Posts by Daniel Halfon
423 posts
[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 ‘...
https://youtu.be/iexL8lL4ZYsA recording of the beautiful romanca “Arvoles Lloran Por Luvias” which has a special place in the hearts and memories of Rhodeslis.The arrangement is by my son Mordechai.
https://youtu.be/iexL8lL4ZYsA recording of the beautiful romanca “Arvoles Lloran Por Luvias” which has a special place in the hearts and memories of Rhodeslis.The arrangement is by my son Mordechai.
https://youtu.be/u_0zJvZbPiUGrowing up in the Spanish and Portuguese congregation of London, I must confess to having been somewhat nonplussed by the musical treatment meted out there to the singing of LeDavid Baruch and Lamnatseach Binginot (Psalms 144 and 67) which introduce Arbit at the close of Shabbat. What was sung was, in essence, a hurried and pared down version of the beautiful and majest...
https://youtu.be/u_0zJvZbPiUGrowing up in the Spanish and Portuguese congregation of London, I must confess to having been somewhat nonplussed by the musical treatment meted out there to the singing of LeDavid Baruch and Lamnatseach Binginot (Psalms 144 and 67) which introduce Arbit at the close of Shabbat. What was sung was, in essence, a hurried and pared down version of the beautiful and majest...
https://youtu.be/S5BE2QQT2JsA dear friend of mine from Amsterdam once asked me: how do we know that Giuseppe Verdi was Sephardi? His answer: if he had been Ashkenazi he would have written ‘La Travioso’. More about Verdi later…There are some selections within the Spanish and Portuguese tradition which can be sung to a variety of melodies. Sometimes the choice will be determined by the occasion, whi...
https://youtu.be/S5BE2QQT2JsA dear friend of mine from Amsterdam once asked me: how do we know that Giuseppe Verdi was Sephardi? His answer: if he had been Ashkenazi he would have written ‘La Travioso’. More about Verdi later…There are some selections within the Spanish and Portuguese tradition which can be sung to a variety of melodies. Sometimes the choice will be determined by the occasion, whi...
https://youtu.be/AUksbMGLoPcThe Spanish and Portuguese chant for Achot Katana is undoubtedly of Iberian origin, and yet arrestingly it has has no cognates in the the wider Sephardi diaspora. My son Mordechai wrote this arrangement based on the London variant which I wanted to share with you.
https://youtu.be/AUksbMGLoPcThe Spanish and Portuguese chant for Achot Katana is undoubtedly of Iberian origin, and yet arrestingly it has has no cognates in the the wider Sephardi diaspora. My son Mordechai wrote this arrangement based on the London variant which I wanted to share with you.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvd3h2QBHjxRC5cGNlE_frXW2TGPzsIRqDear friends, Here is a playlist of some of the beautiful melodies in our tradition associated with the coming Yamim Nora’im. Wishing you all Tizku Lshanim Rabbot, Tikhleh Shana Vekileloteha - Tachel Shana Ubirkhoteha.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvd3h2QBHjxRC5cGNlE_frXW2TGPzsIRqDear friends, Here is a playlist of some of the beautiful melodies in our tradition associated with the coming Yamim Nora’im. Wishing you all Tizku Leshanim Rabbot, Tikhleh Shana Vekileloteha - Tachel Shana Ubirkhoteha.
https://youtu.be/ZW8e5anG-toKaddish TitkabbalThe Spanish and Portuguese tradition has created a sort of musical hallmark in uniquely applying one of the most widely used motifs for psalmody in the Sephardi world to the chanting of the Kaddish. This recording of the London version of Kaddish Titkabbal has a four part harmonic arrangement for the phrase ‘Kabbel Berachamim Ubratson Et Tefilatenu’ wh...
https://youtu.be/ZW8e5anG-toKaddish TitkabbalThe Spanish and Portuguese tradition has created a sort of musical hallmark in uniquely applying one of the most widely used motifs for psalmody in the Sephardi world to the chanting of the Kaddish. This recording of the London version of Kaddish Titkabbal has a four part harmonic arrangement for the phrase ‘Kabbel Berachamim Ubratson Et Tefilatenu’ wh...
https://youtu.be/hdfR28ZnlFMBemakhelot is the concluding segment of the piyyut Nishmat Kol Chai. The melody is of considerable antiquity and is known across much of the western Sephardi diaspora. The Spanish and Portuguese communities of London and New York include it in their repertoires, albeit with different rhythmic treatments. And in the latter, variations of the chant are used responsively i...
https://youtu.be/hdfR28ZnlFMBemakhelot is the concluding segment of the piyyut Nishmat Kol Chai. The melody is of considerable antiquity and is known across much of the western Sephardi diaspora. The Spanish and Portuguese communities of London and New York include it in their repertoires, albeit with different rhythmic treatments. And in the latter, variations of the chant are used responsively i...
