45 Results for : ladino
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Daniel Akiva: Malchut / Various
Daniel Akiva is a composer, performer, and educator whose performances on guitar and lute have won great acclaim. A native of Haifa whose family has lived in Israel for over five hundred years, he was steeped in the Sephardic tradition from his youth. Much of his compositional output has been devoted to works that grow out of the music of the Sephardic Jews. Mr. Akiva has appeared in concert as a guitarist and lutist in Israel, Spain, Switzerland, France, Germany, Portugal, the United States, Mexico, and in most of the countries of Central and South America. In 1984 he accompanied the soprano Victoria de los Angeles in a series of concerts at the prestigious Israel Festival. His repertoire includes works from the Renaissance through the 21th century. Daniel Akiva's output includes works for solo instruments, chamber ensembles, choir, voice and guitar, piano, and chamber orchestra. In 1990 his work Mizmorim (Psalms) for guitar solo was awarded the ACUM prize for composition. He has also written music for films including the eight-part television series 'Jerusalem That Was in Spain,' which was broadcast in five languages throughout the world. His work Siniza i fumo (Smoke and Ashes), for mezzo-soprano, recorder, flute, narrator, children's choir, guitar, and orchestra, composed in memory of the Jews of Salonika who perished in the Holocaust, was premiered in 1997 in Jerusalem, and was performed several times in the United States in May, 2000. His string quartet Ciclos was awarded the ACUM prize for composition in 2002. In 2006, he received the Amazon Prize for his disc 'Hope.' Mr. Akiva is a graduate of the Rubin Academy of Music in Jerusalem, and completed his studies at the Geneva Conservatorium in Switzerland. He currently heads the Music Department at the WIZO High School for the Arts in Haifa, which he founded in 1986, and has been the Artistic Director of the Guitar Gems Festival since 2006. 'Malchut' for voice and guitar, is a setting of a poem by Rivka Miriam 'Four Prayers' for mandolin and guitar consists of four miniature movements and was written in 2001 by invitation of the mandolinist Avi Avital, and dedicated to him and to the guitar and lute artist Bari Moscovitz. The composition describes different spiritual states as expressed through prayer, moving from contemplation to joy and from meditation to dancing. The trio 'Selichot' was inspired by the penitential poems of the Sephardic Jews for the High Holidays. The composition is a series of dialogues between the three instruments. The dialogues include confrontation, reconciliation, and agreement, three traits of human behavior. The first movement begins with solo oboe which introduces the first theme. The second theme is introduced by the cello, and is based upon the Neilah prayer which concludes Yom Kippur. The second movement begins with a meditative motive played by the guitar and based upon the melody of the poem 'As a servant longs' by the medieval poet Solomon ibn Gabirol. The melody is introduced later by the oboe. In the third movement, 'The year has ended with it's curses,' expresses reconciliation and agreement, and is based upon the melody of the poem whose name it bears. Towards the end of the movement, the Neilah motive of the first movement returns as the motive for the blessing which concludes the work. The song cycle 'Sarina kanta' (Sarina sings) is sung in Ladino and was inspired by Sephardic folk songs.Various folk songs are quoted in the work. The first movement, 'Dia y noche' ('Day and Night') is based upon a cantiga (lyric love song). The second movement is a fantasia based on a poem by Avner Perez, 'Sarina kanta romansas,' ('Sarina sings romances'). Sarina is Perez's grandmother, whose memory is recalled in this cycle of poems. The third movement was originally a romance of the Sephardic Jews from Turkey, 'Una matika de ruda' ('A spring of Rue'), which over time turned into a cantiga. The fourth movement, 'Ya abasha la novia' ('The Bride is Coming Down'), is a humorous wedding song. The fifth movement is a lulluby with a violin obligato part. The cycle concludes with 'Ya salio de la mar' ('Here She Comes from the Sea'), a wedding song. '6 Preludes' selected from the First and Second Books by Claude Debussy were arranged by Daniel Akiva for the combination of oboe, cello and guitar in order to provide color and give expression to the composer's Impressionistic thought through the independent use of color.- Shop: odax
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Choral Music of David Ludwig
Four Ladino Folk Songs (2012) for SATB Choir - 8' -written for the Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia 1. Durme durme mi alma donzella 2. Ven hermosa ven con mi 3. Camini por altas torres 4. Cuando veo hija hermosa Four Ladino Folk Songs was inspired by a work I wrote for Lara St. John of arrangements of Ladino songs for unaccompanied violin. I was so taken with these songs-with the richness of melodies and harmonies and wide range of emotional expression-that I decided to set four of them for unaccompanied choir. These songs are folk tunes arranged to compliment their texts, some with a gently rocking four-part texture, others with percussive sounds and effects that would be familiar to Ladino folk singers. The mood ranges from playful, to serene, from raucous to quiet despair, just as the original tunes do. I owe a debt of gratitude to the seminal scholarship of Isaac Levy, who transcribed most of these songs in his four-volume "Chant Judéo-Espagnols," a repository of this rich musical heritage from a dying language scattered across Europe, Africa, and Central Asia.Composer David Ludwig's music has been called "entrancing," and that it "promises to speak for the sorrows of this generation," (Philadelphia Inquirer). It has further been described as "arresting and dramatically hued" (The New York Times) and has been noted for "music supercharged with electrical energy and raw emotion" (Fanfare). The New Yorker magazine calls him a "musical up-and-comer" and the Chicago Tribune says that he "deserves his growing reputation as one of the up-and-comers of his generation." He has had performances in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Library of Congress, and has been