The influence of German music on United Kingdom synagogue practice

<plain_text><page sequence="1">The influence of German music on United Kingdom synagogue practice* ALEXANDER KNAPP1 In his book The Golden Bough, Sir James Frazer writes as follows on the subject of music and religion: 'The musician has done his part, as well as the prophet and thinker, in the making of religion. Every faith has its appropriate music, and the differences between the creeds might almost be expressed in musical notation .... For we cannot doubt that this, the most ultimate and affecting of all the arts, has done much to create, as well as to express, the religious emotions, thus modifying more or less deeply the fabric of belief to which at first it seems only to minister.'2 In what ways has German music functioned as a medium for expressing Jewish sacred texts in the United Kingdom, and to what extent has it indeed affected the very practice of Judaism? Acculturation and cross-fertilization are vast and complex issues, even in a small community of less than one third-of-a-million souls. Just as the Adon Olam3 by the nineteenth-century Anglo-Sephardi cantor and composer David de Sola4 is sung in Ashkenazi synagogues of all denominations, so can the music of Handel's chorus 'See, the conqu'ring hero comes', from Judas Maccabaeus, be heard at Chanukkah time in Bevis Marks. Because this paper has a frame of reference that reaches far beyond the specifically 'German' congregations of the UK, it cannot claim to view such an enormous subject from all possible angles. Nevertheless, it is hoped that carefully chosen 'snapshots' will assist the reader in visualizing something of the whole panorama. German music and German-Jewish music In their article on German folksong in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Walter Wiora and Wolfgang Suppan describe certain standard, typic? ally West European characteristics.5 (These should, however, be regarded as guidelines, rather than rigid definitions, since regional variations can be quite dramatic.) Melodies are mainly in the major key; their range is usually within the octave, sometimes as narrow as a pentachord (interval of a fifth); there is frequent use * An earlier version of this paper was presented to the Society on 20 February 1997. 167</page><page sequence="2">Alexander Knapp of the rising upbeat, and a preference for rising melodic shapes; and, apart from the expressive repetition of a single note, there is little evidence of ornamentation or melisma. Harmony, and the harmonic implications of melody, show a prefer? ence for simple triadic tonality, usually in the major. Rhythm and metre are mainly in simple triple or quadruple time. Phrase lengths are regular, usually of four or eight bars, and strophic forms follow poetic structures. Many of these features were absorbed into German art music (especially the Baroque, Classical and Romantic idioms of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries), though professionally trained composers developed such elements far beyond the parameters within which untrained performers were generally confined. German synagogue song has a fascinating history: it developed parallel to Ashkenazi ritual, mainly between 900 and 1400, and was shaped according to changes in the liturgy. Originally, Jewish song had been transplanted to the banks of the Rhine and the Main, where it became fused with German non Jewish elements. This new genre was, in effect, a variation of German song and it gradually lost its Oriental features. This was perhaps inevitable, since Jews were surrounded by 'the European sound' for some 1500 years. As historical layers accumulated, Jews preserved forms, modes and melodies long forgotten by their non-Jewish hosts, but which had once been popular.6 The important Viennese cantor and composer Salomon Sulzer (1804-1890) described the Baroque style of eighteenth-century German cantorial music as full of 'tasteless and arbitrary ornaments'.7 But Jews had always been aware of the musics of the world outside the ghetto. Some German-Jewish tunes show the influences and features of medieval German 'Minnesong' and French Trou? badour song8 as well as actual airs from the time of the Reformation. Some traditional modes incorporate motifs derived from early medieval Church song. Different styles developed in different places at different times. Abraham Zvi Idelsohn (1882-1938), revered as the 'Father' of Jewish musico logy, wrote, among other pioneering books, a ten-volume Thesaurus of Hebrew Oriental Melodies? which he compiled after having visited and studied most of the Jewish ethnic groups who had settled in Jerusalem before and during the early decades of the twentieth century. He was the first systematically to tran? scribe Ashkenazi, Sephardi and Oriental Jewish melodies in Western notation. The sixth of these volumes was entitled The Synagogue Songs of the German Jews of the Eighteenth Century, comprising a selection of manuscripts dated between 1765 and 1814; and the seventh was entitled The Traditional Songs of the South German Jews, preceded by a forty-page introductory essay. The sixth volume contains manuscript collections such as that of Cantor Ahron Beer (1738-1821) of Berlin, dated 1791, including two pieces (nos 12: Wenismach, and 13: Ki vonu vocharto, p. 195) by Cantor Avrohom Singer (Example 1), who was born in London probably in 1745 and who died there in 168</page><page sequence="3">The influence of German music on UK synagogue practice Wenismach Ki vonu vocharto Example i. about 1780. Singer was the father of the famous English concert tenor John Braham (1774-1856), and brother-in-law of Meir ben Judah Loeb (c. 1740 f.1800), better known (according to Ahron Beer) as 'Leon Singer of England',10 who is represented by twelve items in the collection. The musical style of these pieces by Avrohom Singer and Leon Singer is 'classical' in terms of the major and minor tonalities used, and the ubiquitous four-bar phrases. However, occa? sional glimpses of a traditional cantorial idiom can be detected, as in the semi? quaver passage at the beginning of the third line of Wenismach. Idelsohn's seventh volume concerns itself with the traditional songs of the Jews of south and southwest Germany in the eighteenth and nineteenth centur? ies. The 576 items are divided into three parts: (i) modes and shtayger ('scales') used as the basis for improvizations in the non-rhythmical recitative style; (ii) rhythmical melodies; and (iii) synagogue songs and biblical modes utilized for the yearly cycle, as sung by Low S?nger (1781-1843) of Munich in 1840, and 169</page><page sequence="4">Alexander Knapp subsequently transcribed by the important Parisian cantor and composer, Samuel Naumbourg (1815-1880). Aspects of Anglo-Jewish synagogue music that have been influenced by German-Jewish music Biblical cantillation, cantorial song, fixed chants, domestic table songs and graces developed mainly in traditional Judaism from where they were later diffused, to a greater or lesser extent, into the Reform movement. Conversely, large-scale choral music, as we know it today, began, to all intents and purposes, in the Reform movement,11 and only gradually became absorbed into