The importance of music in the life of the Jewish people is found almost at the beginning of Genesis. Musicians are mentioned among the three fundamental professions. Music was viewed as a necessity in everyday life, as a beautifying and enriching complement of human existence. Velvel Pasternak
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Jewish Liturgical Music

Music and Song

“Serve the Lord with joy, and come before Him with singing,” wrote the psalmist. Music played a pivotal role in ancient Jewish observance.

Kabbalists wrote: ‘Access to certain temples can be achieved only through song.’

The Baal Shem Tov (1700-1760), founder of modern Chassidism, encouraged joyous singing as a way of celebrating God. Musicologists can tell whether a particular nigun comes from the Chassidim of, say, Vishnitz, Modzitz, Bobov, Ger or Lubavitch.

The first Lubavitch Rebbe explained: “Melody is the outpouring of the soul, but words interrupt the stream of emotion.”

As Chassidim travelled from one Chassidic court to another, tunes spread across Europe. The greatest centre of music was the tiny dynasty of Modzitz. The Modzizter Rabbi Israel Taub, Baal Divrei Israel (1848-1920) composed 200 nigunim. “Heimloz Nigun”, “Song of the Homeless”, was inspired by the devastation of war. “Ezk'ra Hagadol” (“The Great Ezk'ra”), evoking thoughts of Jerusalem, was composed by the rabbi while undergoing surgery in Berlin in 1913.

Rabbi Israel's son and successor, Saul Yedidya Elozor Taub, wrote some 700 compositions, many of them lengthy, intricate operatic works. From 1940 to 1947 he travelled across America and spread his tunes. Rabbi Saul's own son, Samuel Eliyahu Taub, immigrated to Palestine in 1935, adding about 400 new tunes to the growing Modzitzer repertoire.

Source adapted from Velvel Pasternak's essay “Song in Hassidic Life”

Temple Melodies

The history of religious Jewish music spans the evolution of cantorial, synagogal, and Temple melodies from Biblical to Modern times. The earliest synagogal music was based on the same system used in the Temple in Jerusalem. According to the Mishnah, the regular Temple orchestra consisted of twelve instruments, and a choir of twelve male singers

After the destruction of the Temple and the subsequent diaspora of the Jewish people, music was initially banned in Babylon and Persia. This law had an exception on Shabbat (i.e. the Sabbath), during which Jewish people were required to sing with their family, later, all restrictions were relaxed. As is recorded in Psalm 137; "Our tormentors [the Babylonians] asked of us, sings us one of the songs of Zion... How shall we sing the Lord's song...?."

Originally, It was with the piyyutim (liturgical poems)in which Jewish music began to crystallize into definite form. The cantor sang the piyyutim to melodies selected by their writer or by himself, thus introducing fixed melodies into synagogal music. The music may have preserved a few phrases in the reading of Scripture which recalled songs from the Temple itself (Ashkenazic Jews named this official tune 'trope';) but generally it echoes the tones and rhythms, in each country and in each age, in which Jews lived, not merely in the actual borrowing of tunes, but more in the tonality on which the local music was based.

Piyyut

A piyyut is a Jewish liturgical poem, usually designated to be sung, chanted, or recited during religious services. Piyyutim have been written since Mishnaic times. Most piyyutim are in Hebrew or Aramaic, and most follow some poetic scheme, such as an acrostic following the order of the Hebrew alphabet or spelling out the name of the author.
The best-known piyyut may be Adon Olam ("Master of the World"), sometimes attributed to Solomon ibn Gabirol in 11th century Spain.

Nigun

Nigun refers to religious songs and tunes that are sung by groups. It is a form of voice instrumental music, often without any lyrics or words. An example of well known nigun is Rebbe Nachman's Lecha Dodi Nigun which is a well-known song that all observant Jews sing on Friday night in Kabbalat Shabbat. There are a number of different tunes for the song, of which Rebbe Nachman's Lecha Dodi Nigun is one of the most well known.

