Observations on Practices of Nusach in America

The move from 'Old-World' Europe to modern and late-modern America, so far as the traditional discipline of nusach is concerned, marked the transition from varied personal versions and variants within a well-defined modal structure to a practice that is significantly more uniform yet free of the formal considerations. An initial discussion of the term and concept of nusach proceeds to examine this divergence as it is reflected primarily by East European, Lithuanian, and Hassidic influences, a process of simplification, the materials used for the training of cantors, changes in the function of metrical tunes and in the role of congregational singing.