Orthodox prac? tice. Biblical cantillation It is surprising that, whereas Ashkenazi Jews of Eastern European background in the United Kingdom and America adhere to the Eastern European style of cantorial chant of the liturgy, the American community of today uses the Lithu? anian tradition of cantillation of the Bible, while the British community follows the German tradition. The complex historical, sociological and musical reasons for this phenomenon have been intensively researched and analysed by Jaclyn Chernett in her MPhil Dissertation for City University, London, entitled Unfa? miliar Melodies: the Adoption of Western European Torah Chant by Mainstream Ashkenazi Anglo-Jewry - A Musical Paradox.12 A short extract from the beginning of Leviticus 6 (Example 2) indicates some? thing of the melodic character of the German tradition. The actual text is shown on the lower of each pair of staves and the names of the ta'amei hammikra ('accents of biblical recitation') are given on the upper. (The transcription is by the author of this paper.) Cantorial song The vast majority of cantors in Britain are currently of Eastern European back? ground, or Americans or Israelis of Eastern European stock. Few, if any, are of German or Western European origin. But when the first class for cantorial stu? dents was established at Jews' College, London, in 1885,13 the Jewish demo? graphic picture was somewhat different from that of the present day, and the German influence was noticeably stronger. Before the First World War, the Orthodox Jewish community in the United Kingdom could be divided into two broad categories: families who had been living there for many generations; and those who had fled to the United King? dom in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, following pogroms in Eastern Europe. The former group appeared assimilated in matters of speech, manners and 170</page><page sequence="5">The influence of German music on UK synagogue practice va-ye-da-ber A-donai el mo-she le - mor Tzav et Aharon v'-etba-nav le-mor Example 2. social life; they were generally non-Zionist, but faithful to Judaism and a Jewish way of life. Most were traditional in their observance of separate seating in the synagogue and the exclusion of the organ. The only exceptions were the few mixed choirs, and the omission of certain liturgical texts that were deemed archaic. The latter group, however, imported their own traditions from Eastern Europe, were concentrated in London's East End and certain districts elsewhere, tended to be politically Zionist, published Yiddish dailies, and attended the Yiddish Theatre. These two groups co-existed more or less successfully. Anglo-Jewish institu? tions as a whole imitated some of the outward appearances of the Anglican Church, and religious and social structures encompassed a wide variety of reli? gious backgrounds and practices. In the Orthodox community, the Cantor was the unifying force.14 Indeed, the first half of the twentieth century proved to be a 'Golden Age' of cantorial music, as much in England as in the rest of the Ashkenazi world. In addition to 171</page><page sequence="6">Alexander Knapp Example 3. vocal ability and an aptitude for hazanut, cantors had to be thoroughly convers? ant with the choral music which was then an integral part of services. The German style is represented today mainly by the Belsize Square Syn? agogue, founded in London in 1939 in the tradition of the Liberale Gemeinden of Berlin, Frankfurt, Breslau, and so on. This congregation has been served by Cantors Magnus Davidsohn, Joseph Dollinger, Louis Berkman and Lawrence Fine; and the music to be heard there is primarily that of Salomon Sulzer and Louis Lewandowski (1821-1894). The opening of Adonoj Moloch (Example 3)15 is typical of cantorial music by Lewandowski. It is based on the traditional mode of the same name, but the more usual minor seventh and tenth degrees of the scale have been Westernized into major tenths, thus transforming it into the major key. Is there such a thing as an 'English nusach'' (cantorial style)? The underlying modality in use in British Orthodox synagogues is closely related to the Polish German nusach of Hamburg.16 Foundations were laid by early immigrants from Germany in the late-seventeenth century; but these were overlaid by diverse Eastern European layers resulting from immigrations over the past 120 years. Thus, nusach in the UK incorporates elements of Western and Eastern Ashken azi modes, and also some Sephardi influences. Fixed chants and Missinai tunes The definition of a Missinai, or Scarbove, tune is one that is as sacred as if it had been 'received by Moses on Mount Sinai'.17 This stock of melodies is thought to 172</page><page sequence="7">The influence of German music on UK synagogue practice have originated between the eleventh and fifteenth centuries in the numerous southwest German centres of Judaism. One of the custodians of this repertoire was Rabbi Jacob ha-Levi ben-Moshe M?llin (The Maharil, Mainz c. 1360 - Worms 1427), perhaps the greatest rabbinic authority of his day, and an inspir? ing cantor. He travelled extensively, established the customs of German Jewry and influenced the direction nusach was to follow. His practices are reflected in the writings of two of his followers: Rabbi Eleazer ben Jacob published some of the Maharil's Responsa in Venice in 1549; and Zalman of St Goar published Minhagei Maharil (Sefer Maharil) in Sabionetta in 1556. These rulings remain obligatory to Orthodox Jewry to the present day.18 Typical Missinai melodies are the High Festival and Pilgrim Festival tunes for texts such as Addir Hu, Alenu, Barchu, Eli Tzion, Hammelech, Kaddish, Kol Nidrei and Vehakohanim. The melody for the Chanukkah hymn Ma 'oz Tsur, a thirteenth-century poem attributed to Mordechai ben Yitzchak Halevy, is derived partly from a Lutheran Chorale: Nun Freut Euch Ihr Lieben Christen ('Now rejoice all you dear Christi? ans together'), dated 1523, which was originally a German drinking song: So weiss ich eins was mich erfreut, das plumlein auff preyter heyde ('So now I know one thing that gives me joy, a flower on the wide heath'), and partly from the Benzenauer, a German March, dating from 1504.19 This tune was adopted, and printed for the first time in London in 1815, by Isaac Nathan (Canterbury 1791 - Sydney, Australia 1864) in his setting of'On Jordan's Banks', from the collection of Lord Byron's Hebrew Melodies made famous by John Braham. (The first page of this song is shown in Example 4.)20 Other songs in this set include extracts from, and modifications of, traditional fixed chants, such as those for Lecha Dodi, Kaddish, Yigdal and Eli Tziyon, that were current in English synagogues at this time.21 Congregational singing, Bentshing (Grace after meals) and Zemirot (table songs) One of the middle episodes of Schubert's Fantasia in F minor for piano duet written in 1828 (Example 5)22 is in the style of a L?ndler in fast triple time. In comparing this extract with a Bentshing melody, known throughout the United Kingdom, for the text Verachamim, vechayim, vesholom, vechol tov . . . (Example 6),23 it becomes clear that both melodies share a similar contour and character. It is the sport of musicologists to speculate as to who appropriated this frag? ment from whom. Did Schubert adopt it from Jews in Vienna, with whom he had friendly relations?24 Or did Jews acquire it from Schubert? The Jewish habit of making synagogue adaptations of classical music was indeed a common one, as will be demonstrated later. In all probability, neither was the lender and neither the borrower, since both seem to have taken it from older German folk tunes, and from one in particular, dating from about 1807: Kein Feuer, Keine 173</page><page sequence="8">Alexander Knapp . InimatQ ^ f"^^^ ^^^^^^^ j^^^ Vo^-taries^ ^^^^^TIh' ^ ^BaaKa - do - rer ^bows on^ ^ Sin^ ItcH'pj^Mlu-"^ ^^^fit^er Scorch^Ae tibl^stone^^icrc- wlierJthy shadow ^ to^ (hy^ Peopi^sl^m-.' Example 4. 