https://youtu.be/74lj4hcOVU0# Hanukkah - Ma’oz Tsur - (B. Marcello) | VeronaSnogeiros, take enormous pride in differentiating themselves by their non-acceptance of customs commonly observed by other traditions. Indeed, the Spanish and Portuguese rite is often defined by what it has chosen not to adopt from broader Jewish practices.Such is the case with the singing of Ma’oz Tsur. Or at least it was until the 1960s. In a move that sparked considerable controversy, the London Spanish and Portuguese community included the Piyyut in their ‘Daily and Occasional’ prayer book. Although it was printed as an addendum at the end of the volume, rather than within the order of the Hanukkah service, its inclusion marked a significant departure from tradition. This decision prompted a flurry of objections, including letters to the editor of the Jewish Chronicle, denouncing what many viewed as an unsettling non-Sephardi intrusion.Presented here is what many have claimed is a ‘Sephardi’ setting for Ma’oz Tsur, or something very close to it, by the Venetian composer Benedetto Marcello. Rather inconveniently for them, however, it turns out that the piece was not actually composed by Marcello; it was merely his transcription of a melody for Ma’oz Tsur in use by the Ashkenazi community of Verona in the early 18th century, a version of which became the setting for Psalm 15 in his work ‘Estro Poetico-Armonico’.Please like and share.Hanukkah Allegre!