Synagogue choral music of nineteenth-century Vienna, Paris, and Berlin: its repertoire and history

In 1623, Salamone Rossi (c.1570-c.1630) published the world’s first collection of notated choral music for the synagogue in Western, late-Renaissance style. Following this singular achievement in synagogue composition, no significant choral activity occurred in Jewish music until the tenure of Salomon Sulzer (1804-1890) in Vienna. Sulzer’s publication in 1839 of the first comprehensive collection of choral-cantorial repertoire for the Jewish liturgy unleashed a wave of interest in synagogue choral music throughout Europe, most notably in two other major compendiums of new Jewish choral repertoire, published by Samuel Naumbourg (1815-1880) in Paris and Louis Lewandowski (1821-1894) in Berlin. ❧ Sulzer obtained both a Jewish and Western music education; in addition to being a cantor and synagogue composer, he was a famous vocalist in the secular world, specializing in the art songs of Schubert. During his long career as cantor at Vienna’s Seitenstettengasse Temple, Sulzer published two volumes of synagogue choral music, entitled Schir Zion (1839 and 1865). These collections tie together three musical elements; they include edited transcriptions of traditional cantorial chants, new music by Sulzer, and music that Sulzer commissioned from his non-Jewish contemporaries. ❧ The circumstances that permitted Sulzer’s great achievement in Vienna (and, ultimately, parallel achievements by synagogue composers in Paris and Berlin) center around two phenomena of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Jewish Emancipation, which began its rumblings in the late eighteenth century, opened doors to allow Jews to participate in society. The Reform movement in Judaism inspired Jews to re-imagine new formats and possibilities for worship; however, it also tended to extend too far in eradicating important aspects of tradition, such as cantorial chant. Sulzer, Naumbourg, and Lewandowski managed to preserve much of the traditional art while also championing new music for Jewish worship. ❧ Samuel Naumbourg brought his German training and sensibility to Paris, where he worked alongside his Jewish colleagues, Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791-1864) and Jacques Halévy (1799-1862), who achieved great fame for their French Grand Operas. As cantor for the Ashkenazi Temple, Naumbourg composed new music for the synagogue in Grand Opera style and commissioned other composers, such as Halévy, to contribute compositions. The primary thematic material of Naumbourg’s prayer setting, El Adon, appears prominently in Meyerbeer’s subsequent opera, Le Prophète, which is the opera that particularly drew the ire of Richard Wagner (1813-1883) in his pamphlet Das Judenthum. ❧ Louis Lewandowski’s rise to fame was slower and more methodical than either Sulzer’s or Naumbourg’s. Although he showed early promise as a cantorial assistant and a young student of music—the first Jew ever to attend the Berlin Academy of Arts—an illness set him back from career development. When he recovered, he took a behind-the-scenes job assisting the cantor in preparing a new chorus to sing Sulzer’s music at the Heidereutergasse synagogue in Berlin. After years in this thankless position, Lewandowski achieved the title of music director to accompany his work. Although evidence shows that he began composing and integrating his own compositions into the liturgy early in his career, Lewandowski did not begin to publish his music until 1871 (a volume of largely cantorial and two- and three-part prayer settings, entitled Kol Rinnah u’T’fillah). He later published a two-volume set of major synagogue choral repertoire: Todah W’Simrah (1876). ❧ The synagogue music composed by these three masters circulated throughout Europe and beyond, created a Jewish choral culture that persisted for over a century, and inspired countless other composers to contribute to the repertoire.

