Cantors Assembly Journal of Synagogue Music

JOURNAL

OF SYNAGOGUE MUSIC

December 1974/ KISLEV 5735

VOLUME v
Number 3

CONTENTS

MOTIVATORS and Motivation in

J ewish M usic Morton Shanok 3

A Welsh "Grace"? Claire Polin 6

Music For The Synagogue Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco 9

Varying Concepts of NE'IMAH and their

Place in Liturgy Max Wohlberg 16

The Songs of The BEIS HAMEDRESH

Samuel Rosenbaum 22

Musical Life and Traditions of the
Portuguese J ewish Community of
Amsterdam in The 18th Century Dr. Israel Adler 31

DEPARTMENTS

Review of New M usic

Sabbath Eve Service by Jacob Druckman

Michael Isaacson I

J OURNAL OF SYNAGOGUE MUSIC, Volume V, Number 3

December 1974/Kislev 5735
Published by Cantors Assembly

editor: Morton Shames

managing editor: Samuel Rosenbaum

editorial board: Abraham Lubin, Saul Meisels, Dr. Edgar Mills,
David J. Putterman, Moses J. Silverman, Robert Shapiro, Dr. Max
Wohlberg.

associate members: Ivan E. Perlman, Chairman; Sidney Karpo,
Karl Kritz, Ephraim Rosenberg.

officers of the cantors assembly: C regor Shelkan, President;
Michal Hammerman, Vice President; Louis Klein, Treasurer; Harry
Weinberg, Secretary; Samuel Rosenbaum, Executive Vice President.

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

Copyright © 1974, Cantors Assembly

MOTIVATORS AND MOTIVATION IN JEWISH MUSIC

M ORTON SHANOK

Max Helfman, though slight in stature, was a musical person-
ality, who as a motivator on the American J ewish scene, well earned
the designation — giant. Max, who was a unique phenomenon in
J ewish music, died in 1963. His multiple musical capabilities earned
him a position well in the forefront among the American Jewish
musical personalities of this century. His compositions, both in
Synagogue literature and in concert repertory, are utilized by the
foremost Cantors and singers, and bring fervor and pleasure to wor-
shippers and concert-goers.

Brought to this country from Poland at the age of 8, Max, the son
of Hazzan Nathan Helfman, sang in his father's choir and also in sev-
eral other choirs. After attending Mannes College of Music, he went
on to Curtis Institute diligently studying piano and composition
with foremost teachers. In 1928, he became involved with liturgic
music as organist and choir director at Temple Israel in Washington
Heights, New York, an involvement in which he was immersed
wherever he lived throughout his career. In 1932 as conductor of the
Workmen's Circle chorus, he began a second phase of his remark-
able career. In succession he conducted the "Freiheit Gezang
Farein", for whom he arranged many Yiddish songs, then the
"Peoples Philharmonic Choral Society". In 1938, he became con-
ductor of the Handel Choir of Westfield, New York. Many were the
concerts in which he joined four to five hundred singers, since as
someone said, "For Max the sky was the limit." 1944 was a par-
ticularly busy year for him as he became a member of the faculty
of the School of Sacred Music of Hebrew Union College.

Max next became involved with Israeli music. He was chosen
as artistic director of the J ewish Arts committee in which he also
conducted the "Hebrew Arts Singers". It was at this juncture that
a significant turning point came into his life: the establishment of
the Brandeis Camp, first in the east, then in 1947 near Los Angeles.
An article in the B'nai Brith Messenger told in great detail of the
welcome and cooperation the students gave Max. The article con-
cludes "Helfman is helping to develop a reintegrated Jewish youth
and, upon leaving, the Brandeis camper carries with him a sense of
personal responsibility for his J ewish community and for the future
of the J ewish people."

Morton Shanok is the Hazzan of Temple Beth El of Swampscott, Mass.

Helfman did not rest upon his laurels. Instead, in 1948, he
helped create the Brandeis Arts Institute which was to function
within Brandeis Camp "to train gifted Jewish youth for artistic
leadership in the cultural life of the J ew in America". For 18 years
Max poured his ability, inspiration, and creative powers into the
youth of Brandeis Camp. His last important activity was as dean of
the School of Fine Arts of the University of J udaism which he was
invited to establish and which he did establish with great success
despite many problems.

In his book "Max Helfman, A Biographical Sketch", Cantor
Philip Model I of Temple Beth Emeth, Anaheim, California, very
perceptively notes the potent instrument Max was as a motivative
force in Jewish life. Cantor Modell, who studied under Max, con-
cludes: "In all four spheres as conductor, composer, lecturer, and
teacher his greatest achievement was the zeal and motivation which
poured from him making its impact on multitudes of people". The
list of who's who in today's Cantors, leaders, teachers, and prac-
titioners in J ewish music is filled with the names of those who were
inspired by Max Helfman of blessed memory.

The attitude and apathy of the major portion of the J ewish-
American community towards J ewish music in all its branches is one
that can well cause a sense of alarm to swell in the hearts and minds
of all who function within that realm. True, there are islands
wherein a good deal of effort is being invested, sectors in which
the song of our people is heard with vigor and gusto. Yet the over-
all picture of today's average Jewish community would surely
focus on a hazy situation at best when compared to other genera-
tions.

"It is quite possible that the coming generation will have a
better Jewish mind than his parents, but a poorer Jewish heart.
While the Hebrew language and Bible study may prosper today,
Yiddishkeit, the Yiddish language, the song, the drama, the humor,
the heartbeat of our people lies neglected." (Cantor Samuel Rosen-
baum, Proceedings Cantors Assembly Convention, May 1969).

I n the present generation the home which serves as a participant
motivative force for J ewish culture are not nearly as plentiful as
was the case a generation or two ago. Practically every home today
has a record player or a tape machine. However, for the most
part, our beautiful liturgic and secular songs, which in glowing tones
and inspiring words sing of the glories, of the hopes, of our people
both in the past as well as in the present and the future, are being
neglected.

It was the forces of neglect, of lassitude and erosion which
Sholom Secunda sought to stem in his cry for "tradition" in J ewish
music. Like 'Tevye" it was his thesis that our generation would
sing a song of significance, one that linked the generations, if this
song were created in a traditionally recognizable J ewish image.

Sholom Secunda, who was one of the most widely known per-
sonalities in J ewish music, died a few months ago. With his death
one of the all too few dynamic figures in American-Jewish music
is gone. Sholom, as he was fondly known, was primarily a com-
poser-conductor, but he was equally appreciated for his articles
in the J ewish press and his fiery spirited lectures and discussions.
As a member of a distinguished panel of composers at a session of
the 1961 Cantors Assembly Convention he projected his concepts:
'Where is the Kashrut for your spiritual satisfaction? We must
watch that that Kashrut is not violated. We want that Kashrut in
the nusach ha-tefilah." Though best known for his folk songs such
as "Bei Mir Bistu Schein" and "Dona Dona" Secunda composed
liturgic music of distinction as well as cantatas and in many other
musical forms. Whether one enjoyed or agreed with the music
Sholom created or not, one cannot help but realize that with de-
termination and steadfastness by means of his pen and his fiery
personality, he spoke in emphatic, vigorous tones for J ewish music
-tones which motivated many lay people as well as professionals so
that they became a force for our musical heritage. Biographical
data about this musical personality should prove interesting and
of excellent motivative value.

A WELSH "GRACE" ?

Claire Polin

That popular secular songs are frequently discovered incor-
porated into the Sacred Service is hardly news. Such borrowings
from familiar sources have tended to lighten the gravity of a par-
ticular hymn and to encourage greater audience participation. Con-
temporary styles of the Sacred Service composed to "pop" or rock
music today tend to delight or startle us, just as familiar secular
tunes in a religious context created the same reaction in our
ancestors in the land of their current adoptions. However, when
one has heard, while traveling in Wales, schoolchildren sing at 3
local Eisteddfod that which one always regarded as the ending
section of the Sephardi Festival "Grace after the Meal" (starting
with Umah Sheachalnu), and reversing the process of recognition,
one is consumed with curiosity to track down the source.

Wherever J ews have lived, Synagogue music has reflected local
borrowings. In the more enlightened Italy of the 17th century, as
ghetto restrictions eased, friendships between local talents, Jewish
and Christian, led to a rewarding reciprocity of ideas, which ulti-
mately found their way into the music of each culture. Salomone
Rossi showed the marked influences, in his Mantuan synagogal
choir-books, "Shir HaShirim asher Lishlomo"', of the ideas of Monte-
verdi and Gastodi. On the other hand, Benedetto Marcello in
Venice wrote a number of Psalm settings based upon actual chants
of the Spanish and German J ews he heard.* In Spain, at virtually
the very period of the Expulsion, folk songs were popularly traded
across the J ewish-Christian border. 3

Within the northern Sephardi communities were recurrently
heard modified versions of English folk and art songs. These were
particularly popular if applicable to such congregational plums as
En Kelohenu and Adon Olam. The Philadelphia congregation,
Mikveh Israel, in which this author grew up, has rotated about a
half-dozen or more tunes of each of these hymns throughout the

Claire Polin is a flutist, composer, lecturer, teacher and musicologist
who has been a member of the music faculty of Rutgers University since 1958.
She received her doctorate in music from the Philadelphia Conservatory in
1955. She isthe recipient of a number of distinguished awards for her compo-
sitions and her articles on music and ethnomusicology have been widely
published. She has been a Special Lecturer on American music in Wales,
England, France and Israel and on early Welsh music in the United States.

religious year, while the London Bevis Marks Synagogue sings
many of the same tunes, usually more elaborately ornamented in
good operatic tradition while being lustily harmonized by the con-
gregation and choir.

In Wales, where a strongly nationalistic flavour in music and
general culture has been doggedly maintained over the centuries,
the quality of interchange is perhaps less apparent. The Welsh
Jewish communities are small and few, and appear to be isolated
from local influences. Here, reciprocity takes the form of a pro-
found love for the Bible. Secular tunes are rather infrequently
discovered in Welsh church music, those rarely of recent vintage.
While the Welsh regard the Bible and the "people of the Bible"
with deep respect, they, together with other Europeans, have little
idea of its musical nature. Conversely, J ewish scholars have had no
reason to become even remotely aware of Welsh music.

So, from a J ewish view, it is startling and amusing to come upon
an unmistakably familiar part of the "Grace" as a fragment of a
widely-quoted spring song, "Breuddwyd y Frenhines" ('The Queen's
Dream"), which is virtually an anthology stuffer. In the Jewish
version, only the ending is sung, over and over again, instead of
the entire melody. The applicable section of the Welsh version (at
the end) is shown below in FIGURE A.4 The comparable section,
used for the "Grace", is given in FIGURE B, with alternate endings.

' 2p-£Jr i j :uP n i j j i fl.&fiL\&m

Tune to "Mah Sheachalnu"

pz]tm±:im^3m? E w~ i J -^ht*

MAH SHEH-AHALNU

.yap 1 ? irrr u^dnbh-id

.nws-i 1 ? rrrr wnaWnoi

.:rn:n:? .HDia'? rT.rr innirw-nni

:;; -did hti>) ^dnM ornD 1 ? )rn

:hdii Q^iy 1 ? '3 aitt^s v 1 ? nin

.•inaap » irrn 73 na:r -ipn -qan ^na

The dottecl-note motif is commonly recognized as a dance or
marchlike subject in British music5, constantly employed from at
least Elizabethan times. 6 The repetition of the first pair of measures,
moving up or down, as the case may be, a diatonic step at a time,
is also ubiquitous.

Although reputedly older than the 18th century, the earliest
actual appearance in print of this song was found in 'The Musical
Relicks of the Welsh Bards", volume I, page 163, by Edward J ones,
published in London in 1784. One wonders if the entire piece were
ever used by the J ews, and what ever became of the first part.

(1) Published Venice, 1623, reprinted Jewish Theological Seminary, New

York, 1973.

(2) The Jenkins-Kerry Papers, National Library of Wales MS. 1931 of the
beginning of the 19th century, describe much of this contribution of
Marcello. Burney and Hawkins confirmed these sources in their histories.

(3) In Spanish Song of the Renaissance, Victoria de los Angeles sings some
delightful "Sephardi" ballads. Angel, 35888.

(4) For the complete song, refer to "National Songs of Wales", published by

Boosey and Hawkes, London, 1959.

(5) See W. S. Gwynn Williams' "Welsh National Music and Dance, London,

1933.

(6) William Chappell, "Popular Music of the Olden Time", London, 1859
Dover American reprint, 1965.

MUSIC FOR THE SYNAGOGUE

Mario Castelnuovo -Tedesco

An excerpt from the autobiography of Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco
translated from the Italian by Burton H. Scalin

Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (born Florence, April 3, 1895; died
Beverly Hills, California, March 17, 1968) achieved recognition
both in Europe and in the United States, where he resided from
1939 until his death. His works were performed at major European
festivals and were included in the repertoires of Toscanini, Heifetz,
Segovia, Gieseking, and other noted artists. With the exception
of the symphony, Mr. Castelnuovo-Tedesco wrote in all major
genres. His stage work, Bacco in Toscana, was performed at La
Scala. He won first prize in two opera competitions; and, on com-
mission, he composed an orchestral work for the 100th anniversary
of the New York Philharmonic. Together with Casella, Malipiero,
and Respighi, he is acknowledged as a leading force in Italian music
in the early twentieth century. Being a versatile and knowledgable
person, he wrote articles for the Enciclopedia Musicale Ricordi and
various periodicals (musical and non-musical), and enjoyed a suc-
cessful career as a teacher. The following text, translated from the
Italian, is a chapter from Mr. Castelnuovo-Tedesco^ unpublished
autobiography, Una Vita di Musica (1955).

I annotated and laid the first flowers created in my new garden
on an altar and offered them to God and "to all my dear departed
ones". This is my music for the Synagogue.

