Posts by Daniel Halfon
423 posts
https://youtu.be/2F-b1F1D-NAThis simple but powerfully rhythmic melody for 'Hakol Yodukha' and 'El Adon' may well have its origins in pre-expulsion Spain. The present recording is of the London Spanish and Portuguese Sephardi tradition. Congregation Shearith Israel, in New York, has an almost identical variant. The principal difference between the two is that while the strophes in the New York ver...
https://youtu.be/7csXOFPhQogMusical innovation in Spanish and Portuguese communities is a rare thing indeed. This melody for Yimlokh represents what may well have been a once in a generation, or even a once in a century, occurrence. The late Sir Alan Mocatta's keen ear spotted the potential for a novel setting for Yimlokh in a beautiful but perhaps underused festive melody for Yehe Shemeh Rabba. H...
https://youtu.be/wHlk-YQTd-kThis unusual and arresting melody for 'Hamabdil ben Kodesh Lechol' appears in 'The Ancient Melodies of the Liturgy of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews' (Aguilar 1857). In his notes to that anthology D.A de Sola describes it as “the best and most melodious [tune for this piyyut] of those known to me, and which bears unmistakable traces of a Spanish origin, as those who ar...
https://youtu.be/qPOkFbAnxDgThis melody for Yigdal, based on the song 'Le Violon de Mon Père' by the French - Algerian singer Enrico Macias, is frequently sung at Misgav Ladach - my local synagogue in Jerusalem. Although most of the congregation is of North African descent, there is a significant Spanish and Portuguese component. Hazzan David Ben Soussan, who frequently acts as shaliach tsibur, w...
https://youtu.be/m0Q1qbn2vOQJust posted my 60th multitrack recording on YouTube - Barukh Haba. Arranged by Raymond Goldstein, this version is based on the current style of Amsterdam, which has incorporated into the melodic line elements of what may once have been the tenor and bass harmonies of a choral arrangement.Please like and share.For an mp3 of this recording please visit my website, where ...
https://youtu.be/euFumP7OvhMThere is a poignant dimension to this wonderful and unusual melody for Tehilat, sung at the end of Arbit on Simchat Torah and Shabbat Beresheet. While it serves as the finale for two of the most musically satisfying tefilot of the year, like the final movement of a great symphony, it also betokens the approaching conclusion of an uplifting spiritual journey through mont...
https://youtu.be/4OCNWdatkYoAn alternative approach to Simchat Torah. Those in favour say 'aye', (or at least hit like)!This prayer for the Hatan Torah is sung on the eves of Simchat Torah and Shabbat Beresheet in the Spanish and Portuguese community of London. It is a comingled and considerably abbreviated version of two longer compositions for the Hatan Torah and Hatan Beresheet, respectively, f...
Shaboua Tob! A drawing of my teacher Hazzan Eliezer Abinun by my daughter Yael.
https://youtu.be/vbUI_4-54m4Before making Alia I spent many shabbatot and mo'adim in Amsterdam, where I experienced the incomparable atmosphere of the Snoge, and the friendship of many magnificently hospitable Esnogeiros. One abiding memory of that period for me is the spirited communal rendition of 'Im Tashib' at the Kiddush in the 'Mangamad' following the eredienst.Please like and share.For an m...
https://youtu.be/54YIHCXB3OQThe tune for the penitential piyyut 'Ana Ke'ab Zedoni' served as a setting for the Kedusha on the Yamim Hanora'im in Suriname and occasionally in New York. I don't actually recall it being sung during my time as Congregation Shearith Israel. Can anyone tell me whether it's done now? The arrangement in this recording is by my dear friend Raymond Goldstein.Please like and...
https://youtu.be/3cVkOq-bnOIA short clip that I'd forgotten I have.Shaboua Tob.
https://youtu.be/JwFmSb4UaOIThis chant for the kedusha of mincha on Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur, from the Spanish and Portuguese community of London, is an elaborated version of the lachan for the piyyut 'Achot Ketana'. I first heard Hazzan Eliezer Abinun singing this over 50 years ago. His rendition of the captivating melody line, supported by the choir's spontaneous open fifth harmonies, creat...
https://youtu.be/AUbhBh281_MCongregation Shearith Israel has the lovely minhag of revisiting the melody for 'El Nora Alila' during the Hosha'anot on each day of Succot. This is not the custom in London. It is, however, the practice among some communities in North Africa.Please like and share.For an mp3 of this recording please visit my website, where there are over 50 selections available for down...