174</page><page sequence="9">The influence of German music on UK synagogue practice g&lt;ij^jj!ffi&gt; g^^j^ w 175</page><page sequence="10">Alexander Knapp Ilm .s, :s, .,s, |d :-.r :r |m :-.m :f |s_\\ .s :f .m \ ve-ra- ch?-mim, ve-cha - yim, ve-sho - l?m,_ ve-chol :-:m im *m [f :1 :f |ro_:s .d :d .d lr :m ,r ;d .t, |d : tov, u-mik-kol t?v al_ ye-chas-se - rei - Example 6. Kein Feu - er, kei-ne koh - le kann bren - nen so heiss, als i^r r rTif r j'MuiJ J u- i heim - Ii - che Lie ? be, von der nie ? mand nichts weiss, - Example 7. Kohle (Example 7).25In his pioneering book, A Voice Still Heard, Eric Werner explains this phenomenon as follows: 'The text of the Birkhat ha-mazon (grace after meals) ... is not metrical but contains a good many rhymes and semi metrical passages. The Western Ashkenazim . . . included a number of choral responses and refrains in the simple recitation of the prayer. These insertions originate, without exception, in the secular German folk song of the late eight? eenth and early nineteenth century. . . . With these melodies we find ourselves on the brink of vulgarity. In the Rhineland and in southwestern Germany these tunes were familiar as dancing songs.'26 Another example is the popular English folksong The Maid of Amsterdam (Til go no more a-roving with you, fair maid') (Example 8), a shanty that is shared among many European seafaring nations and which compares closely with the Bentshing melody for the text Ledovid ulezaro ad olom . . . olenu v 'al kol Yisro 'eil, ve'im'ru omein, in the paragraph beginning Migdol (Magdil) Yeshuos (Example o).27 Similarly, the Kiddush, and many other Zemirot in the major key (e.g. for the Seder service) heard in the United Kingdom today, are of German origin. Choral music After the French Revolution and the Emancipation that followed, Jews began to enjoy direct, intense and consistent contact with Western civilization. For the 176</page><page sequence="11">The influence of German music on UK synagogue practice go no more a rov ? ing with you, fair maid. Example 8. KeyFjrm | pi .,s :s Is ;f .w I f If :-.f I On Sabbaths Festivalsl Mig - dol j ye-shu - os. ana New Moon) ) On Weekdays Mag - dil ) u r cj i r. ^=1 mal - ko, ve - llf :1 II .-s^ I PLjr :cLif Is :-.s, |d_? In :f .,f } - o - seh che - sed lim'- shi - cho, le. - do - vid u - le - ils_-A1 11 :f I m :- Ir | d I- :m \ s :s lr :~ I zar - o. ad lorn. O - seh sho - lorn Example 9. first time they had easy and legitimate access to the classical music of the Court, the Church and the concert hall. At first this created a strong taste, in certain Jewish quarters, for assimilation. Israel Jacobson (1768-1828), a rich and influential merchant, opened a boys' boarding school in Seesen, near Hanover, in 1801. Services were held in the school synagogue (effectively the first Reform temple in Europe) which was dedicated in 1810. German prayers were said alongside those in Hebrew, and congregational hymns were also sung in German. Early Reform-synagogue rituals in Germany and America were modelled on those of the Church. Organs and four-part mixed choirs were introduced, and some congregations installed bells to summon the faithful to prayer. The sermon was in German, and the Torah was read, not chanted. At first the music for these services was written mainly by non-Jewish composers in the Protestant chorale or Catholic anthem styles, and much emphasis was placed on Western style precision and decorum. As a fully professional musical training became available to Jews, choirs 177</page><page sequence="12">Alexander Knapp quickly formed on the European continent and in America, and Jewish com? posers became involved in the creation of many choral pieces. The use of the organ or harmonium was espoused in all three Reform syn? agogues in England during the nineteenth century: the West London Synagogue of British Jews (1840); the Manchester Synagogue of British Jews (an independ? ent congregation founded by immigrants from North Germany in 1857); and the Jewish Association of Bradford (a strongly German community established in 1873).28 The Liberal Jewish Synagogue, founded in London in 1902, was musically even more assimilated, adopting the choral music of classical com? posers such as Brahms, Haydn and Sullivan. But there was also a reaction against the activities of the so-called 'Extreme Reformers', who, it was felt, had gone too far. The 'Moderate Reformers', in contrast, wanted to blend elements of both Orthodox and Reform philosophies by retaining what they considered valu? able in the Jewish musical tradition, but modifying it in accordance with contem? porary European art-music conventions. Many important Orthodox synagogue composers from the European contin? ent settled in the United Kingdom in the nineteenth and early-twentieth centur? ies. Some had been born in Western Europe and others were from the east, among them Hayyim Wasserzug (Sieradz 1822 - Brighton 1882), Marcus Hast (Warsaw 1840 - London 1911) and Samuel Alman (Podolia 1877 - London 1947). All were influenced by German eighteenth-century Classicism and nine? teenth-century Romanticism. What distinguished the choral styles of western and eastern Ashkenazim? A few generalizations in regard to composition and performance may prove useful indicators of cultural preference. Concerning melody and harmony, there was a tendency towards major and minor tonalities in the west, but in the east there was always an inclination towards the traditional modes, namely Adonay Malach, Magen Avot, Ahavah Rabbah ('Freigish'), Selichah and Av Harachamim/Mi Sheb eirach. Concerning mood, western choirs preferred a more formal and triumphal atmosphere, whereas those in the east favoured poignancy and intensity. As regards rhythm and metre, renderings in the west were stricter (i.e. less given to rubato), and those in the eastern style more flexible. These differences continue to the present day and may be illustrated in two beautiful, but widely differing, interpretations of Alman's Shomeir Jisroeil19 (for the Selichot service), both with organ accompaniment. The Belsize Square Synagogue Choir (sopranos, altos, tenors, basses) include a little rubato, but remain close to the printed version; their performance of the second stanza (Example 10) lasts 1 minute 11 seconds.30 However, in the performance by the Emmanuel Fisher Choir (tenor voices I and II, baritones, basses), the transposition of the upper two parts down an octave causes the melody sometimes to be drawn inside the choral sound, whereas the inner har? mony is sometimes exposed on the surface of the texture.31 This interpretation 178</page><page sequence="13">The influence of German music on UK synagogue practice Chor. PS IV?'" r f rf' -a TT~r ^^^^ Sho meir goj e - |chod she mop she-ei - pis J. JJ J am e - chod v?