Julius Mombach

Julius (Israel Lazarus) Mombach (1813 – February 1880) was a 19th-century English synagogue composer. regards him as "the most important of the composers of synagogue music in the Anglo-Jewish tradition of the 19th Century" whilst doesn't even restrict this assessment to England.

His compositions started from the traditional modes of synagogue music, but extended to include German and English folk song and contemporary classical themes. His style was influenced by Mendelssohn, and motifs from Elijah appear in a number of his pieces.

Life Mombach was born in Pfungstadt, Germany in 1813, the son of a cantor. Pfungstadt is a small town to the south of Darmstadt in central Germany. The family name comes from the town of Mombach near Mainz. The cantor traditionally sang in a trio with a meshorrer and a bass. In 1827, Mombach would have been 14, and it is unknown whether his voice had broken; in practice this was not a major issue, as the meshorrer could be either a treble or a tenor. Mombach remained at the Synagogue and took musical instruction from Elias. The post of cantor remained vacant until 1832, when Simon Ascher of Gröningen was appointed. He had "a fine, clear tenor, whose florid style of recitative with frequent roulades long remained a beloved memory with London Jews". It purports to be the definitive compendium of his compositions and arrangements, but there is much in it claimed for Mombach that he did not compose (nor perhaps even arrange), including certain melodies which other sources would indicate had been in use at the Great in at least 1800 if not earlier.

Mombach's influence extended beyond London to the whole of England and beyond into the Empire. He was noted as a fine pianist. Beyond the two synagogues, he taught Chazanut (the cantor's art) at Jews' College and he also taught singing to the pupils of the Sabbath classes of the Association for Religious Instruction. He conducted concerts at the Jewish Workingmen's Club in Aldgate, and served as a member of the Committee for the Diffusion of Religious Knowledge.

Mombach arranged choirs for all the main events that took place in the religious life of the Ashkenazi communities throughout England, and many of his pupils went on to become cantors in English and colonial synagogues. With the exception of those selections written in the traditional modes, most of his settings are a blend of the popular German and English folk song.

writing on the Zemel Choir's website, says that "Mombach is very singable (in melody and harmony) and it is for that reason that so much has indeed survived as the traditional backbone of Anglo-Jewish synagogue music. His compositional style owes quite a bit to Mendelssohn, and it is noteworthy that motifs from Elijah appear in a number of his pieces."

summarises his importance by saying that as a composer of synagogue music Mombach was equalled only by Solomon Sulzer of Vienna, and a large proportion of the now-famous Anglo-Jewish choral melodies were first familiarised by him and his collaborators. To him is due in large measure that dignified, simple tradition of sacred music which, spreading from the Great Synagogue, has become characteristic of the Anglo-Jewish synagogal tradition everywhere to our own day.

Recordings The Zemel Choir recorded one of his several settings for Psalm 24 (L'Dovid Mizmor) on The English Tradition of Jewish Choral Music.

Several of his pieces (including the Boruch Habo) are included in a recording of Music of the Victorian Synagogue by the London Jewish Male Choir and The Old Synagogue Singers.