https://youtu.be/i79oRXFwlUIThere is no question that Sukkot in Israel has an atmosphere that can not be replicated anywhere else. For all of that, I do miss some of the beautiful melodies at Shearith Israel. This coming Shabbat, those of you attending services at 70th Street may well hear this Kedusha.Mo'adim LeSimcha, Hagim Uzmanim LeSasson.Please like and share.For an mp3 of this recording plea...
https://youtu.be/lQpFCkKqI20Shofet Kol Ha'aretz is found in both the Sephardi and Ashkenazi liturgies for the p enitential period. For Ashkenazim it forms part of the selichot on the day preceding Rosh Hashana, while in the Sephardi rite it is sung on the first day of Rosh Hashana itself.In the Spanish and Portuguese tradition this Lachan (melody) is applied, to a number of additional selections d...
https://youtu.be/DSEngxAZBoUThis variation on the Et Sha'arei Ratson melody is London's sublime setting for Yigdal on the Yamim Hanora'im. Liturgical music does not get better than this!To all of you, Tizku Leshanim Rabbot. Tekubal Berachamim uBratson Tefilatenu.Please like and share.For an mp3 of this recording please visit my website, where there are over 50 selections available for downloading....
https://youtu.be/EHUU-6dlqdEIn the Spanish and Portuguese tradition there are many selections in the Selichot for Yom Kippur which are read to a nondescript chant, that has no particular affinity to the musical mood of the day. Aseh Lema'an Shemakh is one such example. At the Misgav Ladach synagogue here in Jerusalem this selicha is sung to a captivating but little known melody, which I believe co...
https://youtu.be/kw9bXOwckR4Here is another gem from the London Repertoire: 'Meyuchad BeEheyeh Asher Eheyeh', sung at the conclusion of the selicha 'Chatanu Tsurenu'.Please like and share.For an mp3 of this recording please visit my website, where there are over 40 selections available for downloading.http://danielhalfon.com/multitrack-recordings/
https://youtu.be/X84-VDAC_WkIn 'The Ancient Melodies of the Liturgy of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews' D.A de Sola writes that the melody for Lekha Dodi in use in Spanish and Portuguese communities considerably predates the composition of the piyyut itself. He cites rubricks in old prayer books which direct it to be sung to the Lachan of 'Shubi Nafshi Limnuchaichi', a piyyut written by R. Yehuda ...
https://youtu.be/me1MjALWdZ4Here's a short example of the 'Farewell' or 'La Despedida' melody, as sung in the London community. It is used on the last day of each of the Shalosh Regalim as the setting for Kaddish Yehe Shelama Raba in Arbit; Hallel and En Kelohenu in Shachrit; and the Kedusha of Mincha.Please like and share.For an mp3 of this recording please visit my website, where there are over ...
https://youtu.be/wp_0dUuwaVgIn the early 1970's the London community introduced the practice of reading Ps. xv following the Kaddish Titkabal of Musaf, It was sung by the Hazzan using the infinitely expressive Sephardi tehilim mode. The custom was mysteriously discontinued after only a short number of years.I might add, that it must be a matter of considerable astonishment, that what must be one o...
https://youtu.be/EK70YQgsp_0…This melody is known throughout the Spanish & Portuguese world, and has cognates among North African communities. It is the setting for Psalm 67 on various festive occasions, and in the New York community, it is also sung following the counting of each day of the Omer.I was able to get my family to join me for this recording, which is based on the London variant.Please...
https://youtu.be/j8-M5eLCkvgA gem from Julius Mombach for the final two verses of Ps 116, sung as part of the Hallel. Stylistically, it would be a wonderful fit for Congregation Shearith Israel, and would also serve as a perfect musical lead-in for most of their settings for Ps 117 (Hallelu). Any chance, Zachary Edinger, Seth Haberman ?Mombach is, of course, no stranger to Shearith Israel, his com...
https://youtu.be/2yPUM2lX4H8As Professor Herman Salomon has shown, in his article 'The Strange Odyssey of Bendigamos', Bendigamos was in all likelihood written during the 17th century, and was a product of the Spanish speaking ex-Converso communities of South Western France. From France, through family connections the composition found its way to the to the island of Curaçao. And from Curaçao it ...
https://youtu.be/x7w2ChFFbOMThis melody, used as festive setting for Kaddish Yehe Shelama Rabba in Arbit, and as a tune for En Kelohenu, is known throughout the Spanish and Portuguese world and beyond. Indeed, Yehoram Gaon has recorded a version of it. This recording is based on an arrangement by my dear friend Raymond Goldstein, and owes most to the Amsterdam style, which IMHO is the most majesti...