-al jo J vad goj e p - chod ham-ja - cha. - y?r dim shan-cho ? - d?-noj e - 16 ? A. J, AAJl hei - nu noj_ Example 10. is much more intense, almost in the style of a non-rhythmical recitative, and is characterized by the use of Kopfstimme (falsetto). It is also much slower, the second stanza lasting i minute 55 seconds (a 62 per cent increase over the Belsize Square performance of the same verse).32 German-Jewish synagogue composers Nineteenth-century England felt the enormous impact of the three musical giants of Continental Jewry: the Viennese Salomon Sulzer, the Parisian Samuel Naumbourg and Louis Lewandowski of Berlin (who was, in effect, the first professional Jewish choirmaster). These figures have dominated the choral music of Reform and Orthodox Ashkenazi synagogues throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Lewandowski was especially popular in the United Kingdom (although he never travelled to this country). His style was Mendelssohnian in the use of graceful melodies, rich harmony and a variety of moods expressing pleading and hope, sorrow and repentance, anger and despair, triumph and jubilation, adora? tion and mystery. Of all the German-born Jewish composers who settled in the United Kingdom in the nineteenth century, undoubtedly the most significant was Israel Lazarus Mombach: 'The Sweet Singer of Israel'.33 Julius, as he was also known, was born in 1813 in Pfungstadt (near Darmstadt). His father had been cantor in that town, but died young, leaving a widow and a large family. His eldest son, Julius, having a sweet voice and consid 179</page><page sequence="14">Alexander Knapp erable musical talent, was chosen to succeed him as cantor. In 1828 Enoch Elias son, cantor of the Darmstadt congregation, was elected First Reader34 of the Great Synagogue, Duke's Place. He urged Frau Mombach to allow him to take the then fifteen-year-old Julius with him and he promised her that he would educate and look after him in London. Thus, Julius had most of his early train? ing first from Eliasson, and then from his son (at that time Concert Director at the Lyceum Theatre, London). When Eliasson retired, the Revd Simon Ascher was appointed Chief Cantor of the Great Synagogue, and Julius was elected to the liturgical three-voice ensemble as soprano singerl (with Hanau as bass).35 In 1841 a new choir was instituted by Henry Hyman Cohen, Warden of the Great Synagogue, and Julius was appointed Director of Music, a position he held until his death on 8 Febru? ary 1880. He put a great deal of energy into improving the quality of liturgical music as a whole, but he never published any sacred music of his own, despite repeated requests to do so. Nevertheless, nearly all the choral music used in Orthodox German syn? agogues in the United Kingdom in the nineteenth century had been composed by Mombach, and copies of his scores were sent to distant congregations in the British colonies and in America. Many of these settings are now used in Anglo-Ashkenazi synagogues of every denomination. He helped and trained Readers in other congregations, and taught singing and synagogue music at Jews' College. He was a member of the committee of the 'Jewish Association for the Diffusion of Religious Knowledge', and without remuneration directed the singing of senior pupils in the Sabbath classes of the Association. He also conducted concerts at Jewish 'Working Men's Clubs' for many years. After his death, letters in the Jewish press expressed the desire of the Jewish community to preserve his precious manuscripts. Having been Mombach's pro? fessional associate for nearly a quarter-of-a-century, the Revd M. Keizer, then Reader of the Great Synagogue, proposed purchasing these from the Mombach Estate and undertaking the mammoth task of compiling and arranging them for publication. Many pieces missing from the collection had to be reconstructed from memory with the help of experts. Ne 'im Zemiroth Israel comprises the entire cycle for the liturgical year. Its 273 pages contain 132 settings (including 53 Psalms) for the Sabbath, Pilgrim Fest? ivals, High Festivals, Consecrations and Weddings. These have been arranged partly for four-part choir (soprano and alto boys' voices, tenor and bass men's voices, with or without Reader) for use in the synagogue, and partly for solo voice with piano or harmonium accompaniment (three parts in the right hand and one in the left hand in double octaves), which were therefore not suitable for use on Sabbaths or Festivals. A few items for weddings and weekday services are for four-part choir and keyboard. 180</page><page sequence="15">The influence of German music on UK synagogue practice Most of the settings are in the major key and some exhibit decidedly Anglican or Lutheran characteristics. Only about twenty pieces are in the minor key and only ten, such as some of those for Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Simchat Tor ah, Pesach, Shavuot and Chanukkah, could be described as 'traditional'. A few utilize cantorial modes, especially the High Holyday melodies sung by the Revd Ascher, Keizer's predecessor as Reader. Of interest is the Hebrew pronunciation. The letter ay in is transliterated as ng, a procedure more usually associated with Spanish and Portuguese practice in England. In all other respects, the pronunciation and accentuation are accord? ing to the German Ashkenazi tradition (although the transliteration into Roman lettering is somewhat inconsistent). In addition to the vocal and choral pieces, there is one piano duet, based on traditional tunes for the Hallel Psalms as chanted on Shavuot. Also included are many of the Psalms traditionally sung in the synagogue. A new setting of Psalm 24 was commissioned for the consecration of London's Central Synagogue in 1870; and an elaborate setting of Psalm 150 was first sung by several hundred children of the Jews' Free School on the occasion of a prize-giving at which Sir Anthony de Rothschild was guest of honour. In addition, there is a complete wedding service for the Marriage of Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild and Miss Evelina de Rothschild on 7 June 1865. Opinions of Mombach's work vary. The Revd Keizer asserts, on the first page of his introduction to Ne Hm Zemiroth Israel, that, 'As a composer of Synagogue music, [Mombach] was excelled by none, and is equalled only by Sulzer, the great Cantor of Vienna'. And in March 1881, just over a year after Mombach's death, the Revd Jacob Leopold Weiss wrote as follows: Expressing my hearty thanks to the friends who encorraged [sic] us to the issue of these our productions and by their approval draw us out of our Incognito, we confide this work to our Contemporaries, and posterity. We shall mention here only the more elo? quent leaders like Mr. S. Sulzer of Vienna, Rvd. M. Hast, First Minister of the Great Synagogue, Mr. Charles K. Salamon [sic] and Mr. J. L. Mombach of