Posts by Daniel Halfon
423 posts
https://youtu.be/ZmDTvHhn40IThis chant for musaf was a favorite of my late father, Yosef de Shemuel Halfon (z'l), whose 18th nahala we will be observing this Shabbat.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/jjeGfdm0_4gHere's another Gibraltar offering - a variant of the Kol Sasson melody known across the Spanish and Portuguese diaspora. The style is more rhythmic than its London / Amsterdam / New York counterparts.This arrangement, for two voices accompanied by cello and piano, is by Mordechai Halfon.Please like and share.For an mp3 of this recording please visit my website, where th...
Shaboua TobIn the run up to Purim, you may like to check out my recordings of Megilat Esther. Each chapter has a video and a downloadable MP3.
https://youtu.be/l4euRauqTfQThis melody is sung in Gibraltar for a number of texts, including Hashkibenu, Yitgadal and En Kelohenu. (Thanks to Isaac Hassan for his input on this point) It is also known in the Spanish and Portuguese community of New York as a setting for the Shabbat table song, Tsur Mishelo Achalnu. It was most likely brought across the Atlantic by the Gibraltar born hazzan James M...
https://youtu.be/qdYDlaS3L3wThe London S&P community has, over the years, put a great deal of effort into streamlining the synagogue services. One of their more ill considered strategies was to eliminate the beautiful congregational chant for Hodu Lashem Kiru Bishmo at the beginning of the Zemirot on Shabbat and Yom Tob mornings. Thankfully this important musical component of the service continues...
https://youtu.be/ke4seBQ37KIMy YouTube channel has now received over 20,000 visits, so thank you all for watching and sharing.Am I the only one, or does a certain Bach cantata (BWV 147) come to mind for you, as well, when hearing this melody for Yitgadal?This tune is, perhaps, the commonly used festive setting for Yitgadal in the Spanish and Portuguese (or should that be S&Phardi?) community of Lo...
https://youtu.be/8lmDkoHRxmYThis is the chant used for Psalm 23 in the Arbit of Erev Shabbat in the London community, as indeed it is during the summer months in New York, when the choir is not in residence.This psalmody motif, which is singularly adept at putting across the meaning of the text to which it is applied, is one which is known throughout the Sephardi world.Please share.For a downloada...
https://youtu.be/pSvyGNdxSGkThis festive tune for Yigdal Elohim Chai is described by the Jewish Encyclopedia as one 'whose old Spanish character is evident.' The recording here is a medley of three of its variants. The first two strophes are sung in the New York style, while the third and final strophes are performed according to the London tradition. The fourth strophe, in which descant of the Lo...
https://youtu.be/55g9BKoJCHAI first heard this gem of a tune for Lekha Dodi in the exquisite 'Flamenga' synagogue in Gibraltar. As you can hear, it is a variant of what is, perhaps, the most widely known tune for Yigdal Elohim Chai in the Sephardi world.Please share.For a downloadable mp3 of this recording, please go to this page:http://danielhalfon.com/multitrack-recordings/
https://youtu.be/n_OFINDPBccThis tune for Yigdal, which was known throughout the Ottoman Empire and beyond, is not part of the Spanish and Portuguese repertoire, but not for the want of trying. Mr Abinun, the long serving and beloved hazzan of the the London community had wanted to introduce it, but The gentlemen of the Mahamad were vehement in their refusal to countenance its introduction into th...
https://youtu.be/6HU0mpBN3gcAs has been pointed out, this tune for the end of Birkat Hamazon has a similar chord progression to a very well known melody, much to be heard in the English speaking world at this time of the year. A common provenance? Who knows? Until we find a Birkon from the last supper, we'll never know for sure!Please share.For a downloadable mp3 of this recording, please go to th...
