Missinai Melodies

   Set of Ashkenazic chants originating in the Rhineland from the 12th to 14th centuries, a time of persecution of Jews there. The name "from Sinai" indicates the great veneration accorded these melodies. They are sung on the most solemn feasts of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and the Three Festivals on the following {}keva texts: Tefillah, Shema, Barekhu, Alenu, Kedushah, and Kaddish. They also set certain common prayers otherwise not sung, including Kol Nidre. The great majority have little or no meter; those that have meter are settings of strophic texts from the mid-16th century or later.