Search - Hugo Chaim Adler, Samuel Adler, Solomon Ancis :: A HANUKKA CELEBRATION

A great collection of things unrecorded

Erik L. Contzius | White Plains, NY United States | 01/31/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I have been nothing but impressed by not only the sheer volume of things recorded by the Milken foundation, but the quality of their recordings. This collection of Hanukkah music is no exception. Dr. Adler brings the best out of his choirs, the performances are all very solid, and the recording quality is something rarely heard in the Jewish world. It is a pleasure to hear an arrangement by the very talented Raymond Goldstein, who should have his work recorded more often, imho. I don't think this album was intended to be a resource as much as a collection of works that deserved to be brought to the public's attention. Oh, and Isaacson's works are so much better when orchestrated!"

A strangely mixed bag, excellent craft

David M. Zajic | Columbia, MD USA | 02/05/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This album comprises a very disparate collection of Chanukah music. The selections include settings of liturgical texts, settings of non-liturgical holiday poems, skillful arrangements of popular holiday songs, and original holiday pops. The program notes are comprehensive but somewhat challenging to read. They are divided into 4 sections, dealing with Chanukah, the composers, the compositions, and the performers. Some diligence is required to make the correct connections, but if you take the time you'll be rewarded by some insights into how arrangers re-hear familiar material while musicologists discover the original essence that we recognize.
Samuel Adler's "To Celebrate a Miracle" is a brilliantly orchestrated suite of well-known tunes. With interesting and unexpected harmonies, counter melodies, bridge material, and a stunning command of wind sonorities, it is a ear-opening treat if you already know the songs, and stands alone as a concert work if you don't. "The Flames of Freedom," also by Adler, mixes original material, liturgical texts and popular melodies in a deliberate homage to Britten's Ceremony of Carols.
Michael Isaacson's "Aspects of a Great Miracle" strikes me as a rather slick pops piece. The speaking chorus in the 2nd movement owes more to Meredith Willson's Music Man than Ernst Toch's Geographical Fugue.
Leo Low and and Zavel Zilberts provide alternate settings of the same Yiddish poem, and Herbert Fromm presents a brilliant madrigal based on Mi y'mallel. I would love to hear the other 5 madrigals in the set.
Liturgical music is represented by Goldstein's lovely setting of the Chanuka candle-lighting blessings, Adler's Hanerot Hallelu, Miller's refreshingly up-beat Ma'oz Tzur, a Hallel piece by Olshanetsky, and a work for the Shabbat that falls within Chanuka in the best men's choir tradition by Ancis.
The performances range from quite good to excellent. There's a lot to learn and enjoy here."