Louis Lewandowski
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Louis Lewandowski (April 3, 1821 – February 4, 1894) was a
Polish-Jewish The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Jews, Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the long pe ...
and
German-Jewish The history of the Jews in Germany goes back at least to the year 321 CE, and continued through the Early Middle Ages (5th to 10th centuries CE) and High Middle Ages (c. 1000–1299 CE) when Jewish immigrants founded the Ashkenazi Jewish commu ...
composer of synagogal music. He contributed greatly to the liturgy of the synagogue service. His most famous works were composed during his tenure as musical director at the Neue Synagoge in Berlin and his melodies form a substantial part of synagogue services around the world today.


Life

Lewandowski was born in Wreschen,
Grand Duchy of Posen The Grand Duchy of Posen (; ) was part of the Kingdom of Prussia, created from Prussian Partition, territories annexed by Prussia after the Partitions of Poland, and formally established following the Congress of Vienna in 1815. On 9 February 1 ...
,
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(now
Września Września () is a town in west-central Poland near Poznań, with 28,600 inhabitants (1995). It is situated in the Września County, Greater Poland Voivodeship, on the Wrześnica River. History Września was first mentioned in 1256 in a docume ...
in
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
). The name Lewandowski is derived from the place name Lewandów, itself derived from the Old Polish word lewanda – 'lavender' (lawenda in modern Polish). At the age of twelve he went to
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
to study piano and voice, and became solo soprano in the synagogue. Afterward he studied for three years under A. B. Marx and attended the school of composition of the Berlin Academy. There his teachers were
Carl Friedrich Rungenhagen Carl Friedrich Rungenhagen (first name also sometimes given as Karl;Eitner (1889) 27 September 1778 – 21 December 1851) was a German composer and academic teacher at the Prussian Academy of Arts. Life Rungenhagen abandoned early study of ...
and
Eduard Grell Eduard Grell or August Eduard Grell (6 November 1800 – 10 August 1886) was a German composer, organist, and music teacher. Grell was born in Berlin. Among his early teachers were Carl Friedrich Zelter and Carl Friedrich Rungenhagen. On Zelt ...
. Lewandowski was the first Jew to be admitted to the school at the request of
Felix Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions inc ...
. After graduating with high honors, he was appointed in 1840 choirmaster of the Berlin synagogue. In that capacity he developed an extensive body of music for the synagogue ritual. In 1866 he received the title of "royal musical director." Shortly afterward, he was appointed
choirmaster 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 ...
in the Neue Synagoge, Berlin, for which he composed the entire musical service. The Neue Synagogue was what would then have been called a conservative synagogue and what now would be considered progressive. His arrangements of ancient Hebrew melodies for choir, cantor, and organ are considered masterly productions, characterized by great simplicity and a profound religious sentiment. Many of Lewandowski's pupils became prominent cantors. Lewandowski was the principal founder of the Institute for Aged and Indigent Musicians, an institution that prospered under his management. Lewandowski died in Berlin in 1894. He and his wife Helene are buried in the
Weißensee Cemetery Weißensee (German: ''white lake'') may refer to: Places * Weissensee (Berlin), a district of Berlin *Weißensee, Thuringia, a town in Thuringia, Germany * Weissensee, Austria, a municipality in Carinthia, Austria * Weissensee (Carinthia), a lake i ...
. On their gravestone is inscribed: ''"Liebe macht das Lied unsterblich!"'' (Love makes the melody immortal!) A daughter, Martha (1860–1942), died in Terezin, the Nazi concentration camp, in 1942, at the age of 82.


Contribution to Jewish liturgical music

Lewandowski's principal works include: "Kol Rinnah u-Tefillah," for cantor; "Todah ve-Zimrah," for mixed chorus, solo, and organ; 40 psalms, for solo, chorus, and organ; symphonies, overtures, cantatas, and songs. During Lewandowski's life the issue of whether an organ should be part of a synagogue service was one of major contention. Lewandowski advocated communal singing and the organ was essential to facilitate this. Eventually organs became commonplace in synagogues around Europe, hence the popularity of "Todah ve-Zimrah". Lewandowski's writing is notable for incorporating the strict four-part harmony of church music with ancient cantorial modal melodies.


