Posts by Daniel Halfon
423 posts
https://youtu.be/m0Q1qbn2vOQThe sixth and final offering in the countdown to Pesach series is Baruch Habba. This concluding selection of the Hallel is sung to a close derivative of the melody for Az Yashir Moshe, variants of which are known in all Spanish and Portuguese Sephardi communities. The version here, arranged by Raymond Goldstein, is based on the current style of Amsterdam, which has inco...
https://youtu.be/m0Q1qbn2vOQThe sixth and final offering in the countdown to Pesach series is Baruch Habba. This concluding selection of the Hallel is sung to a close derivative of the melody for Az Yashir Moshe, variants of which are known in all Spanish and Portuguese Sephardi communities. The version here, arranged by Raymond Goldstein, is based on the current style of Amsterdam, which has inco...
https://youtu.be/b6E_mvkhz6MThis melody, the fifth in the countdown to Pesach series, is sung in the Spanish and Portuguese Sephardi communities of New York and Philadelphia. It is not known in either Amsterdam or London. Somewhat unusually, it is set in a minor key and reserved exclusively for the Min Hametsar passage from the Hallel (Psalm 118, verses 5-20). Mo’adim Lesimcha Tizku Leshanim Rab...
https://youtu.be/b6E_mvkhz6MThis melody, the fifth in the countdown to Pesach series, is sung in the Spanish and Portuguese Sephardi communities of New York and Philadelphia. It is not known in either Amsterdam or London. Somewhat unusually, it is set in a minor key and reserved exclusively for the Min Hametsar passage from the Hallel (Psalm 118, verses 5-20). Mo’adim Lesimcha Tizku Leshanim Rab...
https://youtu.be/pNY3HYIJUGIThis melody, the fourth offering in the countdown to Pesach series, is known by the London Spanish and Portuguese choir as the 'Number 3' Hallel. Because of its brevity and succinctness, it is invariably the setting of choice for Arbit on the first two nights of Pesach.This tune is not known in New York but does have a counterpart in Amsterdam. Mo’adim Lesimcha Tizku L...
https://youtu.be/pNY3HYIJUGIThis melody, the fourth offering in the countdown to Pesach series, is known by the London Spanish and Portuguese choir as the 'Number 3' Hallel. Because of its brevity and succinctness, it is invariably the setting of choice for Arbit on the first two nights of Pesach.This tune is not known in New York but does have a counterpart in Amsterdam. Mo’adim Lesimcha Tizku L...
https://youtu.be/mQsfdPI8l9IThe third offering in this countdown to Pesach series is Shezufat Shemesh another selection from the Tikkun Tal. This version is based on the style of New York which is a more measured, largo version of the high-pressure variant that has evolved in the London community.Mo’adim Lesimcha Tizku Leshanim Rabbot
https://youtu.be/mQsfdPI8l9IThe third offering in this countdown to Pesach series is Shezufat Shemesh another selection from the Tikkun Tal. This version is based on the style of New York which is a more measured, largo version of the high-pressure variant that has evolved in the London community.Mo’adim Lesimcha Tizku Leshanim Rabbot
https://youtu.be/5Ho-CQtL0YkThe second offering in this countdown to Pesach series is Lekh Leshalom Geshem.This piyyut forms part of the Tikkun Tal sung on the first day of the Yom Tov. The melody is an ancient variant of the family of pan-European melodies of which a much later iteration is the ‘Hatikva’, the national anthem of the State of Israel. Mo’adim Lesimcha Tizku Leshanim Rabbot
https://youtu.be/5Ho-CQtL0YkThe second offering in this countdown to Pesach series is Lekh Leshalom Geshem.This piyyut forms part of the Tikkun Tal sung on the first day of the Yom Tov. The melody is an ancient variant of the family of pan-European melodies of which a much later iteration is the ‘Hatikva’, the national anthem of the State of Israel. Mo’adim Lesimcha Tizku Leshanim Rabbot
https://youtu.be/opQGQqKfWdQPesach is just a week away, so in the days remaining until Yom Tob I am taking the opportunity to post melodies from across the Spanish and Portuguese tradition that are associated with the festivalThe first in the series is a melody for Yitgadal, which is sung in the London Spanish and Portuguese community on the first evening of each of the Shalosh Regalim.Mo’adim Les...
