"Rozhinkes mit mandlen by Abraham Goldfaden is one of the most famous Yiddish lullabies. It is about a mother's longing for a better future for her child. ‘Rozhinkes’ (raisins) and ‘Mandlen’ (almonds) are symbolic of well-being and prosperity. In this choral version by Ludwig Böhme for solo voice, SATB and piano, and which lasts 3.5 minutes, the ’feast‘ is presented in a through-composed arrangement with a richly-textured piano accompaniment. Constantly flowing waves of quavers, inspired by the swaying ‘Aylyulyu’, and the added affectionate motif ‘Yidele shlof’ make the romanticism of the song sound almost symphonic.

Yiddish Choral Series
Series Editors: Samuel Seifert and Ludwig Böhme

Yiddish folk songs explore the complete range of human emotions, powerfully expressing all that the Jewish people have loved, embraced and endured. Since their origins in the 14th century, the songs have traditionally been passed on to each generation as words and melodies alone. The Yiddish Choral Series now makes this music available for the first time in stunning new arrangements for choirs.

Series Editors Samuel Seifert (a member of Ensemble Rozhinkes) and Ludwig Böhme (director of the Leipzig Synagogal Choir) have commissioned a range of renowned international arrangers to illustrate the huge variety of creative responses to Yiddish songs: from simple choral settings to expansive, through-composed concert arrangements, and from typical Yiddish harmonies to aleatoric composition.

The Yiddish Choral Series, which allows choirs everywhere to discover the fascinating world of Yiddish song, features:


*A range of choral styles and levels of difficulty, to suit all programming requirements
*Informative introductions to each piece
*Transliterated Yiddish lyrics, with poetic translations into English and German alongside the original Hebrew text


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