Muziekbibliotheek
This music library and the index are still being built!
The language on these webpages is English. The library started as a resource to aid the students of our Dutch Sheliach tzibbur training 2007-2009 in their studies. The language of the course was English, since our lecturers came from Israel and England. We decided to keep the language in English since the site is frequently visited from other countries.
De index en de muziek zijn geproduceerd en gepresenteerd in samenwerking met het Liberaal Joods Koor Sjier Chadasj, Amsterdam
Introduction
The collection of music on this site represents the Dutch-Jewish tradition, in particular that of the Liberal congregations. These synagogue services is for the most part sung by a sheliach tzibbur (cantor or [singing] "representative of the congregation in prayer).
Our Dutch tradition comes to us partly from Western and Southern Germany, but it has also been influenced by the Polish and the Spanish and Portuguese traditions. Most important are the great composers of the middle of the 19th century, especially Louis Lewandowski and Salomon Sultzer.
Easter European Jewry and their culture were destroyed during the Shoah and under communism, but that tradition survived and flourishes both in the Americas and in Israel. Western European Jewry and is culture were almost wiped out in the dark years of that Great Destruction. That tradition has barely survived and one of the places where it is still alive is in our Dutch communities. This too is a reason why we values this particular and mostly beautiful music in our services, the special nusach and the musical tradition on which we read the Torah and the Haftara.
You may browse this website to find more information about the training of the 15 + 3 shelichay tzibbur in the course and what they studied. You would do well to take the time to listen to the lectures and the workshops where a wealth of information given during the course has been recorded, not to speak of all the music. If you want to learn to read Torah or to chant a haftara, here is your material. If you are not sure about which nusach or type of melody should be used during a part of the service you are preparing, with a few clicks on the Overview of the nusach you have your answer.
The practice
is - we hope - easy. Click in the menu on the left to go to the service for which you want to find the music. Most is in the form of recordings but sheet music is also available. However, since much of the written music is copyrighted, we will not publish those items here. Klik HERE to find a list of music publshers and publications.
The music is ordered on the pages according to the order it appears in the services.
The name of the file begins with the page number(s) on which the text appears in the siddur or machzor.
If you do not find the file you are looking for, look in one of the other services, it may well be found there.
When the course started in 2007, the first recorded materials consisted of a set of CDs that were produced for an earlier course in 2003. Some of that music now also appears on this website, all relevant material found there will in due course be transferred to the website. These CD's are available on request from the Institute.
Please contact the Institute if you need more help with finding what you are looking for.