering as "tambourine" is an
anachronism, because the hand-drum with small metal plates in the
frame is not known prior to the 12th century, and then under the
name of "tambour de basque."

The meziltayim and zelzelim, the brass cymbals of the ancient
Hebrews, were sometimes translated as "castanets," an evident mis-
nomer, since anybody familiar with the Biblical text should know the
difference in the material: the cymbals were made of metal, whereas
the "castanets" were clappers of wood.

The correct meaning of shalishim is still shrouded in mystery
Some expounders translate them as "three-stringed instruments,"
others as "castanets," some even as a "dance of three steps." Their
strong onomatopoeic name suggests a shaking instrument, such as
the Greek "seistron" or the Latin "sistrum." Therefore, the most
appropriate translation would be that of the Latin term. Yet, there
are numerous erroneous interpretations, such as "timbrel" "triangle,"
"cymbals," even "trumpet," and "cornet."

The term mena c an c im, derived manifestly from the Hebrew
verb nusa, "to shake," alludes to a shaking instrument, such as
we find in Egypt and other Near-Eastern civilizations. Nevertheless,
many commentators maintain that it was a wind instrument, and
indeed the older English Bibles translate it as "trumpets," "cornets,"
even as "castanets," and "rattles." A correct translation would be
"sistrum," as for the "shalishim."

The pa Q amonim were the little golden bells which adorned the
lower seam of the high priest's garment. They were a remnant of
primitive magic destined to protect the bearer against harmful in-
fluences. Once a year, the high priest had to enter the "Holy of the

Holies," God's own dwelling in the Temple. But if he inadvertently
happened to see God, this would mean his instant death, as had
happened to the men of Beth-Shemesh, who made an attempt of
looking into the ark, and were smitten by God. The sounds of the
bells served to warn the deity to make Himself invisible when the
high priests approached, in order to spare the life of his servant. The
The English Bibles translation for these pa*amonim are uniformly,
"golden bells," "samll bells," and "little bells."

The mezillot were also bells, but larger in size than the
pa c amonim and were made of base metal, which were hung on
the neck of domestic animals. Their purpose was to protect these
useful animals from the influence of evil spirits and demons. This
practice likewise was a remnant of an ancient superstitious belief that
evil spirits could be chased away by noise, in this case the tinkling
of bells. Their translations in the older Bible editions as "bridle," or
"rein" is manifestly erroneous.

I have restricted myself to the mistakes in the translations of
the musical terms of theTanach. The many errors in the translations
of the musical terms in the early rabbinical literature, the Mi drashim,
the Mishnah, the Talmudin and the Gemara, and others, would
require a separate investigation, which I perhaps shall undertake at
a later period. Here it would unnecessarily lengthen my paper.

If there are so many erroneous translations in the Bible itself,
it is not surprising to find blunders in the works of the early com-
mentators on the Biblical text. The most egregious among them is
the 17th century Abraham da Portal eone, author of an encyclopedic
work about Jewish mores and customs of Biblical times, which he
published at Mantua in 1612. In describing Solomon's Temple and
its functionaries, he calls the shofar "a kind of flute," a strange
definition of one who must have heard the shofar many times in the
religious services of his days. Among others of his numerous miscon-
ceptions I mention the magrephah, which he identifies with a
"clapper," and the zilzal, as "wind instruments." Among his other
bizarre statements, he believed that the Levites of Ancient Israel
were taught theoretically and practically from textbooks, an assertion
without any historical basis, of course.

There are a multitude of "wrongdoers" among the interpreters
of Biblical terms, but none exerted so great an influence upon a whole
generation of exegetes as Athanasius Kircher (17th century), who
published an important musicological treatise, "Musurgia Universalis"
(Rome 1650), in which he describes, and gives even an "illustration"
of, the magrephah, which he calls an instrument "similar to our

church organ." This is, of course, the result of pure imagination,
because there are no historical records whatsoever about the
magrephah. Nevertheless, quite a number of later musi co-historical
writers accepted Kircher's statements as facts.

Among other incongruities in Biblical translations let me mention
one more, which belongs to our own period. J ames Moffat provided
a Bible translation (publ. 1922), in which he called the students of
Samuel's School of Prophets, coming from the daily religious services,
"a band of dervishes." According to Webster, dervishes are a Moslem
religious order, dedicated to a life of proverty and chastity. What
a bizarre idea to identify a J ewish religious group with a Moslem
order! Well, as far as the lives of Samuel's students are concerned, —
poverty, perhaps, — chastity, never! This would contradict God's own
commandment, "be fruitful and multiply." The prophets were God's
messengers, disseminating and carrying His words everywhere. They
certainly obeyed this command, for there were many married men
with children among the pupils of Samuel. But is it permissible for a
modem translator of the Bible to misinterpret the simplest and most
obvious of statements? Such appears to be the case with Moffat's
grotesque translation.

It would be most desirable to discuss these, and many other
incongruities in a public forum, in the hope of dissipating the most
glaring discrepancies found in the translations of the Hebrew musical
terms. There is little hope to establishing uniform terms to replace
the many errors 'Tradition" has imposed and which have "ossified"
with the passage of time. Despite the fact that it would be difficult
to arrive at an unequivocally satisfactory solution, it would be never-
theless meritorious to attempt to purify the English Bibles of the
numerous incongruities which still prevail where the translations of
musical terms are concerned.

I feel that the Cantors Assembly is the best body to initiate
such an effort. There are many scholars among the American cantors
who might be glad to co-operate in such an undertaking. The results
of such collaboration could be submitted to all publishers of Bibles
in the English language, with the resulting improvement of the
Biblical text.

It is my ardent hope that the Cantors Assembly will take up this
challenge in the very near future.

15
MUSIC IN THE AMERICAN SYNAGOGUE

Samuel H . Adler

The dilemma of the musician working in the synagogue today
is a rather desperate one. Despite veritably feverish creative activity,
the renaissance of J ewish liturgical music which started about thirty-
five years ago in America has lost its momentum and is, in fact,
steadily losing ground. The very promising movement for the advance-
ment of J ewish music that began here in the early 30's had both
creative and performing goals. It was an inception of new ideals that
raised great hope of establishing an exciting new concept of synagogue
music based on ancient tradition but infused with contemporary spirit
and performed with great fervor and devotion. What has happened?
If the past thirty-five years are honestly surveyed, one could draw
the following conclusions: On the credit side, we have today two or
three schools of sacred music which are doing a commendable job of
training cantors; we have a small movement afoot to start and ex-
pand a children's choir program in many congregations throughout
the country; and we do have a handful of contemporary composers
who have turned out fine works for our worship services. On the debit
side, however, there are dangerous shortcomings. No J ewish institu-
tion in America has been able to train successfully an appreciable
number of J ewish organists and music directors. No movement for
volunteer synagogue choirs of any size has been initiated with the
exception of possibly three or four choirs belonging to large congrega-
tions. All other congregations in America are still perfectly content
to pay four, eight, or perhaps even 16 singers to "perform" their music
for them. Last but certainly not least among the shortcomings is the
failure of the American J ewish community to attract to the J ewish
liturgical field more than three or four of the large number of J ewish
composers graduated from our colleges and music schools annually.

I am sure that if this trend continues, the music of our syna-
gogues will once again become completely dormant. This time, how-
ever, it cannot revert to German Romanticism or to Italian 19th

This article is reprinted from The American Choral Review, April 1964,
with the permission of The American Choral Foundation, Inc.

The author, a graduate of Boston University and Harvard University, is at
present Professor of Composition at Eastman School of Music in Rochester,
New York. He was formerly Professor of Composition at North Texas State
University and Music Director at Temple Emanu-EI in Dallas, Texas.

century opera, but the music of the American synagogue will slip and
deteriorate to an abysmal cultural low dominated by music of New
York's Second Avenue Yiddish Stage, the semisecular Chassidic folk
culture of Eastern Europe, and most of all by the pseudo-modem
Victorian church music which is flourishing today both in America's
Christian churches and Jewish synagogues.

