Sylvan (Sholom) Kalib (born July 24, 1929,
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
,
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
) is an American
music theorist
Music theory is the study of the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory". The first is the "rudiments", that are needed to understand music notation (ke ...
,
musicologist
Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some mu ...
,
cantor
A cantor or chanter is a person who leads people in singing or sometimes in prayer. In formal Jewish worship, a cantor is a person who sings solo verses or passages to which the choir or congregation responds.
In Judaism, a cantor sings and lead ...
,
conductor,
pedagogue
Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken as ...
and
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and Defi ...
. His primary work falls broadly into two categories: 1)
Schenkerian music theory and 2) the musical tradition of the Eastern European synagogue.
Biography
Early years
![Kalib-Child-Cantor](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/Kalib-Child-Cantor.jpg)
Kalib's parents were immigrants from the
Ukraine
Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...
who met and married in Dallas, Texas. His father was a furniture finisher by trade who acquired notable musical skill during his youth in Russia through exposure to his brother's cantorial training. Consequently, Kalib's first musical training was with his father. From him, Kalib acquired not only a solid foundation in rudimentary musicianship but also in the traditions and sanctity of the Eastern European synagogue. Thus, during his youth in Dallas, he mastered the skills of music notation and solfeggio, learned to chant from the
Torah
The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the s ...
, and functioned as a child
chazzan
A ''hazzan'' (; , lit. Hazan) or ''chazzan'' ( he, חַזָּן , plural ; Yiddish ''khazn''; Ladino ''Hasan'') is a Jewish musician or precentor trained in the vocal arts who helps lead the congregation in songful prayer.
In English, thi ...
. This duality of music theory and music of the synagogue proved to be the core of Kalib's life and work.
Kalib's family moved to Chicago in the summer of 1942 where Sylvan enrolled at the Chicago Jewish Academy. The following year, at age fourteen, he was appointed choir leader for Cantor Abraham Kipper, officiary of Jewish High Holidays at the Chicago Rumanian Synagogue, Shaarei Shamayim. Kalib commenced formal study of Western art music at newly founded
Roosevelt University
Roosevelt University is a private university with campuses in Chicago and Schaumburg, Illinois. Founded in 1945, the university was named in honor of United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.
The unive ...
in 1946, where he became the protégé of the eminent Austrian music theorist, and first-generation scholar of
Heinrich Schenker
Heinrich Schenker (19 June 1868 – 14 January 1935) was a Galician-born Austrian music theorist whose writings have had a profound influence on subsequent musical analysis. His approach, now termed Schenkerian analysis, was most fully exp ...
,
Oswald Jonas
Oswald Jonas (January 10, 1897 – March 19, 1978) was a music theorist and musicologist and student of Heinrich Schenker. Despite Schenker's conservative nationalist views Jonas was an admirer of Karl Kraus.
In 1935, Jonas founded the Schenker ...
. As a result, Kalib's art-music aesthetic and chief academic pursuits largely were shaped by the principles and philosophy of Schenkerian theory. Following formal apprenticeship, Jonas remained Kalib's informal mentor and guided him in determination of his Ph.D. dissertation topic. Jonas suggested Kalib cover essays from Schenker's three yearbooks, ''Das Meisterwerk in der Musik,'' and procured copies of the out-of-print volumes, selected the essays he considered most vital and—as neither Schenker nor his wife were alive at the time—garnered permission for Kalib to translate and annotate the essays from Professor
Erwin Ratz Erwin Ratz (22 December 1898, Graz – 12 December 1973, Vienna) was an Austrian musicologist and music theorist. He is known especially for his work as president of the ''Gustav Mahler Gesellschaft'' and for his book ''Einführung in die musikalisc ...
of Vienna (a nephew of Schenker's widow who inherited the rights to Schenker's works).
Kalib led various synagogue choirs in the Chicago area between ages fourteen and eighteen before assuming his first cantorial post, at age nineteen, in 1949. The following year, and throughout the 1950s, he was under the employ of the Jewish Music Institute of the College of Jewish Studies (now the
Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies
Spertus Institute for Jewish Learning and Leadership (Spertus College or Spertus) is a private educational center in Chicago, Illinois. Spertus offers learning opportunities that are "rooted in Jewish wisdom and culture and open to all" although ...