London, and have to observe, that to our opinion, England has chiefly the calling to be the regenerator of Synagogal-Song on our whole continent because in that country the choir is already cherished with religious ardour. . . . Both large Metropolis [sic] of Europe, London and Paris, place at this moment the Centre of gravity of Synagogal Service no more in the throat of the Chanter but in the Choral [sic].36 By contrast, the London-based Jewish music critic, Dr Mosco Carner, wrote some fifty-seven years later: Only in a few of the United Synagogues do we find a musical liturgy which strives to combine Jewish and musical values. And here special tribute must be paid to Samuel Alman who, by his work, occupies a remarkable position as cantor, director of choirs, and composer. Alman, who has been living in England for nearly 35 years, has been instrumental in introducing some radical reforms. Above all he aimed to replace the 181</page><page sequence="16">Alexander Knapp out-of-date, worthless music, (for the most part the work of a cantor named Mombach who came to England in the last century), by something which was at once Jewish, adapted to modern taste and on a high artistic level. It was only with great difficulty that Alman succe[e]ded in overcoming the conservatism of the older generation and by introducing music by Lewandowski, Sulzer, Naumbourg and others, later on some of his own compositions, brought about a complete reform of the musical part of the service.37 The debate continues. Anthologies of Ashkenazi synagogue music in the United Kingdom It may be worthwhile now to look in more detail at two compilations of primarily choral synagogue music first published towards the end of the nineteenth cen? tury in London, the contents of which have remained the core of liturgical music in United Kingdom Ashkenazi synagogues ever since. Both feature many pieces by Mombach and other German composers. The first is Kol Rinnah V'todah: The Voice of Prayer and Praise (known colloquially as 'The Blue Book'), the volume used mainly in Orthodox synagogues (hereafter referred to as VPP); and the second is The Music used in the Services of The West London Synagogue of British Jews, published in six volumes, and employed in Reform congregations (hereafter referred to as WLS). The Voice of Prayer and Praise The prototype of VPP was Shire Keneset Yisrael: The Handbook of Synagogue Music for Congregational Singing, compiled by the Revd Francis Lyon Cohen and B. L. Moseley and published in London in 1889. This volume was re-edited and re-arranged by the Revd Cohen and David Montague Davis (composer of the popular wedding Halleluyah, who died in 1932) under the title Kol Rinnah V'todah: The Voice of Prayer and Praise published in London ten years later. The second edition of VPP, appearing in 1914, was the forerunner of the much enlarged 1933 edition. Cohen was born in Aldershot in 1862 and died in Sydney in 1934. He was, unusually, both a rabbi and a musicologist, having been educated at University College London and Jews' College. Following a period as a lecturer at Oxford University, he became minister in synagogues successively in South Hackney, Dublin and Sydney (from 1899). As a musicologist he is perhaps best known for his work as the music editor (and author of most of the entries on Jewish music) for The Jewish Encyclopedia (New York 1901-5). He wrote numerous books, articles and pamphlets on Jewish music in general38 and on synagogue music and Gregorian Chant in particular, was sometime editor to the Choir Committee of the United Syn? agogue and taught a cantorial class at Jews' College. He was also the son-in-law of the Revd Marcus Hast. 182</page><page sequence="17">The influence of German music on UK synagogue practice The title-page of the 1933 edition of VPP contains the following description: 'A Handbook of Synagogue Music for Congregational Singing. Arranged and edited for The United Synagogue with the Sanction of the Chief Rabbi by Rabbi Francis L. Cohen, Chief Minister of the Great Synagogue, Sydney, New South Wales, and David M. Davis, Late Choirmaster, New West End Synagogue, London. With Supplement (1933) arranged and edited by Samuel Alman, ARCM, Choirmaster of the Bayswater and Hampstead Synagogues, London. Office of the United Synagogue, Woburn House.' The intended purpose of this choir hymnal was, firstly, to unify Orthodox services in the United Kingdom by encouraging all synagogues to use an ident? ical repertoire; and, secondly, to reduce congregational acceleration through the prayers by providing for them to be sung together rather than having them merely read. The 1933 edition was strongly recommended to all cantors and choirmasters by Chief Rabbi Joseph Herman Hertz.39 The 1914 edition had contained 310 items for use in the synagogue, religion school and/or home. A further 58 items, mainly for the Sabbath, Festivals and special occasions, were added in the 1933 Supplement. Many of the liturgical settings were based on traditional sources (including Abraham Baer's celebrated Baal T'fillah)40 and arranged mainly by the Revd Cohen and D. M. Davis. However, original works by the following thirty-one synagogue composers were also included: S. Alman, N. Blumenthal, J. J. Br?ske, F. L. Cohen, D. M. Davis, D. A. de Sola, H. de Solla, A. Dunajewsky, L. Freeman, A. M. Friedlander, E. Hart, M. Hast, I. M. Japhet, J. Kuchinsky, M. Leon, L. Lewandowski, A. H. Lindo, I. L?vy, C. B. Mabon, J. L. Mombach, M. Moss, S. Naumbourg, S. de' Rossi, C. K. Salaman, A. Saqui, S. Sulzer, C. G. Verrinder, S. W. Waley, H. Wasserzug, W. Wasserzug and H. Weintraub; there was also a Shema and Echod written especially for the synagogue by the French opera composer F. Halevy. Despite the strictly Orthodox aegis under which this volume was published, several of the above composers were active in the Reform movement, and one, C. G. Verrinder (whose Essa Einay is sung in Anglo-Ashkenazi synagogues of all denominations), was a Christian.41 Furthermore, there were quite a few bor? rowings from secular works by Beethoven, Handel and Mendelssohn. Music of the West London Synagogue The full title page of the first volume of WLS contains the following statement: 'Principally Composed and Collected, and adapted by Charles Salaman.42 The Ancient Melodies harmonised and the whole Arranged with Obbligato Organ Accompaniments, and edited by C. G. Verrinder. Mus: Doc.'43 Charles Garland Verrinder was the first organist and choirmaster at the West London Synagogue from 1859, when the new building was dedicated in Marga? ret Street (off Cavendish Square), until his death in 1904. Comparatively little is known about his life.44 He was a member of the Church of England and of 183</page><page sequence="18">Alexander Knapp German background, and was initially appointed on a temporary six-month con? tract, while the post was advertised in the Jewish, secular and musical press in the United Kingdom, France and Germany. Notwithstanding competition from over fifty applicants, he received a permanent contract shortly thereafter and continued to work at the West London Synagogue when the congregation moved to its present site in 1870. Verrinder tried hard to find organ voluntaries that could