Haim Wasserzug (Yiddish: חיים וואסערצוג, romanized: Ḥayyim Vasertsug; 1822 – 24 August 1882), also known as Haim Lomzer (Yiddish: חיים לאָמזער), was an English ḥazzan and composer. Some of the principal cantors of the European continent and of America were numbered among his disciples.[2]
Rev. Haim Wasserzug | |
|---|---|
| Personal | |
| Born | 1822 |
| Died | 24 August 1882 (aged 59–60) Brighton, England, United Kingdom |
| Religion | Judaism |
| Children | 12 |
| Position | Ḥazzan |
| Synagogue | North London Synagogue |
| Began | 1867 |
| Ended | 1882 |
| Residence | |
Biography edit
Wasserzug was born at Sieradz, Prussian partition of Poland, in 1822, where his father filled the office of cantor.[3] As a child he was endowed with a remarkably sweet voice, and in 1840 he was elected ḥazzan at Konin.[4][5] His renown soon spread among the Jewish communities of Poland, and he received a call as ḥazzan to Novy-Dvor, where his introduction of four-part choral singing instead of traditional ḥazzanut aroused considerable opposition against him on the part of the Ḥasidim.[5] Thirteen years later he was appointed to a post at Lonisa, near the Lithuanian frontier. Here he remained for five years, when he was elected cantor of the Great Synagogue of Vilna.[4] In 1867, on the opening of the North London Synagogue, he was elected its First Reader, which office he held until his death in 1882.
In 1878 he published Sefer shire mikdash, a collection of 143 compositions written during his ḥazzanship at Vilna, which received high commendation by Nikolai Zaremba, Frederic Weber, Henry Wylde, and others.[6] It includes his best known work, a setting of Zokhrenu l'ḥayyim. Works by Wasserzug were also included in The Voice of Prayer and Praise, a popular anthology of Ashkenazi synagogue music used in British Orthodox synagogues.[7]
He died on 24 August 1882 at the Royal Sussex Hospital, Brighton, after catching a chill from remaining in the water for too long while sea bathing.[3] He was survived by his wife Rebecca née Woyduslawski and 15 children, five of whom were the offspring of his first marriage with her sister Rachel née Woyduslawski.[3][8]
Personal life edit
Wasserzug's daughter Sara was married to Rev. Abraham Levinson, who served the Middle Street Synagogue, Brighton, for 31 years.[8][9] His son, David Wasserzug, was educated at Jews' College, London, and officiated as rabbi at Cardiff, Port Elizabeth, Johannesburg, and, after 1905, at the Dalston Synagogue, London.[10] Another son, William, studied at the Leipzig Conservatorium and was Choirmaster of the Bayswater Synagogue,[10] while his youngest son Israel (later known as Ivor Warren) was Choirmaster of the Liberal Jewish Synagogue at St John's Wood.[11]
Publications edit
- Sefer shire mikdash: Ancient and Modern Synagogue Music [Songs of the Sanctuary]. London: Weekes and Coy. 1878.
References edit
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Jacobs, Joseph; Lipkind, Goodman (1906). "Wasserzug, Haim". In Singer, Isidore; et al. (eds.). The Jewish Encyclopedia. Vol. 12. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. p. 475.
- ^ Idelsohn, Abraham Z. (1992). Jewish Music: Its Historical Development. New York: Dover Publications. p. 289. ISBN 978-0-486-27147-7.
- ^
Jacobs, Joseph; Lipkind, Goodman (1906). "Wasserzug, Haim". In Singer, Isidore; et al. (eds.). The Jewish Encyclopedia. Vol. 12. New York: Funk & Wagnalls. p. 475.
- ^ a b c "Obituary". The Jewish Chronicle. 1 September 1882.
- ^ a b Zaludkowski, Eliyahu (1930). Kultur-treger fun der Idisher liturgye: hisṭorish-biografisher iberblik iber ḥazones, ḥazonim un dirizsharn (in Yiddish). Detroit. pp. 84–87.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ a b Olivestone, David M. L. (2007). "Wasserzug (Lomzer), Ḥayyim". In Berenbaum, Michael; Skolnik, Fred (eds.). Encyclopaedia Judaica (2nd ed.). Detroit: Macmillan Reference. ISBN 978-0-02-866097-4.
- ^ "The Weekly Review". The Jewish Advance. Chicago, Ill. 25 July 1879. p. 4.
- ^ Knapp, Alexander (1996–1998). "The influence of German music on United Kingdom synagogue practice". Jewish Historical Studies. 35: 183. JSTOR 29779985.
- ^ a b Spector, David (1987–1988). "Brighton Jewry reconsidered" (PDF). Jewish Historical Studies. 30: 91–124. JSTOR 29779840.
- ^ "Rabbinical Profiles". JCR-UK. JewishGen. Retrieved 15 December 2021.
- ^ a b Rubinstein, William D.; Jolles, Michael A.; Rubinstein, Hillary L., eds. (2011). "Wasserzug, Chaim" (PDF). The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History. London: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 1006–1007. doi:10.1057/9780230304666_22. ISBN 978-0-230-30466-6. OCLC 793104984.
- ^ Forbes-Ritte, Ralph (December 2004). "A musical dynasty" (PDF). Shemot: The Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain. 12 (4): 3–5.