These statements are not meant so much to reflect the ravings
of an angry young man as the facts seen by one who has been much
involved in Jewish music for the greater part of his life. Critical
examination of our problems and of our creative efforts has failed.
Whenever I see a critical statement about a work written for the
American synagogue or about the general state of its music, it is
either a summary of platitudes (since only such a small group of com-
posers is concerned, it may seem necessary to encourage anyone), or
it represents a new fad cultivated by critics in the field, namely the
complaint that the twelve tone technique or other avant-garde tech-
niques are not sufficiently employed in J ewish music. This kind of
criticism merely encourages more busy activity which has no direc-
tion—a mad scramble in the dark.

Where is the principal blame to be placed for the great difficulties
which have faced the conscientious musician engaged in the syna-
gogue — may he be J ewish or non-J ewish? What has happened to
the music of the people of the Book; to the music of the "Sweet Singer
of Zion" who sang a "new song" unto the Lord; to the musical ex-
pression of that ancient people who long ago decreed that all prayers
to God must be chanted so as to differentiate between the speech of
man to his fellowman and that of man to his God? Possibly some
light may be shed upon these questions by briefly examining the
history of J ewish musical experience and practice.

The problem of J ewish music begins with the fact that for hun-
dreds of years the system of musical accents (tropes) in the Hebrew
Scriptures was passed down by word of mouth. This system arose
and reached a semblance of the form which we know today during
the period 500-800 A.D. Three variants evolved: (1) The Tiberian,
(2) The Babylonian, and (3) The Palestinian. Today we commonly
utilize the Tiberian manner of accents which uses dots, strokes, and
parts of circles sometimes above and at other times below the con-
sonant on which the accent falls. The musical accents were first
notated by the 15th century German theorist J ohann Reuchlin. How-
ever, his presentation does not tell the whole story, for the neginot
(tropes) sung by the Oriental and African J ews differ from those
chanted by the European Jews, adapting characteristics of music

heard in their particular environment. The great musicologist A. Z.
Idelsohn distinguishes in his comparative table of accents 13 ways in
which the neginot were chanted in 13 different locales, proving that
they are related, and that the differences arise from the differing com-
munities in which the J ews lived.

The second fact which has had an adverse effect on J ewish music
is, I believe, the injunction that all instrumental music was to be
banished from use in a J ewish religious service as a sign of mourning
for the destruction of the Temple in J erusalem. Possibly the rabbis
of the time based this injunction on two Biblical verses, Isaiah 24:8
'The mirth of tabrets ceaseth, the noise of them that rejoice endeth,
the joy of the harp ceaseth." and Hosea9:l "Rejoice not, Israel,
unto exultation like the peoples." The latter quotation suggests a pos-
sible reason why instrumental music was prohibited, namely the con-
tempt which the rabbis felt for musical instruments that were used
in martial or sensuous ceremonies and rituals of the pagan peoples
living around the J ews of Palestine. A quotation from a Sibylline
oracle summarizes these reasons very curtly. As translated by Eric
Werner it reads 'They (the faithful) do not pour blood of sacrifices
upon the altar; no tympanon is sounded, nor cymbals, nor the aulos
with its many holes, instruments full of frenzied tones, not the
whistling of a pan's pipe is heard, imitating a serpent, nor the trumpet
calling to war in wild tones."

It must be stated that this prohibition in itself was not the cause
of the setback of J ewish liturgical music, but rather of the results
which it seems to have caused. According to the Bible, the Levites
had always provided the instrumental as well as the vocal music
during the days of the ancient Temple. With the break-up of the
caste system after the destruction of the second Temple in 70 A.D.,
the choral singing as well as the instrumental presentations of the
Levites seem to have been discontinued: the early descriptions of the
first synagogue services no longer mention choral singing and we must
conclude that this injunction brought a cessation of all organized
choral as well as instrumental performance.

The third blow from which our liturgical music is still reeling is
one which was not self-inflicted but rather imposed by the peoples of
Europe and Asia among whom the J ews were scattered during the
past 2000 years. While the liturgical music of Christianity flourished
through the Middle Ages, the Ars Nova, the Reformation, the
Baroque, and the Classical periods, Jewish music was confined in
ghettos and not allowed to share in the cultural growth of the larger
community. When church music made its greatest strides, from the

12th to the 18th century, the development of J ewish liturgical music
was paralyzed.

On the other hand, whenever J ews were allowed to live peaceably
with their neighbors, we immediately find the traces of mutual musical
influences. Even the most conservative] ewish circles participated in
the sciences and the arts flourishing in the country of their sojourn.
We find in the "traditional" song of the Sephardic (Spanish) J ews
traces of Arab and Spanish song stemming from the period before
1492 when friendship blossomed among these peoples. Similarly we
find traces of central European folk song and even of the Minnelieder
in the "traditional" melodies of the Ashkenazic (German or central
European) Jews. But for the most part, segregation was reflected
in the nature of J ewish music; the music of the synagogue was ex-
tremely simple and the singing confined to a soloist called first a
precentor and later a hazzan. As time passed, it became customary
to have the singing of the hazzan reinforced — usually by no more
than two voices, namely a high voice and a low voice which attended
to the tasks of accompaniments and responses. During the 16th
century, one bright spot appeared in the rather gloomy picture
of Jewish liturgical music. We possess a collection of Psalms and
Prayers for three to eight voices composed by Salomone Rossi of
Mantua (1570-1628) who called himself "L'Ebreo." These were pub-
lished and, from all accounts, used in the synagogue in that Italian
city.

Before leaving the discussion of the institution of the ghetto
synagogue and its music, a brief comment is necessary concerning the
position of the hazzan. At first, he was the man most highly honored
in the community. He is described by Rabbi J udah in the Talmud
as "a man who has heavy family obligations, but who has not enough
to meet them; who has to struggle for a livelihood, but who nonethe-
less keeps his house clean and above reproach; who has an attractive
appearance, is humble, pleasant, and liked by people; who has a
sweet voice, and musical ability; who is well-versed in the Scriptures,
capable of preaching, conversant with Halacha (Law) and Agada
(Folklore) ; and who knows all the prayers and benedictions by
heart" — indeed a description of a saint, and a description almost
impossible to meet. This position was quickly modified, the essential
quality remaining that of a sweet voice which was considered a
divine gift capable of moving and inspiring the people to devotion.
Since the lot of the J ews during these centuries was a tragic one, the
hazzan's prayers to God more and more echoed the lament of the
people and frequently moved the congregation to tears. It is this

aspect of J ewish liturgical music which, regrettably, most J ews and
most non-Jews still look upon as representing a genuine tradition.
In my estimation this mistaken notion has dealt the harshest blow
to the growth of a new synagogue music which would appropriately
reflect contemporary life.

With these factors in mind, let us examine that time in J ewish
history which precedes the large J ewish immigrations to the United
States. After the French Revolution, the ghetto walls crumbled in
Central Europe and the spirit of the Enlightenment quickly enveloped
both the Church and the Synagogue. After many centuries of enforced
isolation the J ewish people reacted violently to their sudden freedom.
Many left the faith altogether, others tried to alter their J udaism so
radically as to almost lose all tradition. However, it was the moderate
reformers of Central Europe, particularly in Germany, who brought
about a first strengthening of J ewish liturgical music. They did not
reject the role of the hazzan, but they added mixed choir and organ
to enhance the music of the Service. These additions were, of course,
fought everywhere by orthodox J ews, but they prevailed especially in
America, since the first large immigration of J ews coming about 1848
consisted of Reform Jews from Central Europe. (A small group of
Spanish-Portuguese J ews had come to America in the 17th century.)
The 19th century immigrants brought tunes influenced by German
chorales, mostly written by 19th century Protestant church com-
posers of rather modest talents and harmonized according to a some-
what diluted Mendelssohnian idiom. We look in vain for indigenous
J ewish features in this music; but if we examine it closely we find
wholesale borrowings not only of German chorale melodies but also
of Italian opera excerpts. This mixture became the traditional music
of the Reform J ewish community of 19th century America. Among
the names of 19th century J ewish musicians and composers those of
Sulzer, Lewandowsky, Weintraub, and Naumbourg are noteworthy,
for these represent the romantic style of the reform movement in
Europe. This style contained no trace of the fluid Oriental recitative;
its choral songs contain almost no hint of the tropes passed down
orally through the ages. Much could be said for and against these
musicians, organists, and hazzanim of the Reform movement in Cen-
tral Europe, but in our short resume all that can be pointed out is that
they tried to lend dignity to the roles of the cantor and the choir in
their "new" services and that they were very conscious of the opinion
expressed by non- Jewish musicians.

