Abraham Wolf Binder (January 13, 1895 – October 10, 1966 in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

) was an American composer. Binder was born in

on the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Historically, it w ...

. He studied at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

. His father was a synagogue worship leader who learned the music of the services from his father who was a cantor in Galicia. In 1900, at the age of four, he joined his father's synagogue choir. From age seven to fourteen, he joined the professional choir of Cantor Abraham Frachtenberg as an alto soloist. Frachtenberg's choral compositions deeply influenced Binder. At the age of fourteen, he became the choir director of the Kamenitzer Schul in downtown Manhattan under Cantor Abraham Singer. In 1911, he became the organist and choir director of Temple Beth El in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. In 1913 he moved on to the same role at Temple Adath Israel in the Bronx. In 1916 he formed a choral union for Hadassah, then a new organization, where he arranged many Zionist songs in modern harmonizations for a yearly series of well-received concerts of his choral arrangements. His own musical compositions thereafter reflected the Zionist desire to return to Palestine. In 1917 he was invited to found the music department for the 92nd Street Y, where he established a choral society and symphonic workshop and composed works for a children's opera program. At the same time he became the music director of Temple Emanuel of New York's religious school where he began to compose and arrange Reform liturgical music that would be incorporated into the Reform Hymnals which he was appointed to edit. In 1921 Rabbi Wise met Binder after a performance at the 92Y and invited him to become an instructor of Jewish Music at the New York Jewish Institute of Religion. The next year Rabbi Wise invited him to become choirmaster of the Free Synagogue. In 1937 he was appointed Professor of Jewish Liturgical Music at the JIR. He was the founding music director of the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue from 1922 under Rabbi Stephen S. Wise until his death in 1966. He was a respected leader within the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, having edited and published many compositions and articles on synagogue music. He composed an

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

, several orchestral suites and works of

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

music. He also collected and arranged Jewish

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

Selected works

*A tfile *Adon olam *Adoration *Etz hayyim hi *Kindling the Sabbath Lights *O Bless the Lord, My Soul *Seder avoda *Two Hassidic Moods, for string quartet

References

* *

External links

Biography

Stephen Wise Free Synagogue's official site
* 1895 births 1966 deaths Composers from New York City American male composers 20th-century American composers Jewish American composers 20th-century American Jews Columbia University alumni 20th-century American male musicians Jews from New York (state) {{US-composer-19thC-stub