Classic Ross Amico

Tag: Kol Nidrei

Jewish Music for the High Holy Days on WPRB

If a blast on the shofar sends you into ecstasies, have I got the show for you!

There will be shofars aplenty over the course of my five hours on WPRB this morning, as we listen to music by Jewish composers and/or on Jewish themes, in honor of the High Holy Days.

There will be works by composers such as Paul Ben-Haim, Herman Berlinski, Ernest Bloch, David Diamond, Sril Irving Glick, John McCabe, Sergei Prokofiev, Maurice Ravel, Paul Schoenfield, Dmitri Shostakovich, David Stock, and Philadelphia natives Louis Gesensway and Amanda Harberg.

We’ll also be upholding an annual WPRB tradition, initiated by Teri Noel Towe, of airing a recording of Pablo Casals performing Max Bruch’s “Kol Nidrei.”

A number of these composers aren’t even Jewish – and a few of the pieces aren’t particularly “Jewish” sounding – but all of them pay tribute to the fecundity and soulfulness of the Jewish experience.

Join me this morning from 6 to 11 ET, at WPRB 103.3 FM or wprb.com, for music for the Days of Awe, the ten days that span Rosh Hashanah (the New Year) to Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). If you need anything, just “give a challah,” to Classic Ross Amico.

September 17, 2015
Shanah Tovah Radio: Jewish Composers on WPRB

Shanah tovah!

Once again, if you’re Jewish, allow me to wish you a sweet and happy new year. If you’re not, I hope you’ll sit back and enjoy the music, as tomorrow morning on WPRB, I’ll be offering works by Jewish composers and/or on Jewish themes.

By request, I’ll continue a WPRB tradition, initiated by the great Teri Noel Towe, of airing a recording of Pablo Casals in Max Bruch’s “Kol Nidrei.” I also have “Kol Nidre” settings by Jacob Weinberg, Arnold Schoenberg and Emil Nikolaus von Reznicek. That’s right – he, of “Donna Diana” fame.

Not all of these composers were Jewish, of course. I’ll give the goys some poise with music on Jewish themes by Prokofiev, Shostakovich and Maurice Ravel, and John McCabe’s “Chagall Windows,” inspired by the stained glass creations that frame the synagogue of the Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem.

And let’s not forget John Duffy’s Emmy Award-winning music for the PBS television series “Heritage: Civilization and the Jews.”

I’ve got a box full of CDs featuring works by Paul Ben-Haim, Herman Berlinski, Leonard Bernstein, Ernest Bloch, David Diamond, Matthew H. Fields, Lukas Foss, Srul Irving Glick, Alexander Krein, Paul Schoenfield, Leon Stein, David Stock, Franz Waxman, and Philadelphia natives Louis Gesensway and Amanda Harberg.

Just how much of this music I’ll actually be able to get on the air remains to be seen. Prepare to be awed by music for the Days of Awe, tomorrow morning from 6 to 11 ET, on WPRB 103.3 FM or at wprb.com. We’re all sticky with apples and honey on Classic Ross Amico.

PHOTO: Learn the proper way to make a shofar here:

https://sites.temple.edu/historynews/2013/09/04/from-the-philadelphia-jewish-archives-shana-tova-happy-jewish-new-year/

September 16, 2015
Jewish High Holy Days Music on “The Lost Chord”

A belated “L’shana tova!”

This Sunday night on “The Lost Chord,” we’ll have selections for the Jewish High Holy Days. We’ll hear a string quartet by Jacob Weinberg, dating from 1950. The work falls into three movements, which bear the respective subtitles “Rosh Hashanah” (the Jewish New Year), “Yom Kippur” (the Day of Atonement) and “Sukkot” (the harvest festival).

Weinberg’s “Yom Kippur” is based on the familiar declaration of “Kol Nidrei,” best known to gentiles, probably, through the setting for cello by Max Bruch. Bruch, though not Jewish, always had a good ear for characteristic melodies of different cultures (e.g. the “Scottish Fantasy,” the “Swedish Dances,” the “Suite on Russian Themes,” etc.).

Emil Nikolaus von Reznicek – he of “Donna Diana Overture” fame – was likewise moved by the Yom Kippur melody, on which he wrote a large-scale set of orchestral variations, which we’ll also hear. Interestingly, in contrast to the reverential setting by Bruch, Reznicek puts the theme through a befuddling array of permutations, pivoting back and forth from light to serious. It’s not synagogue music, but it is fascinating.

We’ll conclude the hour with a moving arrangement by Patrick Sinozich of ”Avinu Malkeynu” (“Our Father, Our King”) by Max Janowski, performed by Chicago a cappella.

Join me for “Tones of Atonement,” tonight at 10 ET, with a repeat Friday morning at 3. Or enjoy the show later as a webcast, at http://www.wwfm.org.

PHOTO: Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, begins at sundown on Friday. The solemn occasion will conclude at nightfall on Saturday with a long blast on the shofar.

September 28, 2014

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