The Copernic synagogue is the only synagogue in France where all religious services are accompanied by an organ, a mixed professional choir and a ‘cantor with an exceptional voice.
The musical tradition of the Copernic synagogue is derived from the so-called “consistorial” music, a liturgical corpus impulsed during the nineteenth century by the Consistory of the time, thanks to French composers such as Samuel Naumbourg or Samuel David. These composers had to write on score the hitherto orally transmitted traditional melodies, or to write original compositions. Successors such as Jules Franck or Leon Algazi, as well as foreign composers, the most famous one being Louis Lewandowski, completed the Copernic liturgy. This liturgical tradition was enriched by works by Salomone Rossi, very innovative for the time (Venice, around 1600) as well as by many Sephardic melodies.
