How many worshipers or listeners have been moved by the venerable strains of the Synagogue These melodies, rich in memories, were often the subjects of heated controversies regarding their age, authenticity, provenance, and especially their resemblance to German or Polish popular songs. Now for the first time the history of these songs, their liturgical, musical, social, and political background has been thoroughly examined and comprehensively described by the leading authority in the field of Jewish and Early Christian music.

The folk songs of Germany, Poland, France, and Italy have left their vestiges in the musical tradition of the Ashkenazic (German-Austrian-Polish- Russian) Synagogue. A critical history and morphology of that tradition, this book presents new facts, corrects old errors, and contains more than two hundred musical examples. Beginning a millennium ago with prototypes of the synagogue chant, Dr. Werner shows the differences between original folk song and its stylization, between Christian and Jewish esthetics of religious music. The interaction between secular romantic music and synagogal music is traced. Other major topics are the relations among Spanish, Italian, and German Jews; the divergence of Eastern and Western European styles; and regional influences that often outweighed liturgical ones."