The Nationwide Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage

March 13, 2020. We are very pleased that, on our initiative, the “Revitalization of Synagogue Choral Music of the 19th and 20th Centuries of Central and Eastern Europe” has been included in the Nationwide Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage – as a good saveguarding praxis example for the preservation of the cultural heritage!

Since its foundation in 1962, the Leipziger Synagogalchor has devoted itself exclusively to Jewish music. The main concerns of the choir are the synagogue chants that emerged in the liberal synagogues (equipped with organs). The inclusion in the Nationwide Inventory of Intangible Cultural Heritage has long been a concern for which we have won numerous other ensembles and institutions (Synagogal Ensemble Berlin, Shalom Chor Berlin, Synagogalchor Hanover, Synagogue Choir Dresden, Abraham Geiger College Potsdam, University of Music Weimar / Chair for the History of Jewish Music, Villa Seligmann Hanover, Louis Lewandowski Festival Berlin) for a joint application to the German UNESCO Commission under our leadership.

The letter from the commission states: “The committee of experts recognizes that this musical tradition is based on European-Christian music, but at the same time has preserved its Jewish roots. With the seizure of power by the National Socialists in the 1930s and the subsequent destruction of the synagogues and persecution of the Jews, the synagogue choral music also disappeared. It is particularly positive to note that the music tradition is being revived today by some choirs who study and develop the repertoire of the composers of synagogue choral music – also in exchange with each other – and perform them in concerts and festivals.“