Salomon Sulzer

Salomon Sulzer was dubbed the “father of modern synagogue music” thanks to his influence on nineteenth-century Jewish liturgy. Born in Austria, trained from a young age as a cantor, and given his first cantorial appointment in his hometown of Hohenems, Sulzer recast music for holy days, Sabbath services, and non-Jewish events, adding harmony, organ sounds, and special flourishes to beloved traditional songs. Sulzer’s influence was immense and widespread, and it carried over into the century after his death. In life, he published two major volumes of synagogue melodies and was lauded by Franz Schubert, Franz Liszt, and other famous European composers.