Synagogue Song in America

by Levine, Joseph A.

• ISBN13: 9780765761392
• ISBN10: 0765761394
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-03-31
• Publisher: Jason Aronson, Inc.

Summary

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Table of Contents

List of Musical Examples	x
Acknowledgments	xiv
Preface to the New Edition	xvi
Preface: Recapturing the Art of Synagogue Song	xvii
Sacred chant knits Jewry together. Its influence and components are described.
PART I: PSALMODIC TECHNIQUE
Jerusalem of Old	3	(13)
Second-temple practice emphasized words over music, and likely recitation over singing. This pattern spread to synagogues in Judea and the diaspora, paralleling early Christian singing.
Climbing the Liturgical Ladder	16	(17)
The liturgy becomes more complex as it moves from weekday to Sabbath to Festival to High Holy Day; so does its music, retaining its Psalmodic underpinnings.
PART II: BIBLICAL TECHNIQUE
Tone Density; Neumes; Misinai Tunes	33	(22)
Biblical technique is slower-paced and louder than Psalmodic technique. Its figurations (neume motifs) vary in every diaspora community; they spawn one group reverently called Misinai (`from Mount Sinai') Tunes.
The Many Faces of Neume Motifs	55	(24)
An exploration of various Scripture-reading traditions and voices, and of the ways that Biblical technique has influenced Jewish culture, religious and secular.
PART III: MODAL TECHNIQUE
Defining the Three Principal Prayer Modes	79	(28)
Cantorial singing (chazanut) combines both Psalmodic and Biblical techniques, through the use of prescribed Prayer modes. These parallel Arabic secular modes (makamat), stem from ancient Middle Eastern folk traditions, and suit their liturgical moments.
Modal Interchange: Two Secondary Modes; ``Authentic'' and ``Plagal'' forms of Every Mode; the Three-Part Selichah Mode	107	(30)
The three Principal Prayer modes interchange constantly, with each other and with two secondary modes. Between the ``authentic'' and ``plagal'' forms of every mode, American Jews prefer the ``plagal'' form, especially in the harmonic-minor middle section of the three-part Selichah mode.
PART IV: PERFORMANCE TECHNIQUE
Vocal Quality; Style; Improvisation; Prescribed Motifs	137	(36)
Performance technique balances intellect and feeling. Ways of using the voice, styles of leading prayer, effective improvisation, and the imaginative use of prescribed motifs convey mood far better than written notes or words.
The Americanization of Synagogue Song: A Survey	173	(55)
American chazanut reflects the evolving norms of American society, from Congregational Egalitarianism through Industrial Elitism to current National Secularism. Recently, American folk and popular elements have merged with received Ashkenazic tradition.
PART V: APPENDICES
Appendix A Glossary	198	(9)
An alphabetical listing of 150 Hebrew and technical terms that appear throughout the book.
Appendix B Lithuanian Biblical Chant	207	(6)
A chart of 248 neume motifs for every occasion when Scripture is read publicly, according to Lithuanian practice (the Bible-reading tradition most prevalent in American synagogues.)
Appendix C Misinai Tunes	213	(15)
39 Primary Occurrences in prayer, 67 Recurrences in prayer, 54 Parallels in other Jewish and Gentile usage, preceded by an alphabetical bibliography of 49 sources.
Index	228