Musaf Service for Rosh Hashanah, Part 2

 

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Liner Notes

 Annotated tracklisting:

1. V'SHAM NA'ASEH . . . .	cantorial recitation
2. OḤILA LA'EL	cantorial improvisation on established motif

MALKHUYOT

3. ALEINU	arr. Joshua Samuel Weisser
4. AL KEN N'KAVEH L'KHA V'NE'EMAR LO HIBIT M'LOKH AL KOL HA'ARETZ	Jacob Rappaport and cantorial improvisation cantorial improvisations on malkhuyot motifs Isaac Kaminsky; Moshe Ganchoff
5. SHOFAR BLASTS
6. HAYOM HARAT OLAM	cantorial improvisation
7. ARESHET S'FATEINU	congregational tune, anon.

ZIKHRONOT

8. ATA ZOKHER . . . .	cantorial improvisation on zikhronot motifs
9. V'AL Y'DEI AVODEKHA . . . zokharti lakh	Isaac Kaminsky; solo: Elizabeth Shammash*
10. ZOKHREINU B'ZIKHRON TOV  KI ZOKHER . . . .	cantorial improvisation on zikhronot motifs Paul Discount
11. SHOFAR BLASTS HAYOM HARAT OLAM	arr. Sholom Kalib
12. ARESHET S'FATEINU	Joshua Lind; solo: Magda Fishman*

SHOFAROT

13. ATA NIGLEITA	Isaac Kaminsky; Moshe Ganchoff; Samuel Kavetsky; solo: Melissa Berman*
14. TIKU VAḤODESH  HALLELUYA (Psalm 150) V'AL Y'DEI AVODEKHA T'KA B'SHOFAR	Isaac Kaminsky; Moshe Ganchoff;  Jack Goldstein cantorial improvisation on shofarot motifs Paul Discount
15. UV'YOM SIMḤATKHEM	Sholom Secunda
16. SHOFAR BLASTS
17.  HAYOM HARAT OLAM	cantorial improvisation
18. ARESHET S'FATEINU	Joshua Lind; solo: Shayna Smith*

HODA'A

19. R'TZEI . . . MODIM . . . AVINU MALKENU Z'KHOR . . .  . . . UKH'TOV L'ḤAYYIM	cantorial recitation
20. BIRKAT KOHANIM; SIM SHALOM  B'SEFER ḤAYYIM V'NE'EMAR KI VI YIRBU	cantorial recitation attrib. Israel Goldfarb cantorial recitation
21. HAYOM T'AMTZEINU  KI VAYOM HA'ZEH	Joshua Lind cantorial reciation
22. KADDISH TITKABEL (Kaddish Shalem)	Yankl Gottlieb

* cantorial student at time of recording; subsequently ordained/invested as hazzan.

The notes below pertain to the individual liturgical settings contained within this recording of the Musaf Service for Rosh Hashanah. For more on the liturgical and aesthetic parameters of the musaf service, see here. 

Continued from part one.

OḤILA LA’EL (Track 2): A r’shut in which the cantor asks God for the gifts of speech and song necessary properly to offer praise and sing of His might and sovereignty in the immediately succeeding malkhuyot division (the fourth b’rakha), commencing with aleinu. The governing misinai motif of oḥila la’el includes motives, intervals, and strains similar to those that pervade the n’ila (concluding) service of Yom Kippur, and it is possible that the two motifs began as a single one.

T’KI’ATOT (Tracks 3–18): The tripartite section comprising the t’filla, biblical quotations, piyyutim, and other insertions of the fourth, fifth, and sixth b’rakhot—each followed by a series of ten shofar blasts (except when the first day of Rosh Hashana falls on Shabbat, when musical instruments cannot be played). T’ki’atot is the presumed plural of the Aramaic t’ki’ata, the term signifying each of the three divisions.

