Ha-Tikva, L’Internationale,
and Yerushalayim shel Zahav:
“Israel in Three Anthems”
A talk by Dr. Michael A. Figueroa,
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Discussant: Dr. Brigid Cohen, Assistant Professor of Music, New York University
Monday, November 28, 2016 at 7pm.
Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street
New York, NY 10003
Admission is free. Please RSVP to info@jewishmusicforum.org
This presentation addresses three anthems that have helped shape Israeli society: “Ha-Tikva,” “L’Internationale,” and “Yerushalayim shel Zahav.” In light of three ideological facets represented by these songs—liberation, solidarity, and territoriality—Dr. Figueroa will discuss what constitutes an anthem in Jewish and Israeli history, theorizing a mode of performance he calls the “declamatory style,” in which vocal gestures that blur the distinction between speech and song portend the political value of musical performance.
Ellen S. Whitaker, a guitar teacher in North Carolina, has created an excellent book of guitar arrangements of Jewish favorite melodies. The book is intended for intermediate to advanced guitar players, with a few easier pieces. It includes a key to the guitar notation used in the work, the texts to the songs in transliteration, occasionally in Hebrew text, with English and an annotation about the meaning of the song along with performance notes about each piece. The guitar music, both solos and duets are presented in a separate section, which is an excellent arrangement of the book for learning and performance. The end of the collection includes an appendix explaining the Jewish modes, a second appendix linking each piece with the mode used, a glossary of each of the musical terms, a bibliography and discography.… 
FRANK LONDON’S ” A NIGHT IN THE OLD MARKETPLACE”
On Sunday, November 22nd at 3 p.m. celebrated Russian cellist Yosif Feigelson