1623年，萨拉莫内·罗西（Salamone Rossi，约1570年—约1630年）出版了全球首部采用西方文艺复兴晚期风格记谱的犹太会堂（synagogue）合唱音乐（choral music）作品集。这一犹太会堂创作领域的开创性成就之后，犹太音乐界长期未有重要的合唱音乐实践，直至19世纪所罗门·祖尔策（Salomon Sulzer，1804年—1890年）在维也纳履职。1839年，祖尔策出版了首部面向犹太礼拜仪式（Jewish liturgy）的综合领唱-合唱曲目汇编，此举在全欧洲掀起了犹太会堂合唱音乐的研习热潮，其中尤以塞缪尔·瑙姆堡（Samuel Naumbourg，1815年—1880年）于巴黎、路易·莱万多夫斯基（Louis Lewandowski，1821年—1894年）于柏林分别出版的两部全新犹太合唱曲目大型汇编影响最为深远。
❧ 祖尔策兼具犹太音乐与西方音乐的教育背景：他不仅是犹太会堂领唱（cantor）与作曲家，同时也是世俗乐坛知名歌唱家，专精舒伯特的艺术歌曲。在担任维也纳塞滕施泰滕加瑟会堂（Seitenstettengasse Temple）领唱的漫长职业生涯中，祖尔策先后于1839年与1865年出版了两卷题为《锡安之歌》（Schir Zion）的犹太会堂合唱音乐作品集。该系列作品集整合了三类音乐素材：经编订转录的传统领唱圣咏（cantorial chant）、祖尔策本人的原创作品，以及他委托同时代非犹太裔作曲家创作的曲目。
❧ 促成祖尔策在维也纳取得这一卓越成就（以及后续巴黎、柏林犹太会堂作曲家们的平行创作成果）的核心背景，是18世纪末至19世纪初的两大历史现象：始于18世纪末的犹太解放运动（Jewish Emancipation），为犹太人参与社会生活打开了通道；而犹太教改革运动（Reform movement in Judaism）则激励犹太人重新构想礼拜仪式的全新形式与可能性，但该运动也一度走向极端，试图摒弃如领唱圣咏这类重要的传统元素。祖尔策、瑙姆堡与莱万多夫斯基等人则在保留大量传统音乐艺术的同时，积极推动犹太礼拜仪式音乐的创新发展。
❧ 塞缪尔·瑙姆堡将其德国音乐教育背景与审美趣味带到巴黎，与犹太裔同僚贾科莫·梅耶贝尔（Giacomo Meyerbeer，1791年—1864年）、雅克·阿莱维（Jacques Halévy，1799年—1862年）共事，后者凭借法国大歌剧（French Grand Opera）享誉乐坛。作为阿什肯纳兹会堂（Ashkenazi Temple）的领唱，瑙姆堡以大歌剧（Grand Opera）风格为犹太会堂创作全新曲目，并委托阿莱维等作曲家参与创作。瑙姆堡的祈祷配乐《吾主永恒》（El Adon）的核心主题素材，曾被梅耶贝尔在后续歌剧《先知》（Le Prophète）中大量采用，而这部歌剧正是理查德·瓦格纳（Richard Wagner，1813年—1883年）在其小册子《犹太教在音乐与艺术中的影响》（Das Judenthum）中猛烈抨击的作品之一。
❧ 路易·莱万多夫斯基的成名之路相较于祖尔策与瑙姆堡更为缓慢且循序渐进。尽管他早年便展现出领唱助理与音乐学习者的天赋——是首位考入柏林艺术学院（Berlin Academy of Arts）的犹太人，但一场疾病一度阻碍了其职业发展。康复后，他在柏林海德罗伊特加瑟会堂（Heidereutergasse synagogue）担任幕后辅助工作，协助领唱组建新合唱队演绎祖尔策的作品。在这份默默无闻的岗位上任职多年后，莱万多夫斯基最终升任音乐总监。尽管有史料表明，他早在职业生涯初期便已开始创作并将个人作品融入礼拜仪式，但莱万多夫斯基直至1871年才出版首部作品集：一卷以领唱圣咏、二声部与三声部祈祷配乐为主的曲目集，题为《颂赞与祈祷》（Kol Rinnah u’T’fillah）。此后他又于1876年出版了两卷大型犹太会堂合唱曲目汇编《感恩与赞美》（Todah W’Simrah）。
❧ 这三位大师创作的犹太会堂音乐在欧洲乃至全球广泛传播，缔造了延续百余年的犹太合唱文化，并激励无数作曲家为该曲目库贡献新作。