An Analysis of Three Selections from Isadore Freed's Six Liturgical Pieces

Abstract

Belarusian-American composer Isadore Freed (1900–1960) was active during his professional career in the Paris (France), New York, and Philadephia areas, and published many significant works for concert stage and Synagogue. He is secondarily known for his work as an organist, an instructor of organ, and a composer for the instrument. As an educator, most critics agree that his most important book was Harmonizing the Jewish Modes (1958) in which Freed aimed to inform cantorial students of the unique rules of harmony surrounding the use of the Jewish modes in compositions and cantillations. His harmony treatise and ideas directly affect his compositional style in his organ pieces. In this document, I will include a brief biography of the composer, discuss the scholarship on the Jewish modes prior to Freed’s treatise, summarize Freed’s contributions to scholarship on the Jewish modes, and analyze three of Freed’s Six Liturgical Pieces (1952) for solo organ– Pastorale, Invocation, and The Lord of All– through the lens of his own deeply-ingrained musical language, cultural heritage, and theoretical ideas.