Brakha Tzefira
Israeli Singer and collector of Jewish Yemenite music.
1910-1990
Karel Salmon
Israeli composer
Born in Heidelberg, Germany, Salmon studied composition with Richard Strauss at the Berlin Academy of the Arts, and later worked as a repetiteur at the Berlin Staatsoper, singer at the Hamburg Opera, and conductor in Baden. He immigrated to Palestine in 1933, and was the first musical director of the Palestine Broadcasting Service (later Kol Israel), from 1936-1958, later becoming the director of Kol Israel's transcription-exchange service until 1962. Salmon also taught at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance.
1897-1974
Sergiu Natra
Israeli composer
1924-
Ami Maayani
Israeli composer
1936-2019
Josef Tal (Gruenthal)
Composer, pianist & teacher
Josef Tal (b. Pine, Germany 1910 - Jerusalem 2008, immigrated in 1934), composer, pianist, conductor, and lecturer, has gained an exceptional reception in the last decades. As one of the most published local composers, about 100 of his pieces have been published by the Israel Music Institute. He was the most distinctive among the first generation of composers who principally opposed the use of folklorism and orientalism. This may have reflected his education in Berlin in the late 1920's, where he was immensely influenced by the Second Viennese school.
1910-2008
Amnon Shiloah
Israeli musicologist
1928-2014
Ram Da-Oz
Israeli composer
1929-
Joel Walbe
Israeli composer
Joel Walbe was born in Shepetovka, Volhynia (today
1900-1982
Moshe Nathanson
Cantor & composer
1899-1981
Naomi Shemer
Israeli Composer and songwriter
1930-2004
- A Polka Mazurka
- Niggun of the Meggid of Mezerich From the album, "The Hasidic Niggun as Sung by the Hasidim." This dance niggun is the seventh and last in a series of niggunim sung by Bratslav Hasidim as they dance after the Shabbat evening service on Friday night. Some have attributed the niggun to R. Dov Ber, the meggid of Mezerich.
- Kol B'ru'ei (Padua, Italy) From the album, "Italian Jewish Musical Traditions from the Leo Levi Collection (1954-1961)." The poem depicts "all creatures" singing and praising the unity of God, and was recited in the Italian rite during the daily morning prayer. This melody was sung only on Rosh Hashanah (New Year) in the Italian tradition of Padua.
- Yigdal From the album, "Judeo-Carribean Currents, Music of the Mikve Israel-Emanuel Synagogue in Curaçao," performed by Gideon Zelermyer. The Yigdal is part of the ceremonial section of the liturgical order of Shabbat and the Holy Days in the Curaçao synagogue. It is one of the ending hymns of the service.
- Eres Chiquita y Bonita From the album, "Judeo-Spanish Moroccan Songs for the Life Cycle," sung by Alicia Bendayan from Tetuan. This is a song about courtship, related to the Jewish rituals that mark the events of the life cycle.
- Sweet Shalt Be My Chant From the album, "Kulmus Hanefesh," performed by Yair Harel on voice and tar, and Matti Kovler on voice and piano. A sacred hymn attributed to Rabbi Yehuda ha-Chasid, this is a Chabad tune with a near-Eastern arrangement.
- Lyr II From the album, "The Music of the Mountain Jews." Lyr is a genre found among all Turkish peoples, consisting of long, complex compositions usually comprised of three parts.
- Gilu ha-Galilim (Rejoice Galileans) From the album, "Nights in Canaan, Early Songs of the Land of Israel (1882-1946)." This is a Second Aliyah (1904-1914) song which became an integral part of the historical repertoire of Hebrew song. Both native-born and newly arrived pioneers sang this song in all circumstances.
- Saperi Tama From the album, "With Songs They Respond: The Diwan of the Jews from Central Yemen." This is a girdle poem by Se'adia ben Amram. Saperi Tama is sung to many melodies and is one of Yemenite Jewry's most common poems.