Synagogue Music > Articles

The British Cantorate: what does the future hold?
by Stephen Glass
(December 2004)

Everybody has a different expectation of a synagogue service, most often coloured by the experience they had growing up. When I was growing up in the UK in the 1960s and 70s, Shabbat, Festival and High Holyday Services were lead by professionally trained individuals. It was also a time when there was a shared musical heritage among Jewish communities across Britain - a core of congregational melodies as well as classics of the cantorial and choral repertoire, which everyone knew. Hundreds of children and adults received their first grounding in Jewish liturgy by being directly involved in services through singing in the synagogue choir. This provided them with familiarity with the text as well as an intuitive understanding of the changing modes for the different services and times of day, across the Jewish calendar.

But times, tastes and priorities change. It is no longer the norm for a congregation to engage a professional chazan. The knowledge that used to exist in the deployment of the appropriate nusach (mode/chant) at the right time, has been lost or in many places, sadly diluted. Nowadays, melodies often have to be simple or people apparently can’t learn them, with little acknowledgement of the fact that much of the text does not call for toe-tapping, child-like tunes. Also, to equate “singing out loud” with “congregational participation” is to entirely overlook how intensely engaged and connected you can be to something, while remaining completely silent. Just because you’re singing out loud does not in any way mean you understand what you are singing or are in any way concentrating on its meaning or intent. Automatic pilot is one of the great enemies of Kavanah (intention) in prayer!

And as to the future? How will future generations be lead to an understanding and love of the prayers and the music of the synagogue? Are we dedicating our efforts to the next generation? Where will our future choristers and cantors come from?

The JMI School of Jewish Choral and Cantorial Music hopes that it can play some part in addressing these issues. Its remit is to work with all existing cantors and choirs – with children in schools and synagogues; to establish Teenage Choirs; to present masterclasses for choir directors of all backgrounds, arrange Choral Festivals for British and visiting choirs and run cantorial masterclasses and summer schools. We will provide resources of musical arrangements and repertoire and present public concerts showing our cantorial and choral liturgy in the very best light.