There ain't nothing like a Dane singing
`Shir Hama'alot'
continued
`Shir Hama'alot'
continued
The first 18 tracks on the disc, however, are not designated for any particular time of the year. While the sources of many of
these tunes were unknown to the team that put together the disc, Melchior says they were reluctant to label them as
unknown because "someone, somewhere may well know the source"; hence track titles which indicate music style and/or
liturgical origin, such as "European in Major," "Waltz style in Major," and "The American," which Melchior reports was
"brought over" to Denmark on a record in the late 1940s.
However, he is confident to say that most tunes on the disc are influenced by 19th-century German Jewish liturgical
composers, such as Salomon Sulzer.
Though he says the idea of the project had been mooted for more than a decade, Melchior sadly reports that it was only
when his nephew Schwarz was diagnosed with cancer two years ago that the privately funded venture really took shape.
In order to compile the tunes, Melchior says the trio sat down together to brainstorm all the melodies for the psalm they
could remember. They did not approach others, he says, as they were already overloaded with material.
"I'm sure some tunes have undergone various transitions and variations," says Melchior. "There were tunes that were sung
differently in my home and in Ralph's. In those cases, we agreed on the tune used on the most regular basis."
Levitan, a former cantor at Copenhagen synagogue who now owns his own recording studio in Tel Aviv, would make a note
of each tune and prepare the musical accompaniment. The recording process - on most tracks all three men sing together
- was hastened due to Schwarz's illness, says Melchior. Schwarz passed away in October last year, at the age of 51, having
contributed to most of the tracks and declared his satisfaction with the results, which Levitan had musically arranged.
continue......
these tunes were unknown to the team that put together the disc, Melchior says they were reluctant to label them as
unknown because "someone, somewhere may well know the source"; hence track titles which indicate music style and/or
liturgical origin, such as "European in Major," "Waltz style in Major," and "The American," which Melchior reports was
"brought over" to Denmark on a record in the late 1940s.
However, he is confident to say that most tunes on the disc are influenced by 19th-century German Jewish liturgical
composers, such as Salomon Sulzer.
Though he says the idea of the project had been mooted for more than a decade, Melchior sadly reports that it was only
when his nephew Schwarz was diagnosed with cancer two years ago that the privately funded venture really took shape.
In order to compile the tunes, Melchior says the trio sat down together to brainstorm all the melodies for the psalm they
could remember. They did not approach others, he says, as they were already overloaded with material.
"I'm sure some tunes have undergone various transitions and variations," says Melchior. "There were tunes that were sung
differently in my home and in Ralph's. In those cases, we agreed on the tune used on the most regular basis."
Levitan, a former cantor at Copenhagen synagogue who now owns his own recording studio in Tel Aviv, would make a note
of each tune and prepare the musical accompaniment. The recording process - on most tracks all three men sing together
- was hastened due to Schwarz's illness, says Melchior. Schwarz passed away in October last year, at the age of 51, having
contributed to most of the tracks and declared his satisfaction with the results, which Levitan had musically arranged.
continue......
