Solomon Sulzer (1804–1890) was a cantor in his native town of Hohenems, Tyrolia, and from 1826 officiated at the New Synagogue in Vienna. His remarkable voice won the admiration of Schubert and Liszt. Sulzer sought to "renovate" traditional cantorial music by taking into consideration the musical trends of the time. Sulzer applied his principles in his great work Shir Ziyyon (Song of Zion), the first part of which was published in 1840 and contained many melodies that he had streamlined to fit contemporary musical tastes. His choral music was greatly influenced by Christian church music, and he even occasional rewrote Christian compositions. The second part of Shir Ziyyon, published in 1866, included melodies in the traditional Polish style, adapted from Polish or Russian cantors.
His melodies, though widely adopted in modern synagogues between 1835 and 1876, were a compromise, he himself would have preferred more far-reaching reforms. In a memorandum written in 1876, he suggested the introduction of an organ, curtailment of the liturgy, the use of German hymns, and even abolition of the traditional cantillation of the Torah. His approach to hazzanut brought him criticism from Eastern European Jewry, but nevertheless, Sulzer restored splendor to the prayer service and enjoyed wide respect in Central Europe. |
|
|