Posts by Daniel Halfon
423 posts
https://youtu.be/_wZEgsVj0h4Hashem MalakhWhen I first heard the Shearith Israel choir sing this piece over 40 years ago, I was struck by two things. First, how beautifully they sang it - it is really a mark of consummate professionalism when a chorus can sing in unison so flawlessly. And secondly, although it was a melody that I had been familiar with from my childhood in London, there was somethi...
[https://youtu.be/_wZEgsVj0h4](https://youtu.be/_wZEgsVj0h4?fbclid=IwAR2tn0zSO6o3PvvjWNejxicTez41AhoZt8y0Yeh1mDHizl1htXwdzJGkdTA)Hashem MalakhWhen I first heard the Shearith Israel choir sing this piece over 40 years ago, I was struck by two things. First, how beautifully they sang it - it is really a mark of consummate professionalism when a chorus can sing in unison so flawlessly. And secondl...
https://youtu.be/75VcDFd-KmQWhen it comes to the Kedusha, the Spanish and Portuguese Sephardi tradition acquits itself with elegance, and almost always with dispatch - barring some notable exceptions in the Meester Visserplein. This can contrast quite starkly with the Ashkenazi rite, where ‘Nekadesh Et Shimcha Ba’olam’ can take as long for the chazen and choir to perform as a movement of a Beethov...
https://youtu.be/75VcDFd-KmQWhen it comes to the Kedusha, the Spanish and Portuguese Sephardi tradition acquits itself with elegance, and almost always with dispatch - barring some notable exceptions in the Meester Visserplein. This can contrast quite starkly with the Ashkenazi rite, where ‘Nekadesh Et Shimcha Ba’olam’ can take as long for the chazen and choir to perform as a movement of a Beethov...
https://youtu.be/etjxbYRzJesSir Edward Elgar believed that the chant that is best known in Spanish and Portuguese communities as the melody for Mizmor Shir Leyom Hashabat (Ps. 92) was the very one sung by the Levites in the Temple in Jerusalem. He, therefore, appropriated it for the setting of the ‘Morning Psalm’ (also Ps. 92) in his oratorio ‘The Apostles’ (H/T Jonathan Greenstein). Although any ...
https://youtu.be/TqrOvNXb0boThis melody for Yigdal Elohim Chai is known in Sephardi congregations throughout the world. Two honourable exceptions do come to mind however: Congregation Shearith Israel in New York, and KKTT in Amsterdam. In New York, to be fair, a variant does surface as one of the regularly sung tunes for Adon Olam. In Amsterdam, though, it makes no appearance in any guise at whats...
https://youtu.be/TqrOvNXb0boThis melody for Yigdal Elohim Chai is known in Sephardi congregations throughout the world. Two honourable exceptions do come to mind however: Congregation Shearith Israel in New York, and KKTT in Amsterdam. In New York, to be fair, a variant does surface as one of the regularly sung tunes for Adon Olam. In Amsterdam, though, it makes no appearance in any guise at whats...
https://youtu.be/GkiceI3ukw4The chant for Bameh Madlikin In the Spanish and Portuguese Sephardi rite is one of the most beautiful examples of recitative in the entire repertoire. In Amsterdam, it was considered of such importance that it served as the test piece upon which a candidate for the position of Hazan would be judged. In addition to having a sweet singing voice, coming under scrutiny...
https://youtu.be/GkiceI3ukw4The chant for Bameh Madlikin In the Spanish and Portuguese Sephardi rite is one of the most beautiful examples of recitative in the entire repertoire. In Amsterdam, it was considered of such importance that it served as the test piece upon which a candidate for the position of Hazan would be judged. In addition to having a sweet singing voice, coming under scrutiny...
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvd3h2QBHjxRC5cGNlE_frXW2TGPzsIRqPlaylist for the Yamim Nora'imTachel Shana Ubirkhoteha
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvd3h2QBHjxRC5cGNlE_frXW2TGPzsIRqPlaylist for the Yamim Nora'imTachel Shana Ubirchoteha
My father, Joseph Halfon together with his mother, Diana; his brothers Victor and Salvo; and his sister Rica. Taken in Rhodes c1938
https://youtu.be/HB8xPraI7A0When I became assistant Hazzan at Shearith Israel exactly 40 years ago, I was struck by the fact that, in contrast to the traditions of London and Amsterdam, there were no festive melodies in the New York repertoire that were specific to the Kaddish or Kedusha. Instead, the settings used were shared with other selections, such as Hallel or En Kelohenu.A particular fav...
