Today's Ashkenazi cantorism, as we know it, did not grow in a vacuum. It can be said to be a combination of two main currents in European Jewish liturgy: Western Jewish liturgy (Western and Central European) and Eastern European Jewish liturgy.
Western European Jewish liturgy was undoubtedly influenced by its surroundings: the great Jewish composers in this region, who wrote musical works for the synagogue, such as Shlomo Sulzer (1804-1890), Louis Lewandowski (1823-1894), Shmuel Naumburg (1817-1880) and others - were influenced in their religious music writing by the well-known non-Jewish composers of their time.
It is known that Shlomo Sulzer, who can be seen as the 'founder' of the Western European Jewish school of cantorism, was a close friend of the composers Franz Schubert, Franz Liszt, and Robert Schumann.
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Louis Lewandowski, on the other hand, was on friendly terms with many Romantic composers of his generation (many articles and books have been written about the Romantic movement in Western European art. You can read about this, for example, in the Hebrew Encyclopedia [under 'Art'] and even on Wikipedia), and he also served as a professor of musicology at the Berlin Conservatory.
His works are influenced by the works of the great composers of the 19th century and even earlier composers. These composers wrote both choral works for the church and works for concert halls and opera. In other words: both sacred and secular works.
Louis Lewandowski | Photo: Yellowmellow45 - Wikipedia
Eastern European Ashkenazi cantorship, of course, also did not grow in a vacuum: it is influenced by Gentile-Slavic folk liturgy, sung both in and outside the church.
It can be said that the main characteristic of Eastern European cantorship is its supplication element: the cantor, who is often also the "leader of the prayer", pours out his speech to his consort, often in tears and supplications.
He is in no way trying to 'give' himself. On the contrary: the more he 'cries' and begs - the richer and more diverse his music can be.
Eastern European cantorship, of course, grew mostly in the "shteitel," the classic Jewish town in Eastern Europe.
And since the situation of the Jews in the average town, throughout its history, was pitiful, it is not difficult to understand why the supplicatory element, the "weeping" element in most of this cantata, is so strong and dominant.
Louis Lewandowski - Because as your name suggests
Western European cantorship, on the other hand, is much more 'restrained', much more 'full of pomp and ceremony' - than its Eastern European sister.
From this perspective, it can be said that it operates in two ways that complement each other:
A. 'Cantons of Praise'; that is, cantons consisting of works that praise and glorify the name of God, the Blessed One, and glorify Him, usually in happy and festive occasions.
B. 'The Canticles of Confession and Justification of Justice' - consisting of quiet, minor works, often sung at sad and 'contemplative' events, such as the passing of a person and the like.
Shlomo Sultzer | Photo: Adolph Kohut - Wikipedia
Over time (mainly, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries), a kind of 'synthesis' took place between Eastern European cantorship and its Western European sister: Eastern European cantors 'trained' in Western European cantorship, and vice versa: Western European cantors came into 'cultural contact' with Eastern European cantors and learned their style.
In my opinion, the most famous of the cantors who combined the two styles with great success was Cantor Yossele Rosenblatt (1882-1933). He was of course raised and educated in the lap of Eastern European cantorship, but during his tenure at the Great Synagogue in Hamburg, at the beginning of the 20th century, he began to increasingly "squint" toward the Western European style and to compose more and more works in this style, such as "Venech Yamer," "Hallo Avdei Ha'Va" and so on.
Yosela Rosenblatt - Hallelujah