The large J ewish population of Eastern Europe was also greatly
affected by this reform of J ewish liturgical music, even though the

ghetto walls remained intact much longer in Poland, Russia and the
Balkans than in Central Europe. The larger and wealthier congrega-
tions of Eastern Europe sent their hazzanim to Vienna, Munich,
Berlin, and other centers of J ewish musical learning to be trained in
the new style. It is evident from their works, that such men as
Nowakowsky, Shestapol, Blumenthal, and Schorr were to some extent
influenced by the German song, but completely taken with the
operatic style of Bellini, Donizetti, and Rossini, and that they found
it easy to adopt it in the florid improvisation of their cantorial song.

Two more important sources of J ewish liturgical music must be
mentioned before we turn to its modern practice in America. One
of them is the Chassidic movement and its music. The Chassidim
(meaning the pious) represented essentially a mystic movement, a
reaction against the rather decadent legalism which had grown up
around the code of the Shulchan Aruch. This code had set down a
program of daily practice for the purpose of keeping before the people
the religious and ethical intent of the Commandments. It had, in the
course of time, become an end in itself rather than a means of achiev-
ing spiritual goals. It was against this type of emptiness that the
Chassidim first led by the 18th century Baal-Shem-Tov (the possessor
of the good name) rebelled. With its mysticism and message of
spiritual enlightenment to the common people, the movement spread
especially to the smaller communities of Eastern Europe. The Chas-
sidim set piety before learning and regarded the expression of joy and
exuberance as a chief religious duty. The leaders of this movement
were convinced that singing was the best medium for rising to salva-
tion. The following quotations by Nachman of Bratslav demonstrate
the profound enthusiasm which the Chassidim felt for music —
'Through song calamity can be removed ... Music originates from
the prophetic spirit, and has the power to elevate to prophetic in-
spiration." One might envision some very lofty music stemming from
such ecstatic sayings, but it must be remembered that this was a
folk movement and did not aim at anything more than "melody which
is the outpouring of the soul." Some of the Chassidic songs were
melodies sung merely to syllables, others were melodies for refrains,
for the music was used on occasions when the faithful would gather
at the house of a Chassidic leader who would improvise the verses
while everyone joined in the refrain. The musical material was derived
from Ukrainian or Slavic folk songs and from Cossack dances and
marches, as well as from a mixture of oriental elements and synagogue
modes.

Besides the Chassidim, mention must also be made of a group

of singers and jesters called Badchonim, and a group of instrumental-
ists called Klezmorim. Both were active in the ghettos as entertainers
for semi -religious functions (weddings, ritual plays and dances) and
for the theater. They produced a literature of songs drawn from
synagogal modes, and during the early part of the 20th century these
songs were collected and arranged by a group of young J ewish com-
posers. A "Society for J ewish Folk Music" was founded in St. Peters-
burg in 1908 and among the men who promoted the work of the
society were Arno Nadel, M. Milner, Joseph Achron, and Lazare
Saminsky.

This article will be continued in the next issue.

A. M. BERNSTEIN (1866-1932):

AN EXPLORATION IN FORM OF A CHRONOLOGY

Albert Weisser

Introductory Note:

Abraham Moshe Bernstein, cantor, composer, musicologist, peda-
gogue and writer, was one of the most prominent and influential
figures in the musical and cultural life of the extraordinary J ewish
community of Vilna — affectionately called the J erusalem of
Lithuania — during roughly the first third of this century. Although
he is mainly remembered today for his valuable collection of Has-
sidic folksongs, Muzikalisher Pinkes and a handful of art songs and
liturgical pieces, he was a figure who commanded enormous respect
from his fellow cantors for his artistic integrity, scholarship and the
very highest ideals he held for hazzanut. Literary circles, too, admired
him for his writing gifts and as one of the first composers to set
contemporary Hebrew and Yiddish poetry. Certainly an unusual
hazzan, he remains a most interesting and even somewhat perplexing
figure. Dealt with harshly toward the end of his life in a way which
haunts the imagination of every hazzan, his very real and manifold
talents were for some reason only partially fulfilled.

Sometime after Bernstein's death, his family deposited his musi-
cal remains in the Yiddish Scientific Institute (YIVO is the abbrevia-
tion of the Yiddish name) in Vilna. Following the Second World
War the collection arrived at YIVO in New York. In 1969 I was
commissioned by YIVO to sort out all the Bernstein papers and to
prepare a catalogue of the entire contents for its permanent archives.
What I found was as follows: (1) Printed musical work by Bern-
stein; (2) printed material about Bernstein; (3) musical manuscripts
by Bernstein — sacred, secular, children songs, partially finished
works and works in progress, musicological works, transcriptions and
arrangements; (4) works possibly by Bernstein; (5) Fragments, stray
pages, unidentified works; (6) Literary works by Bernstein in manu-
script; (7) choral volumes and part books in manuscript used by
Bernstein and his choir at Taharat Hukodesh Synagogue, Vilna; (8)
music, printed and in manuscript, not by Bernstein, but quite
obviously from his personal library and collected by him over a
lifetime.

Albert Weisser, composer-musicologist, is a member of the Music Facilities
of Queens College and the Cantors Institute of the Jewish Theological
Seminary of America.

So as to better facilitate my work, and anticipating certain basic
factual and biographical discrepancies, I had unvaryingly encountered
in researching the life and works of other hazzanim I decided as a
preliminary device to compile an exhaustive, documented chronology
of Bernstein's life. I had hoped, too, that this documentary form
might prove useful to other musicologists as a prototype in the pur-
suance of similar inquiries. What follows then is, with continuing and
even recent emendations and additions, the final result. My entire
project was in the main completed towards the end of 1969, and the
catalogue and its contents may now be consulted in the musical
archives of YIVO, New York.

My thanks to YIVO for its kind permission to publish this ex-
tended excerpt from the larger work.

I. MATERIALS CONSULTED

AP-Ayznshtat. David and A. Prager, editors. Algemayner Muzik
Lexikon (Universal Music Lexicon), Warsaw, 1935-36, 3 vols.,
see "A. M. Bernstein," Vol. Ill, pp. 131-132. (Yiddish).

BAM -Bernstein, A. M. "Di Muzik in Vilna Far Der Tzayt Fun Di
Okyupatzye" (Music in Vilna During the Time of the Occupa-
tion) in Pinkes: Far Der Geshikhte Fun Vilna in Yorn Fun
Milkhome un Okyupatzye, Vilna, 1922, pp. 683-688. (Yiddish).

BARA-Bernstein, A. M. "Yidishe Shul Muzik un R. Y. Rabino-
vitsh" (Jewish Synagogue Music and R (aphael) Y (ehudah)
Rabinowitch) , Di Khazonim Velt, Warsaw (Bernstein number),
1-7 (May, 1934) 4-8. (Yiddish).

BARO-Bernstein, A. M. "Vi Azoy Ikh Bin Gevorn Dirigent Bay
Rosovskyn" (How I Became Rosowsky's Choir Master), Di
Khatonim Velt, Warsaw. 1-9. J uly, (1934), 15-17. (Yiddish).

