Hands down, the most beautiful Cantorial voice I have heard is the voice of Soprano, Cantor Ida Rae Cahana. I heard her the first time at an American Conference of Cantors convention. In pre-COVID times, the whole conference was hushed and packed into a small chapel, famous for it’s acoustics, for the purpose of experiencing these acoustics in an intimate Mincha service.
Luckily I arrived early, so I was able to sit in the wooden pews up towards the front; I could have been part of the large overflow into and down the hallway leading to the chapel and not had a full sound experience.
Cantor Cahana opened the program singing a psalm to a traditional Ladino melody. From there, other members continued the beautiful service. I don’t remember exactly what Cantor Cahana sang, however I was blown away by her sound, her artistry and her poise.
I am sharing a recording of her singing, The Voice of my Beloved from The Cycle of Life in Synagogue and Home, Volume 4/Album 3 from the Miliken Archives of Jewish Music. This is a piece you would probably not be familiar with; it is an Art Song setting of a portion of the Song of Songs (ancient Hebrew love poetry) composed by Max Helfman, a renowned mid-century Jewish composer.
Lyrics
The voice of my beloved!
Behold, he cometh,
Leaping upon the mountains,
Skipping upon the hills.
My beloved spake, and said unto me:
Arise, my love, arise, my fair one,
And come away, and come away.
For, lo, the winter is past;
The rain is over and gone;
The flowers appear on the earth;
The time of the singing of birds is come;
And the voice of the turtle is heard in the land;
The fig trees ripeneth her green figs,
And the vines are in blossom,
They give forth their fragrance.
Ah, arise, my love.
Arise, my fair one, and come away,
For, lo, the winter is past, the rains are over and gone (ah!).
