Roitman did compose both those numbers. There is a well known fable that Roitman sued Rosenblatt over his recordings of them. I’ve tried, via Westlaw, to find a record of the case and came up with nothing. Moreover, while I’m not an expert in copyright, I don’t think there is a basis at law for a suit. Many peices recorded by Rosenblatt were composed by others, like the Zemachson’s Lo Sachmod. People somehow have the mistaken notion that chazzanim who were themselves composers ONLY sang their own material. It isn’t true. Kwartin, for example, sang many of Sulzer’s compositions when at the amud. Rosenblatt sang Rovner’s music at the amud. Ganchoff sang Alter and Rappaport’s music and outright patterned certain of his compositions after Rappaport’s versions of the same text. The only chazzan I know who flat out refused to sing anything he did not compose was Glantz. And even he once recorded Schlossberg’s R’tze.
Menu