Jewish songs convey the pathos of the Jewish history of pervasive persecution. This is true across genres, e.g., Yiddish music, klezmer, etc. .Perhaps no Jewish song conveys this  sad experience  more movingly than the memorial prayer "Kel Mole Rachamim" (translation below).  This Jewish prayer  is an appropriate theme for  Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day). In that sense, it may even be considered a sort of  holocaust song itself. It is sung here by Marc Berman, in a musical setting by Louis Friedsell. 

Besides  the connection to Yom Hashoah, this music is also appropriate for performance on other holocaust memorial occasions,  such as International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the anniversary of Kristallnacht. 

Here is a full translation :
Merciful God in heaven, grant perfect repose to the souls of the those  who have passed to their eternal habitation, who in martyrdom have sanctified Thy name. May they be under Thy divine wings among the holy and pure who shine bright as the sky; may their places of rest be in paradise. Merciful One, keep their souls forever alive under Thy protective wings. The Lord is their heritage, may they rest in peace. And let us say, Amen!"

Keyl Moley Rachamim- Memorial Prayer - Hazzanut - Cantorial - Marc Berman  חזנוּת

"Kol Nidre" is  here chanted by Chazzan (Cantor) Marc Berman. In synagogue, Kol Nidre, a mainstay of Yom Kippur Services,  is recited before the start of the Yom Kippur evening synagogue service. The chazzan chants it  on behalf of the congregation. While commonly thought of as a Yom Kippur prayer, Kol Nidre is actually a legal text, written in both Hebrew and Aramaic. 
The purpose of the Kol Nidre is to release the worshiper  from any vows he makes to God that he is unable to keep. (Vows made to other people, including oaths sworn in a court of law, are not encompassed by Kol Nidre and are not released.)
It is a mystery why this mundane legal text is the emotional apex of the Yom Kippur service for Ashkenazi Jews. Some theorize that the Kol Nidre became associated with various persecutions suffered by  medieval Jews , wherein they were  forced to convert, on pain of death, to Roman Catholicism. By  reciting the Kol Nidre, these oppressed Jews felt that they were, in effect,  renouncing  the vows they were compelled to make in Church.
No doubt, too,  the hauntingly beautiful traditional tune plays a role in the continued emotional appeal of the Kol Nidre. Indeed, the  Kol Nidre melody  is as famous as any Jewish song, Jewish music, synagogue music, cantorial recitative or chazzanut.
As with many other Yom Kippur prayers, Kol Nidre has been recorded by many renowned artists, particularly chazzanim (cantors).  These singers include greats such as Yossele Rosenblatt, ,Moshe Koussevitzky, Mordechai Hershman, Zavel Kwartin, Moyshe Oysher, Leibele Waldman, Richard Tucker and  Jan Peerce. It has also served as the basis for instrumental pieces of classical music.

"Kol Nidre" -  Yom Kippur - Rosh Hashanah -Jewish Music - Cantorial - Chazzanut כל נדרי - חזנוּת

The Aleinu prayer is one of the best-known parts of the services of  Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.  Its origin lies in the Musaf service of Rosh Hashanah. On the Jewish High Holidays, it is sung to a regal melody. The music  is a staple of cantorial singing. Indeed, it is one of the beloved pieces of Jewish music or of a Jewish song. Hazzan Marc Berman chants the prayer ihere.

Among Jewish songs  of praise and worship,  "Aleinu Leshabeach" is one of the most venerable.   This version is based on the notation of Louis Lewandowski. In this recording, Lewandowski's setting is modified, and this staple of the high holiday nusach (musical mode) has further been arranged  for orchestra. The orchestral introduction, played by French horn,  recalls the blasts of the Shofar that are sounded on the Jewish New Year. 

Aleinu  is found in both the Rosh Hashanah prayers and in the Yom Kippur prayers. Accordingly, it is recited at both Rosh Hashanah services and in the Yom Kippur services.