Lewandowski's music today

Today Lewandowski's music forms a central part of the synagogue service in
Reform Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...
, Liberal, Conservative and
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communities. Several of his compositions were added to Samuel Alman's supplement when he edited
The Voice Of Prayer And Praise ''Kol Rinnah U’Tefillah'' (''English: The Voice of Prayer and Praise'') is a British collection of Jewish liturgical music published in 1899. It is considered the foundation of communal prayer for most Ashkenazi Jews in the United Kingdom. His ...
in 1933 introducing Lewandowski's music to the UK. This helped to spread his music across the British empire and his music is now sung across the world from Europe to Australia and America to South Africa. Most Orthodox synagogues refrain from a mixed choir or instrumental music, and hence much of this music has been arranged for a capella male choir. Even in communities without choirs one can hear the melodies of Lewandowski either chanted by the cantor or in a communal unison.chazzanut.com, By Rabbi Geoffrey Shisler
/ref> Over the past decades attempts have been made to celebrate the music of Lewandowski. The Zemel Choir of London released an album of the works of Lewandowski according to their original settings entitled "Louis Lewandowski - Choral and Cantorial Works". In 2020, Deutsche Grammophon Records released a recording of his "Eighteen Liturgical Psalms," recorded by the
Hungarian Radio Choir Hungarian may refer to: * Hungary, a country in Central Europe * Kingdom of Hungary, state of Hungary, existing between 1000 and 1946 * Hungarians/Magyars, ethnic groups in Hungary * Hungarian algorithm, a polynomial time algorithm for solving the ...
and soloists, with organ. In 2011 in Berlin an annual international choir festival was started under the auspices of the mayor called the "Louis Lewandowski Festival". "The Synagogal Ensemble Berlin", the resident choir at the Pestalozzistraße Synagogue in Berlin, present full Lewandowski
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services every Friday night and Saturday morning, as does Belsize Square Synagogue in London in most of its liturgy for cantor choir and organ. It has also created digital editions. Also in the Netherlands, the music of Louis Lewandowski is widely used, notably in the synagogue of the Liberal Jewish Community (L.J.G.) in Amsterdam.  His music came to Amsterdam with the German Jewish immigrants who were fleeing Germany before and during the Second World War. Most services in the L.J.G. are a mix of Lewandowski mixed with some more modern American influences.The choir of th
L.J.G. Amsterdam
(Sjier Chadasj, under direction of Marcela Obermeister- Shasha) specializes in the music of Lewandowski and performs in the synagogue on the (High) Holidays and special services.This choir released a CD - Ledor Wador with the Music of Lewandowski in 2017. The Lewandowski Chorale, Johannesburg is a non-denominational mixed choir focussing on bringing the music of Lewandowski to a wider audience. The Society for Classical Reform Judaism (USA), the international voice of advocacy for the preservation and renewal of the historic worship and musical traditions of the Reform Movement, actively promotes the Lewandowski repertoire for contemporary liturgical usage. In addition to the production of CD recordings of this music, the Society has supported the renewed use of the Lewandowski tradition at the
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and at its campus synagogues in Cincinnati, Los Angeles and particularly in Jerusalem, where a Classical Reform worship service and concert have become an annual event. The Society also supports the use of these compositions, with instrumental and choral accompaniment, at congregations throughout the United States, as well as in Jerusalem and Warsaw.


References

The Jewish Encyclopedia article cites the following references: * Mendel, Hermann and August Reissmann, editors. ''Musikalisches Konversations-Lexikon'' (12 volumes). Berlin, 1870–1873. * Champlin, J. D. and W. F. Apthorp, editors. ''Cyclopedia of Music and Musicians'' (3 volumes). New York, 1888–90. * Riemann, Hugo, editor. ''Musik-Lexikon'' (5th edition). Leipzig, 1900. *
Jascha Nemtsov Jascha and Yascha are Yiddish or German language spellings of the East Slavic name Yasha, a diminutive of Yakov, or Jacob. Notable people with the name include: * Jascha Brodsky (1907–1997), Russian-American violinist * Jascha Franklin-Hodge ( ...
/ Hermann Simon (Eds.): ''Louis Lewandowski 'Love makes the melody immortal!' '', Berlin 2011, Hentrich&Hentrich Verlag Berlin


External links


Louis Lewandowski Festival
Berlin 2011
Sound Examples
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewandowski, Louis 1823 births 1894 deaths Musicians from the Province of Posen German Romantic composers Jewish composers 19th-century German Jews Prussian Academy of Arts alumni 19th-century German classical composers German male classical composers 19th-century German male musicians People from Września