Niggunim Examples by David Ariel

1. “Ha'neshomo loch” - Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach (from the Selichot service): “The soul is Yours, the body is Yours, have mercy on Your creation”

• Ha'neshomo loch - Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach - הנשמה לך - רבי שלמה קרליבך

2. “Bnei Heichala” (Children of the Divine) - Niggun of the Baal Shem Tov (Besht, founder of Hasidism, d. 1760)

• Bnei Heichala - Niggun Baal Shem Tov

3. The Old Master's Song (Der Alter Rebbe's Nigun): The niggun of the first Lubavitcher Rebbe Shneur Zalman of Liadi (1745-1812)

• The Old Master's Song(Der Alter Rebbe's Nigun)

4. Yehuda Green Singing Rebbe Nachman Of Breslov's Niggun (1772-1812)

• Yehuda Green Singing Rebbe Nachman Of Breslov's Niggun

Zemiros

Zemiros are Jewish hymns, usually sung in the Hebrew or Aramaic languages, but sometimes also in Yiddish or Ladino. The best known zemiros are those sung around the table during Shabbos and Jewish holidays. The words to many zemirot are taken from poems written by various rabbis and sages during the Middle Ages. Others are anonymous folk songs that have been passed down from generation to generation.

• Zemirot Database

Pizmonim

Pizmonim are traditional Jewish songs and melodies with the intentions of praising God as well as describing certain aspects of traditional religious teachings. Pizmonim are traditionally associated with Middle Eastern Sephardic Jews, although they are related to Ashkenazi Jews' zemirot and are sung during lifecycle events.

The best known tradition is associated with Jews descended from Aleppo, though similar traditions exist among Iraqi Jews (where the songs are known as shbaִhoth, praises) and in North African countries. Jews of Greek, Turkish and Balkan origin have songs of the same kind in Ladino, associated with the festivals: these are known as coplas.

The texts of many pizmonim date back to the Middle Ages or earlier, and are often based on verses in the Bible. Many are taken from the Tanakh, while others were composed by poets such as Yehuda Halevi and Israel Najara of Gaza. Some melodies are quite old, while others may be based on popular Middle Eastern music, with the words composed specially to fit the tune.

Baqashot

The Baqashot are a collection of supplications, songs, and prayers that have been sung for centuries by the Sephardic Aleppian Jewish community and other congregations every Shabbat morning from midnight until dawn.

Usually they are recited during the weeks of winter, when the nights are much longer.
The custom of singing Baqashot originated in Spain towards the time of the expulsion, but took on increased momentum in the Kabbalistic circle in Safed in the 16th century. Baqashot probably evolved out of the tradition of saying petitionary prayers before dawn and was spread from Safed by the followers of Isaac Luria (16th century).

With the spread of Safed Kabbalistic doctrine, the singing of Baqashot reached countries all round the Mediterranean and became customary in the communities of Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Rhodes, Greece, Yugoslavia, Egypt, Turkey and Syria.

It also influenced the Kabbalistically oriented confraternities in 18th-century Italy, and even became customary for a time in Sephardic communities in western Europe, such as Amsterdam and London, though in these communities it has since been dropped. By the turn of the 20th century Baqashot had become a widespread religious practice in several communities in Jerusalem as a communal form of prayer.

Jewish prayer modes

Jewish liturgical music is characterized by a set of musical modes. These modes make up musical nusach, which serves to both identify different types of prayer, as well as to link those prayers to the time of year, or even time of day in which they are set.

There are three main modes, as well as a number of combined or compound modes. The three main modes are called Ahavah Rabbah, Magein Avot and Adonai Malach.
Traditionally, the Cantor (Hazzan) improvised sung prayers within the designated mode, while following a general structure of how each prayer should sound. Over time many of these chants have been written down and standardized, yet the practice of improvisation still exists to this day.

