Mood Mix with Yanky Lemmer

Which songs have become the soundtrack of these days of tefillah and rachamim? Is there a particular song that gets you into the Elul mood?

Anything Selichos related, so of course there’s “Vehaviosim,” and “Haneshama Lach,” and Eitan Katz’s “Lema’ancha,” which I like to use for Kedushah leading up to the Yamim Noraim.

How many hours does it take you to prepare for the Rosh Hashanah tefillos?

My mind is consumed with Rosh Hashanah davening from immediately after the summer ends, both consciously and subconsciously. I get calls from other chazzanim and baalei tefillah who want to sit down and compare notes and exchange tips, so I prepare myself.

Which points of the davening most inspire the crowd to join in?

That depends on how well the chazzan cues the olam. We’ve had a pre-Yom Tov workshop on the Upper West Side for cantors these past few years, and one of the things an experienced chazzan knows is how to get the message across that the congregation should join in. For example, there are certain signatures, used at the end of certain sections, which finish off slow, on a certain low key so that the crowd naturally responds “Oy, yoy yoy yoy yoy yoy yoy, oy yoy yoy yoy yoy.” That is pretty universal in Ashkenazi congregations.

What’s your all-time favorite Kedushah niggun?   

I like to use whatever matches the theme of the current parshah or Yom Tov. That means, for example, “Haneshamah Lach” before the Yamim Noraim, “Yevanim” before Chanukah, and the like.