Is Popular Culture Defining Synagogue Music
Author
As Reform synagogues across the nation reshape their musical styles, debate continues over whether or not the changes are positive. Interviewees include Cantor Jeff Klepper (Beth Emet Synagogue in Evanston, IL) and Rabbi Daniel Freelander (UAHC national director of program), both of Kol B'Seder, as well as Jewish composer Michael Isaacson.
Material Type:
Articles in Journals
Year:
1996
Lucy Levin
Yiddish theater actress
Lucy Levin was born on July 1906 in Vilna, Polish Lithuania. In 1908 she came with her parents to America. She became a famous actress and played at several theaters from 1925 to 1933.
Full biography from the "Lexicon of the Yiddish Theatre".
1906-1939
Yetta Zwerling
Yiddish theater actress
Yetta Zwerling was a Yiddish actress in America during the 1930s and 1940s.
Full biography from the "Lexicon of the Yiddish Theatre".
Photo by Justin D. Haren.
1894-1982
Max Helfman
Composer, choral conductor & educator
1901-1963
Robert Starer
Composer
Born in Vienna, and came to Palestine after the annexation of Austria to Nazi Germany. After serving in the British Air Force, he settled in the U.S. where he taught at several academies. As a composer, Starer wrote music for ballet, opera, concerti, and in several other styles and genres. His compositions include works with Jewish themes or Hebrew texts, such as: Kohelet, Sabbath Eve Service, among others.
1924-2001
- A Polka Mazurka
- Niggun of the Meggid of Mezerich From the album, "The Hasidic Niggun as Sung by the Hasidim." This dance niggun is the seventh and last in a series of niggunim sung by Bratslav Hasidim as they dance after the Shabbat evening service on Friday night. Some have attributed the niggun to R. Dov Ber, the meggid of Mezerich.
- Kol B'ru'ei (Padua, Italy) From the album, "Italian Jewish Musical Traditions from the Leo Levi Collection (1954-1961)." The poem depicts "all creatures" singing and praising the unity of God, and was recited in the Italian rite during the daily morning prayer. This melody was sung only on Rosh Hashanah (New Year) in the Italian tradition of Padua.
- Yigdal From the album, "Judeo-Carribean Currents, Music of the Mikve Israel-Emanuel Synagogue in Curaçao," performed by Gideon Zelermyer. The Yigdal is part of the ceremonial section of the liturgical order of Shabbat and the Holy Days in the Curaçao synagogue. It is one of the ending hymns of the service.
- Eres Chiquita y Bonita From the album, "Judeo-Spanish Moroccan Songs for the Life Cycle," sung by Alicia Bendayan from Tetuan. This is a song about courtship, related to the Jewish rituals that mark the events of the life cycle.
- Sweet Shalt Be My Chant From the album, "Kulmus Hanefesh," performed by Yair Harel on voice and tar, and Matti Kovler on voice and piano. A sacred hymn attributed to Rabbi Yehuda ha-Chasid, this is a Chabad tune with a near-Eastern arrangement.
- Lyr II From the album, "The Music of the Mountain Jews." Lyr is a genre found among all Turkish peoples, consisting of long, complex compositions usually comprised of three parts.
- Gilu ha-Galilim (Rejoice Galileans) From the album, "Nights in Canaan, Early Songs of the Land of Israel (1882-1946)." This is a Second Aliyah (1904-1914) song which became an integral part of the historical repertoire of Hebrew song. Both native-born and newly arrived pioneers sang this song in all circumstances.
- Saperi Tama From the album, "With Songs They Respond: The Diwan of the Jews from Central Yemen." This is a girdle poem by Se'adia ben Amram. Saperi Tama is sung to many melodies and is one of Yemenite Jewry's most common poems.