ZENIA SACKS DASILVA

• Hebrew Sabbath Service

My name is Zenia Sacks DaSilva, and this is the offering of my heart. Let me tell you how it came about. First, you should know that I am not a professional musician, although I have played piano all my life. In fact, I am a professor of Spanish at Hofstra University, the author of many textbooks, a mother, a grandmother, and a wife of theatrical attorney Al DaSilva. So when Rabbi Robert Widom of Great Neck's Temple Emanuel asked me to compose a new musical service, my response was, "I don't know how." Since he wouldn't take that for an answer, I decided to give it a try. I had always been able to improvise at the piano, but choral music was something new. How could I do it? The answer is that I still don't know how. But every note you hear is my own, every chord, every arrangement, and I am convinced that they came from a power beyond my own. If the songs are melodic, it is because that is my feeling about God, a feeling of joy and warmth and of harmony; if they are diverse, it is because I believe that diversity is His hallmark. They came into my mind quickly and whole, and I linked them with my own words and with the words of old to create a new yet traditional Sabbath service. It is yours now, hopefully to share and enjoy.

Rabbi Henry D. Michelman, Chairman of the American Society for Jewish Music and primary narrator of the spoken portions, is a composer and a distinguished member of the Conservative clergy.

Mary Feinsinger, conductor, is an eminent singer, pianist, teacher, arranger and composer. She serves on the faculty of the Mannes College of Music and as editor of Transcontinental Music. Her own works include Songs from a Passover Haggadah and Music for a Jewish Wedding.

Cantor Elliot Z. Levine of Temple Emanuel of Great Neck has been the Baritone of the Western Wind Ensemble since its inception in 1969 and has composed many pieces for their Jewish holiday recordings.

Ena Freeman, soprano, made her debut as a first prize winner of the Artists International Competition.

Herbert Bradensten, organist, is musical director of several synagogues and churches, an founder and conductor of the Millennium Phoenix Choral Ensemble.

Choir: Meg Bragle, Elizabeth Farnum, Ena Freeman, Fay Kittleson, David Ronis, John Szabo, Curtis Streetman, and Michael Steinberger.

Opening

Candlelighting Prayer
Sing Unto the Lord
Barechu
Shma and Baruch shem k'vod
Mi cha mo cha
V'sham ru
Kiddush
May the words...
O, Lord, grant us peace
Adoration
Bayom ha hu
Kaddish

Adonolum



MSR Classics