Thursday, January 08, 2004

Spritual Composition

Here's an interesting Forward article on composer Daniel Asia.

Ineresting 'graph:
"It was his introduction to the chasidic niggun, a wordless vocal chant, at an Upper West Side minyan in the late 1970s that steered Asia back toward the old-fashioned idea of viewing music as a means to connect with a higher power. The intense davening of the shtiebl-like minyan opened up a wellspring of creativity for Asia that imbued the very act of composing with spirituality."
I've heard similar sentiments expressed by many other Jewish composers and musicians. What's interesting is that no one appears to view the JM coming out of the Brooklyn scene today in the same way. It would seem that the religious community ought to be producing the most spiritual Jewish music, but with rare exception it doesn't.