) as instructor of
nusach Nusach can refer to:
* Nusach (Jewish custom)
In Judaism, Nusach ( he, נוסח ''nusaħ'', modern pronunciation ''nusakh'' or ''núsakh''), plural nuschaot () or Modern Hebrew nusachim (), refers to the exact text of a prayer service; sometimes ...
and chazzanut (cantorial art). During this period and beyond, Kalib worked closely with Cantors Todros Greenberg and Joshua Lind, both preeminent cantors of Chicago at that time. From them, Kalib gained further invaluable experience and informal instruction in traditional cantorial as well as synagogue choral repertoire and art. Kalib reciprocated by notating from dictation the entire creative output of Cantor Greenberg, a process which Kalib began at thirteen and continued until Greenberg's death in 1976, and which ultimately resulted in publication of Greenberg's complete works. Similarly, Kalib edited, and prepared for publication, two volumes of works by Cantor Joshua Lind. Kalib gradually acquired a national reputation for exceptionally fine musical arrangements and accompaniments and for his skill in transcribing Ashkenazic cantorial chant as evidenced in the Greenberg and Lind volumes.
He was elected conductor of the choral ensemble of The Cantors’ Association of Chicago in 1953, an ensemble consisting of twenty-five of Chicago's preeminent cantors.
Middle years
Kalib married Goldie Szachter (a
Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
survivor) in 1954 and had two daughters: Ruth and Vivian.
He completed the master's degree in music theory at
DePaul University
DePaul University is a private university, private, Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission, Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from the 17th-centu ...
in 1962 with a thesis entitled ''The Hindemith System: A Critique,'' and worked as a cantor, choral director and teacher of general music in the Chicago public school system from 1960 to 1969. In 1966, Kalib began the Ph.D. in music theory at
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world.
Charte ...
, where he introduced Schenkerian analysis to the faculty (and was, incidentally, classmate to
Joseph Schwantner
Joseph Clyde Schwantner (born March 22, 1943, Chicago, Illinois) is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American composer, educator and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters since 2002. He was awarded the 1970 Charles Ives Prize.
Schwantner ...
, Thom David Mason and Harold Wiesner). Kalib's doctoral dissertation, ''Thirteen Essays from “Das Meisterwerk in der Musik” by Heinrich Schenker: An Annotated Translation,'' Volumes I–III (1969–73), was the first translation of Schenker's ''Yearbooks'' into English and rapidly became a pillar of English-language scholarship in Schenkerian theory. In a letter to Kalib,
Milton Babbitt
Milton Byron Babbitt (May 10, 1916 – January 29, 2011) was an American composer, music theorist, mathematician, and teacher. He is particularly noted for his Serialism, serial and electronic music.
Biography
Babbitt was born in Philadelphia t ...
declared the work to be “referentially clearer than the original,” and it remains among the most effective and important digests in explanation of Schenker's highly complex “prolongational” procedures,
“Chord of Nature,” and general views regarding musical analysis and various disciplines of music. Kalib's work was used widely as a textbook for advanced music theory coursework during the 1970s, ’80s and early ’90s—specifically at Columbia, Harvard, Yale and Purdue Universities, and correspondence among prominent academicians of the time illustrates unanimous deference for his expertise and scholarship:
::“I continue to find it
our workuseful and interesting. Only recently have I become aware of certain of your analyses that I had hitherto overlooked. I think especially of those for the Chopin ''D Flat Major Nocturne,'' Bach’s ''G Minor Fugue (WTC I)'' and Beethoven’s ''Tempest Sonata.'' These are quite impressive, and I plan to study them more.”
