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The Power of Synagogue Music
by Stephen Glass
(June 2003)

Director, JMI Choral and Cantorial Music Section also
Director of Music, Congregation Shaar Hashomayim, Montreal, Canada

For me, the power of Synagogue Music emanates from the potent role that it can play in the act of prayer. Its job must be to make the words come alive and fly off the page of the prayer book, drawing on the traditional weekday, Sabbath and Festival modes. It's about perpetuating our musical heritage so that the music maintains its proper association with each Festival, in the same way as traditional foods play their role in defining the character of each of the different Jewish Holidays.

It's about interpreting the words in a way that is aligned with the mood, character and meaning of the text. It's about inspiring the congregant and embarking on a journey to a higher plane. It's about creating an environment that allows a conduit to be opened in order to reach a place beyond ourselves. It's about variety, so the same text is not mechanically reproduced, week in, week out. It's about participation, vocal, emotional and intellectual. It's about entertainment, about beauty and engaging the worshipper. It's about tradition and innovation and, unlike opera, popular music, or art song, in theory you are singing something you actually mean, not just reproducing a fictitious libretto, or playing the part of a certain character.

So, when we pray for peace, happiness, health, forgiveness etc; it is for real. It's not a re-enactment of something. It's a spontaneous, live request. It's like breaking news. It's not a recording. It's actually happening in the moment. There's nothing more powerful, particularly when the music is really engaging, which could be because of the beauty of the melody, the dramatic nature of the music, its ‘catchiness’, its simplicity or sophistication and so on.

In our choral and cantorial work, we will showcase some spectacular cantorial repertoire which will be but a glimpse of what is possible. There will be a good mixture of psalms and prayers, both from the traditional liturgy and some more modern additions that have come in to make the ancient tradition relevant to a new generation. We will include music of the wider repertory of the Chazan and Choir such as Yiddish and Israeli popular music.