The Training of Hazzanim in Nineteenth-Century Germany

Prior to the advent of modernity, Ashkenazi hazzanim acquired their cantorial skills by serving as a meshorrer, an apprentice as to a trained cantor. In Germany, in the early and mid-decades of the Nineteenth Century, this system was replaced by the formalized training at state-supervised teachers training colleges (Lehrerseminare). The article examines this process, showing how the new system was responsible for the transition from the oral learning of hazzanut to the increased reliance on the printed score. It also evaluates the long-term repercussions on German hazzanut.