I really have had a few contacts with the Synagogue. In
Florence, I was a member of the J ewish community — and since
childhood, I went to the Temple on the solemn holy days, not as
much out of inner conviction, but rather to give pleasure to my
parents.

'Temple" was the official name, but it is really not the ap-
propriate word, since 'Temple" for the J ew was only that one in
J erusalem destroyed centuries ago. Today, the places of prayer
are only Synagogues-"Schools of the Law".

The Temple in Florence is not really beautiful, despite an ex-
ternal grandeur of lines. The interior is of a chocolate color and

Mr. Scalin, a Ph.D. candidate in Music History and Literature at North-
western University, is preparing his dissertation entitled "Compositions for
the Stage by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco". He is also Director of Music at
Anshe Emet Synagogue, Chicago, Illinois.

10

decorated with arabesques that make it resemble a Mosque. But
when I was a child, it appeared beautiful to me. As for the religious
services-they seemed long to me, and I did not pay too much
attention to the scholarly sermons of the Rabbi. About mid-day,
when the sun filtered through the red, yellow and blue stained-
glass windows and the gilded doors of the "Sancta Sanctorium"
were opened, the ancient Bible written on scrolls of parchment,
covered with old and precious brocades, and crowned by tinkling
silver turrets, were taken out. Then my imagination flew in a
dream of oriental splendor and I could almost see the ancient
Temple-destroyed for centuries. Anyhow, for me, the Temple
in Florence remained tied to "traditions", to the memories of my
family — my father and my mother.

Having arrived here in America, I found a completely dif-
ferent situation — no longer the small, contained "community";
no longer the single 'Temple". For instance, here in Los Angeles
(where the population of the J ewish faith equals in number the whole
population of Florence) there is an abundance of "congregations"
spread over the vast area of the city-congregations of different rites
(and often rivals among themselves) where the "Synagogues" serve
not only as places of prayer, but are centers of various activities:
schools of religious education for the children, sites of charitable
enterprises (both functions useful and necessary) ; but also — and
above all — "meeting places", recreational circles where lectures,
concerts, dances-and weddings can take place. I am not de-
bating the usefulness of these last functions, but they seem com-
pletely extraneous to me. While I always felt a deep sense of
fellowship with the J ewish people, frankly I wasn't interested in
these secondary activities of these neighborhood groups. The Syn-
agogues themselves, as a place of prayer, seemed so little "inspiring"
to me. They were either cold and austere as classrooms or they
were as ostentatious and pretentious as the movie theaters in Holly-
wood. In order to pray, I preferred to go alone to the shore of the
Pacific or to the top of a hill. For this reason, although invited
many times, I never wanted to join any of these congregations, even
though there was one just a few steps from home, at the corner of
my street. Above all, the local Synagogues did not have the inner
meaning, traditional and familiar of the 'Temple" in my native
Florence.

In spite of this, my rapport with Synagogues have always
been excellent. I often had friendly relations with Rabbis, Cantors,
and organists; and being invited by them as "representative" —

11

among the more notable — of J ewish music, (and here in America.
there are legions of J ewish musicians, composers and interpreters)
I often wrote some pieces of music for one Congregation or another.

But before discussing these, I want to turn for a moment to
the first of my Synagogue compositions — the Amsterdam 'Lecha
Dodi', written several years before (in 1936). It is called the Am-
sterdam 'Lecha Dodi' to distinguish it from another (which is in my
Sacred Service) and because it was written at the request of the
Synagogue of Amsterdam. I had various problems at the time —
the Synagogue of Amsterdam was orthodox and they had given
me strict instructions. Because the organ was not permitted, the
choir had to be unaccompanied; it had to be only for male voices
(since women were not permitted to sing); and finally, each part of
the choir had to have all the words of the text, but without repeating
any of them. The text, although from a distant age, is very beautiful.
It describes, allegorical ly, the Sabbath (the day of rest dedicated
to God) in nuptial terms — somewhat like the "mystical bride"
of the Song of Songs. My mother transcribed the words with the
proper accentuation for me. It was the first time that I set a
Hebrew text to music, and I was slightly unsure of it. She also
made a literal translation for me. (I still preserve these pages written
with her clear and harmonious handwriting). The piece, naturally,
is dedicated to her. But then the piece had a strange adventure
which is worth telling.

At that time, I used to make very few manuscript copies of
my music (which, in general, quickly appeared in print). I made
only two manuscript copies of "Lecha Dodi"; one that I sent to
Amsterdam (where it was performed) and the other that I sent to
"Yibneh" in Vienna (an affiliate of Universal Edition for Jewish
Music) that was supposed to publish it. I did not think of the
piece in the following years (which were difficult and turbulent
enough). When I arrived in America, I realized that I didn't have
a copy of the 'Lecha Dodi'. In the meantime, the Nazis had enslaved
Austria, invaded Holland — burning and destroying everything that
bespoke "J ewishness".

I thought, then, that the piece was irreparably lost and frankly,
I was sorry, for I thought (as I still believe) this was the best of my
Synagogue compositions. Then, at the beginning of 1942, I re-
ceived an unexpected letter from New York. It was from a certain
Mr. Dimitrovsky, who had been an employee of Universal Edition
and who, after many adventures, had also arrived in America him-
self. This good and charitable soul had carried my manuscript with

12

him from Vienna in order to return it to me. Thus the 'Lecha Dodi'
was unexpectedly rediscovered. At the invitation of Cantor David
Putterman, it was soon performed at the Park Avenue Synagogue
in New York, but this time in a new version because the Park
Avenue Synagogue wanted the piece for a mixed choir and organ ac-
companiment. It was then published in this form (which is not the
best) by Schirmer. Finally, to end the story, some years later the U ni-
versity of J erusalem requested a manuscript of mine for its collection
of autographs. I sent them my original manuscript (the one which
was lost, and found again) hoping that there in "Holy Land" it
might find peace at last.

And now we come to the more recent pieces. Without a doubt,
the most important of these is the Sacred Service for the Sabbath
Eve. It was written in December, 1943 at the request of the Rabbi
from the nearby Synagogue of Westwood. Rabbi Emanuel was tall,
elegant and eloquent and had a rather worldly appearance. Un-
fortunately, he died a few years later in a highway accident. I
don't know if his eloquence would have convinced me, if I had
not had the desire, for a while, to dedicate a work to the memory
of my mother (as if to write a "Requiem" for her). Therefore, it
is dedicated "to the memory of my mother and all my dear, departed
ones". I thought of Grandfather Senigaglia, my uncles ... Re-
member, this was in 1943 and I didn't have any more news from
Italy. I didn't know how many of mine would be missing! Therefore
I felt filled with inspiration.

However, this time, too, I had some difficulty, since it was
intended for a Reform Synagogue, the work had to be written for a
"Cantonal" soloist, (in this case a baritone, though afterwards,
other synagogues wanted it for a tenor) mixed chorus and organ. I
never liked the organ very much. Besides, in my mind, this instru-
ment is associated more with the Catholic and Protestant rites than
to the J ewish rite. Finally, in the "Reform" rite, the text is part in
Hebrew and part in English (probably for practical reasons of in-
telligibility. This creates a hybrid element which I don't like).
For example, in the two most important parts, the Shema Israel
and the Barechu, the Cantor and the choir sing only the first verses
in Hebrew, while the remainder of this most beautiful text is re-
cited by the Rabbi in English, generally without musical accompani-
ment. I attempted to avoid the imbalance by accompanying the
recitative with a soft exposition by the organ in which I developed
the themes of the preceding choral parts — in the form of "melo-
logue" — still realizing, from past experience, the difficulty of

13

"synchronizing" the recitation to the music. Another part, May the
Words, is totally in English, while two other sections, the Silent
Devotion (a sort of I ntermezzo) and the Kaddish (the prayer for
the dead) are for organ alone. I tried, at any rate, to do my best
to remedy these dissimilarities with a unity of style. Still another
problem that confronted me was precisely that of the "style". It is
difficult now to know, and even to imagine, what the early J ewish
liturgy might be — if not for the few remaining traces perhaps in
Gregorian Chant and by the source of so-called "cantillation", which
is more authentic but the interpretation of which is uncertain. The
liturgy had successively adapted itself to the times and the customs
of the countries where the J ews had successively taken residence.
There was no organ, and the chorus was not polyphonic. The
liturgy was probably sung monodically, or perhaps, almost spoken.

At any rate (seeing that I was born in Italy), I decided to
follow the Italian polyphonic tradition. The choral education that
I received from Pizzetti was more "Monteverdian" than "Pales-
trinian" and besides, I remembered a humorous thing that Pizzetti
once said to me with reference to some choruses I wrote in school -
"you pretend to be a J ewish Monteverdi". Therefore, I decided
precisely to be the "J ewish Monteverdi",, but intentionally this time.
This was not an absurd plan, historically speaking, if one considers
that the first examples of an Italian J ewish liturgy date back exactly
to the Mantuan, Salomone Rossi (X 87- 1628)) who was not only a
contemporary of Monteverdi, but a friend and disciple. The few
pieces of his that I know are most beautiful. With the problem of
style solved, I completed the work rapidly — from December 1st to
December 30th, 1943. 1 n its original version, the work consists of thir-
teen sections. Yet, in a way-it was never finished. Because some of
the pieces are mandatory and others are optional (according to the
diversity of rites, the various times of the year, and the tastes of the
officiants) I feel inclined to set other portions of the text for each
individual performance. In 1950, 1 wrote an Addenda to the Sacred
Service containing four new pieces. One of these is a new setting
of "Lecha Dodi". Unlike the Amsterdam "LechaDodi", it only
has three verses, as is the custom in Reform Synagogues.

The first performance of the Sacred Service did not take place
at Westwood Synagogue. For financial reasons, they could not
afford to use the large choir required by the work, and also, as I
said earlier, Rabbi Emanuel had died. It was performed instead,
likethe "LechaDodi" in the hospitable Park Avenue Synagogue
and afterwards in several other American cities. It has never been

14

performed in its entirety in Los Angeles. Despite some uneveness,
I believe that it is one of the most purest inspired of my works.
It is also, together with the Birthday of the Znfanta (even though
in a different direction) one of the works in which I began to find
myself again. When it was performed in New York, some critics
reproached me for having been too sweet and idyllic. I think this
may have been due to the feelings that had inspired the work.
These feelings were neither dramatic nor mystical, but rather quiet
and serene as my mother's smile. I wish I were able to hear it
once in the Temple of Florence, where my dear ones attended
services — for that, I would be willing to modify it further.

The other works written for the Synagogue are of lesser im-
portance. One is a "Kol Nidre", the prayer that opens the ex-
piatory service of the day of Yom Kippur. It is a little more
than a broad paraphrase of the traditional theme of Ashkenazic
origin. There have been several versions of this music, from Max
Bruch in the 19th century to Arnold Schonberg in the 20th century.
My adaptation, which I never published, is for Cantor, choir, organ,
and 'cello soloist. It was written in 1944 for Rabbi Emanuel and the
Westwood Synagogue, where there was an excellent 'cellist in the
person of William Vandenburg.

A group of Songs and Processionals for a Jewish Wedding was
commissioned by the Cantors Assembly of America. These excellent
Cantors were disturbed by the fact that the wedding marches of
Mendelssohn and Wagner were used in J ewish wedding ceremonies.
In reality Mendelssohn was a Jew who was baptized and Wagner
was absolutely an antisemite. At any rate, those two pieces are so
well known and so lovely, I didn't delude myself into thinking that
I could replace them. However, in order to please these good men,
I agreed to write the four pieces on texts assigned to me from Hosea
and the Song of Songs.

The work is comprised of two processionals, for the entrance
and the recession of the nuptial court, and two songs, one each for
the bride and the bridegroom. Actually I wrote six pieces. I had
been asked to set the songs to double texts, Hebrew and English.
After having first set them in Hebrew, I realized that the English
translation wasn't readily adaptable to the vocal line, so I wrote
another, totally different, version.

The last of my pieces written for the Synagogue was a
Naaritz'cha, a Kedushah, requested in 1952 by Gershon Ephros
for the 4th volume of his Cantorial Anthology. I was interested in
the fact that the volume also included a setting of the same text

15

by Salomone Rossi, and I thought: "the first — and perhaps the
last of the J ewish — Italian composers".

Since then, I haven't written any other music for the Syna-
gogue. I don't consider my two cantatas, Naomi and Ruth and the
Queen of Sheba to be "liturgical music". These compositions were
performed for the first time in Hollywood's most elegant Syna-
gogues : 'Naomi and Ruth' at Temple Israel, and the 'Queen of
Sheba' in Beth-El Temple at the initiative of the University of
J erusalem, which also gave me an honorary degree on that occasion.
They are the first of my Biblical choral-works, a genre to which I
intensely dedicated myself,' and are remote from the liturgy-which
creates many difficulties for me.

I don't believe, now, that I will write any more music for the
Synagogue. 2 I wish, first of all, that my dear fellow-J ews would reach
an agreement, once and for all, and unify their "rites" — this
would make it easier for the composer! If I would write Synagogue
music again (I have thought of writing a second Sacred Service ...
for myself, this time) I would write it in a completely "non-tra-
ditional" style, or perhaps — more authentically traditional. It
would have a choir that spoke and sang monodically and would be
accompanied by all the instruments named in the Bible (or their
modern equivalent) instead of the organ. Look at Psalm 150 —
"Praise God with Trumpet, Flute, Harp, Drums, and ringing Cym-
bals!" It would be a kind of "J azz-band", as the Levites' orchestra
probably was. Certainly no synagogue in America, perhaps in the
whole world, would consent to perform it.

1. In addition to the published cantata. The Fiery Furnace (Op. 183), Mr.
Castelnuovo-Tedesro subsequently wrote the following unpublished ora-
torios: The Book of Ruth, Op. 140; The Book of J onah. Op. 151; The
Song of Songs, Op. 172; The Book of Esther, Op. 200; and Tobias and
the Angel, Op. 204.