"Aleinu" Rosh Hashanah - Yom Kippur - Hazzanut - Cantorial - Chazzan Marc Berman חזנות

One of the most beloved prayers of the High Holiday Services, whether  the Rosh Hashanah services or the Yom Kippur services, is Ki Anu Amecha, here sung by Marc Berman.  The prayer is usually sung  as a hymn at the Yom Kippur service of Selichot. As Selichot are not recited on Rosh Hashanah, Ki Anu Amecha is not  part of the Rosh Hashanah service, though the themes that  it expresses are. 
Among Yom Kippur songs and Rosh Hashanah songs, Ki Anu Amecha remains an lasting favorite, a staple of Jewish music.
Yom Kippur music, Rosh Hashanah music and Jewish High Holiday music such as Ki Anu Amecha have been recorded by many renowned artists, particularly chazzanim (cantors).  These singers include luminaries such as Yossele Rosenblatt ,Moshe Koussevitzky, Mordechai Hershman, Zavel Kwartin, Moyshe Oysher, Leibele Waldman, Richard Tucker and  Jan Peerce. 
Ki Anu Amecha is a classic example of synagogue music. The text of Ki Anu Amecha is an anonymous piyut (liturgical poem) of early origin. It has been set to many tunes, both those of Jewish music and of non-jewish music. It has also been performed as chazzanut (cantorial music). The music from this recording is found in a four-part choral version arranged by Boston Cantor M. Halpern in his 1915 synagogue hymnal Zmiroth Ut'filoth Yisroel, where it is listed as "traditional." (The music is actually a Julius Mombach composition, utilized in British Commonwealth countries, and apparently also in some German congregations.) The choral version has been rearranged here for soloist and strings.) 
Ki Anu Amecha is actually part of a larger prayer, the theme of which is a request by the Jewish People that God forgive their sins.

"Ki Anu Amecha" - Yom Kippur - Hazzanut - Cantorial - Selichot - Marc Berman חזנות

Shabbat music from the Friday night evening service proper, post Kabbalat Shabbat. Arranged and sung by Chazzan Marc Berman. A classic example of synagogue music. The traditional  tune for Vayechulu is as familiar as the popular nigunim (melodies) for the Zemirot of Shabbat (Shabbat songs, i.e., Sabbath Songs).  This lovely piece, loosely based on the traditional Ashkenazi melody for Vayechulu,  was composed by Hirsch Weintraub (1811-1882), chazzan (cantor) of Konigsberg, Germany (now Kaliningrad, Russia). Weintraub originally wrote it as a four-part choral piece.

"Vayechulu" -  A Shabbat Prayer, -  Jewish Music - Hazzanut - Marc Berman חזנות

The classic cantorial composition of Issac Schlossberg, first performed in Carnegie Hall in 1912  by the famous chazzan (cantor) Gershon Sirota of Warsaw. 

This piece of chazzanut (cantorial music, also known as chazzanus) evinces the hope for the restoration of the Temple Service in Jerusalem. 

R'tsei is one of the most famous piece of cantorial singing ever composed. It's refrain of "Vesekhezehnah Aynaynu"  ("May Our Eyes Behold") is used in synagogue services throughout the world even today.

Indeed, R'tsei is one of the most widely  known examples of synagogue music, and of Jewish music in any form. This includes Yiddish music, klezmer music,  and Hebrew Music. Of all Jewish songs, Hebrew songs and Yiddish songs, R'tsei stands among the finest. 

Gershon Sirota, who first sang R'tsei, also recorded it several times. He was one of the great cantors of the "golden age" of chazzanes of the 1910s, 1920s and 1930s. Other luminaries of that period included cantors Yossele Rosenblatt, Mordechai Hershman, and  Zavel Kwartin, as well as the young Moshe Koussevitsky and Leibele Waldman.

On this video, R'tsei (sometimes spelled "R'tzei, " or "R'Tzay")  is sung by Chazzan Marc Berman, who also provides the musical arrangement.

