I have always connected very deeply to the music of the High Holiday prayers, and to the Baal-Shem-Tov's explanation that the tunes and musical motives originate from the Holy Temple. I could, as most of my friends of the same background, sing quite a bit of the service from memory.
But this year, I was asked to be cantor for the High Holiday services and had to gain full control of the repertoire and complete assurance of what comes next at any point during the Prayers. I was in need of some serious studying.
I was advised to review the High Holiday disc of Asher Heinowitz, the seasoned cantor of the Yeshurun Synagogue in Jerusalem. He recorded the entire nussach (repertoire, cannon) of the High Holidays back in the 80's - recordings which were re-mastered digitally in recent years (please note varying quality among tracks).
The disc cover of Asher Heinowitz's set
The entire set, six CD's, is aptly labeled "P'tach Lanu Sha'ar": [G-d, open the gates for us]. Besides being the motto of the last prayer on Yom Kippur (and hence of the entire High Holiday prayers), this monumental work opens a clear and accessible gate to the world of cantorial art of the High Holidays.
To tell you the truth, I am not a great Chazzanut fan. I find that it is the kind of music that requires total submersion - and a sizeable amount of personal involvement and interest. I used to sing in a cantors choir, and do not suffer from listening to it, but my portable player does not store any Chazzanut tracks.
But, over the last month leading up to the High Holidays, this is all I had on it. I listened, re-listened and re-listened again - I had tracks going on in an endless loop for virtually hours. And was I surprised! It is beautiful! Though I have heard these prayers sung year after year, some of his tunes were new to me and caught my ear and heart.
That said, the major part of my pleasure was thanks to Cantor Heinowitz himself. More than his very nice voice, he has the right attitude, atmosphere and feel. It is soaked with awe and spiritual movement, taking you right there to the synagogue seated next to your father, listening, enchanted. There is no: "Me! Me! Here me O Israel!" It is pure.
Available from various dealers on the web, and most likely at any music store dealing with Jewish music, you can find the disc for sale on site of Renanot, the institution for Jewish Liturgical Music - who are the publishers. The prayers are all Nussach Ashkenaz, and accompanied on organ by Raymond Goldstein - a major fixture in the Cantoral world all on his own right.
If you want to get to know the High Holiday Prayers better, have any plans of ever leading them - and if they're just your favorite music - this would be the perfect place to begin. And the upcoming Sukkot holiday is a fine time to start.
Binyamin Nakonechny is a music producer and critic.