Special To The Jewish Week
Perhaps because it is the liturgical music with which I am most familiar, perhaps the emotions of the occasion are always so heightened. But for whatever reason, I believe there is no music in the Jewish tradition more powerful than the various versions of the High Holy Days service, whatever its provenance. Composers as various as Ernest Bloch and Max Bruch have been drawn to this music and for a cantor it is undoubtedly the crown of the year. Below are six new recordings that speak directly to tradition and a seventh which comments on it obliquely but passionately.