Each of these divisions—malkhuyot (Divine sovereignty), zikhronot (remembrances), and shofarot (shofar soundings and their significance)—concerns and illustrates one of the central theological themes of Rosh Hashana: (1) God’s absolute, supreme kingship of the world and all that it implies, which would include the supremacy of His decrees and judgments; (2) God as the recorder of all human deeds, acts, and thoughts in His unalloyed remembrance of all things, who thus remembers all promises and covenants—hence one of Rosh Hashana’s designations as yom hazikaron (Day of Remembrances, or Remembering); and (3) God as revealer of Himself at Sinai with His teaching, who will reveal Himself again with Israel’s redemption from exile and its return to Zion. This third theme gives us the third of Rosh Hashana’s designations: yom t’ru’a—the Day of the Shofar Blasts, which, we are told, heralded the revelation when the Torah was given through Moses, and which will herald the future redemption.

In modern contexts and for modern sensibilities, these three themes can be understood at the same time as God the Creator of nature, viz., the primeval basis of all existence; God in terms of history, and thus relating to Israel’s collective memory; and God as ultimate revealer of truth and wisdom.

Each of the ten series of biblical quotations within each division is preceded by a prologue, followed by continuing t’filla and an epilogue that leads to the conclusion of the b’rakha. The inclusion of the texts of t’filla as part of each b’rakha, before and after the biblical quotations, is attributed to the third century scholar Rav, who founded the Sura talmudic academy in Babylonia.

A. MALKHUYOT (Tracks 3–5):

ALEINU (Track 3): By most accounts originally exclusive to the High Holy Day musaf, this opening text of the malkhuyot is sometimes called the Great Aleinu, which distinguishes it from its separate recitation upon the conclusion of all services as a quasi-postlude—a practice thought to date to the fourteenth century. Its exalted, lofty, and laudatory poetry is reflected in the magisterial misinai motif assigned to it. That motif is recognized instantly by its incipit of a stately, slowly descending major triad, followed by an octave leap that returns downward to the fifth of the scale and then continues with further phrases of the motif. This particular motif is believed to have been in place as early as the twelfth century in Western Europe. While all cantorial-choral settings of aleinu adhere strictly to the motif, some internal passages are open to additional, fresh but compatible melodic material—as in this setting by Joshua Samuel Weisser [Pilderwasser]. The continuation of aleinu here at al ken n’kaveh l’kha is a cantorial improvisation based on a recitative by Jacob Rappaport. It incorporates emblematic motives and other features of the prayer mode(s) unique to this section.

V’NE’EMAR LO HIBIT (Track 4): Following the cantor’s invocation of the first of the ten biblical quotations, these words introduce the remaining nine. Appropriating the anteceding announcement of each biblical verse, v’ne’emar (And it is said [in Scriptures]), as a refrain for robust (or any) congregational singing is entirely an American invention of long-standing expectation in tradition-oriented congregations. Over the years the custom has spawned numerous, mostly anonymous, lilting and spirited tunes. Despite disapproval under the leadership of more supposedly “Americanized” congregations as “inappropriately boisterous”, unnecessarily repetitive, and impinging upon decorum, a legitimate rationale is nonetheless argued to the contrary. Individual tastes and preferences aside, these admittedly artificial refrains celebrate Scripture as the basis for the t’filla and its themes, and they provide lighthearted relief from the solemnity of the surrounding prayers as well as opportunities for a communal vocal role.

M’LOKH (Track 5): The epilogue of the t’filla leading through the conclusion of the fourth b’rakha, glorying in God’s essence of truth and the splendor of His eternal reign, and praying that human hearts be “purified” so as better to serve Him “in truth”.

This is a juxtaposition of two different but symbiotic musical interpretations. The opening courtly, yet emotionally melodious section is an excerpt of a setting by Isaac Kaminsky (1863–1945) that reflects the declaration of welcome Divine autocracy. Returning to the opening words, the balance is an ennobling, introspective recitative by Moshe
Ganchoff.

The now ubiquitous, widely expected melody with the conclusion of the b’rakha at melekh al kol ha’aretz, joined by the congregation, is of uncertain origin. It is contained in Zeidl Rovner’s famous composition of the full epilogue. But that was edited by the well-known synagogue choirmaster Oscar Julius, who may (or may not) have incorporated the melody on his own from its preexisting use as anonymous.

