Israel Lovy

Israel Lovy (1773–1832), also known as Israel Glogow and Israel Furth, was a chazzan, composer, and choir organizer who worked across German-speaking Europe before settling in Paris. He became known for his concert touring, for introducing choral reforms in the Paris synagogue, and for liturgical settings later published as Chants Religieux.

Early life and training​

Lovy was born in Schottland, near Danzig, into a musical family. His father served as chazzan in Glogow, and Lovy became a meshorrer to chazzan Yitzchak Glogow, where he became very popular due to the quality of his voice and musical talent. Lovy became an orphan early in life, losing both parents within a year, and by age 13 he was already acting as an assistant chazzan and traveling among communities in Moravia, Bohemia, Saxony, and Bavaria. He sought out leading cantors of the period and studied the music of Joseph Haydn and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Furth and concert activity​

From 1799 to 1806 Lovy served as chazzan in Furth (succeeding Isaac of Prosnitz), where he deepened his musical education, becoming proficient in violin, cello, and piano, and developing fluency in French and Italian. Furth was one of the most prosperous communities in Germany at that time, and very fond of music.

During this period he gave public concerts in Nuremberg, which was unusual for a Jewish musician. He was invited by Maximilian Joseph, Duke of Bavaria, to sing the tenor part in Haydn’s The Creation at a court concert in Aschaffenburg. Lovy also sang duets with famous singers of his time, such as Angelica Catalani and became close friends with a number of leading composers including Ferdinando Paer and Gioachino Rossini.

Mainz, Strasbourg, London, and Paris​

After leaving Furth, Lovy held short tenures in Mainz and Strasbourg. In 1818 he settled in Paris and became chazzan at the Rue Sainte-Avoye synagogue. In 1822 he moved to the newly founded Synagogue de Nazareth, where the community introduced an organ and a boys’ chorus. Lovy organized a four-part choir and composed a complete annual service for the synagogue, making him one of the earliest synagogue musicians to adopt a modern choral format in France.

Compositions and legacy​

Lovy wrote a large body of synagogue music and was regarded as a leading singer of his era. A selection of his works was published posthumously by his family as Chants Religieux in 1862. Some of his melodies spread far beyond France, and at least one was later adapted by Abraham Goldfaden in his opera Shulamith. Some were also republished by Samuel Naumbourg in his works for the synagogue.

Unfortunately, Lovy's project overall did not have the same endurance as that of Sulzer, Naumbourg or Lewandowski, probably because his compositions represented much more of a schism from the existing traditional melodies. Lovy died in Paris on 7 January 1832 and was buried in the North-Montmartre Cemetery.

Publications​