美国国家公共电台 NPR--A group of Orthodox Jews in Brooklyn is reviving the golden age of cantorial music

A group of Orthodox Jews in Brooklyn is reviving the golden age of cantorial music

Transcript¹

Jeremiah Lockwood comes from a family of cantors, the spiritual leaders that guide Jewish congregations in prayer and song. His grandfather, the late Jacob Konigsberg, served as a cantor in several cities and performed in concerts outside of religious services, always hoping to inspire people with liturgical² music.

It's no surprise that Lockwood would incorporate cantorial music in his own band, The Sway Machinery³, and wrote his dissertation⁴ about Chasidic cantors in Brooklyn who sing in a way that is reminiscent of the golden age of cantorial music, which began in the 1920s. The virtuosos⁵ of that era sounded like they were singing opera at times but also improvised⁶ during solos.

The same could be said for those in current-day Brooklyn.

"It's astounding," Lockwood said of the Brooklyn cantors' ability to master the vocal⁷ techniques of the early 20th Century. "Forget questions about creativity versus⁸ imitation, the fact that they're physically⁹ able to do it is just mind-blowing."

"They are self-trained artists," he said. "It's kind of like there was a scene of musicians who didn't go to conservatory¹⁰ or jazz music school and learned how to play Charlie Parker just by fiddling¹¹ around with a saxophone alone in their rooms at night."

While in grad school, Lockwood stumbled upon a YouTube video of cantors at an informal Chasidic sing-along known as a kumzits, a kind of cantorial jam session where solos are handed off with the point of a finger.

The video inspired Lockwood to produce the new album Golden Ages: Brooklyn Chassidic Cantorial Revival¹² Today, which was recorded at Daptone Records, an analog¹³ recording¹⁴ facility known for soul music.

Three of the six cantors who are on the album went with Lockwood to perform at the Jewish Culture Festival in Poland in late June, an important annual Jewish musical event that has been going on for nearly 30 years. They got the opportunity to perform with the backing of a string quartet arranged by Lockwood, who at times accompanied the cantors with his electric guitar.

One of the cantors who performed in Krakow, Yanky Lemmer, explained that as a child and teenager growing up in the Chasidic community, he didn't have much entertainment other than what was considered "kosher." Such households often do not have televisions or an Internet connection available to kids.

"Cantorial music is one of those [kosher] things," he said. "Ooh, let me get into that. That's interesting, that's different."

Lemmer said when he improvises¹⁵ during services, it's "one of the most special feelings in the world."

"When you start improvising¹⁶ and it works, there's that feeling of, 'Wow, this is something coming through me. I'm not even doing this,' said Lemmer.

Lemmer, one of the best-known cantors in the world, leads services at the prestigious¹⁷ Lincoln Square Synagogue in Manhattan and has officiated everywhere from the Catskills to Australia. He credits YouTube with putting him on the map. After uploading the first video of himself performing on-line, his email inbox was flooded the following morning.

"The emails said, 'You have to do this for a living. You have to do this,'" he told NPR.

One of the other cantors involved in the project, Shimmy Miller¹⁸, is the son of Benzion Miller, who leads services one Sabbath a month at a congregation in the Borough¹⁹ Park neighborhood. That service runs for three to four hours and everything is improvised on the spot. Lockwood, who participates in the choir²⁰, called the experience "musically challenging."

"After one of those services I'm always ready to collapse," Lockwood said.

The claim that a revival of cantorial music is underway is not embraced by all of the cantors on the new album.

"This is not really a revival, as much as a dying gasp," said Yoel Kohn, a former member of the Satmar Chasidic community. "Whether there will be enough interest left to keep this going indefinitely as some obscure genre²¹ of music like baroque music, that I don't know."

But Hankus Netsky, professor at the New England Conservatory of Music, believes what's happening with the Brooklyn cantors may be both a passing and a re-birth of the genre.

"I think Jeremiah Lockwood is an arbitrator between the generation that is seeing cantorial music die in the congregation and the younger generation that's seeing the potential of cantorial music to be re-discovered," Netsky said.

Lockwood fervently²² believes that these "young" cantors (the oldest is 46) deserve to be discovered.

"These guys are brilliant singers, brilliant artists and they're so underground, nobody's heard of them," he said. "I wanted to create a possibility for them to be able to do what they are greatest at out in the world and I wasn't sure who the audience for that would be or if there would be an audience for it."