Kaminsky—a chorister of the renowned eastern European cantor Nissi Belzer (Nissan Spivak, 1824–1906) prior to immigration to America in 1898—was a well-known cantor in the New York area during the first few decades of the twentieth century. He composed extensively, but nearly all his music has been preserved only in the notations, refinements, and arrangements of Oscar Julius, who championed Kaminsky’s repertoire and is probably largely responsible for its harmonizations.

HAYOM HARAT OLAM (Track 6): An early piyyut (piyyut kadum) that follows each of the three sets of shofar blasts of the fourth, fifth, and sixth b’rakhot. It is recited even when the shofar soundings are omitted on Shabbat. Reminding us that this day (“today”) represents the birth of the universe, the paytan muses on its significance as yom hadin in observing that all will be judged either as God’s children or as His servants. If the former, God is asked to relate to them as a father; if the latter, to realize that we search for Him, viz., for how best to serve Him as willing servants.

A cantorial-choral setting is usually restricted to one of the three occurrences of this piyyut, with the other two left—as here, following the fourth b’rakha—to simple cantorial recitation.

ARESHET S’FATEINU (Track 7): An anonymous piyyut (a slightly different version of which was found in the Cairo Geniza) that follows hayom harat olam but is omitted on Shabbat as it refers directly to the shofar blasts. Each of its three occurrences applies specifically to malkhuyot, zikhronot, and shofarot, respectively. Nearly all musical realizations are animated, buoyant, and vivifying. Many, though not all, are congregational tunes that provide an interval of joyful communal gratification. Others are choral settings in the same mood. The anonymous version here became widely known through its recording (in a slightly different variant) by Yossele Rosenblatt, the most internationally famous cantor of all time. But he neither composed nor claimed credit for it. All attempted attributions are unsubstantiated.

B. ZIKHRONOT (Tracks 8–10)

ATA ZOKHER (Track 8): The prologue to the biblical verses of the zikhronot. The cantorial improvisation, which extends through the fifth biblical verse quotation, is based on the prayer mode applicable to this section, incorporating established motives, turns of phrase, and cadences attached dramatically to particular words and sentiments. The vocally expressed references range from God’s compassionate mindfulness of His covenants to His relenting from anger, and from the possibility of deserved consequences of strict judgment to trust in His leniency—if nothing else, for the sake of memory. Especially notable in this improvisation are the subtle momentary vacillations between major and minor tonalities mixed with modal echoes, fluctuations in timbres, and sensitive shadings of particular operative words. It is also peppered with occasional restrained metricalizations for emphasis. The interplay among all these features exudes an overall spirit of confidence in the force of historical memory to tip the balance of judgment in our favor.

V’AL Y’DEI AVADEKHA . . . ZAKHARTI LAKH . . . (Track 9): A popular melodious setting by Isaac Kaminsky that includes without interruption the seventh, eighth, and ninth Prophetic verse quotations of zikhronot, beginning with the introductory line in the t’filla (“And in the words of Your servants and prophets it is written . . .”).

Even though the aggregate repertoire includes many ornate, decorous cantorial-choral settings of other parts of zikhronot that once enjoyed wide use (zokhrenu b’zikhron tov, for example, which follows the ninth b’rakha), somehow and at some point in America the three verses introduced by v’al y’dei avadekha became the central musical focus—often, eventually, to the exclusion of choral treatments of any other parts of this t’filla text. Elongated, repetitious, and even theatrical pieces such as this one by Isaac Kaminsky—probably his most widely known creation—became an eagerly accepted norm. (At the same time, Lewandowski’s enduring, succinct, and classically oriented setting of the same verses—written for German synagogues but soon known throughout eastern Europe—also remains a “standard” among American congregations and is often performed on one of the two days of Rosh Hashana.)

The poetic metaphor of Israel as a child whose father’s parental anger is lovingly assuaged and short-lived—the more so in memory of Israel’s “youthful devotion”—has intrigued composers and worshippers alike. And this no doubt accounts for some of the sentimental melodies and even theatrical antics—some legitimate, some overboard—that have accompanied the ninth quoted verse, from Jeremiah 31:20 (“For is not Efraim my beloved son, my dear child? For even when I reprove him I remember him with love”).

