A million thanks for the incredible enjoyment I had from listening to and learning the fabulous niggunim sung by the great Reb Ben Zion at this kumzitz. As someone who already knew hundreds of niggunim from Modzitz and RB"Z, I did not believe that I would be able to discover 5 or 6 new gems from this kumzitz alone. Since I am compiling a collection of Reb Ben Zion's best compositions (I'm already at over 100, and it does not include many of those in his recordings), and most of the niggunim sung here were certainly Reb Ben Zion's own compositions - based on what I already knew or what he himself asserted here - I would very much appreciate if you could tell me whether ANY of those sung here were NOT his own compositions (if you are privy to that info). Pesach Kasher V'someach.
I was always a Modzitz fan, having learned dozens of niggunim from my father z"l, who was not a Modzitzer chassid, but who had a phenomenal memory and musical taste, and remembered every niggun that he heard even once. But TBH, I was never a big RBZ fan, as I did not fall in love with the squeekier tone of his later life, and I thought that he only hit it big on a few tunes like Aishes Chayil, Mizmor l'Dovid and several others, while most of his others were short diddies. However, having spent hours culling new niggunim from the Modzitzer sites and esp. the Min ha'Otzar series, I started searching for RBZ's compositions after his petirah, and I was utterly flabbergasted to discover the vast amount, range and musical brilliance of his compositions. This was a true musical genius, who composed waltzes and marches in his teens that few people ever composed in their lifetimes. You can listen to part of my collection in my "Shenker, Benzion" playlist. I am now trying to figure out how to remove his many classics from the Min Ha'Otzar series and from other kumzitzes, including this one.
Absolutely correct. Indeed, on one of the Min HaOtzar disks, he quotes one of the Modzitzer Rebbes as saying that nobody sings a Modzizer niggun as perfectly as RBZ. What amazes me about his compositions is that besides their sheer melodic brilliance (from a general musical sense), he mastered every type of niggun - be it a rikud, a march, a waltz, or a deveikus niggun. I adore Shlomo Carlebach's music, but as original as his pieces are, they are all of the same, instantly identifiable genre.
R' Shlomo and RBZ were classmates, and they both attended R shaul Yedidye's tishen and tefilos in Wiliamsburgh during their high school years in Yeshivs Torah V'Daas. It was during that time that they were able to grow and absorb the musical radiance of that great musical genius, R shaul Yedidye.Zt"l