The Golden Ages album is available as both a digital download and a vinyl LP.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 liturgical   

adj.礼拜仪式的

参考例句：

• This period corresponds with the liturgical season of Christmas.这个时期与圣诞节的礼拜季节相一致。
• This is a book of liturgical forms.这是一本关于礼拜仪式的书。

3 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

4 dissertation   

n.（博士学位）论文，学术演讲，专题论文

参考例句：

• He is currently writing a dissertation on the Somali civil war.他目前正在写一篇关于索马里内战的论文。
• He was involved in writing his doctoral dissertation.他在聚精会神地写他的博士论文。

5 virtuosos   

n.艺术大师( virtuoso的名词复数 )；名家；艺术爱好者；古董收藏家

参考例句：

• Like all virtuosos, Fermi had a distinctive style. 像所有的艺术家一样，费米有他自己的独特风格。 来自互联网
• In terms of musical performance, there are many very good French musicians, but few virtuosos. 从音乐演出来看，优秀的法国音乐家不少，可是缺乏演奏大师。 来自互联网

6 improvised   

a.即席而作的,即兴的

参考例句：

• He improvised a song about the football team's victory. 他即席创作了一首足球队胜利之歌。
• We improvised a tent out of two blankets and some long poles. 我们用两条毛毯和几根长竿搭成一个临时帐蓬。

7 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

8 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

9 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

10 conservatory   

n.温室，音乐学院；adj.保存性的，有保存力的

参考例句：

• At the conservatory,he learned how to score a musical composition.在音乐学校里，他学会了怎样谱曲。
• The modern conservatory is not an environment for nurturing plants.这个现代化温室的环境不适合培育植物。

11 fiddling   

微小的

参考例句：

• He was fiddling with his keys while he talked to me. 和我谈话时他不停地摆弄钥匙。
• All you're going to see is a lot of fiddling around. 你今天要看到的只是大量的胡摆乱弄。 来自英汉文学 - 廊桥遗梦

12 revival   

n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振

参考例句：

• The period saw a great revival in the wine trade.这一时期葡萄酒业出现了很大的复苏。
• He claimed the housing market was showing signs of a revival.他指出房地产市场正出现复苏的迹象。

13 analog   

n.类似物，模拟

参考例句：

• The analog signal contains high-frequency video information,which helps make up the picture.模拟信号包括有助于构成图像的高频视频信息。
• The analog computer measures continuously,without proceeding step by step.模拟计算机不是一步一步地进行，而是连续地进行量度。

14 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

15 improvises   

临时制作，临时凑成( improvise的名词复数 )； 即兴创作（音乐、台词、演讲词等）

参考例句：

• If an actor forgets his words, he sometimes improvises. 如果一个演员忘了台词，他有时临时编造。
• Chloe improvises, and calls Gabriel pretending she has had car troubles. 克洛即兴创作，并且叫假装她已经有小汽车麻烦的加布里埃尔。

16 improvising   

即兴创作（improvise的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• I knew he was improvising, an old habit of his. 我知道他是在即兴发挥，这是他的老习惯。
• A few lecturers have been improvising to catch up. 部分讲师被临时抽调以救急。

17 prestigious   

adj.有威望的，有声望的，受尊敬的

参考例句：

• The young man graduated from a prestigious university.这个年轻人毕业于一所名牌大学。
• You may even join a prestigious magazine as a contributing editor.甚至可能会加入一个知名杂志做编辑。

18 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

19 borough   

n.享有自治权的市镇；(英)自治市镇

参考例句：

• He was slated for borough president.他被提名做自治区主席。
• That's what happened to Harry Barritt of London's Bromley borough.住在伦敦的布罗姆利自治市的哈里.巴里特就经历了此事。

20 choir   

n.唱诗班，唱诗班的席位，合唱团，舞蹈团；v.合唱

参考例句：

• The choir sang the words out with great vigor.合唱团以极大的热情唱出了歌词。
• The church choir is singing tonight.今晚教堂歌唱队要唱诗。

21 genre   

n.(文学、艺术等的)类型，体裁，风格

参考例句：

• My favorite music genre is blues.我最喜欢的音乐种类是布鲁斯音乐。
• Superficially,this Shakespeare's work seems to fit into the same genre.从表面上看， 莎士比亚的这个剧本似乎属于同一类型。

22 fervently   

adv.热烈地，热情地，强烈地

参考例句：

• "Oh, I am glad!'she said fervently. “哦，我真高兴！”她热烈地说道。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• O my dear, my dear, will you bless me as fervently to-morrow?' 啊，我亲爱的，亲爱的，你明天也愿这样热烈地为我祝福么？” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记