Cantor

Template:Jews and Judaism sidebar

Cantor-concert in the Vienna Stadttempel synagogue

In Jewish tradition, a cantor or hazzan' (Hebrew חָזָּן ħāzzān, Modern Hebrew khazan) is a musician trained in the vocal arts who helps lead the synagogue in songful prayer.

Traditional Jewish law restricts the cantor's role to Jewish males over the age of 13. Non-Orthodox Jewish movements allow women over the age of 12 to have this role as well.

In Christianity, a cantor or chanter (Gk. ψάλτης) is the chief singer employed in a church with responsibilities for the ecclesiastical choir; also called the precentor. The Christian cantor's duties and qualifications have varied considerably according to time and place

History

The cantor's role does not appear in the historical records until the Geonic period of the Middle Ages. However, the Hebrew Bible indicates that the tradition of liturigical singing was very ancient. The earliest incident of a singer leading the Israelites in song dates back to Miriam in Exodus 15:19-21:

"Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron's sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her, with tambourines and dancing. Miriam sang to them:

'Sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted.

The horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea.'"

liturgical singers were also in the Temple of Jerusalem in the rich tradition of the psalms. The most famous Hebrew singer of psalms was King David, although he lived before the establishment of the Temple and his tradition as a psalmist is considered legendary rather than historical by critical scholars.

The office of the hazzan or cantor increased in importance with the centuries. As public worship was developed in the Geonic period, and as the knowledge of the Hebrew language declined, singing gradually superseded the didactic and hortatory element in the worship in the synagogue.

This is not necessarily true today, particularly in the world of Orthodox Jews, where the role of the hazzan has diminished substantially. Where congregants are more fluent in their ability to read the text, understand the words and perform the basic melodies, the position of hazzan increasingly has become seen as superfluous; prayers, when sung, more often follow the mode of communal folk singing. Those who are inclined to see artistic synagogue music as a hallmark of Jewish culture and artistry have cited its lowered emphasis as a loss of tradition. Others argue that the focus of the Synagogue service should be on the prayers of the congregants and not on cantorial, concert performances, especially when the latter may be distracting to the former.

Qualifications

Even in the oldest times the chief qualifications demanded of the hazzan, in addition to knowledge of Biblical and liturgical literature as well as the prayer motifs (known as "steiger"), were a pleasant voice and an artistic delivery; for the sake of these, many faults were willingly overlooked. The hazzan was required to possess a pleasing appearance, to be married, and to have a flowing beard. Sometimes, according to Isaac of Vienna (13th century), a young hazzan having only a slight growth of beard was tolerated. Maimonides decided that the hazzan who recited the prayers on an ordinary Sabbath and on week-days need not possess an appearance pleasing to everybody; he might even have a reputation not wholly spotless, provided he was living a life morally free from reproach at the time of his appointment.

But all these moderations of the rule disappeared on holidays; then an especially worthy hazzan was demanded, one whose life was absolutely irreproachable, who was generally popular, and who was endowed with an expressive delivery. Even a person who had once litigated in a non-Jewish court, instead of to a Jewish court, in a disputed question could not act as hazzan on those days, unless he had previously done penance (Shulkhan Arukh, Orah Hayyim, 581). However many authorities were lenient in this regard and as long as a cantor was "merutzeh l'kehal" desired by the congregation, he was permitted to lead the prayers even on the holiest of days.

Today, a hazzan, particularly in more formal (usually not Orthodox) synagogues, is likely to have academic credentials, most often a degree in Music or in Sacred Music, sometimes a degree in Music Education or in Jewish Religious Education or a related discipline. The Doctor of Music degree is sometimes awarded to honour a hazzan.

Although traditionally cantors were always men, women equally serve this role in the more liberal branches of Judaism. Betty Robbins was possibly the first female cantor in 1955 [1] though Barbara Ostfeld is usually given that distinction since her investiture at the Hebrew Union College in 1975.[2] As of 2007, HUC had invested 184 women cantors.[3]

Cantors as a profession

The role of hazzanim (Hebrew plural of hazzan) as a respected full-time profession has become a reality in recent centuries. In the last two centuries Jews in a number of European communities, notably Germany and Britain, came to view professionally trained hazzanim as clergy and the hazzan as the deputy rabbi. After the enlightenment, when European nations gave full citizenship and civil rights to Jews, professionally trained hazzanim were accepted by the secular government as clergy in the same way that accepted rabbis as clergy.

In an interesting turn of events, the United States government recognized cantors as the first Jewish clergy, even before rabbis were recognized.

In the USA there are three major organizations for professionally trained hazzanim, one from each of the major Jewish denominations.

• American Conference of Cantors - Reform Judaism [4]
• Cantors Assembly - Conservative Judaism [5]
• Cantorial Council of America - Orthodox Judaism [6]

Many members of the Cantors Assembly are trained at the Jewish Theological Seminary's H.L. Miller Cantorial School and College of Jewish Music. Many members of the American Conference of Cantors are trained at the School of Sacred Music at Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion, School of Sacred Music (New York) Reform. Both of these programs offer a five year training program.

