Rabbi Ben Zion Shenker, regarded as perhaps the leading composer of Hasidic prayer melodies, whose music flavored the religious life of Orthodox Jews and influenced popular klezmer bands, died on Sunday in Brooklyn. He was 91.

His death was confirmed by Sruly Fischer, the husband of one of his granddaughters, who said Rabbi Shenker had a heart ailment.

Rabbi Shenker was the foremost composer and singer of the Modzitzer Hasidim, a Polish-rooted Hasidic sect that is known for melodies composed for the texts of Sabbath and holiday prayers, and for humming at moments of spiritual expression.

For the Modzitzer, as for all Hasidim, music and dance are vehicles to bring Jews closer to God, in accord with a philosophy expounded in the 18th century by the founder of Hasidism, the Baal Shem Tov.