American Cantorate
From 1984-6, Mark Slobin served as Project Director and Principal Investigator for a large-scale project called History of the American Cantorate (HAC), funded generously by the National Endowment for the Humanities. The grant came to the Cantors Assembly (CA), the professional organization of Conservative cantors, under the leadership of Hazzan Samuel Rosenbaum, its longtime leader, who wanted to advance the understanding of the profession.
The extensive findings culminated in Slobin's monograph, Chosen Voices: The Story of the American Cantorate (University of Illinois Press, 1989), and the raw data is shared publicly in this digital collection.
American Cantorate
From 1984-6, Mark Slobin served as Project Director and Principal Investigator for a large-scale project called History of the American Cantorate (HAC), funded generously by the National Endowment for the Humanities. The grant came to the Cantors Assembly (CA), the professional organization of Conservative cantors, under the leadership of Hazzan Samuel Rosenbaum, its longtime leader, who wanted to advance the understanding of the profession.
The extensive findings culminated in Slobin's monograph, Chosen Voices: The Story of the American Cantorate (University of Illinois Press, 1989), and the raw data is shared publicly in this digital collection.
Series in this collection
Image & video
View images of cantors and events as well as the documentary film, More than a Singer.
Interviews
Listen to audio of all the interviews done as a part of the American Cantorate project.
Letters & documents
Read historical documents relating to the cantorate.
Music repertoire: sung examples
Listen to sung examples of 1) Cantillation of the opening of Bereshit (Genesis); 2) the Haftorah called "Lech lecha," 3) the Sabbath melody "Lecha dodi," and the opening of the prayers 4) "Tzur yisroel" 5) "N'kadesh," 6) "Yimloch," 7) the "Ashrei" for Selichot, and 8) "Uvchen ten pachdecha." Of the ca. 450 Cantors Assembly members, 93 cantors responded to a request to record and mail in a cassette of the selections. Each selection is sung by several cantors.
Reports
Read the compiled and analyzed results of the four surveys conducted for the project, an analysis conducted in 1985 concerning the system of variation in the performance of 'Neqades ...' based on 94 samples, handwritten fieldwork reports based on visits to Conservative congregations to witness the structure of their Sabbath services, and a report from 1985 on non-Ashkenazic cantors in the Los Angeles area, included with permission of its author.
Surveys
Read the responses to the Cantors' survey, the Congregational survey, and the Rabbis' survey. The Cantors' survey gives an idea of the range of duties and attitudes of the Conservative and Reform cantors of the mid-1980s. The Congregational survey was sent to the synagogues where the cantors on the project worked and was filled in by unidentified people there. The Rabbis' survey represents letters solicited by historian Abraham Karp from a set of fellow rabbis. All responses have been made anonymous.
Series in this collection
Image & video
View images of cantors and events as well as the documentary film, More than a Singer.
Interviews
Listen to audio of all the interviews done as a part of the American Cantorate project.
Letters & documents
Read historical documents relating to the cantorate.
Music repertoire: sung examples
Listen to sung examples of 1) Cantillation of the opening of Bereshit (Genesis); 2) the Haftorah called "Lech lecha," 3) the Sabbath melody "Lecha dodi," and the opening of the prayers 4) "Tzur yisroel" 5) "N'kadesh," 6) "Yimloch," 7) the "Ashrei" for Selichot, and 8) "Uvchen ten pachdecha." Of the ca. 450 Cantors Assembly members, 93 cantors responded to a request to record and mail in a cassette of the selections. Each selection is sung by several cantors.
Reports
Read the compiled and analyzed results of the four surveys conducted for the project, an analysis conducted in 1985 concerning the system of variation in the performance of 'Neqades ...' based on 94 samples, handwritten fieldwork reports based on visits to Conservative congregations to witness the structure of their Sabbath services, and a report from 1985 on non-Ashkenazic cantors in the Los Angeles area, included with permission of its author.
Surveys
Read the responses to the Cantors' survey, the Congregational survey, and the Rabbis' survey. The Cantors' survey gives an idea of the range of duties and attitudes of the Conservative and Reform cantors of the mid-1980s. The Congregational survey was sent to the synagogues where the cantors on the project worked and was filled in by unidentified people there. The Rabbis' survey represents letters solicited by historian Abraham Karp from a set of fellow rabbis. All responses have been made anonymous.