Maestro Israel Edelson takes us “behind-the-instruments” to see how he writes a soul-stirring arrangement for the niggun, “Anim Zmiros.”
Every niggun has a story, but not all stories are famous like the story of one of the niggunim the Rebbe taught, “Anim Zmiros.” That story, of a man sitting in soul, draped in his kittel and tallis in the pre-dawn dark, still humming a melody the morning after Yom Kippur, captivates the imagination like few others.
So when Bentzi Avtzon from yuvlaMedia approached Maestro Israel Edelson to write a musical arrangement for this niggun they quickly agreed that the melody had to somehow convey the scene of that dark shul, of a shamash unsure what to make of this man under his tallis.
Their collaboration bore fruit in the film and music production, “The Rebbe’s Niggunim: Songs of the Inspired Soul,” which has already been shown in New York, Los Angeles and Philadelphia and will soon be shown in Chabad Houses in Boca Raton, El Paso, Riverside, and West Hartford, with many more showings to come.
Recently, they met in Edelson’s studio to discuss the making of the arrangement. In this short “behind-the-instruments” film, Edelson demonstrates how he arranges the instruments of a string quartet so that their performance of the niggun not only has a story but brings that story to life.
For more information about the production please visit: yuvlaMedia.com/licensing or contact: [email protected]
Pure holiness.
That’s a talmid from Leonard Bernstein! We have beautiful niggunim and we need more of this. Hatzlocho in your holy work.
thank you meastro Edelson!
If only we could experience the davener’s experience… Why should we get the experience of someone observing the gabbai who’s observing the davener if the niggun anim zemiros is about the davener’s experience!
Nice composition r’ yisrael! Lenny (Leonard Bernstein) would be proud 🙂