This Kaminsky setting abounds with traditional clichés, such as forte-piano and sforzando attacks on certain words or syllables, as well as suddenly contrasting timbres. There is also a measure of manufactured nostalgia, for which the composer might well have drawn on elements of the Yiddish theater. The solo melody for haven yakir li efra’im that tugs undeniably at heartstrings, though tastefully if not abused, became so familiar that it is sometimes extracted and sung independently as a mistakenly perceived “traditional tune”.

The immediately following continuation of zikhronot here, which incorporates the tenth biblical quotation, is intoned in a cantorial improvisation according to the established prayer mode, emphasizing individual features of minhag ashkenaz. The culminating passage (“You remember things forgotten from the very beginning of time”), which leads into the conclusion of the fifth b’rakha, is a charming miniature setting by Paul Discount.

HAYOM HARAT OLAM (Track 11): A rich cantorial-choral setting of the piyyut with a complicated and still inconclusive story behind both its origin and its dissemination. With a few prior separate and/or developmental iterations, its manuscript circulation in its present form (never published) began in the 1950s as a result of its recording by Cantor Moses J. Silverman. The arrangement comprises four sections, of which the duet melody at im kavonim is the most memorable.

The illustrious virtuoso “star” cantor, Mordecai Hershman, sang a somewhat different version in a 1937 cantorial film, The Voice of Israel, which featured a number of the most internationally famous cantors as well as choral accompaniments. But Hershman was one of the few major cantors of his time (and earlier) who did not compose what he sang; and, typically in those days, composer attributions were not provided on films, records, or radio broadcasts. Moreover, by the 1950s the film was lost and long forgotten—to be discovered and mostly reconstructed from disassembled segments only decades later. A young cantor sojourning in Chicago in the 1950s, however, Shaye [Charles] Englehardt (a.k.a. Jerry Abbott in his later Hollywood career as an arranger and composer, among other studio roles)—whom Cantor Silverman had befriended and helped—had been a boy chorister and soloist in the 1937 film. For Silverman’s recording, he sang what he could recall of Hershman’s rendition in the film to Cantor Silverman and his protegé, the choirmaster and music director Sholom Kalib. Kalib notated Englehardt’s recollection and then turned it into the present cohesive, musically structured, and judiciously harmonized arrangement. Englehardt was always convinced that the duet melody was anonymous at the time of the film (and remains so), and that whoever made the arrangement for Hershman had simply made use of it.

In his typically excessive humility, Kalib identified himself on his circulated manuscript as secondary to Englehardt, as if they had been its joint composers or arrangers, whereas the piece as it had evolved by then is really Kalib’s work based on received materials.

As it turned out years later, Hershman’s rendition in the film resembles in some respects (though not completely) a version now believed to have been written by Sholom Secunda around that time. But Secunda first published it more than two decades after Kalib’s construction of the present form of the piece; and prior to publication, Secunda never made public his version, which he might have written as a “work for hire” for Hershman. By the time it was published, Secunda’s role was more or less irrelevant.

ARESHET S’FATEINU (Track 12): A setting by Joshua Lind (1890–1973) for alto or mezzo-soprano soloist and choir, which exhibits his hallmark natural gift for infectious melody. The clever if theatrical riffs on the operative phrase l’kol t’ki’atenu (to the voice of our shofar soundings) feature repetitive syllabic articulations that underscore—with a bit of license—the centrality of the shofar blasts in the context of the t’ki’atot liturgy. The rendition here following the fifth b’rakha is a chorally souped-up, pulsating arrangement based on a similar version heard in cantorial footage of a vintage film. Lind’s original setting according to his manuscript is heard here on Track 18 in the shofarot section.

Born in Rawa Russko, near Lemberg (L’vov) in Galicia (now Lviv in the Ukraine), Joshua Lind began his cantorial life as a boy chorister in the choir of his father, the Lemberger Shtothazzan (town cantor); and then—and into adulthood—in the choir of the venerable cantor and cantor-composer Zeidl Rovner [Jacob Samuel Maragowsky] before occupying his own pulpits while still in Europe. Rovner’s influence is unmistakable in Lind’s hundreds of compositions following his immigration to America, in 1913. After serving several important pulpits in New York, and after a transcontinental guest pulpit and concert tour with a choir of his children (three of whom became prominent cantors), Lind settled with his family in Chicago, where he became an acknowledged dean of the area’s traditional cantors as well as a cantorial teacher.