https://youtu.be/WNnEcLd8Q4MThe 'Hallel d'Italia' tune is one of the best known and loved in the Spanish and Portuguese repertoire. In my recollection, in London it could be sung in for the Hallel on Regalim (apart from the first and last days - so never on Shabou'ot) and on Shabbat Hannukah. In addition, the melody served as a setting for En Kelohenu and the Hazzan's Yehe Shemeh on a festive Shab...
https://youtu.be/LaVLLinsd8IOnce again, apologies for this post being somewhat out of sync with the calendar.This chant for Vehu Rachum on the eve of Kippur, is set to the melody of Meyuchad Be'ehyeh Asher Eheyeh, sung during selichot.Please share.For a downloadable mp3 of this recording, please go to this page:http://danielhalfon.com/multitrack-recordings/
https://youtu.be/8Nq9OwbGP18I love living in Israel, but on Simchat Torah I do miss the majestic spectacle of the procession of the senhores Hatanim from their bancos to the tebah accompanied by this wonderfully rousing melody.Please share.For a downloadable mp3 of this recording, please go to this page:http://danielhalfon.com/multitrack-recordings/
https://youtu.be/JSGTPfkr1W4 If I had planned this better, I would have posted this recording a couple of months ago. But, there you are.In the Amsterdam minhag the setting for Yigdal Elohim Chai on the Yamim Hanora'im is the melody for the piyyut Yedei Rashim. This differs from the tradition in London and New York where, on those occasions, variations of the chant for Et Sha'arei Ratson are used....
https://youtu.be/M1ILqnnNBcUThis melody for the pesukim sung before Birkat Hazmazon is from the Portuguese community of Amsterdam, where it is also used as a setting for portions of the Hallel and the piyyut En Kelohenu. The arrangement is by Raymond Goldstein.The melody is unknown in London, but a variant, bearing a different time signature, is sung in the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue in New ...
https://youtu.be/kD_y5HJ8A4EThis composition is a setting of a passage from the Tefila Nishmat Kol Chai. It was written in Amsterdam in the early part of the 18th century by Abraham de Casseres, who was the community's musician in residence between about 1720 and 1740. Although the original score includes an instrumental accompaniment, it must also have been sung a cappella, as according to the la...
https://youtu.be/gTnurGrP1TkThis beautiful melody for Hashibenu, is actually the final melodic theme of a longer composition by Lewandowski. There are many pieces from the western European Ashkenazi tradition in the various Spanish and Portuguese repertoires. This, sadly, is not one of them. It should be!A downloadable mp3 is available of this recording here:danielhalfon.com/multitrack-recordings/
https://youtu.be/QNMerbeUHg8This melody, based on the chant for the Kal Nidrei formula, is sung in the synagogue prior to sounding the Shofar on Rosh Hashana and in the Arbit service of Yom Kippur.A downloadable mp3 is available of this recording heredanielhalfon.com/multitrack-recordings/תזכו לשנים רבות נעימות וטובות
A heads up to let you know that there will be a Spanish and Portuguese choral Arbit with Selichot at the Hovevei Tsion Synagogue in Jerusalem, on Thursday September 17, at 8.30 pm. Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo will speak before the Tefila. Looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible.
https://youtu.be/NvYqOxYN9jMThis melody, used on Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and during selichot for the antiphonal chanting of biblical verses, is an important and recurring motif in the Spanish and Portuguese High Holiday repertoire. As far as I am aware, it has no counterpart in any other Sephardi tradtion.A downloadable mp3 is available of this recording heredanielhalfon.com/multitrack-recording...
https://youtu.be/pvCLur-A2pUThe month of Elul is upon us once again, so I wanted to record a selection reflective of this period. One, which as far as I am aware, has never been recorded in a studio.Ashamnu Mikol Am is one of the introductions to the vidduyim of Yom Kippur. This setting employs a typically S&P serious and heartfelt, yet non-histrionic, approach to the material. As with much of the...
http://danielhalfon.com/multitrack-recordings/In response to requests for MP3s of the multitrack recordings I have posted on Youtube, you can now find them on my newly revamped website. Right click on the appropriate button if you want to download them.