BAS-Bernstein, A. M. "Di Ershte Trit Fun Yosef Shvartz" (The
First Steps of Joseph Schwarz), Di Khazonim Velt, Warsaw.
11-19 (May, 1935), 13-14.

BM-Bernstein, Maier. "A. M. Bemshtayn: Zikhroynes Iber Mayn
Bruder" (A. M. Bernstein: Memories of My Brother), Di
Khazonim Velt, Warsaw. 1-9. J uly(, 1934), 15-17. (Yiddish).

FA-Fater, Isaschar. Yidishe Muzik in Poyln: Tzvishn Beyde Velt
Milkhomes (Jewish Music in Poland Between the Two World
Wars), Tel Aviv, 1970, pp. 60-70. (Yiddish).

FR- "Fule Reshime Fun A. M. Bernshtayns Kom-

pozitzyes" (Complete list of the musical works of A. M. Bern-
stein). Di Khazonim Velt, Warsaw, (Bernstein number) 1-7
(May, 1934), 8-10. (Yiddish). Although this article is unsigned
I have been assured by A. M. Bernstein's daughter, Mrs. Segula
Kovarsky, that it is largely her work.

LNYL-Lexikon Fun Der Nayer Yidisher Literatur (Lexicon of the
New Jewish Literature), New York, 1956. Vol. 1, pp. 403-405.

RE-Reisen, Zalman, editor. Lexikon Fun Der Yidisher Literatur

(Lexicon of the Jewish Literature), Vilna, 1926, Vol. I, pp.
367-369. (Yiddish).

SE-Sendrey, Alfred. Bibliography of Jewish Music, New York,
1951. (English).

SH -Sherman, Pinkhos. "A. M. Bernshtayn: Tzu Zayn Tzveyten
Yortzayt" (A. M. Bernstein: On the Second Anniversary of his
Death). Di Khazonim Velt, Warsaw. (Bernstein number), 1-7
(May, 1934), 1-3- [Yiddish].

SHA-Shalita, Israel and Hanan Steinitz. Entsiklopedyah, Lemu-
zikah, (Musical Encyclopedia), Tel Aviv, 1950, pp. 164-166,
(Hebrew).

SHM-Shalit, Moshe. "Preface" to A. M. Bernstein's Muzikalisher
Pinkes, Vol. I, 1927, n.p. (Yiddish).

SK-Mrs. Segula Kovarsky. A. M. Bernstein's youngest daughter,
now living in New York City.

STN-Stolnitz, Nathan. Negine in Yidishen Lebn (Music in Jewish
Life). Toronto, Canada, 1957. See "Negine in Lite" (Music in
Lithuania), pp. 17-19; "Vilner Khor Shul Taharot Hakodesh,
pp. 20-21; "Avraham Moshe Bernshtayn" (A. M. Bernstein),
pp. 22-24; passim., pp. 25, 30. (Yiddish).

STO-Stolnitz, Nathan. On Wings of Song, Toronto, Canada, 1968.
See "Reminiscences of Hazzanim and Hazzanut," pp. 44-54.
(English).

WO-Wohlberg, Max. "Foreword" to reprinted edition of A. M.
Bernstein's Muzikalisher Pinkes, The Cantors Assembly of
America, New York, 1958, n.p. (English).

YIVO-YIVO Institute for Jewish Research-Archives, 1048 Fifth
Avenue, New York, N.Y., 10028.

ZAF-Zaludkowski, Eliyahu. "Fun Mayne Zikhroynes," (From My
Memoirs), Di Shut un Di Khazonim Velt, Warsaw, 111-24/28
(Feb. 1939), 19-21; 111-30/50 (April, 1939), 15-17. (Yiddish).

ZAK-Zaludkowski, Eliyahu. Kultur Treger Fun Der Yidisher
Liturgye, (Culture Bearers of the J ewish Liturgy), Detroit,
Mich. 930, pp. 255-256, 292. (Yiddish).

II. ICONOGRAPHY:

(a) A. M. Bernstein: FA, pp. 60, 64; RE, p. 367; SH pp. 1, 3.

(b) Vilna Choral Synagogue Taharot Hakodesh: SH, p. 2; STN,

p. 20; STO, p. 40.

III. CHRONOLOGY:

1866-Abraham Moshe Bernstein born (in 1526) on Tisha B'Av,
July 21 in Shatzk in the province of Minsk, Western White
Russia. Sixth child of moderately well-to-do parents (BM, SK,
WO). His exact birthdate has been a matter of confusion. LNYL
proposes August 5, 1865, RE states "Shabat Nahamu," 1865,
ZAK, 1865. All other sources agree on 1866 (AP, FA, SH, SHA),
but SH gives the date as J uly 9. Pending further scrutiny, it
seems to this writer that the date given by Bernstein's brother
is most probably the correct one. His article is so vividly de-
tailed and knowledgeable about Bernstein's early life, and my
check on the Hebrew and civil calendars has convinced me of
its veracity.

1870- Bern stein sent to "kheyder" (elementary religious school) in
town of birth. Is so put upon by its autocratic teachers and
clamorous and wailing atmosphere, that he becomes literally
ill. (BM).

1871-Allowed to study in the town "Bet Midrash" (prayer house),
where he makes remarkable scholarly strides. First begins to
show musical aptitudes in assisting his father, an amateur cantor,
during weekly and holiday services (BM, SH) .

1875-1 s recognized as something of a scholarly prodigy because of
his erudition in Biblical and Talmudic studies. Attends Yeshiva
in Minsk (BM, SH) -

1876-Death of Bernstein's mother, to whom he was extremely
devoted, on Tishah B'Av, his tenth birthday. While in Minsk,
he became an enthusiast of the cantor Yisroelke Minsker der

Khazn, a legendary "Baal Telfilah", who was renowned for his
sweet hazzanut and exemplary diction. Became a member of
Yisroelke's choir, but was troubled by the taunts and "vulgar"
behaviour of his fellow choir members (BM, SH, WO).

1879-Enters the famous yeshiva in Mir, Poland (BM).

1881-Leaves yeshiva in Mir. Wanders from town to town in Poland.
Great dissatisfaction with the prevailing lack of idealism,
musical ity, style and religious devotion in the hazzanic circles
he encounters. Extreme economic deprivation. Search for cantor
to whom he could be apprenticed with confidence and dedica-
tion (BM).

1884-Arrives in Kovno, Russia. Befriends Hazzan Raphael Yehudah
Rabinowitch of the Kovno Choral synagogue, with whom he
undertakes intensive cantor ial studies. Bernstein is convinced
that he has found what he has been searching for. Rabinowitch
has an enormous influence over him (BARA). Rabinowitch pos-
sessed that rare combination of hazzanut, musical ity, scholar-
ship and esthetic values (SH). Bernstein becomes member of
his household and undertakes secular studies. Does extensive
reading in Yiddish, Hebrew, German and Russian literature
(BM) . He is made second hazzan and choir master to Rabino-
witch (ST). Attends music school in Kovno and works with
diligence to master music theory and general music history. His
voice develops into a fine lyric tenor and he excel Is in operatic
arias and lieder (RE) . Begins to compose in earnest — finishes
songs Am Olam (text by Mordecai Tzvi Mane), and Zamd un
Shtern (text by Shmuel Frug), (BM).

1888- Becomes cantor at second choral synagogue, Adath Yeshurun,
in Bialistock (BM, SH).

1889- Becomes member of Hoveve Zion organization. "Bene Moshe",

(FA).
1891-Engaged by Cantor Barukh Leib Rosowsky to be his choir

master at the choral synagogue in Riga. (5651). Remains there

for a year and a half (BARO, BAS) .