https://youtu.be/opQGQqKfWdQPesach is just a week away, so in the days remaining until Yom Tob I am taking the opportunity to post melodies from across the Spanish and Portuguese tradition that are associated with the festivalThe first in the series is a melody for Yitgadal, which is sung in the London Spanish and Portuguese community on the first evening of each of the Shalosh Regalim.Mo’adim Les...
https://youtu.be/vFX1uXoVIdYThe Purim Story in 20 seconds told by Don Meghilane
Here is my playlist of all the chapters of מגילת אסתרשמחת פורים!
https://youtu.be/wDqFEIIDelcIn honour of Shabbat Shira here is repost of a recording I made four years ago.The Shirat Hayam - Az Yashir Moshe - is perhaps the earliest recorded communally performed song in the Jewish tradition. D.A. de Sola cites an unnamed medieval source that identifies the melody, then known in Spain, as the very one sung by Miriam and her companions following the crossing of t...
https://youtu.be/CCBKHgPc5rU## Adon Olam - S.W. WaleyThe OED (Oxford English Dictionary) characterises the verb ‘take’ as “one of the elemental words of the English language”, and lists around 85 uses.Many of these uses were integral to, and indeed identifiers of, the patois spoken among the choir members of the Spanish and Portuguese congregation of London. It was, by default, the verb used to de...
https://youtu.be/CCBKHgPc5rU## Adon Olam - S.W. WaleyThe OED (Oxford English Dictionary) characterises the verb ‘take’ as “one of the elemental words of the English language”, and lists around 85 uses.Many of these uses were integral to, and indeed identifiers of, the patois spoken among the choir members of the Spanish and Portuguese congregation of London. It was, by default, the verb used to de...
[https://youtu.be/yV_n0ADwmfw](https://youtu.be/yV_n0ADwmfw?fbclid=IwAR1n9LmnCNW4eB9TgB8vjIw7pYYGNSV2HqtUC0HxJGR0UiteLIQPl7oqrsY)## An ‘Amazing’ Adon OlamWhat do the following have in common?The *Agnus Dei* from Verdi’s *Requiem*; the Scottish ballad *Coming Through the Rye;* *Variations on a Theme *by Corelli; and the Christmas carol, *God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen*.Well, they are all - to varying ...
https://youtu.be/wbqr4Cq8zsA**Adon Olam - Todot El Melody | Amsterdam**The music relating to home ceremonies has been much better preserved in the Dutch and North American Spanish and Portuguese communities than it has in London. Despite the fact that many of the London tunes to be sung in the home were meticulously notated by De Sola and Aguilar in the mid-nineteenth century, the actual practice ...
https://youtu.be/wbqr4Cq8zsA**Adon Olam - Todot El Melody | Amsterdam**The music relating to home ceremonies has been much better preserved in the Dutch and North American Spanish and Portuguese communities than it has in London. Despite the fact that many of the London tunes to be sung in the home were meticulously notated by De Sola and Aguilar in the mid-nineteenth century, the actual practice ...
https://youtu.be/-eDayduKfKU## Adon Olam C.G. Verrinder***Adon Olam*** is a singularly important *piyyut* and not only from the point of view of its content. As my friend Jonathan Greenstein - *kapellmeister* of the *Kolot Ha’esnoga* - points out, it’s the memory of that melody that congregants take with them as they depart the synagogue and make their way to the *kiddush*; and depending on the qu...
https://youtu.be/-eDayduKfKU## Adon Olam C.G. Verrinder***Adon Olam*** is a singularly important *piyyut* and not only from the point of view of its content. As my friend Jonathan Greenstein - *kapellmeister* of the *Kolot Ha’esnoga* - points out, it’s the memory of that melody that congregants take with them as they depart the synagogue and make their way to the *kiddush*; and depending on the qu...
https://youtu.be/pqaw2TYJ4EAA syncopated arrangement of this Ladino favourite by my son Mordechai.Shabbat Shalom and Hanukah Sameach.
https://youtu.be/pqaw2TYJ4EAA syncopated arrangement of this Ladino favourite by my son Mordechai.Shabbat Shalom and Hanukah Sameach.
[https://youtu.be/j65GblCMo74](https://youtu.be/j65GblCMo74?fbclid=IwAR0PO85tiN9VaCMsZV-XN2NDg23Q7buOcj_xhWy2gqdyvCn59LqGsvJKnwM)Forty years ago, one of my 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙚𝙧𝙤𝙨 𝙙𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙤 at Congregation Shearith Israel in New York was a singularly engaging and pious gentleman. His only apparent shortcoming was the habit he had of arriving at the synagogue well beyond a time that could be described as ‘...