2. A Memorial Service for the Departed, Op. 192, was written in 1960.

VARYING CONCEPTS OF NETMAH AND THEIR
PLACE IN THE LITURGY

Max WOHLBEBG

The word ne'imah appears in the Bible, Talmud and post-
Tahnudic literature in diverse grammatical forms and with varying
definitions. Among others, it is used in describing the qualities of
God, the nature of His gifts and the emotional state associated with
singing His praises.

As noam, an attribute of God, it is translated (Jewish Publ.
Soc.) "graciousness" (Ps. 90: 17 and 27:4). As na'im it is "pleasant
to sing praises unto God" (Ps. 147: 1) while as ne-imot it is "bliss
in His right hand" (Ps. 16: 11).

Similarly are the words of God, wisdom and knowledge en-
dowed with this quality. "Her (the Torah's ways) ways are ways
of (noam) pleasantness' (Prov. 3:17). 'Thy (ne'imim) sweet words"
(Prov. 22:18; 23:8; Ps. 16:6) and "words of (noam) pleasantness
are pure" (Prov. 15: 26 and 16:24). 'They shall hear my words
that (na'emu) they are sweet" (Ps. 141:6) and "Knowledge shall
(yinam) be pleasant unto thy soul" (Prov. 2:10, 9:17; 24:25). Also,
'Those who hearken and serve Him shall spend their years in
(ne'imim) pleasures" (J ob 36 : 11).

The same root is the source of a masculine and a feminine
name: Na'aman (II Kings 5:1) and Na'omi (Ruth 1:2) and serves
as a synonym (na'im) for precious riches (Prov. 24:4).

The word acquires a gentler hue when it refers to personal,
physical and spiritual qualities. "How fair and how (na'amt) pleas-
ant art thou" (Cant. 7: 7) and (na'amta) "whom dost thou pass in
beauty?' (Ezekiel 32: 19).

David in his poignant lament over Saul and Jonathan refers
to "the lovely and (ne'imim) the pleasant" (2 Sam. 1: 23) and,
speaking of J onathan, he fondly exclaims: (nu'amta) "very pleasant
hast thou been unto me" (ibid 1: 26).

Perhaps the most familiar appearance of the word is when it
describes the ideal social life. "Behold, how good and how (na'im)
pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!" (Ps. 133: 1).

Consideration of ne'imah in relation to music (vocal and in-
strumental) in general and to liturgy in particular reveals a decided

Dr. Max Wohlberg is professor of Nusah at the Cantors Institute of the
Jewish Theological Seminary.

11

partiality for the "pleasant sound". Thus the Psalmist speaks of
-kinar na'im" the sweet harp (Psalm 81: 3). David was "ne'im
zemirot" the sweet singer of Israel (2 Sam. 23: 1).

According to the Midrash', David was selected to sing hymns
before God because his voice was pleasant. The Talmud 2 attributes
the absence of a hirdolim (hydraulic organ?) in the Temple to the
fact that its sound was harsh.

While the identification of musical instruments of antiquity is
often hypothetical, even an abstruse reference as the above is suf-
ficient to prove the predilection of our ancestors for the sweet
sound. The information that children's voices were included in
the Temple service in order to add mellowness to it 3 should dispel
all doubt on this point. Vocal music, incidentally, took precedence
over the instrumental. The task of the latter was merely to serve
as a sweetening agent?.

The mystics visualized the Patriarchs in their heavenly abode
listening to the sweet singing of J ochebed, the mother of Moses,
who is at times accompanied by an angelic chorus 5.

Thus it was inevitable that as the liturgy developed and the
role of the Hazzan as leader in worship grew ever greater emphasis
was placed on the requirement that he have a pleasant voice. Only
comprehension of the text took precedence over a pleasant voice 6.

In his introductory prayer (Hin'ni) on the high holidays, the
Hazzan pleads for the acceptance of his prayers as if they were
chanted by one possessing a Kol nu'im, a pleasant voice. The latter
is considered helpful in setting the proper mood of the worshippers
and it is therefore proper for the congregation to seek one so
gifted to lead it in prayer'.

The possessor of this unique gift, maintains R. J udah, the
Pious 8, should devote his talents only to lofty purposes and while
singing His praises must refrain from a display of vanity 9.

Indicative of the importance of a pleasant voice is its inclusion
in the oft-quoted criteria — particularly for special occasions — in
the selection of a leader in prayer 10.

However, at variance with the previous quotes, here kol arev,
a pleasant voice is preceded by the phrase yesh lo ne'imah, one
possessing ne'imah. Since being conversant with the liturgy is placed
as the first requisite and a pleasant voice is explicitly indicated,
ne'imah here, it seems to me, refers not to the quality of the voice
(as Rashi suggests) but rather to a melodic element.

Hence the Soncino translation "skilled in chanting" is not al-
together satisfactory. Nor is the Goldschmidt (German) version

18

anmutig quite on target. The contemporary meaning of ne'imah:
melody, seems preferable. Accordingly, a leader in worship is re-
quired to be knowledgable in the proper liturgical melodies, Tan-
gentially, it is conceivable that the chanting of a melody may affect
the vocal quality".

As we shall see, it is evident that ne'imah appears in numerous
places as a reference to melody and its quality. As a matter of
fact, in the historically fascinating and liturgically informative ac-
count of the inauguration of the Exilarchl2 a clear distinction is
made between 1) the voice, 2) its quality and 3) ne'imah.

Corroboration of the melodic concept of ne'imah may be found
in Talmudic-and other- passages directed at laymen such as the
ban against reading the Torah without ne'imah" (here translated
as "melody" by Soncino and as "Biblical cantillation" by Rashi).
While Biblical cantillation also has a grammatical-syntactical func-
tion such claim cannot be made in the case of the Mishna which,
according to the above quote, also has to be studied with a tune.

The Rabbis noted that such study facilitates memorization and
the study of the Talmud with special melodic motifs endures to-
day. Maggidim, preachers of a former generation, used to adopt a
sprech-gesang for their homiletical discourses.

The chanting of the liturgy in a pleasant manner may be traced
back to the Talmudic period 14 and the congregation participated in
such chanting 15.

Since one must approach prayer in a joyful mood 16 appropriate
melodies were employed to infuse joy in both singer and listener".
These melodies (and musical modes) which have become our Nusah,
the "traditional" music of the synagogue, were scrupulously adhered

toia

By the fourteenth century our ancestors achieved a musical
sophistication sufficient to become aware of the melodic elements
and cadential tendencies of the musical scalel9 and were emboldened
to speculate on the pitch-producing effects of certain letters
(vowels) 20. "J ewish" tunes frequently attracted the favorable at-
tention of Christian — including clerical — neighbors 21.

These, far from exhaustive, observations are, I believe, suf-
ficient to explain the following historical phenomena:

Our ancestors consistently sought, and expressed a preference
for the sweet and pleasant sound.

I n the liturgy an abiding desire was expressed to sing pleasantly
unto the Lord: La'el barukh ne'imot yitenu.

The liturgical poets, likewise, wished to sweeten their songs:

19

Anim zemirot.

Jewish artists succeeded, far out of proportion, in the musical
world.

J ewish musicians evidenced a clear preference for the mellower
sounds of such instruments as the violin over the more robust quality
of, say, the piano.

Congregations, as a rule, chose tenors to serve as their cantors.

Baritones and bassos, serving as cantors, cultivated a "light"
(tenoral) voice production and attempted to acquire a flexibility
and coloratura generally associated with a tenor voice.

A lyric voice was usually given priority over the dramatic and
cantors with a zies moyl (sweet mouth) and an effective krechts
(sobs) were especially cherished.

Liturgical texts of petition outnumbered those of laudation in
cantorial recitatives.

Popular congregational melodies were mostly in a minor mode
and plaintive in nature.

Alas, this latter situation had a deleterious effect in that it
excluded virile and majestic tunes for such glorious texts as Adon
Olam, Mi Chamocha, Halleluyah. Some of the attempts at recti-
fication of this situation proved weak and inadequate.

In envisaging the future of synagogue music we confront a
dilemma of dichotomy. While, on the one hand, a tradition adhered
to through generations gains an aura of sanctity, on the other hand
it is indisputable that tastes change, standards shift and art grows.
The fashions of the present are neither those of the past nor, most
likely, those of the future.

Nevertheless, while a contemporary synagogue composer must
be true to himself and express his ideas in contemporaneous musical
terms he will, it seems to me, more likely succeed in gaining
acceptance if he is cognizant of the traditions of the synagogue and
empathizes with the worshipper who associates his prayers with a
ne'ima kedosha.

n-ri:,y>7 n-uy>7

> 7'K 13

.IK". )

■On >DJB J 113

>J»1 ( »n ) |n<

hi snpaa (15

|m l-Il {16

i 1 ? r«i (20

THE SONGS OF THE BEIS HAMEDRESH

Samuel Rosenbaum

The shtetl's combined informal prayer hall, study room, com-
munity assembly hall, hostel, and just about the most useful and
used public room was the Beis Hamedresh. Attached to the more
formal synagogue structure was this special room which served
many functions. Young and old studied there. Often it became a
miniature Yeshiva, where Talmud was the corner-stone of the cur-
riculum. Almost any time of the day groups of men could be found
there pursuing their individual programs of some form of Jewish
study. The daily morning and evening services were held there as
were community meetings. It was the place where Jews of the
forgotten and hidden hamlets of Eastern Europe settled the world's
problems and where a weary traveler, without the few pennies
necessary to rent a room in the local inn, could spend the night.

In 1948, Yechiel Stern wrote an exhaustive report on the
nature and development of the Beis Hamedresh. It was published
in Volume 31 of "YIVO BLETER", the journal of the Yiddish
Scientific Institute, the organization dedicated to the preservation
of all written and oral histories of European and American Jewish
life.

A part of Mr. Stern's report dealt with the educational system
of the Beis Hamedresh, its curriculum and techniques as he recalled
it from the Beis Hamedresh in his own shtetl.

What was of particular interest in this report both to the writer
and to all who are concerned with the development and enhance-
ment of J ewish liturgical and folk music, was the proof it brought
that, as in all J ewish life, music — here sacred music, is an integral
part of that existence, a fact which he documents with a number
of illustrations. Following is a synopsis of that section of Mr.
Stern's report which relates directly to music.

Since music and study are completely homogenized and inter-
twined in traditional J ewish life, the report contains ample material
as well on how students studied in the Beis Hamedresh.

Samuel Rosenbaum has been the hazzan of Temple Beth El of Rochester,
New York for almost three decades. He serves as Executive Vice President
of the Cantors Assembly and as the Managing Editor of the "Journal of
Synagogue Music."

23

Young boys between the age of twelve and thirteen were eligible
for study in the Beis Hamedresh providing they had previously
completed instruction in some Heder which included primary
Gemorrah studies. The Beis Hamedresh was open and free for
everyone. One needed only a desire to study and to learn to be-
come a welcome guest. No one examined or questioned those who
came to study and neither status nor specialized knowledge gave
any student special privileges there. It was a school without any
specific faculty, having neither rabbi, nor teacher nor supervisor.
Everyone who studied in the Beis Hamedresh was his own master
and, therefore, studied with will and devotion. It was up to each
pupil to motivate himself to study. The Torah-intoxicated atmos-
phere of the Beis Hamedresh was more than enough to instill the
proper attitude towards study in each student.

Students could be found in the Beis Hamedresh at any time
during the day from about nine in the morning until about ten in the
evening with interruption for meals at home or for a swim in the
little river that bordered the town on a hot summer day.

Advance students both young and old who had to occupy
themselves during the day in making a living would get up before
dawn and come to the Beis Hamedresh to spend some time in
study. Young men of Bar Mitzvah age who began serious study
in the Beis Hamedresh would continue all their lives even after
marriage. Later on, when they became fathers and had to be con-
cerned with raising a family, visits to the Beis Hamedresh were on
a less rigid and less formal scale, each student snatching whatever
time he could from his work to continue his studies.

Generally, the major subject in the Beis Hamedresh was
Gemorrah. In the afternoons, one could sometimes find small groups
studying the Prophets. On Fridays some time was usually spent
reviewing the Sidrah of the week, along with several popular com-
mentatories. Generally, Hurmash was studied together with the
commentary of Even Ezra and the Or Hachayim Hakodesh. I n
addition, every regular student in the Beis Hamedresh would review
each Friday afternoon the cantillation of the Sidrah, twice in the
Hebrew and once in the Aramaic. A number of Beis Hamedresh
boys became experts in cantillation not only of the Humash but in
all the Megillot which are read in the Synagogue during the course
of the year.

Among the older young men, some chose to study additional
commentaries in order to prepare themselves to receive educational
certificates. Such young men were not given special honors or spe-

24

cial places in the Beis Hamedresh. As a matter of fact, meet of the
students looked down somewhat on those who chose to make a
livelihood out of theTorah.

In those days, being considered a serious student implied that
one could move about freely in all the tractates of the Talmud. While
it was not the primary subject, one who was a master of Tanah
was looked upon with some respect by his colleagues. But every
young man studying in the Beis Hamedresh was well acquainted
with XheShulhan Aruch Orach Chayim, or at least with the KUzur
Shulhan Aruch.

When a young man came to the Beis Hamedresh from the
Gemorrah-Heder he would usually seek out a partner with whom
he would study. Generally, the study partner was a friend of
long standing who had entered the Beis Hamedresh circle at the
same time. Such study-friends became friends in life and would
remain so all their years, so long as fate did not separate them.

The two study partners would question each other, prod each
other for new insights into the wisdom of the Gemorrah and in
that way became true partners in study. Those who could not find
a suitable study partner studied by themselves. In general, the
more experienced older young men, studied by themselves.