::—
Charles Burkhart Charles Burkhart is an American musicologist, theorist, composer, and pianist. He holds the title of Professor Emeritus in the Aaron Copland School of Music, Queens College, and the Graduate Center, City University of New York. He is known especial ...
to Sylvan Kalib, March 27, 1983
Despite rapidly increasing enthusiasm for Schenker theory in American musical academe during the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s—and pending standardization of Schenkerian analysis into the canon of American graduate music theory—Schenker’s highly original theories and analytical techniques were not yet mainstream at the onset of Kalib’s academic career. In fact, as mentioned earlier, it was Kalib who introduced Schenker theory to the faculty of Northwestern University. Later, as “Professor of Music Theory and Literature” at
Eastern Michigan University
Eastern Michigan University (EMU, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern), is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School, the school was the fourth normal school established in the United Sta ...
(1969–1999), under the auspice of “independent studies,” a number of students received advanced private instruction from Kalib in Schenker theory, harmony and counterpoint, and toward the close of his thirty-year professorial career, he taught a course specifically slated to offer all E.M.U. graduate music students the benefit of his specialty.
A fortuitous academic consequence of Kalib's mastery was the exceptional commitment to in-depth training in fundamental areas of music theory within the overall comprehensive approach to the subject at Eastern Michigan University during his tenure. These areas included ear-training, figured bass, voice leading, harmony and counterpoint—disciplines that have, to a significant extent, become relegated to the “pedagogy of music theory” in contemporary academic musical parlance. Kalib's choral works include a concert High Holy Day Service, ''The Days of Awe,'' and a similar concert work for the Sabbath, ''The Day of Rest,'' both for cantor, children's choir and orchestra. Six selections from the latter work were recorded by the
Vienna Boys’ Choir
The Vienna Boys' Choir (german: Wiener Sängerknaben) is a choir of boy sopranos and altos based in Vienna, Austria. It is one of the best known boys' choirs in the world. The boys are selected mainly from Austria, but also from many other count ...
in 2001 as part of the Milken Archive of American Jewish Music featuring the preeminent cantor of the Great Synagogue in Jerusalem,
Naftali Hershtik
Naftali Herstik ( he, נפתלי הרשטיק) (born 1947) is a well known ''chazzan'' (cantor) and teacher. He was born in Salgótarján, Hungary and came with his family to Israel at the age of three. He is descended from a long line of Hazzan, ...
.
Coinciding with the period of his career in academe, Kalib noted that whereas scholarly interest in Schenkerian theory had grown widespread, in-depth, scholarly documentation of significant areas of the traditional synagogue music of his youth remained unaddressed. Kalib's primary research and scholarly pursuits, therefore, gradually returned to his lifelong passion for the traditional art music of the synagogue. While maintaining cantorial posts in Detroit and Flint during his professorial career, and throughout formal sabbaticals, Kalib undertook musicological research in major Jewish communities in North America and Israel, recording and archiving fading historic cantorial tradition and repertoire in one-hundred-and-twenty taped interviews with forty Eastern European professional and lay cantors.
Later years
Kalib formally retired as “Professor Emeritus” from Eastern Michigan University in 1999. In “retirement,” and with renewed resolve, vigor and focus, Kalib resumed work on his landmark musicological tome, ''The Musical Tradition of The Eastern European Synagogue:'' a projected five-volume, twenty-book treatise on Eastern European Ashkenazic liturgical music history, repertoire and tradition. Volumes I and II, ''History and Definition'' and ''The Weekday Services,'' were published by Syracuse University Press in 2002 and 2005 respectively and are lauded by musicologists and ethnomusicologists as definitive texts unprecedented in both scope and focus.
In partnership with his daughter, Ruth Eisenberg, Kalib created the Jewish Music Heritage Project in support of ''The Musical Tradition of The Eastern European Synagogue'' (2005). They also formed a corresponding volunteer choir (conducted by Kalib) to record an exhaustive audio archive as companion to the literary work. The choir produced an ''Inaugural Season'' compact disc—the first in a set of seventy-five planned recordings—but archival recording ceased in 2007 due to insufficient funds and musical resources.
[''The Inaugural Season.'' Eighteen-track sound recording by the Jewish Musical Heritage Project Boy’s and Men’s Choir. Sholom Kalib, conductor. JMHP, Baltimore, MD, 2006.] Kalib continues work in earnest to complete ''The Sabbath Services,'' Volume III of his self-defined “Magnum Opus,” ''The Musical Tradition of The Eastern European Synagogue.''
