{"id":87219,"date":"2021-01-21T08:31:39","date_gmt":"2021-01-21T06:31:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=87219"},"modified":"2021-01-21T08:31:39","modified_gmt":"2021-01-21T06:31:39","slug":"hebrew-speaking-schubert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/hebrew-speaking-schubert\/","title":{"rendered":"Hebrew-Speaking Schubert"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"87219","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":79834,"related_cahpter":"659","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"A new series - this time: Franz Schubert ","content":"

Franz Schubert (1797 – 1828), Psalm 92<\/span><\/p>\n

This psalm for Shabbat, one of the most well-known and oft-sung in our congregations, is also one of the most set to music, both by Jewish and non-Jewish composers. Among the latter, an outstanding example is Schubert\u2019s setting for verses 2-9, in Hebrew. There is important symbolism in the fact that the last of the great dynasty of classical Viennese composers (Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert) dedicates a beautiful composition such as this to the Jewish people.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Schubert wrote this work in 1828, for a friend Salomon Sulzer (1804 – 1890). The young Sulzer was a cantor and music director in the great synagogue of Vienna, which had been dedicated two years previously. It is almost certain that this composition was plate first there, by Sulzer and the synagogue choir. Despite the extraordinary context, the work does not differ greatly in style from the Schubert\u2019s many compositions for the church, including his last mass, that was composed that summer, the last of his life.<\/span><\/p>\n

The psalm is written for a choir in a homophonic style, that is where the melody is sung by the soprano, and supporting chords in the other voices. But occasionally the melody is heard also among the tenors, and if you listen closely, you can pick up fragments of it also in the bass part. The solo part in the composition was intentionally written according to the tradition of <\/span>chazzanut<\/span><\/i>, where the chazzan responds with the text to the choral singing. Israeli Hebrew-speakers would have had difficulty understanding the pronunciation of the Hebrew as it was sung. The reason for this is not just the performers, but the partitura that is written in Latin transcription according to a heavy Ashkenazi accent. Schubert consulted a great deal with Sulzer both regarding the pronunciation, and the meaning, and the combination of these in his distinctive style is fascinating.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The structure of the work is reminiscent of Schubert\u2019s \u201cMoments Musicaux,\u201d and his wonderful impromptus, that were composed in the same period. This is an A-B-A structure, where the first part begins with \u201cTov Lehodot\u201d (\u201cIt is good to give thanks\u201d). The second part, with the baritone solo, begins with \u201cKi Simachtani\u201d (\u201cYou have gladdened me\u201d), and as was Schubert\u2019s want, slides into sophisticated harmonies with \u201cIsh Ba\u2019ar Lo Yeda\u201d (\u201cA brutish man cannot know\u201d), with chords that are foreign to the key, which perhaps expresses the textual symbolism. Following that, we return to the initial harmony, in a return to part A, which is the setting for the words, \u201cVe-Ata Marom\u201d (\u201cBut You are exalted\u201d), which is also the closing verse of the work.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cantor Michael McCloskey sings Franz Schubert’s “Tov L’hodot La-Shem”
\n<\/span>With Magevet: The Jewish A Capella Ensemble of Yale University at Temple Emeth of Chestnut Hill, MA, November 1st, 2014<\/span><\/p>\n","image":false,"embedded_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/TxQAr4cUjSE","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"The Psalms In Classical Music","main_caption":"Hebrew-Speaking Schubert","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"A new series - this time: Franz Schubert ","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":false,"preview_video":"https:\/\/youtu.be\/TxQAr4cUjSE","external_link":"","link_for_pay":false,"tile_gallery_items":false,"credits":""},"alternate_tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","hide_media":false},"tile_group":{"preview_image_url":false,"main_caption":"","sub_caption":"","":null,"popup_package_extra_content":"","read_time":""},"home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo":{"seo_title":"","seo_description":"","seo_default_title":"","seo_default_description":""},"links":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87219"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87219"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87219\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":87224,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87219\/revisions\/87224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}