Music has been a part of worship services for more than 2,000 years. While much of the earliest Jewish musical traditions were lost with the destruction of the Second Temple, new ones were developed as a result of the Diaspora, with each community developing its own sound influenced by local music and customs.
At Temple Emanu-El, our musical tradition is patterned after the great choral synagogues of Europe — those that adhered to the musical tradition of the “Vienna Rite,” which was started by the great cantor Solomon Sulzer of Vienna. His was the first of the great “choral synagogues.” Others following in this tradition were the synagogues of Berlin and Paris, as well as those of Kiev, Minsk, Moscow, Odessa and St. Petersburg.
Following are composers whose works often are featured at Sabbath and holiday services at Temple Emanu-El. It is to their creativity that we are indebted for helping to make Temple Emanu-El an acclaimed musical institution.
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