https://youtu.be/HB8xPraI7A0When I became assistant Hazzan at Shearith Israel exactly 40 years ago, I was struck by the fact that, in contrast to the traditions of London and Amsterdam, there were no festive melodies in the New York repertoire that were specific to the Kaddish or Kedusha. Instead, the settings used were shared with other selections, such as Hallel or En Kelohenu.A particular fav...
https://youtu.be/p8HqpQvU51QIn the Spanish and Portuguese rite, the ceremonial before taking out the Sepher Torah from the Hechal on Shabbatot and Mo'adim is relatively streamlined compared to the Ashkenazi or other Sephardi traditions. For all of its brevity, however, it lacks not a whit in elegance. It comprises two verses from Ps. 132: 'Kohanekha' and 'Bangabur' (the latter unrelated to any lo...
https://youtu.be/p8HqpQvU51QIn the Spanish and Portuguese rite, the ceremonial before taking out the Sepher Torah from the Hechal on Shabbatot and Mo'adim is relatively streamlined compared to the Ashkenazi or other Sephardi traditions. For all of its brevity, however, it lacks not a whit in elegance. It comprises two verses from Ps. 132: 'Kohanekha' and 'Bangabur' (the latter unrelated to any lo...
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvd3h2QBHjxTWaxXF9eZwASqfBKvi1_nVA playlist of melodies from the London Spanish and Portuguese tradition for Simchat Torah.Mo'ed Tob and Shabbat Shalom.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLvd3h2QBHjxTWaxXF9eZwASqfBKvi1_nVA playlist of melodies from the London Spanish and Portuguese tradition for Simchat Torah.Mo'ed Tob and Shabbat Shalom.
https://youtu.be/xCALUzwQ_AoThe London Spanish and Portuguese Sephardi community assigns its Hallel melodies according to the day of the festival, so the first day of each of the Regalim share a common musical theme. To my knowledge, this melody - known by the London choir as 'Hallel No. 1' - has no cognates elsewhere in the western Sephardi diaspora. However, it has been borrowed, on what would a...
https://youtu.be/xCALUzwQ_AoThe London Spanish and Portuguese Sephardi community assigns its Hallel melodies according to the day of the festival, so the first day of each of the Regalim share a common musical theme. To my knowledge, this melody - known by the London choir as 'Hallel No. 1' - has no cognates elsewhere in the western Sephardi diaspora. However, it has been borrowed, on what would a...
https://youtu.be/ROTWeaGJNrAHashem Hu HaElohim / Hashem Melekh Rosh Hashana and Kippur.Although these selections are liturgically related, their musical connection is less obvious. While Hashem Melekh is clearly an elaborated version of the Hashem Bekol Shofar lachan, the tonal progression of Hashem Hu HaElohim would suggest a different musical ancestry. That said, their fusion is pretty seamless....
https://youtu.be/ROTWeaGJNrAHashem Hu HaElohim / Hashem Melekh Rosh Hashana and Kippur.Although these selections are liturgically related, their musical connection is less obvious. While Hashem Melekh is clearly an elaborated version of the Hashem Bekol Shofar lachan, the tonal progression of Hashem Hu HaElohim would suggest a different musical ancestry. That said, their fusion is pretty seamless....
https://youtu.be/WPFsKaQByW8Many communities across the Sephardi world use the Yedei Rashim chant as a setting for the Kaddish on Rosh Hashanah and Kippur. The Spanish and Portuguese Congregation of London is unique, however, in using just the coda of that melody as the basis for an exquisitely elaborated and powerful variation.When and how this majestic variant evolved is not known, but its style...
https://youtu.be/WPFsKaQByW8Many communities across the Sephardi world use the Yedei Rashim chant as a setting for the Kaddish on Rosh Hashanah and Kippur. The Spanish and Portuguese Congregation of London is unique, however, in using just the coda of that melody as the basis for an exquisitely elaborated and powerful variation.When and how this majestic variant evolved is not known, but its style...
https://youtu.be/YwbnQLU96oUThis recitative for the Amidah on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is essentially the same for each of the Tefilot on those days. In structure, it relies heavily on congregational participation, which performs an important didactic function. While this regal Spanish and Portuguese melody is strikingly different from many of the usages of North Africa, where a minor key is o...