played on PBS and NPR's Weekend Edition. NPR Music selected him as one of the Top 100 Composers Under Forty in the world in 2011. The New Colossus (2002) for choir - 3' (Lazarus) -SATB choir -Commissioned by Judith Clurman and the TODI Music Festival Choir "The New Colossus" was written for conductor Judith Clurman and the Todi music singers. Ms. Clurman recommended that I set the poem by Emma Lazarus that is at the site of the Statue of Liberty. On reading these words, I was very moved by the sentiment of welcome that Lazarus-herself an immigrant-conveys in the message: "give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses..." And it is not just some people that the Statue welcomes, but everyone-even the "wretched refuse." This to me was the true spirit of the United States embodied in poetry: our strength in diversity and tolerance. I wrote the work soon after 9/11, and because of that, the words of the poet were particularly poignant to me. The piece begins in somber unison and remains in that setting, like chant, as the poet compares the Statue of Liberty to the Colossus of Rhodes from ancient Greece. It is not like the Colossus, she notes, in that it is not meant to be an imposing figure but instead the embracing "mother of exiles." At the most famous lines the music opens up into harmony until the end, repeating the words "I lift my lamp, beside the Golden Door"-to the port of entry of a nation of immigrants. Press "Ludwig's The New Colossus began in sober unison. As harmonies evolved to greater dissonance, the singers became more expressive, an effective dramatic device." -The Virginian Pilot Hanukkah Cantata (2007) - 24' (Trad. Hebrew and English) -SATB Choir + soloists, 0000 0130 percussion, organ, strings -Commissioned by the Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia -Premiered 2007 at Rodeph Shalom, Philadelphia The Hanukkah Cantata was written for the Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia and was funded by the Philadelphia Music Project. I wrote the cantata with a lot of help from some good friends and fabulous musicians, but my first word of thanks has to go to Cantor Dan Sklar who not only assembled and translated the texts for me, but also sang the wonderful Hannukah songs for me to hear. I remembered Dan's voice all the while I arranged these songs. When Choral Arts director Matt Glandorf asked me to write a piece for the holiday, I immediately saw the challenge of writing a new work to commemorate an ancient tradition. It would need to be accessible to an audience whether or not they are familiar with the story of the holiday. I decided to integrate Hanukkah songs in their original Hebrew with the narrative taken from Scripture as translated into English. It was important for me that the piece be set in the "vernacular," so to speak, but to also preserve what is to me beautiful folk music. To that end I kept the music within the boundaries of functional sacred music, rather than attach it to a more abstract musical language or idiom. I also knew the piece would have to be in eight movements. I wanted to style it after the customary practice of including soloists in recitative and arias who would convey the thread of the story poetically. This made the arc of the piece clear to put together. The opening comes with a question from the traditional song "Mi Y'maleil": "who can recount the feats of the holy land?" The next two movements tell of the oppression of the Jews through the eyes of their ruler Mattathias, as well as the rise of his son Judas Maccabeus. After Judas is pronounced "blessed," in the fourth movement, the women of the chorus sing the traditional candle blessings sung while lighting the Menorah. The fifth movement opens the second half of the piece, and details the triumph of the Jews over their oppressors. Here, they find their most holy temple desecrated, and this is where the real heroism takes place. Rather than give up or give in, they decide to completely rebuild and rededicate the temple, replacing every defiled stone anew-even constructing a new altar like the previous one. The music turns to the triumphant "Al Hanisim" to commemorate the occasion. The seventh movement is instrumental dance music, a "dreydl dance" with a narration that is meant to capture both traditional sonorities of Jewish music and incorporate the importance of dance into the cantata. The narrator's part is to tell the how the story happened when the Jews decided to reconstruct the temple and the miracle that occurred when they found only enough oil to light their lamp for one day. They needed enough oil to last for eight days, or enough time to consecrate the next batch of fuel. As it so did, miraculously confirming the merit and holiness of their efforts. The final movement is another arrangement of the song "Maoz Tzur," which is a song that will be familiar to many. The medieval nature of the words conveys the unfortunate glorification of war (a matter I tried to avoid in arranging the text, given the state of our world. I see no reason to exalt the killing of anyone, including the "enemy," "foe," or "heathen.") But the story of the last song, and indeed the story of Hannukah is about oppression, loss, and overcoming that loss to move on with strength and love. The Jews defeat their oppressors and then grieve for their losses. The heroism of the story is in the rebuilding after that loss, and the power of the community unified to help the individuals of that community continue on. They construct a new altar after losing the old one, yet, significantly, it is not a "new" altar insofar as it acknowledges and never forgets the loss. My nephew, Michael Henry Ludwig, would have celebrated his tenth Hannukah this year passed away suddenly and unexpectedly just four days before writing this program note. He was a magnificent kid, always enthusiastic, beaming and smiling when I would bring him close and rub my knuckles on his head. The Choral Arts Society has graciously agreed to dedicate this performance to Michael-the premiere of this work will be in the temple of his great grandparents. Every day I didn't spend with him feels like time lost. I am honored to be able to remember him with this music. Kaddish (2006) -10' (Trad. Hebrew) -0000 4331 + 3 perc SAB choir and tenor so- Shop: odax
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