Melody, dramatic impact, and cantorial virtuosity were paramount for Lind as a composer. Although he always credited Rovner as his teacher—along with Rovner’s choirmaster—he was basically self-taught. Only a small part of his solo cantorial recitatives was published posthumously; his vast opera of choral settings, with and without cantorial solo roles, remains in manuscript—which is how they were circulated during his lifetime.

C. SHOFAROT

ATA NIGLEITA (Track 13): The prologue of the shofarot division and the commencement of the t’filla of the sixth b’rakha, assuring that God “hears with mercy the shofar sounds” of His people Israel. The opening lines are sung here to the beginning of another contribution of Isaac Kaminsky. The image of the “cloud of glory”, by which God is said to have revealed Himself at Sinai, finds expression in the jubilant stride and flourish of the choral statement, employed here as an introduction to shofarot excerpted from the full setting. Returning to the opening lines, the balance of the rendition is a cantorial recitative by Moshe Ganchoff that encompasses the first five biblical verse quotations. It proceeds with artistic sensitivity, bringing life to the various pictorial references, portrayals, and symbols contained in the words. The interpolated alto solo within the second verse quotation (Exodus 19:19) is a melody by Samuel Kavetsky.

TIKU VAḤODESH SHOFAR – PSALM 150 (Track 14): The continuation of shofarot with the sixth biblical verse quotation (Ps.81:4–5), which is assigned here to a stylistically conventional bass solo passage by Kaminsky that suggests a shofar blast by its open intervallic leaps. This leads into the jubilant exposition of Psalm 150 (halleluya) in a setting by Jack Goldstein, a once-popular cantor in the New York area. A catalogue of the musical instruments or instrument families and types of ancient Israel, Psalm 150 calls upon their use in the praise of God. It is widely regarded as a concluding doxology for the entire Book of Psalms.

In its quotation in shofarot, Psalm 150 appears always to have been left open to free composition and not subject to any prayer mode or other aspect of minhag ashkenaz. It has typically invited major tonality on Western models, even in unwesternized heartlands of eastern Europe; and unconcealed influences and assimilations of oratorio and sometimes operatic choral styles and devices seem in general to have been welcome even in the most traditional contexts.

V’AL Y’DEI AVADEKHA – UV’YOM SIMḤATKHEM (Tracks 14–15): Except for the final verse quotation, those remaining verses following Psalm 150 are intoned here in a well-considered cantorial improvisation that adheres closely to certain traditionally established, recognizable motives and phrases, all of which animate the references to the shofar and its significance both historically and with regard to ultimate redemption. The melodic metered choral responses also have traditional pedigree.

The final verse quotation (Numbers 10:10) appears here in the opening of a dramatic cantorial-choral composition by Sholom Secunda (1894–1974), uv’yom simḥatkhem (And on the days of your gladness), which also includes the very brief epilogue prior to its extension through the conclusion of the sixth b’rakha.

T’ka b’shofar (Sound the “great shofar”), the passage of t’filla leading to the final biblical verse quotation of shofarot and the conclusion of this sixth b’rakha, is treated in this setting by Paul Discount with a judicious, appropriate mixture of ceremonial reverence, restrained grandeur, and celebration. The prayer for ingathering of the exiled Jewish people from the Diaspora to Zion (whether spiritually or in actual corporeal terms, depending upon one’s interpretation or orientation)—when collective devotion to God will match the fervor of the former ritual offerings in antiquity—is followed by optimistic anticipation of that ultimate national and religious redemption. The exultation of that joyous eventuality is reflected in the graciously triumphant mood of the music, which suggests a collective procession introduced and heralded by the sounding of a “great shofar”.