When a difficult question arose which neither of the study
partners could answer it was customary to turn to someone who
was already acknowledged as a superior student and who was
looked upon with respect as a source of higher knowledge. If the
older student could not answer the question of the younger student,
he, in turn, would pose the problem to one of the sages of the
Beis Hamedresh, the acknowledged senior expert. In this way, a
Gemorrah question often became the subject of discussion of the
entire Beis Hamedresh in which all the students, junior and senior,
would become involved and the discussion would continue for as
long as it took to clear up the issue.

It was expected that if an older student was questioned by a
younger one and he felt that the younger man's question was due
only to inadequate study and preparation, he, the older student
would take whatever time necessary to review the passage with the
young man so that the answer would become clear of itself.

In this way, a deep friendship, easy and informal, developed
between the older and younger generations of students.

The Beis Hamedresh was not restricted to "full time" students
but was open to anyone in the community who wanted to study.
Every J ew who entered chose whatever tractate he wished, al-

25

though it was customary for the new students to begin with the
shorter tractates such as Z'roim or Moed, or those tractates which
which contained a great deal of Aggadic material such as B'rachot,
Megillot, Chagigah, or Moed Katan. Later on, they would move on
to the tractates of Gittin, Kiddushin, and then to Ketubot. Only
after having completed these relatively minor tractates, would they
go on to study the longer more difficult ones such as the three
Bava's, Sanhedrin, Yevamot and Chulin.

A beginner would study the Gemorrah with only the Rashi
commentary. Little by little, he enlarged his scope of learning to
include the Tosefists and the later commentaries.

There were several traditional Beis Hamedresh tunes for study-
ing Gemorrah. Particularly interesting is the tune which was known
as 'The Question". This is the tune that a young student would
hum to himself as he became more and more involved in a question
in the Gemorrah. The melodv concludes with a happy refrain
which expresses the joy of study and the pleasure of which the
young student experiences when he finally resolves a textual prob-
lem which he himself had raised for himself.

Examp* A-

MJMMIMM'WMIMM

The study of Tanah had its own series of special melodies
which were used in the Beis Hamedresh. They were known as
"Sinai Melodies" signifying that they had been passed on from
generation to generation.

Students would often lose themselves in solitary Gemorrah
study. And when the point the rabbis were trying to make, or a
resolution of a thorny question eluded them, they would uncon-
sciously begin to hum to themselves one of several study chants, sad,
introspective and probing.

e^an*f>/* B2.

&e*»orre& Study

27

Every level of adult study found an outlet in the Beis Harme-
dresh. While the younger students pursued their Talmud study
on a full-time regular basis, the older citizens of the community
would never let a day pass without some regular study. Each man
could find his own level there. Some, merely assembled to read the
Psalms, others to study Mishnah, still others formed hevrot for
the study of Talmud. Some, who were unable to join regular study
gatherings came to sit with the group just to listen. While they
probably could not follow every detail of the discussion, here and
there they would pick up some nugget of learning which they could
comprehend. You could always tell when this happened by a in-
voluntary nod of the head or a sudden unexplained smile as the
listener caught the point which a regular student had just made.

The study of Mishnah was reserved for the less knowledgeable
older men but they pursued their study with the same zeal in the
Chevrah Mishnayes as did the members of the more erudite Chev-
rah Shass, the elite older group who met each day to study the
Talmud.

In the afternoons, when the casual students were out attend-
ing to their livelihood and only the "full time" students were in
the Beis Hamedresh, they were in the habit of interrupting their
studies with some melody set to a favorite quotation, such as "Im
Ein Ani Li, Mi Li".

To which another young man might respond by singing a tune
to the text of Akaviah Ben Mehalalel Omer".

EV <3">/>l<? J>- MJoJ 3 A»r A*av>*i hen JeMaleP..

At that, a third Beis Hamedresh student would counter with
another tune set to another sacred text, i.e., "Hareini HaShem
Chasdecha".

M^reini tijSUerr, Ckasdedo

a» dher~k-d». GT]*- yalJt, ti y-ttfy 0\ p

This would evoke still more melody, perhaps the well-known
"Baruch Elohenu Sheb'ranu Lichvodo" familiar as a happy re-
frain at weddings, Bar Mitzvah's and at "Shalosh S'udos" on Sab-
bath afternoons. This might soon be followed by a general favorite
in which all would join, "Oivov Albish Bushot".

£>,W Alt'ish Ifesho

♦<?ar-nt>5 fcia- J

From time to time, there would appear in the Beis Hamedresh
one or two eidemlach oif kest, young sons-in-law of balebatim of
the shtetl, whose doting fathers-in-law had undertaking to support
daughter and son-in-law for a year or two after their marriage so
that the young man could continue to study without the usual
distractions of making a home or earning a living. Since these
young men often came from outside the shtetl, they brought with
them the indigenous tunes of their own communities. Many of these
young men had been "found" by their fathers-in-law in the Musar-
Yeshivot of Lithuania and their songs added not only a new musical
element to the singing but a new philosophical one, as well. Popu-
lar with these young men were such tunes as, "Oi, Lo L'Odom

Then another musamik would counter with, "Mali Yisron
L'Odom L'Chol Amolo". This would inspire still other responses
such as "Odom Yesodo Meofor".

. */•• Oion y^SoJto JlM?-oft>r

neMt, M* o-»u u-mf da- }&> *

No great friendship ever developed between the local students
and the outsiders, (the Litvaks). The whole concept of fire and
brimstone and pessimism which were the keystone of the Musar
philosophy, never impressed the hassidically-oriented local students
and these sad, and basically unsatisfying concepts never made much
headway there.

31

MUSICAL LIFE AND TRADITIONS OF THE PORTUGUESE
JEWISH COMMUNITY OF AMSTERDAM IN THE
18th CENTURY

Dr. Israel Adler

Following is a reprint of a section of a monograph by Dr. Israel
Adler, Director of The J ewish Music Research Centre in J erusalem,
on the "Musical Life and Traditions of the Portuguese J ewish Com-
munity of Amsterdam in the 18th Century". The publication of the
monograph, No. 1, of the Centre's 'Yuval Monograph Series" was
made possible, in part, by a grant from the Cantors Assembly.

We publish the Introduction and Chapters 1,11 and III which
detail a wide variety of J ewish musical activity which was produced
in that flourishing community.

ISRAEL ADLER

MUSICAL LIFE AND TRADITIONS OF THE

PORTUGUESE JEWISH COMMUNITY

OF AMSTERDAM

IN THE XVI Nth CENTURY

JERUSALEM, 1974
THE MAGNES PRESS. THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY

PART @ NE

THE L JTERARY EV I D E N C E

INTRODUCTION

■■ one of the most flourishing centres of European Jewry of the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries 1. The Low Countries, liberated from
Spanish rule and constituting the United Provinces with Calvinism as the
state religion, became from the end of the sixteenth century onwards a fa-
vourite refuge for the Marranos of the Iberian Peninsula, especially Portu-
gal, who wished to return to overt Judaism. These immigrants, attracted by
an earlier nucleus of Portuguese Marranos who had come to Amsterdam in the
latter part of the sixteenth century', rapidly organized their communal
life. After a formative period, the three congregations of bet ga c aqov
(founded in 1597), newehsalom (founded in 1608) and bet yisra'el (founded
in 1618) merged in 1639 into one unified community, under the name of tal-
mud torah. Although Amsterdam also experienced an increasing influx of Ash-
kenazic Jews from Germany and Eastern Europe during the seventeenth century,
the Sephardic community was to retain its economic and cultural, if not
numerical, predominance.

Since they had no knowledge of Hebrew writing these Marranos, in returning
to the religious practices of their ancestors, were at first obliged to
have recourse to prayer books where the Hebrew prayers were transcribed in
Latin characters. Consequently particular attention was given to education.
Schools were set up - which Spinoza was to frequent in his youth - where
the programme, graded with exemplary pedagogical method, included, apart
from the topics normally encountered in Jewish schools of this period (the
books of the Bible and exegetical talmudic and rabbinical works) also
Hebrew grammar and modern Hebrew poetry 3. Encouraged by the setting-up of
a Hebrew printing works - Amsterdam became in the seventeenth and especially
in the eighteenth century one of the most important centres of Hebrew ty-
pography - Jewish studies developed and expanded in this city which was
soon called "the Jerusalem of the North". Its cultural life was distin-

guished by the greatly varied fields of interest of the authors who abounded
in the community. Without neglecting rabbinical and kabbalistic studies,
these scholars, writers and poets produced works on Jewish ethics Hebrew
linguistics, historv and poetry Profoundly marked by several generations
of complete assimilation tc the civilization of their country of origin,
where they had belonged to the upper social classes, these Marranos turned
practising Jews maintained the cultural and artistic expressive forms of
their prior mode of life. Even in the eighteenth century Portuguese and
Spanish were still in common use. Portuguese served as an official language
in the deliberations of the community and together with Hebrew, was employed
in certain parts of tne liturgy; Spanish was the literary language found
In poetic and dramatic works, a field where Hebrew began to take hold only
towards the middle of the seventeenth century with the kabbalist Moses Zacuto

(1626-1697) and the bilingual poet and dramatic author Joseph Penso de la
Vega (C3. 1650-1692), tO b6C0me the dominant tongue at the end of the sev-
enteenth century and throughout the eighteenth century, with a multitude
of minor composers of poems and occasional plays, according to the model
which we have observed in Italy; among them the most striking figure is
that of the prolific and talented David Franco Mendes (1713-1792) 5.

Musical activity of an intense kind found a natural place in the social
and religious life of the community . Numerous indications may be recognized
in the descriptive historical sources, in the numerous occasional com-
positions, both printed and in manuscript, of which the literary texts
have been preserved, in the notated manuscripts, and in the memories of
the very few surviving authentic guardians of the musical tradition of
this community, which permit the confirmation and interpretation of the
old written sources - including those of art music practice - by still
extant oral traditions. Even more than in our discussion of musical
practice in Italy, we are aware that we have been able to assemble only
a small part of the existing literary evidence relating to the art music
practice of this community. In drawing up (in Chapter IV) the inventory

(which we believe to be exhaustive) of the pre-nineteenth century notated
musical sources preserved in the library of the Portuguese Jewish community
of Amsterdam, in preparing editions of some of these works, in throwing
light on the background of these musical manifestations by various lit-
erary documents we restrict our ambition to preparing the way for the
scholar who shall be better equipped than ourselves to devote a monograph
to the life and the musical traditions of this community.

CHAPTER I '
SURVEY OF TflE MUSICAL TRAINING AND THE SECULAR
MUSICAL LIFE OF THE JEWS OF THE LOW COUNTRIES

Some knowledge of the art of music, the ability to play ai
formed part of the qualifications of a man of a certain class of society.
The rabbis themselves were praised for their accomplishments in this field.
Isaac Uziel (died in 1622), hakam (Sephardic rabbinical title) of the com-
munity neweh sslom , is said to have been also "famosa poeta, versado
muzico e destro tangedor da harpa" .Abraham Pereira, who, according to
France Mendes, W3S elected head of the talmudical college ("ros da Jesiba")
torahor in 1659, is described as a "celebre harpista e melodioso cantor
The famous rabbi of Amsterdam, Isaac Aboab da Fonseca (1605-1693) 9, is
likewise declared to have been a skilled harpist

The celebrated poet and dramatic author Daniel Levi (Miguel) de Barrios
(ca. 1625-1701) 11 , whose work constitutes one of the most important his-
torical sources for the "Portuguese" community of Amsterdam, was very
probably himself a practising musician and it is likely that some of
the dramatic pieces which he created for the Jewish "academies" of Am-
sterdam "were executed. . . with musical accompaniment" . His comments on
Jewish poets of the Lew Countries who wrote in Spanish contain many ref-
erences to their musical gifts. Thus we learn that a certain Manuel
Pimentel was gifted as dancer and harpist; Antonio de Castillo (also
called Jacob de Castillo or Castelo) and Isaac Mendez are praised for
their playing of the vihuela; Manuel (or Jacob) de Pina, who is as well
known for his literary talents as for his sweet singing, is called by
Barrios "poeta y musico excelente"; Lorenco Escudero (who I
Israel or Abraham Peregrino) excelled in fencing as in music, where 1

* The numbering of the chapters, in one sequence, does not take into account
the division of the text into two parts. The notes, however, are numbered
in a separate sequence for each of the two parts. References to the notes
are indicated by the Roman number designating the part (I or II) followed
by the abbreviation n. (=note) and the appropriate Arabic number, thus:
II, n . 4 (=note 4 of part two) . References to the text are indicated by
the abbreviation ch. (=chapter) , followed by the Roman number designating
the chapter and the Arabic number designating the section, thus: ch.
11,4 (=section 4 of ch. II).

was an established master of several instruments . Barrios also speaks of
the spellbinding powers of the voice of Imanuel Abenatar Mello, hazzan in
Amsterdam from 1652 15. Let us recall that one of the rare seventeenth
century notations of biblical cantillation effected by a Jew was done by
the Amsterdam doctor and administrator of his community, David de Pinna
(see Adler, PM,p. 36 and notes 149, 150) . But the extent of the musical
training of the members of this community and especially its hazza.ni.rn will
emerge clearly from the numerous testimonies that start at the end of the
seventeenth century and continue throughout the eighteenth, recording the
manifestations of art music in the synagogue, the festivities of "academies"
and the family rejoicings that we shall discuss in the next chapter.
Besides this type of musical activity, which was restricted to a Jewish
public either because of its religious character or because of the use of
the Hebrew language, various eighteenth century testimonies exist that
offer evidence of a secular musical life of a sometimes extraordinary
richness. These latter events, of which our knowledge is second-hand, are
marginal to our subject, and we shall discuss them only briefly.