On a profound level, the text of R'tsei,  which is still recited thrice daily by pious Jews, reflects the deeply held national and religious aspirations of the Jewish people. Schlossberg's music captures those aspirations. 

Yitzchok (Issac) Schlossberg  was born in 1877 to a family of Chazonim (cantors) in Russian-ruled Poland. His grandfather, Nathan Schlossberg, was a famous touring cantor in Russia His father Arie-Leyb, (to whom R'tsei is sometimes attributed) was renowned for his  bass voice. The father was known as the  ""Shaagas Arie" (the roaring lion). Surprisingly, he did not want Yitzchok to be a Chazan, or even a musician.

Nonetheless, Yitzchok was a progeny who ran away from home to be a musician. It is said that he first conducted an orchestra at age 13!

Yitschok Schlossberg is also said to have written  music for some 80 operettas (light operas). Sadly, apparently none of these scores were printed during Schlossberg's lifetime. He died in 1930.

Happily, "R'tsei" has survived it's composer, and remains his most enduring legacy.  

(Biographical information culled from "lssakhar Fater: Jewish Music in Poland 
between the World Wars, Tel Aviv 1992 (Hebrew), pp. 197-203." see http://www.zchor.org/fater/schlossberg.htm)

"R'tsei" - Cantorial Gem - Hazzanut by I. Schossberg - Chazzan Marc Berman חזנות

The Kiddush for Pesach evening, sung in the traditional nusach (chant).  The same tune is also used for Kiddush on Succot and Shavuot. Happy Passover!

This  this traditional Ashkenazi Kiddush chant is one of the most familiar in Chazzanut (Cantorial Music) and Jewish Holiday music.  In fact,  the melody, used originally for the Akdamut prayer on Shavuot, commemorating the giving of the Torah,  is one of the best known across all genres of Jewish music, including Yiddish songs, Yiddish music, klezmer,  and cantorial singing. Indeed, the tune has been employed by composers  in various compositions, and is a staple of traditional Jewish music, Jewish holiday music,  and Jewish holiday songs. 

The nusach used here is employed both for Kiddush in the synagogue, and when the kiddush is chanted at home, at the Passover Seder. 

The chazzan (cantor) singing in the recording is Marc Berman.

Kiddush  for the Passover Seder - Traditional -  Hazzanut - Marc Berman -קידוש לליל פסח  - חזנות

The celebrated recitative composed by Jacob Rappaport (1890-1943). Originally made famous by Cantor Mordechai Hershman. A prime example of cantorial singing. 

Sung here by Chazzan Marc Berman.

Eilu Devorim -  Cantorial Music  - Chazzanut - Marc Berman - אלו דברים -  קטע חזנות

Please support our recording  of vintage Yiddish songs and classic Jewish music like hazzanut: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/cantorclassics  .  T I'm trying to help preserve classic Jewish Eastern European vocal music. Specifically, Yiddish music and chazzanus (cantorial chant). 

Please help support my  efforts by following me and posting my songs on  your social media. To reach me, send me a message through Soundcloud.

You can watch videos of some of my songs at https://www.youtube.com/c/CantorClassics .

Here are some of my concert reviews:

"Marc Berman came to us in full flower [with] ...the richness of his ...voice." - Saul & Evelyn Friedman, The Capital

""One of the finest voices ... which moved easily through its coloratura passages and also provided a well accomplished ... top...." - Iris Bass, Sightlines Magazine

"Marc Berman provided solid [singing]." - James Oestreich, New York Times

"Superb" -Susan L. Pena, Reading Eagle-Times

 I'm also available for  concerts, and to officiate as chazzan at synagogue services, as well as at weddings, bar mitzvahs and funerals. 

Thanks for listening!

Regards,

Marc Berman

"Kol Nidre" - Yom Kippur - Rosh Hashanah -Jewish Music - Cantorial - Chazzanut כל נדרי - חזנוּת

Cantor Classics2

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