be considered 'Jewish'; for example, he made transcriptions of orchestral works by Jewish-born composers, such as Meyerbeer's Schiller Festival March and Mendelssohn's Wedding March from A Midsummer Night's Dream. He also utilized works by non-Jewish composers based on Old Testament themes, such as Handel's Dead March from Saul.45 Though greatly influenced by Charles Villiers Stanford, John Stainer and other Victorian Anglican composers, Verrinder was acutely sensitive to the Jewish musical ethos. His poignant setting of Nganeh ngani46 from the Yom Kippur liturgy, for four-part mixed choir and organ, is, in the opinion of this author, on a par with the finest works by Sulzer, Lewandowski and Naumbourg. The six volumes of WLS are devoted to music for Sabbaths, Festivals and special occasions. Apart from arrangements of traditional tunes both of Ashken azi and of Sephardi provenance, there are chants and original compositions by Barnby, Battishill, E. Hart, J. L. Mombach, S. Naumbourg, C. K. Salaman, S. Sulzer, C. G. Verrinder, S. W. Waley,47 and borrowings from secular works by Beethoven and Mendelssohn. As in the case of Mombach's publication, the transliteration of ayin is ng; but the West London volumes exhibit further evidence of Spanish and Portuguese practice: the letter vet is treated as a bet, the letter tav is not softened if it lacks a dagesh and the vowels conform to Western Sephardi usage. These factors reflect a close cultural relationship with the Bevis Marks congregation from which the West London Synagogue branched away in 1840. The use of secular music by classical composers in United Kingdom synagogue anthologies The relationship between German composers and Jewish music has been close for at least two centuries and there is evidence of borrowing and lending in both directions. For instance, although Handel is represented in VPP by Aromimcho Adonoy (Psalm 30) for Chanukkah, assembled from 'We worship God and God alone', 'Tune your harps to songs of praise' and 'Ah wretched Israel', all from the oratorio Judas Maccabaeus, the two mainstream composers whose works appear most often in both VPP and WLS are Beethoven and Mendelssohn. Beethoven had a special link with traditional Jewish music. When invited to 184</page><page sequence="19">The influence of German music on UK synagogue practice compose a cantata to celebrate the consecration of the Seitenstettengasse Tempel in Vienna in 1826, he studied Jewish music manuscripts for some six months before eventually declining. The contour of the Ashkenazi Kol Nidrei theme can be clearly heard in the sixth movement of his String Quartet in C sharp minor, op. 131, that he had been composing at this time.48 In VPP, Ashrei Ish no. 1 (from Psalm 112) for the hospital service (no. 306, pp. 244-5) 1S taken from 'Bitten', no. 1 of Beethoven's Geliert Lieder, op. 48; Hayyom Haras Olom for the New Year (no. 237, pp. 192-3, Example 11) is a paraphrase of his 'Die Ehre Gottes aus der Natur', no. 4 of the Geliert Lieder. Yechaddesheihu for the New Moon (no. 84, p. 57, Example 12) has been set to the first subject theme of the slow movement from his Piano Concerto no. 5 in E flat {Emperor). In WLS, the chant Adonay Chakartani (Ps. 139) for Yom Kippur (vol. 6, no. 74, pp. 164-5, Example 13) fairly closely follows the chord progression of the opening theme of the slow movement from his Symphony no. 7 in A. Though Felix Mendelssohn (1809-47) was baptized as a child, he was known to be sympathetic to the spirit of the Reform movement in Germany. When the 'New Israelitish Temple' of Hamburg was founded in 1818, a fine organ was installed and the newly organized choir sang hymns in German. On its staff was Albert Gottlieb Methfessel (1785-1867), probably the most famous of its series of professional Christian Music Directors. According to extant correspondence, Mendelssohn was approached regarding a commission: the synagogue authorities suggested Psalms 24, 84 or 100 for the dedication of the new building in 1844. The composer finally chose Psalm 100 in the German version by Martin Luther and set it for four-part mixed choir and small orchestra, utilizing a popular style, with a minimum of counterpoint.49 Other Jewish manifestations include the appearance of the famous Yigdal theme by Leon Singer (Meir Leon) in one of Mendelssohn's early String Symphonies.50 And a further point of contact, though less direct, was through Felix's cousin Alexander who supported the young Louis Lewandowski at the beginning of his career. In VPP, Hodo al eretz no. 8 for the Three Festivals (no. 177, p. 150) is set to the hymn for voice and piano entitled 'Hear My Prayer' (the first part of Oh, for the Wings of a Dove); Kol ho 'ammim no. 1 (Psalm 47) for the High Festivals (no. 219, pp. 178-9) is derived from the main theme of'Volkslied', no. 23 (op. 53, no. 5) of Songs Without Words for piano; Va'anachnu nvoreich (from Psalm 115) for the Sabbath (no. 87, p. 58, Example 14) comes from 'O Lord, Thou hast overthrown thine enemies . . . Open the heavens and send us relief, no. 19 from the oratorio Elijah (1846) (Example 15), as does Hayom Yom Hazicaron for the New Year in WLS (vol. 4, p. no, Examples 16a and 16b). Again, in WLS, Adonay Malach (Psalm 93) for the Sabbath (vol. 1, p. 13, Example 17) is an adaptation of 'He that shall endure to the end', no. 32 from Elijah (Example 18). 185</page><page sequence="20">Alexander Knapp fir ?r :m II. : -d If .,f :f If :f .elH |r -de : ,1, .1, ir ) (Ix* .,r :m Iii : -d I 1, .,1, :1, Ii. =1. -1. Ii. .1. : ,s, -s. If._-1, \ ka-'?-vo - dim. Im. kiLvo - nun ra-chu - mei-nu, k?-ra - che im Ctm. flr :de -r Im : ,1? -h I'd' .,d' :s ilse. :se..se. Ii. : ,1, .1. rd' .,d' :s ov 'al bo _ niiu; ve-im ka-'a _vo d .m" im1 .m' :r' .d' Id1_-A .s .s :f .m \m_ir .s ;ad m_:d ?s Is dim, 'ei - nei-nu l'chot'lu - yfis, ;;: i ilf .,f':r' It :s ,s .s Id* :r? im1:- in? :m' If :r' .r' Id' :t (If .,f :r It. :s ,s .s Is :s7 \s :- Ii :1 Ii :1 .1 I:f shcttechon - nei-nu,ve-s? - tsi eho - or mish-po - toi - nu, o - yoin,ko - do&gt;h ^JiJ ^nJJ.] J , J J .J ^ ^ ^ Response, see N? lf)H Example u. 186</page><page sequence="21">The influence of German music on UK synagogue practice 84 YECHADDESHEIHU (before New Moon). Key C BEETHOVEN- F. L.C. j : m |m:- Ir :m Id :f lr :- is : s 11 :t Id* :m Ir :- Is_:f'lm'.,d':s .s is_d1 lm'.,d':s -s ) !:d Id:- ltt:d lljjrlt,:- Id :s Ife :f Im :d Iti :- Is :-ls :m .m Is :- I s_:m .m } Ye-chad - de-shtti-hu liakkodushbo-iiuh Hu, 'u Ici-nu ve-'al... kol_.. .'am m .fete m jj s :se Ii :- II :t ld':-.d' Id' :r' Im- :1 .d' Id' :t Id' :-.d' Id' :V Im' :1 .d' ) i'm :- Im:- Im :s I s :-.s Ii_[s'\s :f .f Im_:f Im :-.m ll_:s Is :f .f ! im") beis Yi&gt;-!o-fil le - &lt; hay _yim u - le - sho - lorn, lr - x&gt; - -?n u - le - im UAJ. ii ;id_i- it: I in:-.If : Id' :- If :r' |m' :d' .d'if :r' im' :- I :d' Id' :r' Im' :1 .d' Id':- It :- |d':-f lm :f if :f Im :f .f If :f Im :-I :m I I s_jf Im:- If :- lm:-l hoh, li-&gt;hu-'oh u-l?'-ne-rho-mo|i: vr.no - m.ir, 0 - j ah j 0\ 3 i4s r g g r t Example 12. 187</page><page sequence="22">Alexander Knapp 188</page><page sequence="23">The influence of German music on UK synagogue practice 87. KeyAk Psalm CXV, 18. fls, :- ll. :r Is, :- I- :f, Va - - a VAANACHNU. Id :- It, :t, |d :- If Im, :- Ir, - nach - nu n'vo - reich. :d It, MENDEL SSOHN-D. :- If :- I- :f :li Is,:- I - :s, . Yoh! mei-( M. D. .'