1893-Engaged as cantor of Vilna Khor Shul Taharat Hakodesh, 35
Zavalna Street (AP, BM, SH, SHA, WO). Other sources make
the year of this event 1891 (LNYL, RE, ZA). This is obviously
incorrect. Marries Lina Ansell December 25, in Riga. Six
children. (SK).

1898-Publishes in Vilna the song Am Olam as No. I of the collection
Neginot Yisrael: Liedersammlung aus der Hebraischen Poesie
Nebst Tonzeichen Zum Gesang mit Klavierbegleitung (Hebrew).
Some sources list 1893 as the publication date of this song
(LNYL, RE). I have not been able to trace any published copy
prior to 1898 (YIVO, SE).

1900-Publishes in Vilna the songs Al Harerei Tziyon (text by
Menahem Mendel Dalitzky) and his subsequently very popular
Zamd un Shtern (text by Shmuel Frug) under one cover, the
first in Hebrew, the second in Yiddish. Some sources list 1893
as publication date (LYNT, RE) , others 1898 (FR). I have
found no earlier publication than 1900 (5660). (YIVO).

1901-Publishes children's songs Hasheleg (text by Zalman Shneyur)
and Shirat Haaviv (text by Yavitz) in Vienna publication Olam
Katan, No. I. (Hebrew), (LNYL, RE, SE).

1903-Birth of son Abiasaf Bernstein, gifted composer and pianist,
who settled in Israel in 1935 and died there Nov. 5, 1957 (AP,
SHA, SK). Publishes song Hot Rakhmones: Nokhn Kishinyever
Pogrom (text by Shmuel Frug) in supplement of the publication
Der Fraynd, St. Petersburg, 142 (J une 28), 5-6. (Yiddish)
(LNYL, RE, SE).

1904-Publishes song Zemer UPurim in Warsaw journal Hatzofeh
(LNYL, RE). Hazzan Gershon Sirota makes first recording of
Bernstein's Hashem, Hashem, K'El Rakhum Vekhanum. This
piece is said to have been highly praised by Rimski-Korsakov,
(SH).

1905-Birth of son, Shmuel Bernstein, gifted violinist and pedagogue
now residing in Israel and teaching at the Rubin Conservatory.
(AP, SK).

1908-1 mportant notice of Bernstein's works in St. Petersburg pub-
lication Birzhevia Vyedomosti, by the music critic Nikolai
Feopemptovich Solovyov — "the compositions of A. M. Bern-
stein's deserve close attention because of their religious ecstasy
and the beauty of their oriental elements." (RE).

1914-Publishes in Vilna Parts I and II of Avodat Haboreh, collec-
tions of liturgical pieces for cantor solo (recitatives), and cantor
and four-part mixed choir, no accompaniment, by A. M. Bern-
stein and some of his contemporary cantor-composers (Nissan

Blumenthal, Pirikhos Minkowsky, David Nowakowsky, A. M.
Rabinowitz, Abraham Ber Birnbaum, Barukh Leib Rosowsky,
J oseph Gottbeter, Moritz Henle). No publication date. The
New York Public Library — J ewish Division, in its catalogue
dates these volumes, with a query, as 1912 (?). Most other
sources, 1914. (FA, LNYL, RE, SE).

1915-1918-German occupation of Vilna. Bernstein conducts Haza-
mir Choir and the student choir of the professional School Hilf
DurkhArbet. His setting of Y. L. Peretz's dramatic poem Das
Fremde Khupah Kleyd is performed several times on local
stages (BAP). Readies for publication a collection of 150
Hebrew and Yiddish children's songs and a solfeggio manual
for children (YIVO) . Zamd un Shtern reprinted in New York
by J . P. Katz, Publishers, 1916. Sets Shmuel Ansky's poems
Mayn Lid and Der Shnayderl Publishes Tzu HerzVs Yortzayt:
TwyerLid, for mixed choir and piano accompaniment (text by
Shiva), 1917, in supplement to Vilna publication Unzer Osed.
Musical director of Vilna J ewish musical organization, Bene
Asaf. Receives its first award. (BAM, RE, LNYL, SK).

1919-Publishes in Vilna the song Tzum Hemerl (Ah! Hemerl,
Hemerl, Klap), (text by Avraham Reisen), solo voice with or
without choir (Yiddish). Attends first meeting on February 23
of the music section of the Vilna Jewish Historico-Ethnographical
Society in the Name of Shmuel Ansky; its organization, goals
and activities devised by Bernstein (SHM).

1920-On December 20 Bernstein participates in a "troyer ovnt tzu
shloshim nokhn toyt fun Shmuel Ansky" (memorial evening for
the playwright, poet and folklorist Shmuel Ansky). Choir under
his direction performs his settings of Ansky's poems Mayn Lid
and Der Shnayderl. Also performed is Lazare Saminsky's setting
of Ansky's DiNakht. (Program of this event in YIVO Archives,
New York).

1921-Resigns his position as cantor of Taharat Hakodesh (SK).
Other sources say he was dismissed (BM, SH, WO). The exact
nature of this affair, which at the time caused considerable
intense emotion and partisanship, has never been divulged. Quite
obviously there were sharp disagreements with the "gabaim"
(synagogal managerial heads), because of their petty bickering
and musical insensitivity. The congregation as a whole and the

Vilna community, however, remained deeply devoted to Bern-
stein.

There seems to be some uncertainty also as to the exact
date of his departure from Taharat Hakodesh. Most sources
state that his duration there lasted for thirty years (BM, FA,
SH). This would put his date of leave-taking in 1923, but this
is very tenuously documented. I find much more convincing the
date 1921 as given by Bernstein's successor at Taharat Hako-
desh, Hazzan Eliyahu Zaludkowsky, who describes most
graphically his "probe" (test audition) and engagement there
during that year. (ST, ZAF, ZAK) .

1922-1926-A period of deep disappointment, anguish and hardship
for Bernstein. Teaches music in Vilna Hebrew schools and such
secular institutions as Mefirtze Haskalah where he structures
special musical curricula. Organizes male choir at Vilnu Teachers
Academy. Publishes article "Singing in the Public School,"
Tarbut, Warsaw, I, 2 (1922), 31-35 (Hebrew), (SE). Writes
musical criticism and articles for various publications. Composes
children's operetta Snow White (text in Hebrew), (fragments
in YIVO).

1927-Publishes in V ilna Muzikalisher Pinkes, a collection of 243
religious folk songs, mainly of Hasidic origin, one voice, no
accompaniment, considered Bernstein's best scholarly work.
Published under auspices of Vilnu Jewish Historico-Ethno-
graphical Society in the Name of Shmuel Ansky. Translates
Kohelet (Ecclesiastes) into Yiddish (YIVO). Tzum Hemerl
reprinted by Metro Music Co., New York.

1931-Translates Shir Hashirim (Song of Songs) into Yiddish (SH).
Publishes Vol. Ill of Avodat Huboreh for cantor solo and four-
part mixed chorus, no accompaniment. (Includes a work by
David Nowakowsky) (YIVO) .

1932-DiesJ une 76 in Vilna (LNYL).

1933-Bernstein, A. M. "M ayne Taynes Tzu Khazones" (My Com-
plaints About the Cantorial Art), DiKhazonim Velt, Warsaw
I -I (Nov. 1933) 19-20 (Yiddish).

1934-Bernstein, A. M. "Brokhe un Klole" (A Blessing and a Curse)
1-4 (Feb. 1934), 18-19; "Khazones Oifn Oylem Hoemes" (The
Cantorial Art Upon the Realm of the Dead), 1-7 (May, 1934),
10-12; Av Harahamim Shokhen Meromim, I, 7 (May, 1934),

supplement, 5 p. for cantor (tenor) and four-part mixed chorus,
no accompaniment; "Di Tragedye Fun Ershten Varshaver Khazn
(J acob Leib) Veys" (The Tragedy of the First Warsaw Cantor
Jacob Leib Weiss) 1-9 (July, 1934), 3-4; "Al Hazzanut" (About
the Cantorial Art) 11-14 (Dec. -934), 24-25. All in Di Khazonim
Velt, Warsaw.