J.S. da Silva Rosa, after having mentioned the wealthy and art-loving
families Pereira, Capadoce, Suasso, Teixeira and de Liz, who cultivated
music in their houses, goes on: 'Towards 1750 a number of Portuguese Jews
established a Spanish theatre where operas in the French language were
also given; these representations however took place in private. . . The
feminine roles were played by men 'since in a Jewish theatre women should
not appear'" . L. Hirschel mentions "the extraordinary music-lover
Francesco Lopes de Liz, who, in about 1740 gave concerts and operas in
his distinguished home of the Korte Voorhout in the Hague to which notable
guests were invited". He also mentions a visit to the country house of
the Pereira family by Prince William V (born in 1748), in whose honour
a concert was held where "the celebrated Musicus Magalli'" appeared, an
Italian singer who came to Amsterdam in 1760 . But it is Scheurleer's
account of musical life in Holland during the second half of the eighteenth
century that gives us the best insight into the extent of the participation
of certain Jews. First, let us cite some facts concerning Mozart's rela-
tions with the Jews. Leopold Mozart's travel notes refer to contacts during
his visit to The Hague in 1765 with "Isaac Pinto and Andre [Aaron's sonl
Pinto and his family". Isaac and his elder brother Andre wealthy Jews who
were held in high esteem by the Dutch authorities, including the S
were known as patrons of the arts (Het muziekleven, p. 146 and 156) .

Musical training and secular musical life

Similarly, in Leopold's notes relating to the Mozarts' sojourn in Amster-
dam in January and February 1766 we find the names of four rich Jews of
that city, already mentioned above for their interest in music: Pereira,
Capadocci [Capadoce] , Suasso, Texiera [Teixeira] (ibid., p. 321-324).
Scheurleer also mentions Leopold's relations with the Jewish cellist
Siprutini, whom he met during his visit to London with Wolfgang and
Marianne in 1764. Siprutini, son of a Dutch Jew, converted to Catholi-
cism under Leopold's influence. His concerts were announced in The Hague,
in 1765, and in Amsterdam, in 1766 (ibid., p. 82 and 326). The extraor-
dinary position occupied by the enormously wealthy Portuguese Jew Jacob
(also called Franciscus or Francesco) Lopez de Liz in the musical life
of The Hague has been emphasized, among others, by Scheurleer, who devoted
extended passages to him in his study of opera in that city, as well as
an entire section on his concerts in the chapter "Het muziekleven te's-
Gravenhage" (ibid., p. 27-29, 69-78). The worldly life of "the opulent
and magnificent Jew Francis Lopez" was reputed beyond the frontiers of
Holland, as well as "his inclination for the theatre, and still more for
the actresses..." (ibid., p. 27). The notables of Holland, nobles and im-
portant visiting foreigners, were an assiduous audience at recitals held
in his magnificent house of no. 7 Korte Voorhout, from 1734 until 1742,
at which date, having dissipated his fortune, he was forced to liquidate
his properties. The description by an English traveller, published in
1743, gives some details of the period of his splendour: "... a Hall, or
large room, magnificently adorned and illuminated. The musick was judi-
ciously disposed in an adjoining Apartment, scarce inferior to the other
in beauty. Refreshments of all kinds were served about by footmen in splen-
did liveries. Whole operas were not sung; but only select parts, and
French cantatas" (ibid., p. 71). A French aristocrat reports in his ac-
count of a voyage made in 1736 that he had to cut short his visit to the
Jew Texeira "a cause du concert qui se donnoit ce jour la chez Mons.
Vlisse", and he continues: "II a fait deux chambres, un salon qu'il a
eleve en dome, parce que les etages etoient trop bas, du reste il est
d'une belle architecture, et dore superbement. Ce concert est compose
d 'environ 20 personnes; il y a des actrices a qui Mrs. Vlisse donne
jusqu'a 3 mille florins, le moindre des pensionnaires en a mille" (ibid.,
p. 70-71) . That these concerts were of a high musical standard is dem-
onstrated by the fact that for two years de Liz had been able to obtain
a first-class composer and violinist like Jean Marie

Ch. I: Musical training and secular musical li

Leclair the Elder (1697-1764) to direct his musicians. In the c
dated 1st July 1740 he stipulates that Leclair must "direct my concerts
in the capacity of the first of all the musicians whom I have at present
in my pay or whom I may have in the future, and also play the violin
twice a week, that is the Thursday and the Saturday, or on other days,
according to my will and good pleasure, leaving him entire liberty to
employ the rest of his time as he wishes" (ibid., p. 72). The liquida-
tion in 1742 of de Liz's assets, of which we have the inventory, shows
the richness of his musical library and of the repertoire of his concerts
(ibid., p. 76-78). Besides these sumptuous events we may mention a more
modest but quite significant testimony to the admission of fashionable
musical practices into Jewish families: ms. 49 B 4 of the Ets-Haim li-
brary is a French songbook copied out for the benefit of a Jewish girl
of The Hague, Ester Campos, in 1756. AM these songs, most of them car-
rying melody indications, and one containing the notation of the melody -
are of gallant inspiration, sometimes rather daring

In concluding this section we must refer to the sizeable theatrical and
musical enterprise founded by an Ashkenazic Jew of Amsterdam, J.H.
Dessauer, in 178U . This theatrical association bore the titles of
Industrie et Recreation or Amusement et Culture. Scheurleer, who remarks
that the whole company, singers, actors and the 23 orchestral players
were Jews of Amsterdam, points out that Dessauer 's undertaking preceded
by three years that of the non-Jewish German theatrical society, founded
in 1787 and directed by J. A. Dietrich. The repertoire of Dessauer 's
troupe, which remained active until 1838, included "operas by Salieri,
Martini, Gretry, Dalayrac, Nicolo, Mehul, Kreutzer, Kauer, Siissmayer and
always, always... Mozart" (ibid., p. 273). From 1795 onwards two weekly
performances were held in the theatre of the Amstelstraat . Outside Amster-
dam the company of Dessauer, who was himself a singer, appeared in Utrecht
and Rotterdam. The announcement in the "Rotterdamsche Courant" of a
performance of Mozart 's Don Giovanni, is followed by a note stating that
the starting-time took the end of the Sabbath into account. Don Giovanni
had already figured on 27 May 1796 on the programme of this "Hochdeutsche
judisohe GesellschaPt . Description by foreign travellers, sometimes
critical, sometimes sympathetic, may be found on p. 316 of the article
that we have already cited by Silva Rosa, who further remarks that
Dessauer also established a school assuring the lyric and dramatic train-
ing of his pupils.

MUSICAL MANIFESTATIONS IN THE SYNAGOGUE

1. The "Dialogo dos Montes"

Up to the present we know of no notated document of art music earlier than
the eighteenth century. Nevertheless, several echos of musical events of
this type that took place in the seventeenth century have reached us. The
famous Dialogo dos Montes by Paulo de Pina, who after his return to
Judaism in 1604 become Rohiel (Re c u'el) Jessurun, performed at the syn-
agogue bet ya c aqov in 1624, the year of its creation, on the occasion of
the festival of Pentecost, included musical interludes, vocal or instru-
mental, which are indicated in the text by the instruction "os muzicos .
But this kind of performance was forbidden in the synagogue by article XVI
of the regulations drawn up with the unification of the communities in
1639. It seems that after this date such performances, and specially the
Spanish pieces of religious character by Daniel Levi de Barrios, which
according to Kayserling contained a musical accompaniment (see note 13) ,
occurred outside the synagogue, in the meeting places of the confraterni-
ties or "academies" for whom they were created.

2. The inauguration of 1675 and the festival of the "sabbat nahamu"

The most remarkable and sumptuous manifestation of the Jewish Portuguese

community of Amsterdam in the seventeenth century was ■

of the "great synagogue", inaugurated on 2 August 1675 Few \

of any note passed through the city without pausing to visit this edifice,

a source of legitimate pride for the "Portuguese" Jews of Amsterdam and

the entire world, which still presents the same majestic aspect in its

original site on the Rapenburgerstraat .

The date of the inauguration, which began on the eve of the Sabbath
"nahamu" fthe Saturday following the mourning of the 9th of av) , became
the principal local feast and is still commemorated today. Traces of the
event can be found in collections of occasional poetry and also in musical
manuscripts. Contemporary historians agree in recording that the inaugu-
ration took place in the presence of the burgermaster , the magistrates
(aldermen) and notables of the city, to the sounds of a choir and an

orchestra 25. In the texts of poems composed for tl
sterdam rabbis Isaac Aboab da Fonseca (see note 9) and Solomon d'Oliveyra
we find allusions to instrumental performance. We may mention the poem by
Aboab, printed as a broadsheet on Friday 10 av 5435, on the eve of the
inauguration: hodu la-'el . . . c ale c asor c ale nevel. . . (see App. B,6, fol.
15) as well as the fourth verse of no. 6(hisgi hizql...) of Aboab's
poems for the inauguration, published by M. Kayserling : c uri c uri nevel
c asor , etc. Kayserling's no. 7 [le-veteka na'wah qodes . . .} is in fact by
Solomon d'Oliveyra, who included it in his manuscript sarsot gavlut(Aeh, Ms.
47 D 15), which contains supplements to the work printed in Amsterdam,
1664-65. A note in the margin of this poem indicates that it "was sung in
four parts in the synagogue in the year 4 [4]? = 168~1?] " (see App. B, 1,
fol. 86a). David France Mendes, in the introductory note to the inaugura-
tion chants that appear in his manuscript collection of religious poems
particular to the Portuguese community of Amsterdam, qol tefillah we-qol
zimrah (Aeh, Ms. 47 E 5) , fol. 14a-16b, states that the inauguration took
place with instrumental accompaniment 1,c ale higgayon be-kinnor u-ve-kol
kele sir" (see App. B, 6). The poems written for the inauguration and those
composed later to celebrate this day of the Sabbath "nahamu" also appear
in the extensive printed collection of various prayers and occasional
compositions, sir emunxm [2nd part: sir nePemanl, Amsterdam, 1792-93, fol.
9a and 15a. The musical setting of the poem on fol. 9a (azammer sir...)
by the composer Mani (dated 1773) has reached us in Aeh, Ms. 49 B 22, fol.
30b-32a (see Chapter IV, 2) . The poem by Isaac Aboab mentioned above,
hisqT hizqi". . . , which was later set to music by Abraham Caceres, also ap-
pears in this important musical manuscript, on fol. 15b-16a, and on fol.
2a we find a melodic version of the poem by Solomon d'Oliveyra mentioned
above, le-veteka... (see description of this manuscript in Chapter IV, 2).
The special liturgy for the sabbat nahamu is described in the seder
hazzanut, the manual of the cantor of the "Portuguese" synagogue, of
which several eighteenth and nineteenth century manuscripts in Portuguese,
Dutch and Hebrew are preserved in the Ets-Haim Library and the community
archives 29. We thus know that the music for bo'i be-salom and kol han-
nesamah that can be found in several manuscripts (see Chapter IV) was
intended for the sabbat nahamu as well as for the feast of simhat torah
and for sabbat be-zestt . It was on these occasions that the musical part
of this community's service reached its highest degree of elaboration.

The rejoicings in honour of the "bridegroom of the Torah" and the "bride-
groom of Genesis" who, following an ancient custom, are summoned by chants
on the day of simhat torah , the first to conclude the annual cycle of
the public reading of the Torah, the second to open the new cycle, took
on a particular brilliance in this community Covered vith honours in
the synagogue, where they were placed at the foot of the Holy Ark, on
splendidly tapestried sofas , escorted after the services with great
ceremony through the streets of Amsterdam , they were feted in poems
specially composed in their honour and set to musical scores, of which sev-
eral have reached us. The unusual pomp and circumstance that surrounded
the "bridegrooms" was closely linked to the financial and administrative
organization of the community. Its affairs were directed by a committee
(ma c arnad) of sever, administrators (parnasim) elected for a year, of whom
one, the gabbay, assumed the essential charge of the financial and ad-
ministrative conduct of the community. Since these functions not only made
heavy demands on the time and effort of their holders, but often called
for personal financial sacrifices in order to supply the urgent needs of
the community, candidates for these posts tended to become reluctant and
rare, especially during periods of economic crisis. The most "expensive"
post was that of the gabbay, since, according to the regulations, to be
elected to this function one had first to be chosen "bridegroom of the
Torah" or "bridegroom of Genesis", an elevation depending on the presen-
tation of a large gift of money to the community. Thus the especially
splendid ceremonial consecrated to these "bridegrooms" should be under-
stood as a sort of means of seduction, indemnifying the sacrifices de-
manded. Besides, the regulation provided an alternative weapon, that of
heavy fines, to be paid by those who refused election 35.

