It will not often happen that the organ on the cover is not the instrument of the CD. The organ music was recorded in the Dom in Verden (Lower Saxony, Germany). The organ in the picture is that of a synagogue in Romania, note the many stars of David. Organs in synagogues have apparently been around longer than you might think. For example, the booklet mentions a picture from 1494 on which a synagogical
… organ would be seen for the first time. However, it was not until 1869 that the first Jewish synod in Leipzig granted official status to the organ. This CD shows how this development has continued. Most pieces hardly differ from the then dominant German Romantic style. Sometimes, however, a melody or interval jump betrays the Jewish signature. Two pieces of the program were first performed during a concert in the Great Synagogue of Wiesbaden in the ominous year of 1934. These pieces are somewhat more modern. This is especially true of Max Wolf's dramatic Prelude. From Siegfried Würzburger there was a Passacaglia and fugue about Kol Nidre, the famous melody for Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) that also inspired Max Bruch. Würzburger sadly died of exhaustion in the Lodz ghetto in 1942. Finally, a melancholic Prelude from 1963 by Heinrich Schalit for Temple Emanu-El in New York. Schalit had survived the Holocaust by fleeing to the United States in time. In addition to organ works, played by Stephan Lutermann, we also hear synagogical chants and folk songs, sung by the cantor Assaf Levitin. (HJ) From Siegfried Würzburger then a Passacaglia and fugue about Kol Nidre sounded, the famous melody for Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) that also inspired Max Bruch. Würzburger sadly died of exhaustion in the Lodz ghetto in 1942. Finally, a melancholic Prelude from 1963 by Heinrich Schalit for Temple Emanu-El in New York. Schalit had survived the Holocaust by fleeing to the United States in time. In addition to organ works, played by Stephan Lutermann, we also hear synagogical chants and folk songs, sung by the cantor Assaf Levitin. (HJ) From Siegfried Würzburger then a Passacaglia and fugue about Kol Nidre sounded, the famous melody for Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) that also inspired Max Bruch. Würzburger sadly died of exhaustion in the Lodz ghetto in 1942. Finally, a melancholic Prelude from 1963 by Heinrich Schalit for Temple Emanu-El in New York. Schalit had survived the Holocaust by fleeing to the United States in time. In addition to organ works, played by Stephan Lutermann, we also hear synagogical chants and folk songs, sung by the cantor Assaf Levitin. (HJ) Finally, a melancholic Prelude from 1963 by Heinrich Schalit for Temple Emanu-El in New York. Schalit had survived the Holocaust by fleeing to the United States in time. In addition to organ works, played by Stephan Lutermann, we also hear synagogical chants and folk songs, sung by the cantor Assaf Levitin. (HJ) Finally, a melancholic Prelude from 1963 by Heinrich Schalit for Temple Emanu-El in New York. Schalit had survived the Holocaust by fleeing to the United States in time. In addition to organ works, played by Stephan Lutermann, we also hear synagogical chants and folk songs, sung by the cantor Assaf Levitin. (HJ)more