1935- Bern stein, A. M. Tziyona (To Zion), for four-part mixed
chorus, no accompaniment, (text by Heikel Lunsky), Di
Khazonim Velt, Warsaw, 11-11 (April, 1935), 20.

1936- Bern stein, A. M. "Sifre Zimra" (Song Books), Di Shul un
Khazonim Velt. Warsaw. 1 1 1-2/22 (Dec. 1936), 3.

1937-Tzum Hemerl republished in an arrangement by Boris Leven-
son for four-part mixed chorus, White and Smith Publishers, Co.,
New York, Yiddish and English text.

1958- Bern stein's Muzikalisher Pinkes republished by the Cantors
Assembly of America, New York, with a foreword in English
by Hazzan Max Wohlberg, and Table of Contents in English
prepared by Hazzan David J . Putter-man.

1970-Four of Bernstein's compositions published in Isaschar Fater's
volume, Jewish Music in Poland Between the Two World Wars,
Tel Aviv, pp. XXIV-XXX. "Zamd und Shtern"; "Peale-Tzion
Shvue" (text by Yehoshua Felovitch) ; "Yismah Moshe," cantor
and four-part mixed chorus, no accompaniment; 'Tzum Hemerl."

31
MUSIC SECTION

*Ti hvh rrrrat
S'rniroth l'Elchaj

5YNAG0GENGESANGE

"Y fur Solo, Soli undChoryf

mi t Orgolbegloitungted libitum)

T-T-T von T-y-T

Max G. LOWEMSTAMM

wefand Oberwntordn derdynagogezu/lunchen.

I.HEFT.
Frci tag Abend- 6ottesdiGnst

2. Auflage.

veriag von A.W. Kaufmann, Leipzig.

N*^ n » ■ ■ n^jjrt ■> i vw^

Max G. Lowenstamm was born on October 25th, 1814 in
Trebitsch, Moravia. He pursued his early Hebrew studies in Prague
and later in Nagy Kanizsa, Hungary, where he was called upon to
substitute for the local cantor who was taken ill. There he also at-
tended the Polytechnium in preparation for studying medicine. Hav-
ing developed a beautiful heldentenor he abandoned his plans to
study medicine and went to Vienna to study with Sulzer. There he
helped to sustain himself by becoming an assistant in the Hebrew
School of Dr. Mannheimer, while at the same time attending the
National Conservatory. He served as Cantor in Prague, Papa
(Hungary) and in Budapest. While serving in Budapest he became
one of 23 candidates for the post of Cantor in Munich in the syna-
gogue previously served by Sanger and Kohn. He was elected to the
post and during his long tenure he managed to adapt his "Polish"
style of hazzanut to the minhag of South Germany with great success.

He was also a competent composer. His compositions, of which
the Friday Evening Service here included is only a small sample, were
published posthumously by his son. He died in 1881 and was suc-
ceeded by Emanuel Kirschner.

Max Wohlberg

Ma town.

>;itrt a^cni nilgai Andante

Max G. Lowenbtamm-

SilCh 1 Orutk *Ort EnpplmiA" A Muhi**^ in Lemi'ift

cresrrmfo

b»r . jir . o . se . cho b« . jir

On tor.

»do . noj o - baw.ti mt - on bo.se . cho a . ma. kommischkaiTks ,wd .

Ped.

l*jcho a.do.noj - «$ ro . zo'n vlo . him

^ f — # .--4-- '-' -~~~. &'~ : J» n ski

=<*y

Lechu ne rutin? noh.

Moderato, ^oasi Reck *

Cantoi;

La . oha fisi mi . tu „flob U.do.noj »o . n joh I* .«ur jtech . e> . no

Or**!.

Cantor.

a scher nischba tifao.ap— pi im ji . wo . un el ra;: nu . cho . si

*>I)ie nachstfolgenden Satze werden in derselben Weiss ansgefuhrt.

• +)Das Zwischenspiel II, ist fiir j*»neGemeinden beatimmt , bei deren Gottesdienat die folgendon Psal.

men nicht taut Yorgetragen, sondern a 1 a . . stille Andaeht " bet raehtet werdon.

Molto lont^e legato- ^-^ " " " /-s^.

Adonoj lnmabbul joschow.

Cantor.

a.do.noj lamabbul jo.schow wa . jeschewa.dd. noj melech k . 6_ — iom

Chor.

Cantor.

L^chohdtf . di lLkcms kal loh p^ m» schnb . bos nt.kab bi;Joh.

Chor.

Cantor.

Cantabile.

Schomor w«sochor.

^^^M)a

S«ho-m6r w»-sa£h6rb»jdib-bur e.chod hischmUo - rodhamm* ,ju.chod

a A6-

ro.cho me-rtisch mik _ke . dem n?.sa.choh sof ma _ * se be _. macta acho wo U.

cbilloh: mikjdasch me . lech ir m* _ lu.ehoh ka.mi z* . i mit . t6ch ha.h? .fe.choh

rw lo«h 8?h#.we* ta . & .. m*»k hab.to . cho ws ., ha ja . eh : > . mrfi o . la. jichchwaJoh

Risoluto,^ Hi«or*rl.

His - o . r; ri Ms . 6 ; n - ri

#4or rqp. Z?cA<> aforfi".

Reli£ioso

Boi w Kcholom.

Lechoh d<Sdi.

Cantor.

Andantino

Le _ chohdo . di li _ k- _ ras kal _ loh p« . ne schab . bos n* kab - b* loh.

Ckor rpp. Lecho aodi.

Cantor .

_ik_ras achabbos.

Cantabile, lento

poeo lento

likxas schabbos l__e_u *_-ne.l_ _ <4o ki hi ms. kdr. babbn.ro _____ cbo meros cfamik-

ke _ 4em us. - su

efaoh s6f ma. _ . s« b--nu-__-&cho-wo t_ . chikloh: mikdasch

Chor. rep. Ucho dodi.

RUoUitc*

Hi so re ri.

Chor.

motto moderate

CAor rep. if<rAo rforfi.

Andante maestoso
^4

Tow Lhodos.

Psalm 92.

Chor.

Mah go<te la maasecho.

. FreieVortragsweisc.

§l \ J I J Jip pppJiJ.1 J t JiJ J> Jil J Ajtjs,J J I

Cantor.

Mah godtln ma.a - se.cfco * . do . noj mti.od o . mt . ku marli^ehc. wo.se .cho

|u %7\ I jh |J v i)JU) Jip p in r ;

isch t>a. ar 16 . je .do a . chti.sil 16 jo -win es sos

Cantor,

Listesso tempo. Ki MwMjewwho.

? p p Pi p p a J *J> ji i j^ p P' p r p p i r r m y ^

wat .tab. bet e . ni fe*i sehn. roj bak_ ko-mim o . laj mt - re - ira tisrh . ma - noh oti . noj za<

zad .

dik kat.to.mor jif . roch k^ p. red fcalJH wonon ju-geh sehu - sulim b'wea a -do. noj fe . eba.i*

p r ? r i ^ A j./Jip r i i \ r T J?p i r pi r i

ha _ ju I'Jiiii . ifd ki jo.aehor « , do . noj sm.ri.wdri aw . lo . soh bo

ji . ha . ju hhag . £fd ki jo.aehor a , do . noj zu . ri , wdd aw . lo . soh bo

3£

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KJJU*

Si/
aftctcca.

A do noj mo loch.

Andante maestoso

Psalm 9a.

af.tik.

Solo.

Qaartvtt

Wiljechulu.

Frci vorEiitragen

Cantor.

Orgel

Wa-js - chu _lu

hascho ma . jim wn ho _ o - rezwuchol zl .

om wa . jft . chal e . lo . him ba, jom haecha - wi . i m« . lach - to a .

Haschkiwenn.

