Yossele Rosenblatt and Chazanus

To many people the name "Yossele Rosenblatt" is synonymous with the Golden Age of Jewish cantorial music. To many Jewish immigrants of the late 19th and early 20th centuries Hazzanut was a connection to their former lives, the traditions of their shtetels and their parents and grandparents. Regardless of philosophical bents or religious affiliations almost all Jewish institutions, from Hassidic courts to Reform Temples, included hazzanut in their liturgies as the leadership realized that their congregants craved the customary singing and chanting. Jewish institutions vied with each other to incorporate the highest possible level of cantorial expression in their services.

One of the most widely-recognized cantors of this era was Yossele Rosenblatt --  "Yossele," as he was known to his audiences and admirers. Yossele was recognized the greatest hazzan of his time. He was a highly-sought-after cantor who expressed his love of Jewish liturgy with every fiber of his being.

Yossele was born in 1882 in Bila Tserkva, Ukraine. The Rosenblatt family included many generations of hazzanim and from an early age Yossele and his father, a Ruzhiner Hassid and a hazzan himself, performed together in the Sadagora Rebbe's synagogue. Yossele started to tour with his father while he was still quite young -- Yossele's father chanted the services as Yossele accompanied. Yossele was recognized as a prodigy whose unique talent infused the ancient prayers with new strength and power.

Rosenblatt's father was afraid that the wrong influence could weaken Yossele's devout religious commitment and he refused to send Yossele to any of the great musical academies of the day, but this did not diminish Yossele's abilities. (Although he did have no training at a conservatory, he was still taught musical notation which would allow him to write his own compositions down.) He was given the position as the premier hazzan of Munckz, Hungary at age 18 and then moved to  Pressburg Austria. In 1912 Yossele immigrated to America and took up a position as the hazzan at the Ohab Zedek synagogue in New York.

Rosenblatt was recognized for his incredible sense of melody which combined with his strong tenor to infuse Jewish prayers with spiritual heights. His audiences were generally comprised of new immigrants who were struggling in the New World. They cherished Yossele's hazzanut which brought back the sounds and atmosphere of their childhoods.

Yossele's developed a structured, metered style which continues to influence cantors of all streams of Judaism till today. He transmitted the familiar Askanazi sounds of his audiences' youth with soothing emotive expressions and a dramatic style that satisfied the listeners' nostalgia for their homelands.

Yossele was best known for his ability to hit high notes at unusually high speeds. He used cantillations to cause his voice to break in the middle of an arrangement which, combined with his talent for transitioning his voice into a falsetto at the drop of a pin. His "kretches" -- sobs -- conveyed passions and emotions in a way that other cantors  -- indeed, all other singers -- could only dream about.  

Rosenblatt was famous for his Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur hazzanut which included compelling sections of operatic-like recitatives. In conjunction with the traditional liturgy Yossele's High Holy Day hazzanut included snippets of folk melodies and large sections of improvised chanting. Yossele wished to create musical dramas that would allow the congregation to experience the liturgy as true supplications and feel the spirituality of the Days of Awe in new and meaningful ways.

Rosenblatt often expressed the opinion that his voice was a gift from God. His commitment to use his voice only in God's service was tested when Cleofonte Campanini, the general director of the Chicago Opera, offered Yossele $1,000 per performance to sing the role of Eleazar in Halevy's La Juive opera. Campanili promised Rosenblatt that his religious sensibilities would be honored during the performances. He promised to cancel all Shabbat performances and adhere to all necessary religious strictures, including issues of modesty. Rosenblatt considered the offer but in the end, he decided to demur. He did, however, star in Al Jolson's 1929 The Jazz Singer about the son of a cantor who turns to secular music.

Over 180 pieces of Rosenblatt's work have been preserved, some of them by the Lowell Milken Archive, a project started by Jewish philanthropist Lowell Milken to preserve American Jewish music. Among the best-known are Hasheim Malakh, V'af Hu Hoyo Miskaven, Mi Shebeirakh and, Tal. U'vnucho Yomar. Rosenblatt's rendition of Tehillim 126 was so popular that in 1948 Israeli leaders considered Shir Hama'a'lot as a possible national anthem, though in the end they chose HaTikva.