. i at - Example 14. 189</page><page sequence="24">ELIJAH ELIAS m Alexander Knapp Recit. with Chorus [O Lord, thou hast overthrown] O Lord, Thou hast o - ver- thrown thine e - ne-mics and des-troy'd them: O Herr! du hast nun dei - ne Fein - de ver - vior - fen und zer - schla - gen! Look So Andante sostenuto J = 66 p if c:_f t P from hea - ven, O Lord; re - gard the dis-tress, the dis-tress of thy Deo - pie! vom Him - mel he-rab, und wen - de die Noth, die Noth dei - nes Vol - kes; Andante sostenuto J = 66 _ O - pen the hea-vens, and send us re-lief! oeff - ne den Him - mel und fah - re he-rab. help, help thy ser - vant, now,_ O God! Hilf dei - nem Knecht, o_ du_ mein Gott. Chorus; THE PEOPLE Chor; DAS VOLK SOPRANO O - pen the hea - vens and send us re-lief: Oeff - ne den Him - mel und fah - re he-rab; O - pen the hea - vens and send, us re-lief: Oeff - ne den Him - mel und fah - re he-rab; TENOR - -4 help, help thy ser - vant, now,_ O God! hilf dex-nem Knecht, o_ du_ mein Gott! PP hilf dex-nem Knecht, PP O God! mein Gott! O - pen the hea - vens and send us re-lief: Oeff - ne den Him - mel und fah - re he-rab; BASS - .?f O - pen the hea - vens and send us re-lief: Oeff - ne den Him - mel und fah - re he-rab; help, help thy ser - vant, now, O God! ? hilf dex-nem Knecht, o du mein Gott! PP help, help thy ser - vant, now, hilf dex-nem Knecht, o J Example 15. 190</page><page sequence="25">The influence of German music on UK synagogue practice ^^^^^ P 191</page><page sequence="26">Alexander Knapp J&gt; -o Im ' M "? IN pil^i 'TT? "? Tu* "? 'tTt "?</page><page sequence="27">The influence of German music on UK synagogue practice 193</page><page sequence="28">Alexander Knapp Chorus [He that shall endure to the end] Chor Andante sostenuto J _P He that shall en - dure to the end, Wer bis an das En - de be-harrt, He that shall en - dure to the end, Wer bis an das En - de be-harrt, ^ ^ He Xat sliall en shall be der wird se PP ved. He that shall en lig. Wer bis an das cresc. ved. He that shall en Hg. Wer bis an das ved. lig He that shall en Wer bis an das that shall en - dure to the end, Wer bis an das En - de be-harrt. Andante sostenuto J = 66 shall be der wird ved. He that shall Hg. Wer bis an Example 18. Conclusions German music has had a significant impact on the numerous liturgical genres that exist within Anglo-Ashkenazi denominations (Orthodox, Conservative, Reform and Liberal), but its influence is not now what it once was. One factor in Orthodox synagogues is the steady decline in the status of the cantor and choir, as a result of a shift in cultural and economic priorities. An attempt in the mid-1990s by a committee of the United Synagogue thoroughly to revise the Voice of Prayer and Praise all but fizzled out. Another factor is the decrease, in Reform and Liberal synagogues since the 194</page><page sequence="29">The influence of German music on UK synagogue practice 1950s, in the use of the organ, that great symbol of German culture and early Reform ideology. This may have been caused both by dissatisfaction with the modern 'electronic' sound of the organ, and by its propensity for inhibiting congregational participation. (It has become fashionable, in some quarters, to criticize listening as the unwelcome intrusion of the concert hall into the synagogue.) Now, at the close of the twentieth century, many other styles are clamouring for a share in the musical repertoire of Anglo-Ashkenazi synagogues. There is, on the one hand, a desire to return to 'tradition' in the shape of Chassidic, Israeli, Sephardi and Oriental Jewish styles and, on the other hand, the universal ascendancy of Jazz, 'Barbershop' and 'pop'.51 But despite changes in popular taste and the burgeoning of a remarkable plurality of idioms in the latter half of the twentieth century, the German tradition has survived not only as one of the most potent and enduring vehicles for the expression of Jewish values in music, but also as one of the most successful examples of Western interculturalism.52 NOTES 1 The author wishes to thank Victor Tunkel and his son Daniel Tunkel for valuable source materials made available to him during the preparation of this paper. 2 Sir James Frazer, The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion (abridged edition, London 1959) 335. 3 Transliteration from Hebrew approximates to the modern Israeli-Sephardi pronunciation as it is used in the United Kingdom today. But words quoted directly from source materials are reproduced as in the original. (This applies particularly to traditional Ashkenazi pronunciation.) 4 Sephardi Melodies, being the Traditional Liturgical Chants of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews' Congregation, London. Part I: 'The Ancient Melodies' by Emanuel Aguilar and The Rev. D. A. de Sola (Oxford 1931) 62. 5 Walter Wiora and Wolfgang Suppan, 'Germany II: Folksong' in Stanley Sadie (ed.) The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (London 1980) 7: 283-9. 6 Abraham Zvi Idelsohn, Thesaurus of Hebrew-Oriental Melodies (New York 1973) 7: vi. (See n. 9.) 7 Ibid. 6: xxiii. 8 A. Z. Idelsohn, Jewish Music in Its Historical Development (New York 1929) 125 and 132. 9 First published in Leipzig and Berlin between 1914 and 1933, and republished complete in four volumes by Ktav Publishing House, Inc. in 1973. (See n. 6.) 10 Idelsohn (see n. 6) 6: xxv. For further commentary on Leon Singer, see Barry Weinberg, 'Aspects of Jewish contributions to musical life in Britain, 1770-1820', Trans JHSE XXXIV (1994-6) 225-6. 11 Earlier manifestations, such as the works of Salomone de' Rossi in the early-seventeenth century and the music written by composers in, and for, the Portuguese community of Amsterdam in the early-eighteenth century, were short-lived and uncharacteristic of the general trend. 12 See also Jaclyn Chernett, 'Contemporary Ashkenazi Cantillation in England - A MusicalParadox?' Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Jewish Music at City University, London, April iggy: Jewish Music Today (forthcoming). 13 Jacob Sherman and Stanley Brickman, 'Liturgical Music in England: The Role of Jews' College and the State of the Hazzan', Journal of Jewish Music and Liturgy XVII (1994-5) 31 14 Maurice Perlzweig, 'Asher Perlzweig - A Cantor in Anglo-Jewry', in Dov Noy and Issachar Ami (eds) Studies in the Cultural Life of England: Folklore Center Studies no. 5 (Jerusalem 1975) 227-8. 15 Todah W'simrah: Vierstimmige Ch?re und Soli f?r den israelitischen Gottesdienst, mit und 195</page><page sequence="30">Alexander Knapp ohne Begleitung der Orgel (ad libitum) componirt und herausgegeben von L. Lewandowski, Weiland K?nigl Professor und Musikdirektor und Dirigent der Synagogen-Ch?re an der j?dischen Gemeinde zu Berlin. Erster Teil: Sabbath (1876-82), reissued by Sacred Music Press, Hebrew Union College (New York 1954) Series no. 10, item no. 25, 62-3. 16 Moshe Berlove, 'Musical and Ritual Practices in the German Synagogue', Journal of Jewish Music and Liturgy IX (1986-7) 13. In this article, Berlove also investigates some of the musical characteristics of German synagogues in America. 