Louis Lewandowski

Louis Lewandowski (1821-1894) was one of the most important composers of synagogue music in Germany and has gone down in music history as the greatest reformer of Jewish liturgical music. To this day, his compositions form the foundation of the repertoires of liberal and conservative synagogues around the world. Lewandowski adapted traditional Jewish melodies using the stylistic tools of the European romantic music of his day. His works can thus be seen as an expression of 19th-century German Jewry’s laboriously-achieved balance between tradition and assimilation. This book provides an overview of the life and work of Lewandowski, whose compositions continue to enjoy undiminished popularity throughout the world.