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Early Musical Luminaries

1. Solomon Ibn Gabirol
2. Eleazar Kalir
3. Yehuda HaLevi
4. Moses Ibn Ezra
5. David HaKohen
6. Salamone Rossi or Salomone Rossi

Jewish Composers

1. Louis Lewandowski
2. Naomi Shemer
3. David Saltiel Oriente Musik: Jewish - Spanish Songs from Thessaloniki
4. Chazzanut Biography
5. Abraham Zevi Idelsohn אַבְרָהָם צְבִי אידלסון
6. Velvel Pasternak
7. Shmuel Schenderovitch /Taraf Degrief, The Spanish Synagogue, Prague
8. Fiory Jagoda, (Bosnia and Herzegovina) , Fiory Jagoda
9. Cantor Dr. Ramón Tasat Echoes of Sepharad
10. Admor Isaac Taub, 1st Kaliver Rebbe
11. Shlomo Carlebach שלמה קרליבך‎
12. Debbie Friedman

Music and the Holocaust

• List of Cantors , In memoriam of Cantors who perished in the Holocaust

1. Yehoshua Wieder

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Chazzanut / Cantors

• Read Biographies of Chazanim & Synagogue Musicians Source: Rabbi Geoffrey L. Shisler

1. Mischa Alexandrovich
2. Samuel Alman
3. Israel Alter
4. Zvi Aroni
5. Avraham Moshe Bernstein
6. Abraham Ber Birnbaum - אברהם בער בירנבאום (1864-1922)
7. Gershon Boyars
8. Leo Bryll
9. Berele Chagy - ברל׳ה חגי (1892-1954)
10. Francis Lyon Cohen
11. Philip Copperman
12. David M Davis
13. Kalman Fausner
14. Pinchas Faigenblum
15. Emanuel Feldinger
16. Emanuel Frankl
17. Aaron Fuchsman
18. Moshe Ganchoff
19. Aryeh Garbacz
20. Eliezer Gerovitch
21. Yechiel Gildin
22. Leib (Leibale) Glantz - לייב (לייבאלע) גלאנץ (1898-1964)
23. Yitzchak Glickstein
24. Johnny Gluck
25. Jacob Gottlieb
26. Berl Gottlieb
27. Marcus Hast
28. Mordecai Hershman - מרדכי הרשמן (1888-1940 )
29. Shlomo Hershman - שלמה הרשמן (bet. 1893 and 1897-1971)
30. Isaac Icht
31. Solomon Kashtan
32. Morris Katanka
33. Adolph Katchko
34. Ben-Zion Kapov-Kagan
35. Moshe Korn - משה קורן (1926-1985)
36. Usher Korn
37. David Kussevitsky - דוד קוסביצקי (1910-1985)
38. Jacob Kussevitsky - יעקב קוסביצקי (1903-1959)
39. Moshe Koussevitzky - משה קוסביצקי (1899-1966)
40. Simcha Kussevitsky - שמחה קוסביצקי (bet. 1902 and 1905-1998)
41. Zevulun Kwartin - זבולון קוורטין (1874-1952)
42. David Levine
43. Louis Lewandowski
44. Yoel Dovid Lowenstein
45. Charles Lowy
46. Herman Mayerowitsch
47. Chaim Shmuel Milch
48. Yehudah Leib Miller
49. Pinchas Minkovsky
50. Julius Lazarus Mombach
51. Solomon Hirsh Morris
52. Benzion Moskovits
53. Harris Newman
54. David Nowakowsky
55. Moishe Oysher
56. Jan Peerce (Jacob Pinchas Perlmuth) - (1904-1984) (יעקב פנחס פרלמוט) יאן פירס
57. Pierre Pinchik
58. Salomo Pinkasovitch
59. Moshe Preis
60. Shlomo Rawitz
61. Jacob Rivlis
62. Baruch Leib Rosowsky - ברוך לייב רוזובסקי (1841-1919)
63. David Roitman
64. Ephraim Fishel Rosenberg - אפרים פישל רוזנברג {1917-1977}
65. Yossele Rosenblatt - יוסל׳ה רוזנבלט (1882-1933)
66. Zeidel Rovner
67. Joseph Schmidt
68. Israel Schorr
69. Jacob Sherman
70. Joseph Shlisky
71. Lewis Shoot
72. Bezalel Shulsinger
73. Gershon Sirota - גרשון סירוטה הי״ד (1874-1943)
74. Boruch Smus
75. Solomon Stern
76. Salomon Sulzer
77. Richard Tucker - ריצ׳רד-ראובן טאקר (1913-1975)
78. Samuel Vigoda - שמואל ויגודה (1892-1990)
79. Louis Leibele Waldman - לייבאלע (לואיס) וולדמן (1907-1969)
80. Hirsch Weintraub
81. Yehoshua Wieder - יהושע וידר (1887-1981)
82. Abba Yosef Weisgal - אבא יוסף וויסגל (1887-1981)
83. Noach Zaludkowski