17 Idelsohn (see n. 8) 136. The Yiddish term scarbove is derived possibly from the Latin sacra or from the Polish skarb ('treasure'). 18 For more information on the Maharil, see Idelsohn (see n. 8) 177-8; Ephraim Kupfer, 'Moellin' in Cecil Roth (ed.) Encyclopaedia Judaic a (Jerusalem 1972) 12: 210-211; Hanoch Avenary, 'Music', ibid. 12: 607-8. 19 Idelsohn (see n. 8) 171, 173-4. 20 A Selection of Hebrew Melodies Ancient and Modern, with appropriate Symphonies and accompaniments, by J. Braham and I. Nathan. The Poetry written expressly for the work by the Right Honorable Lord Byron (London 1815) 29. 21 Frederick Burwick and Paul Douglass (eds) A Selection of Hebrew Melodies, Ancient and Modern by Isaac Nathan and Lord Byron (Tuscaloosa 1988) 11-14, 35-6, 240-1. 22 Franz Schubert, Fantasia f?r Klavier zu vier H?nden op. 103 (Munich 1976) 14-15. Only the melody lines are shown in this example. 23 Bernard Cousin, Sabbath and Festival Music for the Home (London 1952) 39. 24 Salomon Sulzer invited Schubert to compose a setting of Psalm 92 in Hebrew which was later incorporated into volume I of his monumental anthology of liturgical music for the entire year, entitled Schir Zion (1838-40). 25 Dr Jos. Jacobsen and Erwin Jospe, Hawa Naschira! (Lasst uns singen!): Liederbuch f?r Unterricht Bund und Haus (Leipzig-Hamburg 1935) 99; 26 Eric Werner, A Voice Still Heard .. . The Sacred Songs of the Ashkenazic Jews (Philadelphia 1976) 154. Werner offers further cogent musical evidence in his 'Example 12' on P- J55 27 Cousin (see n. 23) 42. 28 Walter Hillsman, 'Organs and Organ Music in Victorian Synagogues: Christian Intrusions or Symbols of Cultural Assimilation?' in Diana Wood (ed.) Studies in Church History, Vol. 2Q: Christianity and Judaism (Oxford 1992) 425. 29 Samuel Alman, Synagogue Compositions: Part I (London 1925) no. 55, 156-7. 30 The High Holiday Music of Belsize Square (London 1996) JMHR CD 014 track 1. 31 To avoid this problem (which always arises when pieces for soprano, alto, tenor and bass voices are performed by first and second tenor, baritone and bass voices), the four-part harmony has to be fully rescored. 32 Shema YIsrael, Cantor Naftali Herstik (London 1973) Chay-1000 LP Side 2 band 4. 33 Detailed information about Mombach is by courtesy of the Revd M. Keizer, Editor of Ne'im Zemiroth Yisrael: The Sacred Musical Compositions of the Late Israel Lazarus Mombach, Choir Director of the Great and New Synagogues, London, Containing the Services for Sabbaths and Festivals, New Year and Day of Atonement, Consecration Hymns, Psalms and Choral Wedding-Service, who wrote the introduction to this publication, published in London in June 1881, a year after Mombach's death. 34 'Reader: General appellation for the functionary who cantillates the Scriptural portion or leads the congregation in prayer, or both.' See Macy Nulman, Concise Encyclopedia of Jewish Music (New York 1975) 203. 35 Traditionally, in Ashkenazi synagogues of this period, the cantor would be flanked by a boy soprano on one side and a bass singer on the other. Both would accompany the cantorial chant with simple harmonies. 36 In introductory remarks (pp. 1 and 2) to vol. I of Ozar Schire Jeschurun: Musikalische Synagogen-Bibliothek: Collection of Synagogical Music arranged for piano, harmonium and organ, and fit for divine service as well as for private ^composed, collected and published in Vienna, first edition 1874, second edition 1881, by the Revd (Obercantor) Jacob Leopold (Leib) Weiss of Warsaw (Neutra 1825 - Warsaw 1889), who describes himself as a disciple of Sulzer. Alongside the German text there is a quaint translation in English which has been reproduced here without correction. The fact that the footnotes to this volume comprise fulsome words of praise for the Revd Weiss from Hast, Salaman and Mombach may not be irrelevant. 37 Mosco Carner, 'Jewish Music and Jewish Composers in the Diaspora: II. England', Musica Hebraica, I and II (Jerusalem 1938) 47 196</page><page sequence="31">The influence of German music on UK synagogue practice 38 For example: The Rise and Development of Jewish Music (London 1888). 39 Sherman and Brickman (see n. 13) 33. 40 Abraham Baer, Baal T'fillah, oder Der Praktische Vorbeter (Gothenburg 1877). 41 Further details about Verrinder are given in the section on the music of the West London Synagogue. 42 Charles Kensington Salaman (1814-1901) was founder of 'The Musical Society of London' and 'The Musical Association', and composer of over a hundred settings of Hebrew texts for the West London Synagogue. 43 The covers of the other volumes carry similar wording. They were all published in London by Novello and Company Ltd. No publication date is given, but it is likely to have been 1892. 44 A useful source of information, inter alia, is the obituary that appeared in The Musical Times 1 Aug. 1904, p. 533. 45 Walter Hillsman (see n. 28) 427-8. 46 WLS 5: 'The Day of Atonement' 1-4. 47 First-name initials are given where known. 48 Idelsohn (see n. 8) 511. 49 Eric Werner, 'Felix Mendelssohn's Commissioned Composition for the Hamburg Temple: The 100th Psalm (1844)', Musica Judaica VII: 1 (1984-5) 55-7. 50 Eric Werner, 'Felix Mendelssohn-Gustav Mahler: Two Borderline Cases of German-Jewish Assimilation', Yuval: Studies of the Jewish Music Research Centre IV (1982) 259. 51 Such issues are further enumerated in Alexander Knapp, 'Aspects of Jewish Music in Contemporary Britain', Proceedings of the Second British-Swedish Conference on Musicology: Ethnomusicology, Cambridge, 5?10 August igSg (1991) 209-29, reprinted in Journal of Synagogue Music XXII: 1-2 (July-December 1992) 41-61; and 'Jewish Life and Music in Britain Towards the End of the 20th Century', Musical Performance 1: 2 (1997) 99-110. 52 The following list - compiled from Bath ja Bayer, 'Musicians', Encyclopaedia Judaic a (see n. 18) 12: 678-715; Artur Holde, Jews in Music (New York 1974); Eric Levi, 'The German-Jewish Contribution to Musical Life in Britain', in W. Moss (ed.) Second Chance - Two Centuries of German-Speaking Jews in the United Kingdom (T?bingen 1991) 275-95 - includes some of the more prominent German and Austrian Jewish composers who came to this country during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, either voluntarily or as refugees, and who assumed leading positions in the secular musical life of the United Kingdom. Some were baptized, others remained practising Jews. None, however, contributed substantially to British synagogue music per se: Sir Julius Benedict, Jacob Blumenthal, Max Bruch (who was not Jewish, but who published his celebrated Kol Nidrei for cello and orchestra in 1881, during his term of office as Director of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society, 1880-3), Hanns Eisler, Peter Feuchtwanger, Erika Fox, Benjamin Frankel, Hans Gal, Alexander Goehr, Berthold Goldschmidt, Otto Goldschmidt, Wilhelm Grosz, Bernhard Gr?n, Sir George Henschel, Joseph Horovitz, Max Kowalski, Ernst Hermann Meyer, Ignaz Moscheies, Karol Rathaus, Franz Reizenstein, Matyas Seiber, Mischa Spoliansky, Ernest Toch, Kurt Weill (whose Kiddush for cantor, mixed choir and organ is popular as a concert piece), Egon Wellesz and Josef Zmigrod (Allan Gray). 197</page></plain_text>