https://youtu.be/I2vkMp3kkSs# Yehe Shemeh - Kol Sasson Melody | LondonThe communities of Amsterdam, New York and London share a very beautiful melody for the ‘Kol Sasson’ segment of the Sheba Berachot. Although in New York, if the choir is involved in the wedding, it is eschewed in favour of a contextually unrelated and patently incongruous composition in the style and tempo of a Viennese waltz.The origins of the ‘Kol Sasson’ melody are unknown, and it may be its original use was actually as a setting for Hallel. In Amsterdam it is still used as such, and while in London the practice of singing it for the Hallel has disappeared, it has found an additional expression as a tune for the Kaddish before Barechu, sung on festive occasions.Some of you may have noted that the opening musical figure of the piece bears more than a passing resemblance to the ‘Agnus Dei’ from Verdi’s requiem. This would not be the only time that one of Verdi’s compositions has been judged to share a similarity with something from the Sephardi repertoire. The other one that comes to mind is the suggestion that the romanca ‘Adio Kerida’ was the inspiration for ‘Addio del passato’ from La Traviata. Although, to be fair, there is a view that argues that the flow of inspiration was actually in the opposite direction. In this case, however, if there is any connection at all, the influence could only be in one direction as the ‘Kol Sasson’ melody predates the Agnus Dei. The Requiem was first performed in 1874 while ‘Kol Sasson’ (as a Hallel melody) is included in the de Sola and Aguilar anthology of ancient Sephardi Melodies published 17 years earlier.H/T David Nunes Nabarro, Binyamin BeharPlease like and share.