Born in Aleksandriya, in the Kherson region of the Ukraine, the thirteen-year-old Secunda came to America with his family in 1907 following a pogrom in Nikolayev, where they had relocated. He will always be remembered first and foremost as one of the most successful and prolific songwriters for the so-called Second Avenue variety of Yiddish musical theater. Still, dating to his childhood as a coveted synagogue boy chorister and then a wunderkind boy cantor, Secunda was also actively involved throughout his life in the music of the synagogue—both as a conductor and a composer. He composed a considerable body of Hebrew liturgical music, which was championed and performed by the celebrated cantor and internationally renowned opera tenor Richard Tucker. Tucker sang this setting of uv’yom simḥatkhem at many of his Rosh Hashana cantorial appearances.

HODA’A (Tracks 19–21): The concluding section of the Rosh Hashana musaf, comprising its remaining three b’rakhot. Their theme—as the umbrella label suggests (hoda’a, viz., thanks or gratitude)—is worship of God in gratitude for one or more things. Except for the interpolated piyyutim and other insertions on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, these three b’rakhot are common to all services throughout the year. For musaf on the High Holy Days, however, they are governed by the applicable prayer mode unique to those occasions, which is the basis for the typically declamatory cantorial recitation here.

Birkat kohanim, the threefold “priestly blessing(s)” established in the Torah (Numbers 6:24–26), with this ceremony dating to the Temple era, is part of the daily morning and afternoon liturgies throughout the year. On the Three Festivals and the High Holy Days in the Diaspora, however, birkat kohanim is ideally pronounced by descendants of the priests or priestly class—the kohanim—in a complicated ritual known as seder dukhan (so named after the platform in the Temple from which the priests issued the blessings). For those congregations in which this is not possible or that choose to omit the ceremony for one or more reasons, prayerbooks provide an option whereby the cantor pronounces the blessings in the name of the kohanim. This option is exercised here.

B’sefer ḥayyim (in the Book of Life) is a hosafa inserted into the final b’rakha—beginning with sim shalom—that is also recited throughout the Ten Days of Repentance. The familiar melody here is attributed to Israel Goldfarb.

Hayom t’amtzeinu (Track 21): Also an insertion into the final b’rakha, this is a litany of the various requests, hopes, and pleas for God’s favorable consideration on “this day”. Only eight lines of the piyyut have been retained, with a ninth added on Yom Kippur.

In eastern European tradition, this poem seems always to have been read with unflinching, auspicious optimism, with nearly all musical expressions matching that buoyant, mirthful spirit of positive expectations. But this setting by Joshua Lind probably outdoes them all in its unbridled gaiety, dancelike enthusiasm, entertaining frolic, and even a sense of humor (perhaps for some, a bit “over the top” in contemporary parlance). It is not, however, structurally or melodically a cohesive piece. Indeed, each line of the poem amounts to a separate “mini-composition” that rarely fails to captivate even the most sober worshippers.

KADDISH SHALEM (Kaddish Titkabel) (Track 22): The full version of kaddish as recited at the conclusion of the statutory liturgy of all services with a minyan (quorum of ten). It has no prescribed mode or melodic content, and it is frequently declaimed simply and rapidly. The engaging, tuneful, and now widely embraced rendition here, however, is a version of a setting composed in Europe by Hazzan Jacob Gottlieb (1852–1900), better known as Yankl der Heiziker (Yankl the Hoarse, or Husky-Voiced). It is now commonly but erroneously called the Hassidic kaddish, only because Gottlieb apparently claimed to have heard Hassidim singing kaddish shalem on Rosh Hashana “cheerfully”—although not to this or any other specifically identified tune in his recollection. In fact, neither the principal melody nor its secondary motives as Gottlieb devised them have been found in the authentic repertoire of any Hassidic dynasty; and Gottlieb referred to his composition simply as yitgadal, the initial word of the text incipit. But he intended it specifically for Rosh Hashana. And from the pulpit he substituted the Yiddish phrase a heym for the final pronouncement of v’al (and all [Israel]), which, he explained, gave it the meaning “And all can now go home [since your prayers have been accepted.”]). Unrelated to the tune, that expresses a typical Hassidic sensibility.

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Lyrics

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Credits

Composer: Various

Performers: Neil Levin, Conductor;  Alberto Mizrahi, Cantor;  New York Cantorial Choir

Additional Credits:

Translation from the Hebrew by Rabbi Morton M. Leifman (edited by Eli Mishulovin and Neil Levin).