Religious Jewish music
This article describes the principal types of religious Jewish music from the days of the Temple to modern times.
Later, these restrictions would relax, save for the Jews of Yemen who maintained strict adherence to Talmudic and Maimonidean halakha[1] and "instead of developing the playing of musical instruments, they perfected singing and rhythm.
From the time of the Renaissance Jewish communities in western Europe have shown some interest in modernizing the service by introducing composed music on the European model.
Salamone Rossi, a composer at the court of Mantua, published a volume of psalm settings in a Baroque style similar to Monteverdi, but this did not become widely popular in synagogue use until revived in the late 19th century.
In the 18th century the Venice community commissioned a number of works from non-Jewish composers such as Carlo Grossi and Benedetto Marcello.
In the Ashkenazi world, the main impetus towards composed Jewish music came in early 19th century Vienna, where Salomon Sulzer composed settings for a large part of the synagogue service, reflecting traditional Jewish music but set in a style reminiscent of Schubert, who was a friend and contemporary.
Settings in a somewhat similar style were composed by Louis Lewandowski of Berlin, Samuel Naumbourg of Paris and Japhet of Frankfurt.
Velvel Pasternak has spent much of the late 20th century acting as a preservationist and committing what had been a strongly oral tradition to paper.
A large body of music produced by Orthodox Jews for children is geared toward teaching religious and ethical traditions and laws.
These melodies are denoted by special signs printed above or below each word in the Hebrew Bible, and differ greatly between Jewish communities, though some features found in many traditions suggest a common origin.
They may also differ depending on the book or passage being read, or the time of year (e.g. there are special melodies for the scriptural readings on the High Holy Days, Tisha B'Av, Purim, and the three festival holidays, Sukkot, Pesach and Shavu'ot, as well as deviations from the typical melodies for the chanting of the 10 commandments, the song of the sea and some other smaller sections of text.)
Certain passages in the prayers, such as Nishmat, the Kaddish preceding Barechu, and the Kedushah, lend themselves to more elaborate individual rendition or choral singing.
For example, the best-known piyyut may be Adon Olam ("Master of the World"), sometimes attributed to Solomon ibn Gabirol in 11th century Spain.
The Baqashot are a collection of supplications, songs, and prayers that have been sung by the Sephardic Aleppian Jewish community and other congregations for centuries each week on Shabbat morning from midnight until dawn.
The custom of singing Baqashot originated in Spain towards the time of the expulsion, but took on increased momentum in the Kabbalistic circle in Safed in the 16th century.
Baqashot probably evolved out of the tradition of saying petitionary prayers before dawn and was spread from Safed by the followers of Isaac Luria (16th century).
With the spread of Safed Kabbalistic doctrine, the singing of Baqashot reached countries all round the Mediterranean and became customary in the communities of Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Rhodes, Greece, Yugoslavia, Egypt, Turkey and Syria.
