The Musical Tradition of the Eastern European Synagogue

This six-book set, is to date the most comprehensive annotated anthology of the authentic musical liturgy of the Eastern European synagogue Sabbath day services. Encyclopedic in scope, the thoroughness of its coverage is unprecedented. This volume includes multiple renditions of every prayer text in all the Sabbath day services. In addition, it features several variations in each of the three categories of chant within the Eastern European tradition: that of the most elemental level of the lay prayer leader; that of the professional cantor; and that manifest in choral compositions for cantor and choir, and for choir alone. The accompanying book of annotative commentary elucidates each musical prayer mode by describing its structure, pointing out how the mode is applied to several renditions, and explaining how specific motives of the mode interpret or depict the literal meaning of the intoned word or phrase.