Assai lento, auasi largo, sempre PP

i - m ^ i J , i ^ i i | Q r '- h t r ~T ^

Cantor.

Hasch.ki . we . nu a. do\noj e . lo . he . nu le _ seho_^L!

Adon 6lom.

Schlassgesang.

Chor.

gg r%yf

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trattquilio

attacca

Moderato.

Soli.

#n «^v

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a.dotioj li wt 16

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REVIEW OF NEW MUSIC

BERLINSKI: Psalm XXX for Alto,
choir S.A.T.B., Two Trumpets,
Shofar and Organ.
Transcontinental Music Publica-
tions, TCL 618.

Dr. Berlinski has composed a rous-
ing, rhythmic, rondo that lacks both
integrity and imagination. This harsh
view is taken in light of the way the
composer deals with the issues of pro-
sody, instrumentation and perfor-
mance practice.

The first disappointment is the in-
clusion of the Hebrew text "Mizmor
Shir Hanukat HaBayit L'David" in
an otherwise all English setting. To
achieve this the practical approach
of designing a melodic tune that fits
both the Hebrew and English had to
be utilized. Fortunately, this commer-
cially conceived, unartistic ploy re-
veals its innate weakness when the
alto is asked to sing a misaccented
"Ba-yit" merely to accommodate a
juicy tritone in the original melody
tailored in English. Composers should
stick to their guns. A piece conceived
in one language deserves to be per-
formed in the original. Souping up
rhythms to, force a foreign prosody
can only weaken the overall effect.

Secondly, while the organ writing
is safely idiomatic, and the shofar
writing predictable, the use of the two
t-pets sounds stereotyped and pain-
fully unimaginative. Given that the
shofar represents a clear martial
sound, what is the reason for confin-
ing the two trumpets to tripelet fan-
fares throughout the entire experi-
ence?
On the contrary, the lines:

"Lord, My God, I cried unto

Thee and Thou didst heal me."
and '"Weeping may tarry for the

night but joy cometh in the

morning"
conjure up a myriad of dramatic

brass figures which could enhance the
poetry of this Psalm.

Finally, the inexcusable error in
judgement can be found at the head-
ing of the piece. Before the trumpet
and shofar staves is found the in-
famous marking "ad.Lib." Why does
the composer forfeit the possibility of
these instruments use so arbitrarily?
Surely if so little value is placed in
their role within the ensemble another
plain old organ and choir piece could
be tolerated. The whole concern of
integrity comes into play. A composer
must write what he hears and music
directors (like Dr. Berlinski, who
should know better) are charged with
performing the music with precise re-
gard for the composer's creative vision.
If synagogue music is to reach the
heights of master works in the Chris-
tian literature, we must learn to be-
come critically aware of what is es-
sential to artistic composition and
strictly required of a professional
performance.

RICHARDS: Psalm 137, By the
Waters of Babylon. Recitative and
Aria for Voice and Organ. Trans-
continental Music Publications -
TV578.

Cantor Richards development as a
composer is an interesting one and a
brief awareness of it is pertinent to
an understanding of why this psalm
setting is musically vital.

The son of a successful song writer,
born and raised in New York City,
Richards, in his twenties, was an ac-
tive enthusiast of music and theatre.
He was a rehearsal pianist, a director
in summer stock, a tenor in concert
choruses and recording groups and
even wrote a musical comedy. Some-
time later he felt the need to study
"serious" music and received a Mas-
ters degree in composition from Co-
lumbia University where he worked
with Henry C. Cowell and Otto

Luening. In his early thirties, a fur-
ther religious calling led him to the
cantorate. Cantor Richards is now
music director of the Indianapolis
Hebrew Congregation.

What has all this to do with Psalm
137? J ust this; its setting is a compact
distillate of all the passions of a
younger Richards outlined above. It
has the clean, dramatic lyricism of
musical theatre. The more advanced
harmonic background of a "serious"
composer in transition and yes, the
textual insight and understanding of
a more settled, religious personality.

Th e piece is divided into two sec-
tions: recitative and aria. The recita-
tive is restless, fragmented and ur-
gently searching as it ends on the text
"How can we sing the Lord's song in
a foreign land?" In contrast, the aria
is at once calming yet passionately
embryonic in its long lined romantic-
ism. "If I forget thee, J erusalem. ."
builds itself to the very end answering
and affirming the questioning and
doubts of the earlier section This
setting is a miniature drama of ten-
sion, release and repose. Richards is
still very much a man of theatre and
brings this facet of his personality to
the genre of religious music.

The work is successful in its reali-
zation that there is a great deal of
theatre in the psalms and its resolute-
ness in underscoring this element
within the greater drama which is
religion and the synagogue.

Because he is a man of dynamic
tension and capable of artistic growth,
Cantor Stephen Richards should be
watched with great interest. At this
point, his knowledgeable, searching
style seems to offer a viahle alter-
native to the hackneyed, tired writing
of an older generation of synagogue
composers. Transcontinental is to be
commended for its publication of this
music.

Michael Isaacson

STARE R: Sabbath Eve Service
MCA Music Publishers.

The service, commissioned in 1968,
by the Park Avenue Synagogue in
New York, contains introductory per-
formance notes which tell us a good
deal about Robert Starer's awareness
of synagogue music.

First, there is a desire for the con-
gregation to become an integral part
of the worship by singing along with
unison choir sections in response to
melodies sung initially by the Cantor.
Secondly, we are informed that the
Festival Prelude for organ (written
as a tocatta-like piece more for the
organist than the congregation) is
published separately. This wise de-
cision reveals Starer's understanding
of both the compulsion for organ pre-
ludes and their realistic impact upon
the total worship experience. Last, the
composer has included a pronuncia-
tion guide of the Hebrew translitera-
tion which is perhaps a comment on
the ignorance of many non-J ewish
vocalists employed by synagogues
throughout the United States.

The inclusion of settings of "L'chu
Neranenah," 'Tov Lehodot" and
"Eloheinu Velohei Avoteinu," gives
this service a compatibility with both
Reform and Conservative Liturgies.

Especially impressive is the inter-
pretation of "Mi Chamocha" with its
affect of love of Cod as opposed to
awe, and the construction of "May
The Words" in its utilization of
Hebrew and English simultaneously.
The "Kiddush," in contrast, is dis-
appointing in its unimaginative use
of descending parallel fifths as the
main harmonic fabric.

On the whole, this service is a quiet,
thoughtful addition to the literature.
We look forward to continued con-
tributions by this J ewish composer
of note.

THE HUSH OF MIDNIGHT, "A
Rock-Cantorial Prayer Experience"
based on the liturgy of the S'lichot
Service and additional poems by
Ruth F. Br in, composed by Cantor
Charles Davidson, sung by Cantor
Ray Edgar and The Zamir Chorale
under the direction of Stanley
Sperber, Amim Records 425-A.

Let me begin with a positive.

Unlike other colleagues who are
involved in creating traditional music
for the synagogue, I honestly believe
that Rock music can have its place
in a worship experience. The only
qualification I insist upon is that it
be the best representation of its style;
a qualification I would make for any
other style of music as well. The
major problem with the Rock settings
offered us these days is not that they
are necessarily inappropriate or un-
mindful of the aural tradition, but
that they are cloying examples of
inept composition. To compound the
felony, recordings of these travesties
are issued with the most bizarre per-
formances imaginable. The result is
the obvious reception bv the "old-
guard" composers who still create out
of years of a finely developed craft.
Can compositional procedures and
materials used in Rock be learned as
one goes about mastering fugue? Yes,
they can. Cantor Davidson would do
well to return to his Alma Mater, the
Eastman School and witness what
Rayburn Wright is doing to codify
usage of contemporary "pop" ma-
terials; for the fact is that Cantor
Davidson does not understand what
makes Rock music work.

Perhaps, some observations on the
nature of today's "pop" music will be
of some aid to him as well as to any
other composer who feels compelled
to write in this idiom.

