Shlomo Yakov Weber discusses how his father has been a guide and an inspiration, and how he’s developed his own style along the way
In my experience, clients are divided around 50-50. Half the people want classic niggunim like “Kah Echsof,” “Machnisei Rachamim,” or “Vezakeini,” and the other half want more contemporary tunes. Recently, the up-to-date people are requesting Gershy Uri’s “Mi Adir,” and also a new Yiddish song — a prayer for children — by Mendel Rose.
Nowadays people request songs that are meaningful to their own family. If there are songs that the father always sings with the children at the Shabbos table, or the mother sings with them after she bentshes licht, I’ll incorporate them as the father prepares to dance the mitzvah tantz with his child, and that carries special memories for them. If one of the mechutanim waited many years for children, I might sing “El Hanaar Hazeh Hispalalti.” I also sometimes turn to classics like “Bilvavi Mishkan Evneh,” and I find that the melodies my father composed for Michoel Schnitzler a”h, which he wrote to accompany grammen-style Yiddish lyrics, also work very well.
Rebbishe weddings involve a lot of forethought, as the grammen must be prepared to a very high standard. I do regular weddings, and I also sometimes have the high-end ones, where the choir stays on to provide backup vocals for the mitzvah tantz. That takes much more work, because I have to prepare the harmonies for them. Occasionally someone makes a chuppah at 5 p.m. and books an early mitzvah tantz, and then I’ll badchan twice in one night.
I once traveled from Williamsburg to a wedding in Monroe, and realized when I arrived that I didn’t have my notes with all the family information and my presentation. Although I felt a bit lost, there was no way out, and I had to pull out grammen on the spot. Hashem gave me the extra kochos I needed, and my brain worked on adrenaline.
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