Biography
Composer Louis Lewandowski drove significant changes to synagogue music in 19th-century Berlin, and his compositions spread far through Jewish communities while also reaching non-Jewish listeners. In recent decades his pieces have appeared on recordings with growing frequency.
Born Lazarus (Louis) Lewandowski on April 3, 1821, in Wreschen, Prussia (now Września, Poland), he grew up as one of five brothers in straitened circumstances; his father served as an assistant cantor whose modest synagogue salary kept the family poor. At age twelve the boy was sent to seek opportunities in the Prussian capital, where his soprano voice quickly drew attention in a synagogue choir and earned him lessons in piano and singing. Alexander Mendelssohn, cousin of Felix Mendelssohn, sponsored his entry into the Berlin Academy of Arts, making him the institution’s first Jewish student. A prolonged psychological illness interrupted his training, yet he regained his health and finished his studies. In 1844 the Berlin Old Synagogue appointed him choirmaster, and over time he began supplying original music for its services.
Lewandowski is credited with establishing four-part choral writing as a regular feature of Jewish liturgical music by frequently basing his scores on longstanding melodies. Although earlier composers had explored similar textures, he became the first to furnish a coherent body of settings for extensive portions of the service. Congregations throughout Germany and farther afield adopted his works enthusiastically, and several of his psalm settings found use in Christian churches as well as synagogues. One of the best-known pieces during his lifetime, Hallelujah, Psalm 150, was performed at the dedication of Berlin’s New Synagogue in 1866 in the presence of Prussian prime minister Otto von Bismarck. He continued composing and conducting well into later life and died in Berlin on February 3, 1894. Roughly sixty of his compositions have been recorded; the San Diego Jewish Men’s Choir released the Psalm 150 setting in 2015.
Born Lazarus (Louis) Lewandowski on April 3, 1821, in Wreschen, Prussia (now Września, Poland), he grew up as one of five brothers in straitened circumstances; his father served as an assistant cantor whose modest synagogue salary kept the family poor. At age twelve the boy was sent to seek opportunities in the Prussian capital, where his soprano voice quickly drew attention in a synagogue choir and earned him lessons in piano and singing. Alexander Mendelssohn, cousin of Felix Mendelssohn, sponsored his entry into the Berlin Academy of Arts, making him the institution’s first Jewish student. A prolonged psychological illness interrupted his training, yet he regained his health and finished his studies. In 1844 the Berlin Old Synagogue appointed him choirmaster, and over time he began supplying original music for its services.
Lewandowski is credited with establishing four-part choral writing as a regular feature of Jewish liturgical music by frequently basing his scores on longstanding melodies. Although earlier composers had explored similar textures, he became the first to furnish a coherent body of settings for extensive portions of the service. Congregations throughout Germany and farther afield adopted his works enthusiastically, and several of his psalm settings found use in Christian churches as well as synagogues. One of the best-known pieces during his lifetime, Hallelujah, Psalm 150, was performed at the dedication of Berlin’s New Synagogue in 1866 in the presence of Prussian prime minister Otto von Bismarck. He continued composing and conducting well into later life and died in Berlin on February 3, 1894. Roughly sixty of his compositions have been recorded; the San Diego Jewish Men’s Choir released the Psalm 150 setting in 2015.