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Shulmusic.org (Shul means Synagogue in Yiddish) is mostly a repository of sheet music
relating to Jewish Liturgical Music. The music on this site has been selected because it is out of copyright.
If you believe we have infringed your copyright please e-mail us at
info@shulmusic.org
As well as sheet music, you will find other resources on this site and we hope these
will be useful.
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ABOUT www.ShulMusic.org
What is Jewish Liturgical Music (JLM)?
Our definition of JLM is any music intended for use in synagogues (shul
is Yiddish for synagogue) or other Jewish religious ceremonies. A distinction
should be drawn between Hazanut, which is primarily music sung either
by a solo Hazan (Cantor), with or without a choral/organ backing, and
purely choral works with no solo parts.
What is the purpose of this site?
The objective of this site is to provide a means of promoting Jewish
liturgical music that is part of our Jewish musical heritage, and is in
danger of becoming forgotten through disuse. Today the music of some
1,700 JLM composers lays gathering dust on shelves of institutions and
individuals around the world. This site provides a centralised location
for JLM music in electronic formats, and information available that
would only normally be obtained from specialised libraries around the
globe. A major innovation from the use of an electronic library is the
ability to download MIDI files, which allows amateur choirs to begin
learning pieces in 4 parts with very little effort.
What are the planned features on the
site?
-
Song index - An alphabetical listing of the music in our
database categorised according to song name, author, ceremony, service,
etc.
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Composer Index/Biography - An alphabetical listing
and biography of the composers listed in our database.
Click here for a list of shul music
composers compiled by Sendry in the 1950s.
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Musical scores - Original musical scores that have been
scanned in for viewing and/or printing over the Internet. We
hope to offer these in Capella and other notation software formats as
well as in MIDI format.
-
The “do-it-yourself” Shul Choir page
- By using the music provided and the MIDI files, some tips on setting
up an amateur shul choir.
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Hosting
– We will host your JLM choir’s web site for you.
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Recordings
- This page could offer choirs that perform JLM, the opportunity of presenting works they have recorded, no matter
how well or poorly!
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The musicology of JLM - Why do we say that something sounds
Jewish? What are Jewish modes? Where do these modes originate? To what
extent can we trace 'Jewish sounds' into the depths of our history?
-
How to lead a Jewish prayer service. - Some basic sound
files to assist you in leading your new congregation.
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Links to other related sites -
Many others have
set up sites that may be of interest.
-
The "What's on page" - A diary of world JLM events. Please contact us with information well in advance!
What discussion groups are available?
Please join our discussion group. Our aim is for anyone in the world
with an interest in JLM (and an email address!) to join our forum, the
only one in the world dedicated to the promotion of JLM. Currently some
140 people have subscribed.
To subscribe:
http://groups.yahoo.com/subscribe.cgi/jewishshulmusic
Archives:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/jewishshulmusic/archives.cgi
To post a message: jewishshulmusic@yahoogroups.com
To subscribe, send a blank email to: jewishshulmusic-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
What help can I give?
Please get in touch if:
-
You have access to JLM scores that
we do not have, and you can a) Photocopy them; b) Scan them; c)
Both a) & b);
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You can help produce MIDI files
from the scanned music;
-
You have some recordings of your
choir you'd like others to hear (no copyrighted material please);
-
You have any new ideas;
-
You'd like your event to appear
on our "What's on Page".
About
this web site's initiator:
Stephen Simpson was instilled with the beauty of Jewish liturgical
music as a child growing up in north-west London and hearing, as well
as singing with, orthodox synagogue choirs. Several years after
immigrating to Israel in 1979, he started an itinerant local
shul choir
in Rehovot, Israel while furthering his musical education in the
fields of theory, harmony, voice-training, solfeggio, choral
conducting and composition. His love of shul music, and disappointment
by its slow decline in popular use, led him recently to making this
vast and little known body of music from the early 1800s available to
others through this web site.
Disclaimers:
While every effort has been taken to be comprehensive, there is no doubt
that in a project of such a magnitude as this something will have been
left out. Firstly, our apologies! Please inform us immediately quoting
your sources.
As far as the producers of this Web site
are aware, nothing herein constitutes any infringement of any global
copyright law, and the material may be copied. If this assumption can
be proven to be incorrect, please contact us. However, you are cordially
asked to refrain from using this material for any purpose that could
be deemed to be an inappropriate use of synagogue material of this kind.
While everything provided on this site is offered in good faith, and
as high a degree of accuracy of information as possible is strived for,
the producers of this Web site take no responsibility or liability for
anything appertaining to the material on this site, nor for any consequences,
actual or implied, deriving from the use thereof.
All correspondence to:
Stephen
Simpson
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