Although one finds certain seventeenth century poems written in honour
of certain "bridegrooms" - see d'Oliveyra's manuscript, sarsot gavlut
(Aeh, Ms. 47 D 15), no. 73 (for the "bridegrooms" of 1675), fol. [87]b;
no. 83 (for the year 1679), fol. 90a; no. 90 (for the year 1680), fol. 92b-
it seems that it was only in the eighteenth century that this custom at-
tained extensive dimensions, to go as far as a "spiritual concert" in the
synagogue. The first manifestation of this type was that of the year 1738.
Moses Hayyim Luzzatto (see Adler, PM, n. 424) who lived in Amsterdam from
1736 to 17^3 , composed the poem, and Abraham Caceres the music, and the

II: Music in t

»jo^ rt3r<7» xrvz? ix)r )^/J o"p f ^
°*z>b pint' nk>? tsjp v^'p ivpnp
Ttiiu? -r^# 9^7 top pyiy/4 pjjv

P'tp^ 7 *?xrf> to pi)?; 7'^rr

"7 [W [y?t> tv» :&>j/y* cyw)
Bjta ji> o"fd>? 0"P3 Wis j)j»V •' fa/*i
"-7t» ->£] i?>p W> J»>aw Ofc^
■^ 3)$ ?wt m»7; • ppjw 7/*j9

Description, in Hebrew, of the musical celebration in
honour of the "Bridegrooms" of 1738, Aeh, Ms. 47 E 5

Lption, in Portuguese, f the same event, Aeh, Ms. 4S A 8

44 Ch. II: Music in the synagogue

work, Well known tO historians 37 , made a vivid impression on
the community. One finds traces of repeat performances, and imitations,
throughout the eighteenth century. David France Mendes gives a description,
in Hebrew, in the manuscript collection qol tefillah we-qol zimrah, fol.
63a (see App. B, 6) and in Portuguese in his Memorias do estabelecimento . . .,
p. 142: "1739 (sic for 1738). Em... [Simhat torahl do) A°5l499 sendo
Hatan tora Is[hac] WunfezJ Hen[riques] e Hatan Beresit Aron de Jos[seph]
de Pinto compos o UK R. Mosseh Lusato o Pismon... Cle-el eltmj , e a solfa
delle R. Ab[raha]m de Casseres que cantarao coin agradavel melodia ja a
solo e ja a duo, os famosos Hazanim R. Sem[ue]l RoCdiOiCguels Mend[e]s e
R. Aron aCohen de Lara, accompanhados p[e]lo do compositor q[ue] os
asisistir na teba e com esta novid[ad]e foi o concurso de gente innumeravel,
silencio a sumo.... In conclusion the text again dwells on the ex-
treme satisfaction of the "bridegrooms", expressed by a generous gift of
forty ducats to the hazzanim apart from - as the Hebrew text makes clear -
the usual donation to the community. Apart from the description of the
multitude present and the information that Caceres himself provided the
accompaniment [harpsichord] , which appear only in the Portuguese text,
the two texts are parallel . In the Hebrew manuscript the description is
followed by the text of five verses (six, counting the repetition, at the
end, of the first verse) of the poem, with indications, for each verse,
concerning the musical performance: "for two [voices]", or, for the solo
parts, the name of the singer (see App. B, 6) The five verses of this

poem appear again in 1770-71, in the manuscript collection of the con-
fraternity of the somerim lab-tiger of Amsterdam, the sefer c olat sabbat,
by Isaac Belinfante, Aeh, Ms. 47 D 2(b), fol. 2b-3a. But here the text is
divided into two independent units: the first (no. 5 of the manuscript)
contains verses 1, 2, and 4 of the original poem; the second (no. 6 of
the manuscript) contains verses 3 and 5, preceded by another verse, by
an unknown author (in imitation of Luzzatto's first verse) beginning:
le-el c olam segule c am. In 1792-93, in the printed collection already
mentioned, sir emunim, we find on fol. 17a-b the original text, in its
entirety, preceded by the title sir bet hak-keneset miq-q'q Amsterdam
("The hymn of the synagogue of the holy community of Amsterdam") . This
collection also contains other versions in imitation of luzzatto's text.
On fol. 9a-b: le-el c olam segule ram. .. , composed, like its model, of
five verses, of which four are preceded by a melody indication ("lahan")
Two of these melody indications (for verses 2 and 3) give the incipits
of Luzzato's text and probably refer to the music of Caceres. This text

Competition for the office of hazzan

is by Yehi'el Foa and is dated 1 745 as we are informed by David Franco
Mendes in Aeh, Ms. 47 E 5 (qol tefillah. . . ) , fol. 68a. On fol. 8b: le-el
nora be-qol todah, . . containing three verses, whose origin is likewise
given by Franco Mendes; the author is Abraham ben c Immanu'el da Silva,
who wrote it for his brother, the hazzan David, in 1772 (qol tefillah. .. ,
fol. 118a). Two musical settings of this last text have survived in Aeh,
Ms. 49 B 22 (see Chapter IV, 2): one on fol. 19b-22a, for one voice and
basso continue with a sketch of a third part, probably instrumental, by
M. M[ani?], the other, on fol. 26b and 23a-24a, for one voice, by M. Mani.
The same manuscript contains, on fol. 27b-30a, a second cantata, dated
1772, by the same composer, to another text in imitation of the same model
beginning thus: le-el c elyon bene siyyon. Further traces either of Caceres'
original music or of Luzzatto's text can be found elsewhere. Thus one of
the candidates in the competition for the election of a new hazzan in 1743,
himself composed two quatrains to which he adapted the music of Caceres
(qol tefillah we-qol zimrah, fol. 65b). In 1782, another cantor, to inau-
gurate his term of office, also used Caceres' setting of one of Luzzatto's
verses (ibid., 121b-122a) . Finally, in a little comedy, half-sung, half-
spoken, written in 1794 by Moses ben Jehudah Piza, one of the editors of
the sir erouium, for a siyytim of the limmud hat-talmtdim , one of the melody
indications still refers to the cantata by Caceres (sir emunim, fol. 36b-38a).

4. Competition for the office of hazzan

The descriptions that we owe to David Franco Mendes of the competitions
held on the occasion of the election of a new hazzan clearly demonstrate
the considerable enthusiasm for music that prevailed in this community.
They confirm the existence of an art music practice and at the same time
constitute valuable sources complementing the notational manuscripts of
which we have knowledge.

When the post of hazzan became vacant, the candidates presented them-
selves to the communal authorities (the mapamad) , who established the order
of the competition. Each Saturday during the competition period a different
postulant thus offered himself to the judgement of the community. The ri-
vals, seeking to impress their audience, looked for unpublished poems
which their friends, the local poets, were only too happy to provide. In
Appendix B, 6 we give extracts from David Franco Mendes ' description of
the competitions of 171+3 • (goi tefillah. . ., fol. 64-66b) and 1772 (ibid.,
fol. llia-117) . The first is especially interesting because of several

tGXtS sung by various candidates, of which the music has survived. The
second permits us to confirm the valuable information given elsewhere by
Franco Mendes about this event during which works of art music were per-
formed in an atmosphere of extraordinary joy fulness.

The competition of 1743 was held following the death of the hazzan
Samuel Rodrigues Mendes, one of the two singers of Caceres ' cantata in
1738. One of the competitors, Daniel Pimentel, presented the chant solu
la-rdkev ba- c aravot si... . Franco Mendes reveals the author of the text:
Aaron da Costa Abendana (see ESN, I, p. 175); a musical version has sur-
vived in two late eighteenth century manuscripts, Aeh, Ms. 48 E 41 and
Ms. 48 E 4 9 (see Chapter IV, 1*). The work of another, better known, local
poet, Joseph Siprut de Gabay , which was performed on this occasion,
sema iadday tefillati , also appears in these two manuscripts for 1 voice
with a setting that is again encountered in Aeh, Ms. 49 A 14 (see Chapter
IV, 3) under the name of Abraham Caceres, in another tonality (sol instead
of la) , for two voices and basso continuo, and with other words (ham-
mesiah illemxm. . . )■ The use of another composition by Caceres on this
occasion, taken from his 1738 cantata, has already been mentioned in the
preceding section.

The description of the competition for the post of the deceased hazzan

\2.
Joseph ben Isaac Sarfatim , in 1772 occupies five large closely written

pages in Franco Mendes' manuscript Memorias do estabelecimento . . . . We
shall cite the information revealing an art music practice , Franco Mendes
after having given details of the procedure, names the seven competitors
and notes the works sung by each of them. In some cases he adds, a most
important detail as far as we are concerned, the names of the composers.
Thus, the third postulant, Hayyim ben Joseph Piza, sang "os versos segt
com muzica nova composta assim de Lidarti como de Creitzer. . . "; the
fourth competitor, Aaron ben Abraham Touro, sang- a part of the hallel
[pithu li sa c are sedeq) also to music by Lidarti, and a new qaddis com-
posed by M. Mani. The fifth candidate, David ben Immanuel da Silva, sung
"with a regular grace" and also "to a new music". The names of the com-
posers Lidarti and Mani often figure in the music manuscripts of this
community and Lidarti especially seems to have been at that time its fa-
vourite composer (see Chapter V, 2) . Creitzer, whose name we have not
found anywhere else in the Amsterdam Jewish sources, is perhaps one of the
two brothers Kreutzer (Kreusser, Kreuser) , more probably George Anton,

known as a prolific composer, than his elder brother Adam, horn and vi-
olin virtuoso, then well known in Amsterdam

Franco Mendes recounts that on the first evening of the fifth candidate's
tests - which certainly took place partly after the close of the Sabbath
to allow instrumental accompaniment - "there was an innumerable gathering
of people; as many individuals of our nation [Portuguese Jews] as German
[Jews] and also Christians . Six guards barred the doors. . . On leaving
the synagogue he was accompanied to his house, many people and children,
both Portuguese and German, holding hands, forming cordons for corteges] . . .
with acclamations and cheers. . ." It was in fact this candidate who gained
the victory but only after a passionate struggle between the partisans of
the various competitors. Franco Mendes writes at length about the can-
vassing for votes, a passion that gripped the whole community during the
weeks of the trials. The triumphal procession of the victor, who was
accompanied by "flaming torches and an innumerable crowd, to the sound of
trumpets, with rejoicing never yet seen" was surpassed by the installation
ceremony of da Silva in his new office: "... In the afternoon he was
accompanied to the synagogue by. . . an innumerable multitude both of our
nation and of Germans, preceded by two trumpeters, two horns, two oboes.
The great doors of the synagogue were opened, and it was invaded by
Germans who knocked down the guards. . . sang their own airs, various
Psalms and Pizmonim. . . " But this did not prevent the ceremony proceeding
in an atmosphere of "inexpressible joy fulness" .

5. Various <

Although it is certain that, these occasions apart, art music was also
practised at other times in the synagogue, it is not easy to precisely
define such moments. Music manuscript collections prior to the nineteenth
century (see Chapter IV) give us - in addition to those mentioned in
previous sections of this chapter - certain titles of prayers (adon c 6lam,
be-f? yesarim, extracts from the hallel, etc, etc.) and certain Psalms
which may have served for any Sabbath or holiday. In the case of verse
36 of Psalm LXVIII (noia elohim. . .) , we know that it was performed at
Pentecost. An extensive repertoire of liturgical pieces is given in these
manuscripts, notated for one voice. Besides prayers such as bareku,
haskivenu, le-veteka na'wah qodes, the qedussah, the qaddis, parts of
the hallel, we also find versions for one voice, unaccompanied, of can-
tatas like kol han-nesanah and bo'i be-salom, of which we know the elab-

z in the synagogue

orated art music versions from other sources. This leads us to ask whether
we are here confronted with a phenomenon similar to that which we have
observed in the Comtat Venaissin, where we were able to observe the trans-
formation of a work of art music as it gradually cast off its ensemble
portions to end up as a kind of popular song. The example of be-f? ye.%r?m
by Lidarti seems to indicate a similar process: in Aeh, Ms. 49 A 14
(second half of the eighteenth century, see Chapter IV, 3) this piece
appears in its original form for four-voice choir and orchestra. In Aeh,
Ms. 49 A 13 (see Chapter IV, 6), which seems to date from the end of the
eighteenth century or the beginning of the nineteenth century, it is
stripped of its orchestral accompaniment. We see it again, in an unnum-
bered collection of fragments belonging to Ets-Haim, dating to the nine-
teenth and twentieth centuries, where the choir is reduced to three parts.
It is quite likely that the liturgical pieces for one voice that we have
just mentioned likewise represent simplified versions of a more elaborate

However this may be, it does not seem that the musical organization of
the service, with its regular choral parts for Saturdays and holidays, as
we find it in manuscripts of the second half of the nineteenth century,
was already in use in the eighteenth.

We should also mention a particular genre of musical manifestations in
the synagogue which were presented on the occasion of receptions given to
visitors of note. We have already remarked that the great synagogue had
become a centre of attraction since its inauguration in 1675, but even
before this we hear of the welcome of an ambassador to Amsterdam, in
about 1651, "with jubilation, music and hymns" , David Franco Mendes,
who gave the list of royal, princely, etc. visits to the synagogue at the
end of his manuscript qol tefillah. . . also recounts similar celebrations
held at the synagogue to celebrate, for example, the proclamation of the
advent of a new stadhouder or the marriage of a prince. These were op-
portune moments for occasional poems, whose texts he gives, and of fes-
tivities that he declares resembled those of simhat torah 47 .

CONFRATERNITY FETES, FAMILY REJOICINGS
AND WORKS FOR UNSPECIFIED OCCASIONS
1. Confraternity fetes

The fashion of forming associations or confraternities ("hevrot") of all
kinds - religious or philanthropic, to promote study, etc. - was hardly
less strong in Amsterdam than in Italy . The fetes of these confraternities,
and especially the annual celebrations commemorating their foundation, were
so many opportunities for setting to music the occasional poems which played
an essential part in this kind of manifestation.

David Franco Mendes reports the foundation, in 1718, of the "esguer"

(=hesger = confraternity) leqah tcv, for the purpose of studying the Talmud,
the rabbinical codes, etc. The director of studies was Aaron Antunes, prob-
ably the same as the printer of the same name . Each year - but the con-
fraternity only existed for two years - festivities were held where chants
were performed, with a text by Antunes "e a musica della k\> de Casseres

.. . The source (Memorias do estabelecimento . . . p. 126) thus at the same
time gives us the earliest mention we have yet encountered of a work by
this composer. The next reference to his musical activity - earlier than
the two already quoted, as author of the notation of two melodies for I. H.
Ricchi in 1730-31 (see Adler, PM, p. 38) and as composer of the cantata
for the "bridegrooms" on the occasion of the feast of simhat torah in
1738 - dates to 1726, when he was called upon to collaborate in the inau-
guration of the synagogue "Honen Dal" in The Hague. The inauguration of
this synagogue took place on the eve of the sabbat nahamu (9 August 1726)
following the precedent of its elder sister of Amsterdam. Caceres composed
the music for a poem by the hazzan Daniel Cohen Rodriguez: ohilah leka el
nia heyeh c ezer ....