The presence of a continuous beat
found in most Rock demands relief.
This is often achieved through a con-

trasting stabilizing rhythm over the
basic beat, or a relaxed coloration of
sounds either in the music or in the
lyric. To squeeze a setting of the text
into a parallel pattern as in the Ashre
on this recording is both clumsy and
uncharacteristic of good Rock.

Texts or lyrics are an integral part
of the Rock Sound. The words lin-
guistically complement the instru-
mental vocabulary. Listen to a re-
hashing of a Beatles tune by an in-
strumental ensemble and see if you
don't miss that certain legitimacy
that the words supply. While the
poems and prayers stand by them-
selves as literary pieces, they just do
not fit into the Rock style which
Davidson imposes on them.

Vocal performance in Rock is as
specialized as any other performance
style. J ust as one would not expect
a "lead singer" to succeed in opera
or oratorio it is equally ludicrous to
expect Cantor Edgar's voice to work
in this style. Cantor Edgar sounds
most secure and comfortable in the
unaccompanied, unmetered cantor ial
segments. During these moments his
rich voice is most truly appreciated.

Finally, Rock works best when it
does not take itself seriously. While
"Sergeant Pepperites" may violently
argue this point and claim that there
are all kinds of symbolism in this
music, the best sounds are always the
half kidding musical sprees that hap-
pen in loosely structured recording
sessions. The only esthetic question
that one must raise in regard to this
concept is whether Cantor Davidson's
music does justice to the seriousness
of the occasion for which it was de-
signed. I think not. While too serious
to work as Rock, it is hill-billyish and
embarrassingly flip about the peniten-
tial preparation which is S'lichot. For
these reasons, "The Hush of Mid-
night" seems to doubly miss its mark.
It's a shame, because I believe in the

potential of all musical sounds. To
paraphrase Ferlinghetti, I am still
waiting for the rebirth of freedom in
our synagogue music.

Michael N. ISAACSON

ISAACSON: Hegyon Libi, The Medi-
tations of My Heart A new Sabbath
Eve Service for Cantor, Two-Pa rt
Choir, String Quartet and Organ,
by Michael Zsaacson, Transconti-
nental Music Publications.

Michael Isaacson's new Sabbath
Evening service, for Cantor, two part
choir, string quartet and organ, is one
of the most tuneful and effective
liturgical compositions to come along
in recent years. Its sounds are a wel-
come breath of fresh air in the syna-
gogue, and the reviewer can attest to
its warm reception by worshippers at
two pre-publication hearings: Wash-
ington's Hebrew Congregation, and
Brooklyn's Union Temple.

Isaacson, who is completing his doc-
toral studies in composition at East-
man School of Music, (B.S. Mus. Ed.
Hunter College; M.A. Brooklyn Col-
lege) has also studied with Robert
Starer and Samuel Adler in this
country, and with Israel Adler and
Amnon Shi loach in Israel. His work
reflects thorough workmanship in his
choral and instrumental writing, along
with deep understanding of text and
of synagogal service structure. Added
to these is a rare blending of Western
and Middle Eastern musical style
which give it an undeniable stamp of
authenticity.

The melodic treatment of the can-
torial solos is along traditional lines,
although pleasantly demanding in its
octave-and-fifth range (C to G).
There is continual invention and
variety in rhythmic and harmonic
treatment. Unlike other less inven-
tive services Isaacson's score provides
continual listener involvement, from
the first sounds of the Candlelighting
Prayer, to the rousing Adon Olam.

The format follows the Union
Prayer Book, and there is frequent
use of English narration, judiciously
interspersed. There are numerous
melodic gems (L'cha Dodi, Yih'yu
L'ratson) which, I predict, will be-
come part of many a Sabbath service.
For me, the highlight is a lilting
Shalom Aleichem which underscores
the "heritage-cum-youth appeal" ap-
proach, here so successfully combined.

Hegyon Libi is a most valuable ad-
dition to our repertoire.

Paul Kwartin

FROMM: FIVE OPENING AN-
THEMS FOR THE SYNA-
GOGUE. Transcontinental Music
Publications, N.Y. 1971.

Written in his usual direct and solid
style, Mr. Fromm's Anthems are
written for Cantor, Choir and Organ
and include Mah Tovu, three Psalms
(122, 5, 36) and Lecha Dodi. Strictly
composed, they serve to remind us
that interesting and warm synagogue
music is entirely feasible while using
self-limited amounts of musical ma-
terials. They will rehearse without
too much difficulty and will be re-
warding.

ROSENBERG: S H A B B A T NU-
SACH S'FARD. Transcontinental
Music Publications, N. Y. 1970.

Mostly harmonizations by Emanuel
Rosenberg of Sephardic and Oriental
tunes culled from "Liturgie Sep-
hardie" and other sources, this service
for Friday Evening is written for
Cantor, Choir and Organ. It was com-
missioned by the Creative Arts Fund
of The Metropolitan Synagogue of
New York.

HORVIT : MEDITATION FOR
ORGAN. Transcontinental Music
Publication, N. Y. 1971.
Mr. Horvit has written a simple

and nicely wrought work for organ
solo. Relatively unassuming and quite

linear, one might long for some vari-
ents in harmony, dynamics or rhythm,
unless the piece has been intended
for use as music of a meditative na-
ture, perhaps during the worship
service, in which case it would be
quite satisfactory. The style of the
piece seems reflective of some similar
pieces by Samuel Adler. One wonders
if that composer's work at the East-
man School of Music is bearing
J ewish fruit. Nevertheless, it stands
on its own quite nicely.

Charles Davidson

BOOK REVIEW

THE MUSIC OF THE JEWS IN
THE DIASPORA: by Alfred Send-
rey. A Contribution to the Social
and Cultural History of the J ews,
up to 1800. Thomas Yoseloff, New
York. 1970. 483 pp. $15.

Dedicated to the University of
J udaism in Los Angeles, Dr. Send-
rey's masterful study of the musical
life of the J ew in the 1800 years of
the dispersal among the nations, adds
much to our knowledge of what has
been, to this point, a greatly neglected
area

The beautifully bound volume
volume serves as a "contribution to
the history of civilization of the
J ewish people" rather than a scholarly
tome intended for use only by the
professional musician. It is highly
readable, presents a formidable mass
of material in a logical and precise
manner, and, to this reader, seems
to be quite accurate in relation to
specifics. In the sense of being all-
inclusive, one might feel that some
hypothesis have been omitted. For
example, Dr. J ohanna Specter's in-

triguing Suggestion concerning the
origin of the "Kol Nidre" tune,
among others. But some omissions are
understandable in view of the enor-
mous number of original sources
quoted by Dr. Sendrey, indeed, as one
might expect from the author of the
invaluable "Bibliography". Here, at
last, are not only quotations but,
document 4 with the source materials
available. Most important are Send-
rey's valuable comments on the musi-
cal style of the period and its influ-
ence upon the J ewish music-makers
of the time.

The author has assembled data,
photos, reproductions of manuscripts
from literally thousands of sources.
From books, pamphlets and articles
scattered throughout the world. He
does indeed present a convincing case
for the musical activity of the J ews
during an epoch when J ews and
J ewry have long been thought to be
devoid of their own musical culture.
In this respect he has put into a
readable volume much of what he
himself, Dr. Eric Werner and Profes-
sor Israel Adler have been saying and
teaching for years. The Music of post-
Biblical J ews, J ews under Arabic in-
fluence, the early hymns of the Syna-
gogue, music in the Ghetto, Purim
plays with music, the beginnings of
Hazzanut are all discussed with care
and thought.

The only flaw this reviewer detects
is a somewhat stilted English narra-
tive style which will not prevent "The
Music of the J ews in the Diaspora"
from proving to be a highly readable
and illuminating book, for the lay-
man, for courses in J ewish Music,
and for the Hazzan.

Charles DAVIDSON

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