Pizmonim
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Pizmonim (Hebrew פזמונים, singular pizmon) are traditional Jewish songs and melodies with the intentions of praising God as well as learning certain aspects of traditional religious teachings. They are sung throughout religious rituals and festivities such as prayers, circumcisions, bar mitzvahs, weddings and other ceremonies. Pizmonim are generally sung in Hebrew.
Pizmonim are extra-liturgical, as distinct from piyyutim, which are hymns printed in the prayer-book and forming an integral part of the service. Similar songs sung in the synagogue on the Sabbath morning between midnight and dawn are called Baqashot (שירת הבקשות) instead of pizmonim.
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[edit] Geographical background
Pizmonim are traditionally associated with Middle Eastern Sephardic Jews, although they are related to Ashkenazi Jews' zemirot. The best known tradition is associated with Jews descended from Aleppo, though similar traditions exist among Iraqi Jews (where the songs are known as shbaִhoth, praises) and in North African countries. Jews of Greek, Turkish and Balkan origin have songs of the same kind in Ladino, associated with the festivals: these are known as coplas.
[edit] Origins of tradition
The tradition of composing and singing Pizmonim may have arisen out of a Jewish prohibition of singing songs of the non-Jews (due to the secular character and lyrics of the songs). This was true in the case of Arabic songs, where Jews were allowed to listen to the songs, but not allowed to sing them with the text. In order to bypass the problem, many composers, throughout the centuries, wrote new lyrics to the songs with the existing melodies, in order not to violate the tradition of not singing non-Jewish songs.
Another factor was certain rulings of the Geonim discouraging the use of piyyutim in core parts of the prayer service. These rulings were taken seriously by the Kabbalistic school of Isaac Luria, and many hymns were eliminated from the service. This affected both hymns from the old Aleppo ritual (published in Venice in 1560) and hymns from the Sephardic service by Yehuda Halevi, Solomon ibn Gabirol and others. The custom grew up of singing these hymns extra-liturgically, and further pizmonim were added to the collection through the centuries.
[edit] History of Texts
The texts of many pizmonim date back to the Middle Ages or earlier, and are often based on verses in the Bible. Many are taken from the Tanakh, while others were composed by poets such as Yehuda Halevi and Israel Najara of Gaza. Some melodies are quite old, while others may be based on popular Middle Eastern music, with the words composed specially to fit the tune. A prolific composer of pizmonim of this last kind was ִHakham Refael Antebi Tabbush (Aleppo 1830-Cairo 1919), who is regarded as the founder of the tradition in its present form. The tradition has since been exported to Syrian Jewish communities in the Americas by his pupils, principally Moses Ashear. Pizmonim are composed for special occasions such as weddings and bar mitzvahs by Cantors in the past, as well as the present, by Ezekiel Albeg, Gabriel A. Shrem, (a student of Ashear), Eliyahu Menaged (a student of Tabbush), Rabbi Raphael Yair Elnadav, and others.
[edit] Maqamat (maqams)
All pizmonim can be classified under different maqams (musical modes), of which there are about ten in common use. Maqam Ajam, which sounds a little like a Western major scale, is the thematic maqam that contains many holiday melodies. Maqam Hijaz, which sounds a little like a Western minor scale, is the thematic maqam that contains many sad melodies. Maqam Sikah (or Siga), containing many three-quarter-tone intervals, is used for the cantillation of the Torah. Maqam Saba is the maqam used for circumcisions.
[edit] Liturgical Use
During typical Shabbat and holiday services in the Syrian tradition, the melodies of pizmonim are used as settings for some of the prayers, in a system of rotation to ensure that the maqam suits the mood of the holiday or the Torah reading. Each week there is a different maqam assigned to the cantor according to the theme of the given Torah portion of the week.
Pizmonim, or any melodies, are generally not applied throughout the week during prayer services.
[edit] Sephardic Pizmonim Project
This is a foundation dedicated to the scholarship and preservation of the music of the Sephardic-Syrian Jewish community. The project is dedicated to the memory of Cantor Gabriel A. Shrem, the former director of Yeshiva University's Cantorial Institute (Philip and Sarah Belz School of Jewish Music) and cantor of B'nai Yosef Synagogue. The projects goal is to restore and preserve the ancient Jewish songs of the Middle Eastern Jewish communities.
The idea of the project began in the last 1970s when Gabriel Shrem was offered to teach a course at the Cantorial Institute of Yeshiva University. As a tool to teach this course, Shrem recorded all of the pizmonim songs onto tape recorder for classroom distribution. The collection that resulted from these recordings encompassed roughly 70% of the Sephardic pizmonim liturgy and this, in part, is the reason why the musical culture of the Sephardic community is still alive and well.
The Sephardic Pizmonim Project organisation rereleased all of Shrem's recordings and issued them onto a large CD collection in September of 2004 selling 5500 CDs throughout the world. In the progress, countless cantors throughout the globe have contacted the organisation and have provided recordings to include on his website to enhance the project.
[edit] References
[edit] Pizmonim Books
- Antebi Tabbush, Refael Yisִhaq, Shirah ִHadashah: Aleppo 1888
- Cohen, Refael ִHayim ("Parsi"), Shir Ushbaִhah: Jerusalem 1905 and 1921
- Ashear, Moshe, Hallel Vezimrah: Jerusalem 1928
- Aboud, ִHayim Shaul, Sefer Shire Zimrah: Jerusalem 1936
- Aboud, ִHayim Shaul, Sefer Shire Zimrah Hashalem im Sefer le-Baqashot le-Shabbat: Jerusalem 1953, repr. 1988
- Shrem, Gabriel, Shir Ushbaִhah Hallel Vezimrah: Sephardic Heritage Foundation, New York 1983
- Shir Ushbaִhah, Machon Haketab, Jerusalem: 2005
[edit] Secondary literature
- Shelemay, Kay Kaufman, Let Jasmine Rain Down: Chicago Studies in Ethnomusicology 1998. Hardback: ISBN 0-226-75211-9, Paperback: ISBN 0-226-75212-7
- Langer, Ruth, To Worship God Properly: Tensions Between Liturgical Custom and Halakhah in Judaism: Hebrew Union College Press 1998, Hardback: ISBN 0-87820-421-0, Paperback: ISBN 0-87820-458-X
[edit] Online Resources
The above online resource, the Sephardic Pizmonim Project, has a table of contents of the Shir Ushbaִhah Hallel Vezimrah Pizmonim book and lists the songs that are currently in active transmission and omits the songs that are not. There are many samples of pizmonim available.
- Piyut (in Hebrew)
Also contains hymns from other traditions.
[edit] See also
  Jewish and Israeli Music |
| Religious Jewish Music (main article) |
|---|
| Historical General Article • Synagogal Music • Zemirot (For Shabbat) • Baqashot (For Shabbat) • Pizmonim (For Festivities) •Piyyut (For Prayer Services) • Nigun (Instrumental Group) |
| Secular Jewish Music and Dance (main article) |
| Jewish or Israeli in Form: Jewish Dance • Klezmer • Sephardic Music • Mizrahi Music • Israeli Music • Israeli Folk |
| Not Jewish in Form: Jews in Classical Music • Jews in Mainstream and Jazz Music |
