Salomon Sulzer

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Salomon Sulzer, lithograph by Eduard Kaiser , 1840

Salomon Sulzer (born March 30, 1804 in Hohenems , Vorarlberg ; died January 17, 1890 in Vienna ) was an Austrian chasan and sacred musician.

Life

Memorial plaque on the house where he was born

Salomon Sulzer came from a Jewish family who had come to Hohenems from Sulz near Rankweil in Vorarlberg after the local Jewish community was expelled in 1744. In 1813 the family took the name Sulzer ; previously it was called Levi .

The young Salomon Sulzer

Sulzer was supposed to be the successor to his father, who owned a prosperous trading company. But the young Salomon Levi almost drowned as a child in 1811. Since this disaster turned out mildly, the family vowed to train the son to be a chasan or rabbi .

In 1817 the position of cantor in the Jewish community of Hohenems became vacant and the family pushed for an application. The argument that he was still too young - Sulzer was just 13 years old - was refuted by the fact that he had taken off the bar mitzvah and was therefore no longer a child. Nevertheless, it took an act of grace by Emperor Franz I to confirm Sulzer in his office. This was done on the condition that he had to prepare for this office over the next three years.

Sulzer became a student of Rabbi Lippman . In 1818 Sulzer traveled through France with his teacher. After returning, he went to Karlsruhe for a year to study music.

In 1820, at the age of 16, he was able to take over the position of cantor in Hohenems. In addition to his official duties, he founded a choir and a small orchestra. During this time Sulzer supported some of his musicians financially. But since the cantor's salary was rather meager, it is assumed that his family supported him actively.

Salomon Sulzer in later years

In 1825 Isaak Noah Mannheimer brought Sulzer to Vienna to the local community . In addition to his official business in Vienna, he also studied in the city ​​temple , a. a. Composition by Ritter Ignaz von Seyfried . In 1828, at Sulzer's request , Franz Schubert composed Psalm 92 (song for the Sabbath) for the community, which Moses Mendelssohn had translated.

Hardly in Vienna, Sulzer married Fanni Hirschfeld from Hohenems. He had 16 children with her: Maria (* 1828), Hermann (* 1829), Julius (* 1830), Hermine (* 1831), Henriette (* 1832), Klara (* 1834), Bertha (* 1835), Rosalie (* 1836), Caroline (* 1837), Theodor (* 1839), Sophie (* 1840), Rachel (* 1843), Auguste (* 1844), Carl (* 1846), Joseph (* 1850) and Franziska (* 1856). The latter married the journalist Paul d'Abrest .

In 1844 Sulzer was appointed professor of singing at the Conservatory of the Society of Friends of Music . He held this teaching post until 1847.

Salomon Sulzer made the breakthrough for Jewish worship with his chants from the Shir Zion Collection . After inquiries came in from numerous European countries, Sulzer had his work published in 1838, which now reformed the Jewish liturgy. Synagogue singing, which was traditionally orthodox up to now, has been Europeanized, so to speak. New compositions should not be ruled out, although important Christian composers should serve as models.

Grave of Salomon Sulzer in the Vienna Central Cemetery

Salomon Sulzer rests in the Israelite Department of the Vienna Central Cemetery . The former synagogue of Hohenems was renovated in 2003/2004 and the Salomon-Sulzer-Saal was named after him.

Awards

Works

  • Oriental love greeting
  • Shir Zion 1 (1838)
  • Dudaʼim: small liturgical hymn book (1860)
  • Shir Zion 2 (1869)
  • Zikkaron (1890)

literature

Web links

Commons : Salomon Sulzer  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Abraham Zvi Idelsohn : Jewish Music - Its Historical Development. Henry Holt & Company, New York 1929, p. 249.