The curriculum for students in these programs generally include, but are not limited to:

• Hebrew: modern, Biblical (Torah), and liturgical (Siddur)
• Learning nusach (liturgical tradition)
• Learning the laws and traditions pertaining to Jewish prayer service
• The history and content of the siddur
• Music theory, sight-reading sheet music
• Learning an instrument, usually a piano or guitar
• Singing technique
• Cantillation - tropes for the liturgical chanting of biblical books
• Choral Conducting
• Jewish history
• Tanakh (Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament)
• Jewish music history
• Pastoral care and counseling
• Theology

The golden age of hazzanut

The period between the two World Wars is often referred to as the "golden age" of hazzanut (cantorial performance). Some of the greats include Zavel Kwartin (1874-1953), Mordechai Hershman, Berele Chagy, David Roitman, Moritz Henle (1850-1925), Joseph "Yossele" Rosenblatt (1882-1933), Gershon Sirota (1874-1943), BenZion Kapov-Kagan, Israel Alter, Shmuel Vigoda, Pierre Pinchik, Joseph Shlisky, Leib Glantz, and Leibele Waldman.

In the Post World War II period, prominent cantors were Moshe Koussevitzky, David Koussevitzky, Yitzchak Eshel (1912-2006), Moshe Ganchoff, David Werdyger, Sholom Katz, Abraham Davis, Richard Tucker and Abraham Lopes Cardozo (1914-2006). Jan Peerce, whose cantorial recordings were highly regarded, was not a professional Cantor, but made his mark in the world of opera.

Some popular contemporary cantors include Naftali Hershtik, Alberto Mizrahi, Yitzchak Meir Helfgot, Israel Rand, Joseph Malovany, Levi Coleman, Yaakov Motzen, Moshe Stern, Moshe Schulhoff, Shmuel Barzilai, Pinchas Cohen, Chaim Adler, Benjamin Muller, Yaakov Stark, Benzion Miller and Yossi Muller (son of Benjamin Muller of Antwerp).

See also

• Rabbi
• Judaism
• Siddur
• Jewish services
• Syrian Cantors

External links

Article

• Jewish Music Forum - Article on Chazzanut today.

Recordings

• Virtual Cantor - Free MP3 recordings of nearly the entire Ashkenazic liturgy.
• פיוט Piyut - Large collection of Piyyutim.
• Sephardic Pizmonim- www.pizmonim.org- Middle Eastern Pizmonim Recordings for Sephardic Cantors.
• Chazzanut Online - a wealth of detailed information and recordings.

Cantorial organizations

• Academy for Jewish Religion of California (non-denominational seminary - Rabbinical, Cantorial, and Chaplaincy programs)
• Academy for Jewish Religion (non-denominational seminary - Rabbinical and Cantorial programs)
• Cantors World (Orthodox)
• The Cantors Assembly (Conserative/Masorti)
• American Conference of Cantors (Reform)
• Cantorial Council of America (Orthodox)
• Tel Aviv Cantorial Institute (Orthodox)
• Chazzan Index & Chazzan Job Portal (Orthodox)
• The Jewish Ministers Cantors Association of America (Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform)

More info

• Jewish Encyclopedia article "Hazzan"

Eastern Christianity

In the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Catholic Churches, the position of chanter is one of the minor clerical orders, though it is not unusual for an unordained singer to fill the role of chanter for an indefinite period. The chief chanter is called protopsaltis (Gk. προτοψάλτης). The cantor (or chanters) sing the many hymns called for during the Divine Services. A chanter must be knowledgeable about the ecclesiastical modes as well as the complex structure of the services. A chanter must be Orthodox and must have the blessing of the pastor to serve in the kliros.

Western Christianity

In the Roman Catholic Church a cantor is the lead singer of the choir, a bona fide clerical role. The chief singer of the Gregorian Schola Cantorum was called Prior scholae or Primicerius.

In medieval cathedrals, the cantor was principal of music and chant, but also commonly one of the dignitaries of the chapter. During the 14th century in many churches, the cantor began to delegate his instruction of the singers to a master of music. After the introduction of harmonized music, some duties naturally fell to the conductor or choir-master.

The cantor's locality in the church is most generally to the right of the choir, and directly to his left is his assistant, formerly called the "Succentor." A common custom for cantors was the bearing of the staff, which was the mark of his dignity and a visual representative of his sacred role inside the church. This custom still survives in some places.

In Protestant Churches the role of the cantor can be lay or pastoral.

This article incorporates text from the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913.

External links

All links are retrieved December 17, 2007.

• Cantor, Catholic Encyclopedia, New Advent.
• Cantor, Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.
• The Sacramental Life of the Orthodox Church, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.

Credits

New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

• Cantor  ^history

The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:

• History of "Cantor"

Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.