Volume 16, Number 2 - Cantors Assembly

4
A REPORT ON THE HISTORY
OF THE AMERICAN CANTORATE PROJECT
MARK SLOBIN
January 1, 1987 marks the end of three years of intensive research of the
American cantorate under the National Endowment for the Humanities grant to
the Cantors Assembly. It has been a great pleasure and a highly rewarding
experience to have been involved in this much needed project, and I have
certainly learned an enormous amount about the cantorate, thanks to the many
researchers, consultants and, of course, first and foremost to the practicing,
professional hazzanim of the Cantors Assembly and the American Conference of
Cantors who gave unstintingly of their knowledge.
The project produced an immense database, unprecedented in Jewish music
studies. Perhaps by way of summary I could outline the shape of that database,
under various headings, then proceed to a brief description of the book that is
currently shaping up which will summarize and interpret the findings.
1. Oral Histories. We have accumulated some 125 oral histories, almost all
of full-time professionals, but also including some part-timers for the sake of
comparison. These are very rich in biographical, musical, and professional data
and form a very important component of the project.
2. Questionnaires. Members of the CA and the ACC responded to focused
questionnaires about their working life. A separate mailing to synagogue presidents
netted some 200 responses which complement the hazzan’s point of view
nicely. Other specific questionnaires about musical sources were also circulated.
3. Archival Sources. To research beyond living memory, one must rely on
archival sources. Thanks to some line consultants, especially including Abraham
J. Karp of the University of Rochester, himself a rabbi who has worked closely
with cantors, and Douglas Kohn, in consultation with Jonathan Sarna and Jacob
Rader Marcus at Hebrew Union College, a great variety of fascinating information
about the early American cantorate has been assembled for the first time. We
tapped a variety of other sources as well, such as combing the Yiddish press for
advertisements and articles about hazzanim in the early twentieth century.
Mark Slobin is a member of the music faculty at Wesleyan University. He is
the author of “‘Music in the Culture of Northern Afghanistan" and ‘Tenement
Songs. ” He is the editor of "Old Jewish Folksongs and Fiddle Tunes: The
Writings and Collections of Moshe Beregovski. ” He was commissioned by the
Cantors Assembly to be project director for the writing of the History of the
American Cantorate.