See website for links to biographies: Source

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1. Albert Mizrahi
2. Elias Rosemberg , YouTube , The Jewish ArgenTenors
3. European Cantors Association
4. Naftali Herstik
5. Benzion Miller

6. Chaim Adler
7. Daniel Halfon

8. Cantor Moshe Murray Bazian
9. Marcelo Bruckman

10. Sylvain Elzam 

11. Cantor Elihu Feldman 

12. Alberto Mizrachi

13. Benjamin Muller
14. David Propis
15. Cantor Dr. Ramon Tasat

Notable Chassidic Composers

Notable Syrian Cantors

The following were or are well-known cantors in the Syrian Jewish communities of Israel and the United States.

• • Moshe Ashear
• • Hayim Shaul Aboud
• • Gabriel Shrem
• • Nissim Franco
• • Raphael Yair Elnadav
• • Yosef Elnadav
• • Meir Levy
• • Yehiel Nahari
• • Edward Farhi
• • Yehezkel Zion
• • David Shiro
• • Yair Hamra
• • Jack Salama
• • Charles Saka

Contemporary Jewish Music

1. John Zorn, Tzadik Records
2. Mayisyahu / Mathew Paul Miller
3. Avraham Fried
4. Lipa Schmeltzer
5. Mordechai Ben David
6. Shloime Dachs
7. Yaakov Shwekey

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Cantorial Links

1. Traditional Legendary Cantors
2. Cantors Yivo Encyclopedia
3. Evolution from Chazzan to Cantor The Reform Jewish Caontorate during the 19th Century
4. Giacomo Meyerbeer
5. Dutch Chazzanut
6. Greatest Cantorial Voices
7. Nine Luminaries Of Jewish Liturgical Song
8. Syrian Cantors
9. Chazzanut Archives
10. Cantorial Music
11. Chazzanut Biographies
12. Hazzan - Wikipedia
13. Cantor's Assembly Cantor's Assembly
14. Chazzanut Articles
15. Jewish Music Biographies
16. Chazzanut Links
17. Cantorial Music Center Website
18. Kol Nidrei Moroccan Version
19. Avinu Malkenu Moroccan Version

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Jewish Music

1. Music and Synagogues around the World
2. Jewish Music Wikipedia
3. Jewish Music Web Center
4. Jewry in Music
5. History of Religious Jewish Music
6. Synagogal Music Wikipedia
7. Jewish Music Wikipedia
8. Jewry in Music?
9. London Jewish Music Institute
10. Europäisches Zentrum für jüdische Musik
11. The German Klezmer website.
12. The Music You Won’t Hear on Rosh Hashana
13. History of Russian Society for Jewish Music
14. Jewish Music or Music of the Jewish People?
15. Religious Jewish Music Wikipedia
16. Music in Kabbalah
17. CHASSIDIC MUSIC from an Ethnomusicological Perspective
18. Jewish Music
19. Hebrew Music Sites
20. Kinnor - Harp of David
21. Music of the Bible Revealed
22. Jewish Liturgical Music
23. The Jewish National and University Library
24. Bibligraphy of Sephardic Music
25. Yiddish Songs A-Z
26. Zemirot , Zemirot Database
27. Traditional Sephardi Zemirot
28. Jewish Music Heritage Project
29. Jewish Liturgics: Chant Development