Today, Sunday August 16, I'll be giving in the second lecture on S&P Kabbalat Shabbat melodies in a live webinar series 1-2PM (EDT)/ 8-9PM (Israel), August 9-30th, for SHIN-DC's Music of the Western Sephardic Tradition (MOWST) program. In this session I will be focusing, among other things, on the Kaddish. I will explore its origins and significance and showcase a variety of the melodies that are ...
Today, Sunday August 16, I'll be giving in the second lecture on S&P Kabbalat Shabbat melodies in a live webinar series 1-2PM (EDT)/ 8-9PM (Israel), August 9-30th, for SHIN-DC's Music of the Western Sephardic Tradition (MOWST) program. In this session I will be focusing, among other things, on the Kaddish. I will explore its origins and significance and showcase a variety of the melodies that are ...
[https://youtu.be/eTta-W3VM-4](https://youtu.be/eTta-W3VM-4?fbclid=IwAR0omw2zAit9p4MOsK9YaNLFVBi5c5Wuc7vi4LgB1_qRNAXXWwJ3xKshGOs)NIshmat Kol Chai is an ancient piyyut chanted on Shabbat and Mo’adim at the opening to Shachrit. It also forms part of the Hallel Hagadol sung on Pesach at the Haggadah.In the middle ages there emerged an intriguing, not to say controversial, narrative concerning its ...
https://youtu.be/eTta-W3VM-4NIshmat Kol Chai is an ancient piyyut chanted on Shabbat and Mo’adim at the opening to Shachrit. It also forms part of the Hallel Hagadol sung on Pesach at the Haggadah.In the middle ages there emerged an intriguing, not to say controversial, narrative concerning its authorship. According to an opinion championed by no less an authority than Rabenu Tam, the payytan resp...
https://youtu.be/9zR8GHSDH3cKabbalat Shabbat - Amar Ribi ElazarAccording to most Sephardi traditions, ‘Amar Ribi Elazar’ is read immediately after the perek ‘Bameh Madlikin’. This is followed by Kaddish Derabanan and the singing of ‘Lekha Dodi’. In the Spanish and Portuguese rite, however, these waypoints follow a slightly different routing: Bameh Madlikin, Lekha Dodi, Amar Ribi Elazar and finally...
https://youtu.be/9zR8GHSDH3cKabbalat Shabbat - Amar Ribi ElazarAccording to most Sephardi traditions, ‘Amar Ribi Elazar’ is read immediately after the perek ‘Bameh Madlikin’. This is followed by Kaddish Derabanan and the singing of ‘Lekha Dodi’. In the Spanish and Portuguese rite, however, these waypoints follow a slightly different routing: Bameh Madlikin, Lekha Dodi, Amar Ribi Elazar and finally...
https://youtu.be/084cpqOT4N8Yigdal Elohim Chai – A miscast ’Three-Weeks’ Melody?This London melody for ‘Yigdal Elohim Chai’ may well have more to it than meets the eye. The first thing to note is that it is the only transcription for that piyyut to appear in the de Sola - Aguilar anthology published in 1857. Accordingly, it can be safely assumed that it was the tune used on most, if not all, Frida...
https://youtu.be/084cpqOT4N8Yigdal Elohim Chai – A miscast ’Three-Weeks’ Melody?This London melody for ‘Yigdal Elohim Chai’ may well have more to it than meets the eye. The first thing to note is that it is the only transcription for that piyyut to appear in the de Sola - Aguilar anthology published in 1857. Accordingly, it can be safely assumed that it was the tune used on most, if not all, Frida...
https://youtu.be/8UbC20lzNoQOn Mo’adim and special Shabbatot the Kaddish prior to Barechu is an opportunity for the Spanish and Portuguese Hazzan to step out of the traditional recitative and select two fixed tempo pieces as the settings for Yitgadal and Yehe Shemeh Rabba, respectively. In earlier times these selections might even have been pieces of his own composition. On ordinary Shabbatot, how...
https://youtu.be/8UbC20lzNoQOn Mo’adim and special Shabbatot the Kaddish prior to Barechu is an opportunity for the Spanish and Portuguese Hazzan to step out of the traditional recitative and select two fixed tempo pieces as the settings for Yitgadal and Yehe Shemeh Rabba, respectively. In earlier times these selections might even have been pieces of his own composition. On ordinary Shabbatot, how...