MUSIC FOR THE DAYS OF AWE

"Music for the Days of Awe" is the title of our High Holy Day Choir's new CD, which will be available in time for this year's holy days. It is also the topic I want to share with you as we enter this important and powerful season. Last spring I wrote about the function of music in worship; I want to take this opportunity to talk briefly about the special music that is unique to the High Holy Days.

The music for the Days of Awe is as varied and profound as the many themes of our holiday liturgy. There is music of celebration as we welcome a new year. Music of majesty leads us to acknowledge God's supremacy in our lives - a prelude to the themes of self-awareness, contrition and repentance. Prayers evoking God's compassion lift our spirits and give us hope. Words of memory and words of healing reflect our human condition, leading to emotional catharsis and a commitment to live lives in pursuit of the Divine during the coming year.

Melodies reflecting the theological breadth of the Holy Days are drawn from a thousand years of musical tradition. Throughout the season we hear music that dates from the Middle Ages, modern tunes based on biblical chant, folk melodies, contemporary American music and traditional nusach - the Jewish prayer melodies that are used to identify each liturgical occasion.

Our services begin with a tune reserved only for the High Holy Days. It is heard for the first time in nearly a year as we light the festival candles. This melody is so much a part of our Jewish heritage that our tradition likes to call it "Mi Sinai" - literally "from Sinai" - as if it was handed to Moses by God when the Israelites received Torah. This melody is heard repeatedly throughout our services (especially in the evening) for prayers such as Bar'chu, Mi Chamocha and Chatzi Kaddish.

Mi Sinai tunes are used only on specific occasions and make up the heart of our holy day music. Perhaps the most famous is the ancient Aramaic prayer, "Kol Nidrei," traditionally chanted in Ashkenazic synagogues to a 12th century melody. While the relevance of this text in our Reform tradition has been debated, the melody itself has come to represent the essence of our prayers of repentance.

Our other Mi Sinai melodies are the Great Aleinu and Ochila LaEil. The Great Aleinu was written over two thousand years ago as a prelude to the sounding of the shofar on Rosh Hashanah morning. Its special melody is reserved for two occasions on the High Holy Days: its original place in the shofar service, and on Yom Kippur afternoon when we recall the ancient Temple service in which the High Priest, after many days of preparation, would prostrate himself before the Holy of Holies and pronounce the ineffable Name of God. Opening the Yom Kippur afternoon liturgy is "Ochila LaEil" - a prayer for God's presence in our lives - a melody that also hints at the upcoming Festival of Sukkot.
For many people, it is "Avinu Malkeinu" in the famous setting by Max Janowski that is perhaps most associated with the music of the High Holy Days. Not only is this a stirring setting in and of itself, but Janowski composed the melody based on the traditional chanting of the Haftarah. Why is this significant? Just as we continue to reinterpret the ancient teachings of our tradition in the context of our contemporary lives, so our contemporary music is linked to our ancestry by the use of ancient melodies in modern settings.

Janowski was also fond of using the sound of the shofar call in many of his High Holy Day settings. This year you can hear these on Rosh Hashanah evening in Harninu (proclaiming the new year with the sound of the shofar) and the holiday Kiddush, and on Yom Kippur in his setting of Sh'ma Koleinu - our plea that God hear our prayers and help us as we struggle to live more sacred lives.
Throughout the season, you will find transliterations and information about our High Holiday music in the order of service. I hope that this guide will help make the music of our services more meaningful in your worship.

May the music for the Days of Awe continue to be a source of celebration, reflection and comfort, and may each new year bring with it health, happiness, holiness and peace.

B’shalom,
Andrew Bernard
Cantor