Cantorial skill is to resurrect old words and infuse them with new meaning. In prayer, a man must enter the word with all that he has and is. It is the task and goal of the cantor to guide the worshipper in this endeavor. It is here that music enters. The difference between a spoken word and a word set to music is that music is the refutation of human finality.
Music is an antidote to words becoming slogans.
It reaches out to that which lies beyond the capacity of verbal propositions. As such, listening to music is a shattering experience. It throws the listener into an aspect of reality, which the mind cannot grasp and a word on its own cannot reach. When listening to chazanuth one should become smitten and never recover from the spiritual blow. This is the purpose of chazanuth.