This same D. Franco Mendes, who notes in his collection c emeq has-sirlm

(Aeh, Ms. 47 B 26) occasional poems composed by various authors, notably
the rabbis already mentioned, Isaac Aboab and Solomon d'Oliveyra, for some
ten different confraternities or study associations , himself composed
numerous pieces of this kind to be found chiefly in his kxnrior dawid (Aeh,
Ms. 47 B 3) . A member of the hevrah "miqra qodes" - a Jewish study circle
drawing its membership from upper class "Portuguese" society, whose meetings

took place in the house of Joseph Suasso de lima - he was called upon
to write a certain number of pieces for the celebrations of this asso-
ciation. J. Melkman's work on D. Franco Mcndes mentions these pieces and
analyses some of them , but this author has, here as elsewhere , ne-
glected the musical aspect which certainly played a role in all these
compositions. Some are provided with a melody indication, in Spanish, as
in Franco Mendes ' first contribution of 1795 (kinnor dawid, p. 52) and
that of 1760 (id., p. 57), or in Hebrew, as in that of 1761 (ib., p. 60).
The introductory note to the poem with refrain husu has-soqdim. . , (p. 53),
also dated 1759, which states that there was an instrumental accompaniment,
seems to imply an art music performance: " . . . c artikah be-qol zimrah u-
neginah. ..' (see App. B, 4). This is likewise extremely probable in the
case of the poem of 1762, also with refrain, a work dedicated to the
praise of singing. The fourth verse contains several allusions to art
music, which the poet, according to his custom, explains in marginal notes

(see App. B, 4, p. 70-72). Among other compositions for miqiaqodes, let
us note the second, a musical comedy, of two little pieces for three per-
sonages, dated 1766, where we find, apart from the portions where the
three personages (poet, doctor and pharmacist) alternate, also airs for
solo performance, and, at the end, a three-part song (see App. B, 4, p.
87-88) .

Pieces of the same genre, serving in the festivities of the confrater-
nity, are of course to be found in the printed collection of the "Por-
tuguese" confraternity of the somerim lab-boqez of Amsterdam, the sefer
mismeret laylah (Amsterdam 1767-68) of which one of the editors was the
well-known local poet Isaac Cohen Belinfante (died 1780) . The intention
of musical execution can be recognized either in the indication of the
melody (see e.g. fol. 28b, 30a, 31b), or in the occasional dialogue form

(fol. 19b ff.). We may particularly note the presence of an echo-poem,
man aharit lahut be-tevel, hevel... (fol. 32a) whose music is preserved
in Aeh, Ms. 49 B 22, fol. 16b-17a (see Chapter IV, 2).

This piece did not belong to the special repertoire of the somerim lab-
boqer. It is again encountered in the c emeq has-sirim of D. Franco Mendes,
Aeh, Ms. 41 B 26, p. 2, preceded (at the foot of p. 1) by an indication
of the musical execution: yefeh qol u-metlv naggsn. It was still part of
the common repertoire of the confraternities and associations of the Por-
tuguese community in 1792-93, which constitutes the second part of the
str emunlm, entitled sir ne'eman, where it figures on fol. 21a-b. The

Family rejoicings 52

popularity of the music used for this echo poem is again demonstrated in
its use as a melody indication for another piece in the collection (fol.
38b) . The many other pieces composed for confraternity celebrations that
we find in this part of sir emunim , are all intended for musical exe-
cution, usually intimated by the use of the melody indication. Besides
the little pieces for two personages by Moses ben Jehudah Piza , one of
the editors of the collection, let us especially note the musical comedy
for four personages that this author w-rote for a siyyum of the association
limmud hat-talmidim'm 1774 (fol. 36b-39a) . The use of art music in the
execution of this piece is quite probable: among the melody indications
there appear, besides the incipit of the echo-poem above (mah aharit. . .)
also the melody indication of ya'ir kag-yom, whose music, by Caceres, is
known to us. Apart from the portions that were to be sung according to
music from the old repertoire, new music was also composed for this oc-
casion, and the parts of the libretto to be sung according to the new music
are preceded by the indication: lahan hadas ("new melody indication") .

2. Family rejoicings

The sources mentioned in previous sections, and especially the kinnoi dawid
by David Franco Mendes and his collection of poems by various authors
called c emeq has-sirim, as well as the sir eminim, also contain compositions
for family rejoicings, such as marriages and circumcisions. For weddings
especially the presence of musicians was de rigueur, as we may see in the
engraving by Bernard Picart (about 1 720) . It would be too monotonous to
enumerate all the little poems composed for these occasions - sometimes
printed on broadsheets or on silk 59 - where one often findsallusionsto
a musical execution. Let us cite, at hasard, from among the poems of the
kinnor dawid, that for the marriage of Jacob Athias, in 1732, be-qolot
ne c imot akonen renanot, preceded by an introductory note alluding to the
musical execution: "qol be-ramat haz-zemer u-ve-hekal han-neginah. . ." (p.
2), or that for the marriage of Joshua Hayyim Sarfati, in 1734: "qol
selselim qol sorer imsama c ti . . ." , where the text itself implies singing.
For grand weddings, in the houses of the Jewish financial aristocracy,
these little poems might be replaced by works of some magnitude, demanding
large performing ensembles. The famous allegorical piece by M. H. Luzzatto,
composed during his stay in Amsterdam for the wedding of his pupil, son of
the fabulously wealthy Moses de Chaves , uses seventeen personages apart
from the choir (hevrat mesorerim) . In the final scene (dibbur 6) .besides
Yoser , Tehillah , Hamon t Sekel and "the other guests in the house of Hairion

Ch. Ill: confraternity fetes etc.

after the marriage ceremony", a choir also appears, whose verse kol tofese
kinnor c ugav wa-nevel, qumu . . . naggen het'lvu . . . which serves as a refrain,
implies the presence of instrumentalists. Musical performance, which is
certain for this final scene, is equally probable in other parts of the
same piece, as can be seen for instance in the use of the echo-form for
tehillah in the fourth scene.

In the second half of the eighteenth century, the mode of life of rich
Dutch Jews of German origin was hardly different from that of their "Por-
tuguese" co-religionists. We have seen in the first chapter how firmly mu-
sical practice was established in their milieu. David Franco Mendes was
asked to write a piece for the marriage of the daughter of the wealthy
Benjamin Cohen of Amersfoort, which took place in about 1788-89 . Franco
Mendes acquitted himself of the task by writing the piece ahavat olam.
A detailed literary analysis of this work is given by J. Melkman who
nevertheless does not pay enough attention to the fact that the roles of
all the personages contain an important musical part, which could only
have been assumed by musicians. In Appendix B we quote these sung portions
where the occurrence of instrumental interludes is also indicated. The fact
that Franco Mendes wrote a libretto of this type, where the usual person-
ages appear - Venus (Nogah) Apollo (Yuval) the Muses (benot nas-sir) in-
cluding Calliope - without forgetting to situate the second act at the
foot of Mount Parnassus, is not at all surprising. The vast documentation
assembled by Scheurleer on the musical life of Amsterdam in the second half
of the eighteenth century shows that Franco Mendes could easily have found
his model in the Amsterdam theatre, whose repertoire included, apart from
operas proper, also half-sung and half spoken pieces, as can be inferred
from the division of the personnel into "speaking" and "singing" actors,
and by the important place occupied by these latter and by the instru-
mentalists 64. The fact that Franco Mendes had in mind musicians, both
singers and instrumentalists and professional dancers, in writing ahavat
c olam becomes evident if we remember that since 1784 there had existed
in Amsterdam the troupe of J.H. Dessauer, whose singers, actors, and the
twenty-three orchestral instrumentalists were all Jews (see above, end
of Chapter I) who should therefore not have found any particular diffi-
culty in playing and singing the Hebrew text of ahavat olam.

Works for unspecified occasions

3. Works for unspecified occasions

It remains for us to examine briefly the few testimonies that we have found
in the literary sources to art music performances without specified in-
Some seventeenth century poems by the Amsterdam rabbi whom we have al-
ready mentioned, Solomon d'Oliveyra, have survived, manifestly conceived
for musical performance 65 The introductory note to poem no. 41 of his
sarsot gavlut: simhat gill ahavti... indicates that it was composed to be
sung, by people who knew the solfege, in four voices, according to the
science of music (see App. A, 1, fol. 68b). A similar indication, but
without stating the number of voices, precedes poem no. 45 of the same
collection :sivat c amka suvah... (ibid., fol. 69b). These two poems date
to 1666 and the Shabbateanism of d'Oliveyra is freely expressed in the
second. Another poem by d'Oliveyra, written "according to the music, in
three voices", is included by Franco Mendes in °emeq has-sirim. The use
of three voices is explained by d'Oliveyra as symbolizing the subject of
his poem: Torah, Prayer, Charity. The seven verses of the poem are intended
to be sung alternately: the first, in three voices; the second, voice a;
the third, in three voices; the fourth, voice h; etc. (see App. B, 2, p. 3).
In the same manuscript can be found three further poetical works where
the intended musical execution is attested either by the introductory
notes or by the text of the poem itself (ibid., p. 4, 19, 36).

In conclusion we should mention the most important dramatic works of
David Franco Mendes, which were designed partly or entirely for musical
execution. The detailed study of these works by J. Melkman, completed by
the review of Melkman' s work by J. H. Schirmann, already cited, permits
us to give only a brief resume. The libretto-like character for a musical
work of bl'at ham-masiah ("The coming of the Messiah") has been clearly
demonstrated by J. H. Schirmann who adds a note on the musical structure
of the work as an appendix to his review . We have only one point to add:
the musical form for which Franco Mendes destined his work was the oratorio.
In his biblical drama gemul c Atalyah, which is partly based on Racine's
Athalie and on Gioas, re di Giuda by Metastasio, there are also musical
sections. Racine's choruses are replaced, following contemporary custom,
by canzonette. Finally, Schirmann thinks that tesu c at yisra'el, Hebrew
l of Betulia liberata by Metastasio, could also have been taken as
>r a musical work, even offering the supposition that Franco
Mendes had in mind the preparation of a Hebrew version of the c

Ch. Ill: Confraternity fetes etc.

Mozart. On the face of it this hypothesis is acceptable: Mozart's work
dates to 1771, Franco Mendes ' Hebrew version is of 1790-91. Besides, we
know from Scheurleer of Dessauer's troupe's predilection for the work of
Mozart. Nevertheless, in contrast to other works intended for musical
execution by the same author, such as ahavat c olam, or the copies in his
handwriting of works by other writers such as J. Saraval 's translation
of Handel's Esther, or the cantata ge'ullah by Ephraim Luzzatto 67 , where
Franco Mendes carefully notes all the musical indications, in his auto-
graph manuscript of tesu c at yi sra 1 el (Aeh, Ms. 47 C 38) we find no indica-
tion of this kind, except the annotations lahaqat mesorerirn - Coro.

. We have drawn on the following works for information of a general char-
acter: H. Graetz, Geschichte der Juden..., vol. IX (4th ed.) Leipzig,
1906 and vol. X (3rd ed.) Leipzig, 1896; J.S. da Silva Rosa, Geschie-
denis der portugeesche Joden te Amsterdam..., Amsterdam, 1925; I. Prins,
De Vestiging der Marannen . . . , Amsterdam, 1927; J. Zwarts, Hoofdstukken
uit de Geschiedenis der Joden in Nederland, Zutphen, 1929; J. Meyer,
Encyclopaedia sefardica neerlandica [1-111, Amsterdam, 1938-40; H.
Brugmans and A. Frank, eds., Geschiedenis der Joden in Nederland...,
Amsterdam, 1940; J. Melkman, David Franco Mendes, a Hebrew poet, Jeru-
salem and Amsterdam, 1951 (especially chapter II); I.R. Molho, Haq-
qehillot has-sefardiyyot... in Osar yehud§ sefarad, 6(1963): 160-182.

date of 1593, cf. I.S. Emmanuel, op.i
P. 59.

. See especially L. Rirschel, in Brugmans and Frank, Geschiedenis, p. 461-
467, and the reprint of M.C. Paraira and J.S. da Silva Rosa, Gedenk-
schrift uitgegeven ter gelegenheid van het 300-jarig bestaan der Onder-
wijsinrichtingen Talmud Tora en Ets Haim. . . , Amsterdam, 1916, in ESN,
I, P. 67-97.

. See especially I. Maarsen in Brugmans and Frank, Geschiedenis, p. 500-

6. See d'Ancona (Brugmans and Frank, Geschieden
who gives dates differing from those found i
in Silva Rosa, Geschiedenis, p. 14.

7. See D. Franco Mendes, Memorias de estabelecimento e progresso dos

judeos Portuquezes e Espanhoes... de Amsterdam..., Aeh, Ms. 49 A 8,
p. 23. This unpublished source is especially important for Franco
Mendes ' own period; for the preceding period he uses earlier authors,
especially Daniel Levi de Barrios, but in an uncritical spirit. Franco
Mendes gives the date of the election of Isaac Uziel as hakam of neweh
salorn as 1610. But according to J. d'Ancona, op.cit., p. 223 (see
preceding note) Uziel, who was originally from Fez and lived in Con-
stantinople before being called to Amsterdam, did not arrive in that
city before the end of 1615.

8. Ibid., p. 32.

9. See ESN, I, p. 11-14.

10. Cf. L. Hirschel in Brugmans and Frank, Geschiedenis, p. 491

11. Cf. ESN, I, p. 48-50; Kayserling, Sephardim, p. 257-288.

12. See the late eighteenth century engraving reproduced in ESN, I, p. 49,

Zwarts to
48-49.

. Cf. Kayserling, Sephardim, p. 284-285.

. See ibid., p. 252-256.

