Portrait of the Cantor Salomon Sulzer - Lithograph - Vienna, mid-19th Century

Portrait of the Cantor Salomon Sulzer - Lithograph - Vienna, mid-19th Century
Portrait of the Cantor Salomon Sulzer, lithograph by Eduard Kaiser [published by Reiffenstein & Roesch], Vienna, [mid-19th century]. Salomon (Shlomo) Sulzer (1804-1890), Austrian cantor, composer and conductor. At the age of 16 he became a cantor in his hometown Hohenems. When the great synagogue in Vienna - the Stadttempel - was opened, Sulzer was invited to serve there as a cantor, and was one of the developers of the "Wiener Ritus" (Viennese liturgical rite). Sulzer composed a permanent musical sequence for the prayer, opposing the improvisations which were common until then; organized a choir in the synagogue; published his compositions and musical adaptations, and taught many cantors. His style spread all over Western Europe and cantors inspired by him were called "Sulzer cantors". A handwritten dedication (part of which is lacking) appears on the lower part of the lithograph: "to Alois Kaiser, Cantor in Baltimore". Presumably, Sulzer dedicated his portrait to Alois Kaiser, an American cantor, born in Hungary, one of the first cantors in the United States and cantor in the Oheb Shalom congregation in Baltimore. As a boy, Kaiser sang in Sulzer’s choir at the Vienna synagogue. Approx. 30X44 cm. Fair-poor condition. Large open tears on bottom, damaging the dedication and the printer's details. Small open tears at margins and along folding lines. Long tears. Creases. Stains. Framed.