Publications and salient works
* ''Hechal Han’gina V’hat’fila,'' Vol. I, ''Liturgical and Yiddish Selections,'' for cantor and piano by Todros Greenberg; compiled, arranged and edited by Sholom (Sylvan) Kalib. The Cantor's Assembly, Midwest Region, Chicago, IL, 1961.
* ''The Hindemith System: A Critique.'' Master's Thesis in music theory, DePaul University; Chicago, IL, 1962.
* ''An Anthology of Hazzanic Recitatives for Sabbath and Festivals,'' by Joshua Lind; compiled, arranged and edited by Sholom (Sylvan) Kalib. The Cantor's Assembly, New York, NY, 1965
* Review of ''Der Musik der Bibel'' (Schwann AMS 8), The Journal of The Society for Ethnomusicology, Vol. XIII, no. 3, September 1969: pgs. 584–586.
* ''N’ginot Todros,'' Vol. II, Friday Evening Choral Compositions, by Todros Greenberg; compiled, arranged and edited by Sholom (Sylvan) Kalib. The Cantor's Assembly, Midwest Region, Chicago, IL, 1970.
* ''Thirteen Essays from The Three Yearbooks “Das Meisterwerk in Der Musik,” by Heinrich Schenker: An Annotated Translation.'' (Vol.’s I–III). Ph.D. diss., Northwestern University, 1973.
* ''Rinat Yehoshua: The Complete High Holy Day Service for Hazzan,'' by Joshua Lind; compiled, arranged and edited by Sholom (Sylvan) Kalib. The Cantor’s Assembly, New York, NY, 1974.
* ''Rejoice and Sing.'' Chassidic melodies for three-part youth chorus arranged by Sholom (Sylvan) Kalib, commissioned by the Beth Abraham Youth Chorale, Dayton, OH. Tara Publications, New York, NY, 1975.
* ''The Days of Awe.'' Concert service for the High Holiday liturgy, for cantor, children’s choir and orchestra. Dayton Ohio, 1976.
* Seven selections from ''The Days of Awe.'' The Cantor’s Assembly, New York, NY, 1977.
* ''N’ginot Todros, Vol. IV, High Holiday Services,'' for cantor and choir, by Todros Greenberg; compiled, arranged and edited by Sholom (Sylvan) Kalib. The Cantor’s Assembly, New York, NY, 1978.
* ''The Day of Rest.'' Concert service for the Sabbath liturgy, for cantor, children’s choir, and orchestra. Dayton Ohio, 1978.
* ''Hechal Han’gina V’hat’fila,'' Vol. II, ''Sabbath and Festival Services,'' for cantor, by Todros Greenberg; compiled, arranged and edited by Sholom (Sylvan) Kalib. The Cantor’s Assembly, Midwest Region, Chicago, IL, 1983.
* ''The Lord is My Shepherd.'' Setting for four-part a capella chorus, Mark Foster Music Company, Champaign, Illinois, 1988.
* ''Analysis:
Anthony Iannaccone’s “Apparitions.”'' Journal of Band Research, Vol. 25, no. I; fall 1989: pgs. 2–64.
* ''The Last Selection: A Child's Journey Through the Holocaust.'' Goldie Szachter Kalib, Sylvan (Sholom) Kalib and Ken Wachsberger. The University of Massachusetts Press, Amherst, 1991. .
* ''A Jewish Celebration in Song.'' Vienna Boy’s Choir, music by Sholom (Sylvan) Kalib and Abraham Kaplan. Nineteen-track sound recording, Naxos, Milken Archive of American Jewish Music. Vienna, Austria, 2001. Naxos Catalogue no. 8.559419. Work Choral-Sacred.
* ''The Musical Tradition of The Eastern European Synagogue, Volume I, Introduction: History and Definition.'' Syracuse University Press, 2002. part one, text; part two, music.
* ''The Musical Tradition of The Eastern European Synagogue, Volume II, The Weekday Services'' (covering the Weekday Daily, Minor Holiday and Life-cycle-event services). Syracuse University Press, 2005. .