. Cf. ESN, I, p. 8; Zwarts, p. 109-110.

. De joden in de schouwbusg. . . , p. 314 and Geschiedenis, p. 104.

. In Brugmans and Frank, Geschiedenis, p. 104; Hirschel, p. 491-492, also
mentions the public concerts which were held in the Jewish quarter of
Amsterdam in 1756, twice a week during the summer, but he does not say
that this was a Jewish enterprise.

. On his activities in Holland and on his relations with Mozart who
visited Amsterdam in 1166, see D.F. Scheurleer, Het muziekleven in
Nederland... ('s Gravenhage, 1909), p. 322.

. One also finds the forms Du Liz, du Lys, Dulis, Vlisse and de Liesse,
cf. Scheurleer, op.cit., p. 11. In addition to citations from J.S. da
Silva Rosa (note 16) and L. Hirschel (note 11), see J. Zwarts in
Brugmans and Frank, Geschiedenis, p. 400 and 416; J. Meyer, The stay
of... Luzzatto. . . , p. 18, note 15c, and especially J. Fransen, lee
comediens francais en Hollande au XVIIe et au XVIIIe siecles... (Paris,
1925), p. 221ff. (see s.v. Du Liz in index), who gives a detailed
analysis of the eighteenth century pamphlets directed against Du Liz:
3 pour servir a l'histoire de M. Duliz..., London,

. Geschichte . . . ,

20. 1 fol. (title) followed by 88 p., numbered (236 x 180 mm.); p. 1-44:
text of the songs; p. 45-14: blank; p. 15-11: table. Title on fol.

la: "Livres pour 1 ' intelligence de toutes sortes des chansons indiferente
a 1 'usage de Mademoiselle Ester Campos ecrit par Jacob Del Sotto
commence le premier mars 1156 a La Haye". Fol. lb: "Livre des chansons
pour l'usage de Mademoiselle Campos". The notated melody is on p. 18:
"Que le rendez-vous est charmant".

21. See Silva Rosa, De joden in de schouwburg, p. 315-316; Scheurleer, Het
muziekleven, p. 212-13; J. Shatzky, The theatre of the Ashkenazim in
Holland (in Yiddish) in Yivo Bleter, 21(1943): 302-322, on Dessauer,
p. 308-322.

22. Silva Rosa, I.e.

23. See D. Franco Mendes, Memorias do estabelecimento, p. 40; Kayserling,
Sephardim, p. 115 ff.; Silva Rosa, Geschiedenis, p. 26, 34-35 and

De joden in de schouwburg, p. 314; L. Hirschel in Brugmans and Frank,
Geschiedenis, p. 491; I. Maarsen in ibid., p. 501, referring to the
detailed study by J. A. Van Praaj in Feestbundel . . . Salverda de Grave
(Groningen, 1933), p. 242-255. In Aeh, Ms. 48 E 30 - we have not seen
the volume printed in 1767- the note "Os muzicos" is written on
f. 26a, 41a, 45a, 48b, 51b, 55b and 59b.

24. Cf. D. Henriques de Castro, De synayoge der Portugeesch-Israelietische
qemeente te Amsterdam, La Haye, 1875; J. Zwarts, Hoofdstukken, p. 118-
129; J. d'Ancona in Brugmans and Frank, Geschiedenis, p. 286-289;
Silva Rosa, Geschiedenis, p. 95-98.

25. See e.g. Silva Rosa, Geschiedenis, p. 95, Zwarts, Hoofdstukken, p. 125.

26. See JE, IX, p. 394-395 and the reference t
after H. Schirmann, in Behinot be-vlqqoret

M. Kayserling, R' Yishaq Abohav . . . in Hag-gSen, 3(1901-1902): 155-

174; the inauguration poems are published on pp. 170-173.

Poem by Abraham Immanuel da Silva, brother of the hazzan David, cf.

sir emunim fol. 8b and the ms. qol tefillah. . . fol. 119a (see App.

B, 6) .

We have the Aeh manuscripts 48 E 38 and 48 E 1 (in Portuguese) , and

48 B 22 and 48 D 11 (in Dutch), the last of these, by the cantor

I. Oeb Brandon, having served for the edition included in ESN, II,

p. 161-204.

32. For a description of the customs concerning the "bridegrooms"
ESN, I, p. 83 and especially,
hazzanut], ESN, II, p. 193-200,
Frank, p. 300-301; L. Hirschel in ibid., p. 431

33. See illustration no. 9 in Adler, PM, facing p.

34. See illustration no. 10 in Adler, PM, facing p.

35. See J. d'kncona in Brugmans and Frank, Geschie

See J. Meyer, The stay of... Luzzatto at Amsterdam. .. , 1947; J. Melk-
man, D. Franco Mendes, p. 30ff.

cantor... (suppl. to Die jiidische Presse) , no. 3 (Berlin, 15.3.1899),
p. 17-18, mentions this work, of which he possessed a manuscript.
This manuscript was eventually acquired, with the entire Birnbaum
collection, by the Hebrew Union College of Cincinnati . Idelsohn men-
tions this manuscript in 1925, in Song and singers, p. 418-419,
listing it as Ms. 92 of the Birnbaum collection. It is most probably
this same manuscript which served E. Werner in recording a fragment
of this cantata in about 1945 (see Adler, PM, n. 169). The librarian
of the Hebrew Union College was unable to satisfy our request for a
microfilm of this manuscript (see Adler, PM, n. 142) . The Jakob Michael
Collection of Jewish music, at the J.N.U.L., includes among its photo-
copies of the Birnbaum collection, the photocopy of a ms. of this
cantata. The existence of another manuscript containing this work was
noted in 1940 by J. d'Ancona in Brugmans and Frank, p. 299-300, and
the facsim. facing p. 305. In 1947 J. Meyer (Luzzatto at Amsterdam,
p. 27, note 19) is very probably referring to the same manuscript
which he claims to have "found recently" Cin the library of Ets-Haim) .
The same manuscript was "rediscovered" by H. Krieg, who extracted

1 by Caceres published under the title L'Keel Keelim,
After that date the manuscript disappeared, the
librarian of Ets-Haim having been unable to find any trace of it. In
the course of research in Amsterdam in 1962, made possible by the
C.N.R.S. we were able to recover this manuscript, thanks to the kind-
ness of Mr. Vega, secretary of the "Portuguese" community, at the
secretariat of this community. The manuscript was handed over to the

library and listed as Ms. 49 B 22 (see description in ch. IV, 2).

38. Simhat torah of the year 5499 was in the autumn of 1738 and not 1739.

The' date according to the Christian era is usually added by the author
in the margin of the text, and is calculated according to the Jewish
date; it is thus the latter which is reliable.

39. Our thanks are due to Miss Mans f eld for kindly copying out this text

40. These indications repeat, grosso modo, those found in the score, Aeh,
Ms. 49 B 22, fol. 10b-15a. The most notable variant: according to the
score, the last verse, ya'ir kay-yon. . . should be sung to the music
of the first verse, le-el ellm, and the words of le-el elim are not
repeated a second time.

41. See Silva Rosa, Geschiedenis, p. 126.

42. He is the compiler of Jnul, Ms. 8° Mus. 2, cf. ch. IV, 1 below.

43. P. 175-180 of Aeh, Ms. 49 A 8. Our thanks are due to Mme.Chailley
for her aid in the reading of the text .

44. See Scheurleer, Het Muziekleven, p. 204, 273, 309 and especially
p. 323.

45. Cf. Graetz, Geschichte, X, p. 104.

46. Fol. 132a-133b but beginning from the left, on fol. 133b.

47. See e.g., qol tefillah, fol. 76a-77a, 94a, 95a-97b, 99a-101a.

48. See Brugmans and Frank, Geschiedenis, p. 464, 492-493; an extensive
list of these associations, with historical annotations, was drawn
up by J.M. Hillesum in the first volume of the Yearbook of the
community, Jaarboek, Amsterdam, 1902.

49. Active in Amsterdam from 1717 to about 1725, according to Silva Rosa,
Geschiedenis, p. 31 or from 1716-1720, according to ESN, I, p. 26.

mtekeningen . . . ('s Gravenhage,

51. We have noticed poems for the following hevrot: p. 36, ma. c asim tovim;

p. 42, masmia c yesu c ah; p. 89, torah or and me'irat c enayim; p. 90,

avi yetomim, temlme derek and honen dallim; p. 91, sa c are sedeq and

52. See the account, revised in relation to previous studies, concerning
the constitution and character of this association, in J. Meyer, The
stay of... Luzzatto at Amsterdam, p. 16 and facsim. , p. 21, repeated
and amplified by J. Melkman, D. Franco Mendes, p. 11-12.

short-lived literary society "Amadores das Musas" (kinnor dawid, p.
99) in id., p. 38.

54. See H. Schirmann's review in Behino t. .. ,no.6, Jerusalem, 1954.

55. See Silva Rosa, Geschiedenis, p. 126; I. Maarsen in Brugmans and Frank,
Geschiedenis, p. 506 and ksn, I, p. 55, which also refers to H.G.
Enelow's paper in Studies... in memory of A.S. Freidus..., New York,
1929.

57. See I. Maarsen in Brugmans and Frank,

58. See the reproduction

p. 480, and the
Jews, p. 484-486.

60. See J. Meyer, The stay of. . . Luzzatto at Amsterdam, p. 11-20 and

ESN, I, p. 91-92, 148.

61. Ed. Tel-Aviv, mahbarot le-sifrut, 1948-49, p. 91-93.

62. This is the equivalent of the Hebrew date given on the title-page

of ahavat c olam, Aeh, Ms. 47 C 40; the date of the civil marriage
as given by J, Melkman, D. Franco Mendes, p. 145, note 28, is the
4th July 1790.

63. O.c, p. 77-95.

64. Het muziekleven
the lists, p.

65. Our thanks are due to Professor I. Tishby who attracted our attention

to these sources.

66. In behinot, no. 6, p. 51-52; see also p. 48.

REVIEW OF NEW MUSIC

JACOB DRUCKMAN: SABBATH EVE SERVICE

Michael ISAACSON

Commissioned by Hazzan David Putter-man for the Park
Avenue Synagogue in New York, Jacob Druckman's Sabbath Eve
Service is more vital for what it implies than what it actually states.
Mr. Druckman has received the pulitzer prize for his orchestral work
"Windows" and may well be considered in the recognized establish-
ment of contemporary American composers. In light of the sound
vocabulary used in Windows, it is particularly interesting to note
the relatively traditional, consonant vocabulary employed in the
service. This may be due to Hazzan Putterman's tight reins upon
composers' adherence to "traditional" sounds. The real worth of
the service is in its melodic and rhythmic material. The less realized
concepts are word painting, thematic expansion and overall point
of view.

An anecdotal listing of each section follows below:

Mali Tovu: Built upon a sixteenth note motive, this lovely
quiet setting has an open modal sound. The Cantor's line spans
an octave from small d to d'. The choral writing is mostly homo-
phonic in a conservative range.

L'Choh Dodi: The expected cantorial verse-choir refrain struc-
ture is upheld. Rhythmically complex organ interludes separate
the verses and the refrains. While the tune is wonderful the struc-
ture is not.

Psalm 93: (Adonoy Moloch). Jazz-like rhythms and mixed
meter fight against a Nowakowsky-like concept of a cantorial solo
with block-like choral interjections. There is no attempt at word
painting and the score makes the music look harder than it really is.

Bor'chu: An interesting free cantorial statement is devastated
by a trite choral response that ends with "0-meyn". The melodic
idea begs to be developed.

Sh'ma: Rhythmically — the liveliest section, it again looks
harder than it is because of the composer's exclusion of meter
markings. It is basically set in combinations of 3 4-2 +3, 3 424-2,
2 4-3 4-3 etc. to be conducted in triple time. The energy created by

the anti phonal statement and response scheme could well use more
than the three pages of score alloted to its personality. Its brevity
is frustrating.

Mi Chomocho: The dotted figure of the Mah Tovu is recalled,
as is the jazz of the Psalm. The chorus scats a bit on "mi mi mi,"
but no other attempt is made to break down the text to its' con-
sonant or vowel components.

V'shomru: A naive setting, dramatically disappointing after
the Aft' Chomocho. A cantorial solo would have worked better than
the pallid choral writing.

May the Words: Although much too brief, this a Capella choral
polyphony shows the composer's skill in coloration. The text is set
in its entirety once without any dwelling or repetition. Why must
all lovely moments be so brief?

Vay'chulu: The choir homophonically trudges on with the text
while the cantor descants above. In spite of the dense organ hand-
fulls and the mixed meter, I don't believe the composer's heart was
in this at all.

Kiddush: Charming, warm, old world, little intrusion upon the
rich melody, an island of remembrance.

Vaanachnu: Back to rhythmic organ writing and ridiculously
short choral responses.

Adon Olom: A traditional ending to an all too frustrating ex-
perience. While not a bad tune, there is no time to phrase or make
meanings. The organ accompanies with an abortive Bossa Nova
pattern and once more things end before they are given a chance
to begin.

Knowing the composer's concert music, I find this score to be
a tease. It is obvious that Mr. Druckman has all the technique and
ideas for a much larger thoughtful service but whether it was the
conditions under which this work was conceived, it seems clear
that the composition hurries to be finished and summarily dis-
missed.

62

A point of view, that is a distinct, personal impression of a
worship service that an effective composer for the Synagogue must
have, is missing. The service feels as if another's impressions have
been forced on the composer who does his best to oblige while
revealing his discomfort or lack of belief in that second-hand
attitude.

I hope that Mr. Druckman will be given another opportunity
to write for the Synagogue with all the freedom he employs in
his secular music. His basic sense of melody and rhythmic excite-
ment are too good to be overlooked.

The text of the service is, unfortunately, set in Ashkenazit.
The score can be obtained for perusal or rented from Boosey and
H awkes.