https://youtu.be/Imfkhonz07s# Tehilat Hashem - Birkat Hamazon | MozartThe practice of borrowing pieces from the classical repertoire and recasting them as liturgical settings is well established in Western Jewish music.In the Spanish and Portuguese Sephardi tradition several examples come to mind of this phenomenon. They include the London community's Hanukkah setting for En Kelohenu taken from Handel’s ‘Judas Maccabaeus’, and the Friday night melody for Hashem Malakh, adapted from Mendelssohn’s ‘Elijah’. In connection with the latter, there is a delicious irony I would like to share with you.The oratorio ‘Elijah’ comprises a total of 42 movements. 40 of them are built around verses from the Hebrew Bible, while just two of them are based on texts from the New Testament. And yes, you guessed it, it’s Mendelssohn’s setting for one of those two that found its way into the Kabbalat Shabbat service. The present recording is an adaptation of the aria ‘Voi Che Sapete’ from Mozart’s ‘Marriage of Figaro’ applied to the Pesukim which introduce the Birkat Hamazon, so feel free to try it at home!Please like and share.