* ''Great Synagogue Masterpieces: The Day of Rest and The Days of Awe.'' 4 CD Set. Tara Publications, 2005.
* ''The Inaugural Season.'' Eighteen-track sound recording by the Jewish Musical Heritage Project Boy’s and Men’s Choir. Sholom (Sylvan) Kalib, conductor. JMHP, Baltimore, MD, 2006.
Notes
References
* Cantor’s Assembly Website: www.cantors.org
* Eastern Michigan University, Office of Research and Development (ORD), university publications archive.
* Eisenberg, Ruth. Personal and professional correspondence of Sylvan (Sholom) Kalib. Baltimore, MD. Collection spans 1939–2012.
* Gagné, David. ''The Compositional Use of Register in Three Piano Sonatas by Mozart.'' Trends in Schenkerian Research, ed. Allen Cadwallader. New York: Schimer Books, 1990.
*
Idelsohn, Abraham Zevi. ''Thesaurus of Hebrew-Oriental Melodies,'' Vol.’s I–X. 1925–33, Reprint. New York: Schocken Books, 1967.
* __________. ''Jewish Music In Its Historical Development,'' Henry Holt and Company, New York. 1929. Dover reprint, 1992.
* Jewish Music Heritage Project Website: www.jmhp.org
* Jewish Virtual Library Website: www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org
* Laskowski, Larry. ''Heinrich Schenker: An Annotated Index to his Analyses of Musical Works.'' New York: Pendragon Press, 1978.
* Levin, Neil. Sholom (Sylvan) Kalib, Milken Archive of Jewish Music biographical entry.
* Levine, Joseph. Review of audio recording of ''The Days of Awe,'' by Sholom (Sylvan) Kalib. The Journal of Synagogue Music, Vol. VII, no. 2, February 1977: pgs. 50–51.
* Narmour, Eugene. ''Beyond Schenkerism: The Need for Alternatives in Music Analysis.'' Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1977.
* Neumann, Richard. ''The Contributions of Sholom Kalib.'' The Journal of Synagogue Music, Vol. VII, no. 2, February 1977: pgs. 43–46.
* Miliken Archive of Jewish Music Website: www.milkenarchive.org
* Review of the premiere of ''Rejoice and Sing,'' music by Sholom (Sylvan) Kalib, Dayton Daily News Journal Herald. May 5, 1975.
* Review of audio recording of ''The Days of Awe,'' music by Sholom (Sylvan) Kalib. Hadassah Magazine, October 1977.
* Rothstein, William. ''The Americanization of Heinrich Schenker.'' Schenker Studies, ed. Hedi Siegal: pg.’s 193–203. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990.
* Sayre, Paul. Recollections and correspondence with Sylvan (Sholom) Kalib, 1994–2012.
* Schenker Documents Online Website: www.schenkerdocumentsonline.org
* Schwarze, Richard. Review of premiere of ''The Days of Awe,'' by Sholom (Sylvan) Kalib. Dayton Daily News Journal Herald. May 3, 1976.
* __________. Review of premiere of ''The Days of Rest,'' by Sholom (Sylvan) Kalib. Dayton Daily News Journal Herald. May 8, 1978.
* Smith, Tim. ''Uniting in Song to Save a Tradition,'' The Baltimore Sun, Thursday, March 2, 2006.
* The Daily Times Herald, The Daily Morning News and The Jewish American. Dallas, TX, assorted articles and reviews, 1930–1950.
* Watson, Robert W. ''Viennese Harmonic Theory from Albrechtsberger to Schenker and Schoenberg.'' Ann Arbor: U.M.I. Research Press, 1985.
External links
Jewish Music Heritage Project (JMHP)Milken Archive of Jewish Music: Sylvan (Sholom) Kalib
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kalib, Sylvan
American music theorists
Schenkerian analysis
Hazzans
American male composers
21st-century American composers
Jewish American musicians
Jewish classical musicians
American music educators
Living people
1929 births
21st-century American male musicians
21st-century American Jews