Press Releases
New Recording Features Organ Music for the Synagogue
February 03, 2015
Album of Organ Music Features Synagogue Pieces by Bloch and Milhaud
There is a commonly held assumption that the adoption of the organ into American synagogue worship was an act of assimilation. That is, that in order to appear more American, synagogues aimed to make their music sound more like that of their Christian compatriots. Two 2012 releases by the Milken Archive of Jewish Music featured Jewish liturgical music of American Reform congregation from the mid–late 19th century through the b...
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Two New Albums Showcase Liturgical Masterpieces and Pay Homage to Victims of Holocaust
January 06, 2015
Given the fact that the history of Jewish music in America spans centuries and includes a broad range of artistic approaches, it seems only fitting that the two new albums released this month by the Milken Archive of Jewish Music: The American Experience span decades and include a sacred service, a cantata, and two secular classical works that commemorate the Holocaust. While the collective repertoire of American Jewish sacred music contains dozens of synagogue services composed for large orche...
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Volume 4, Part 4: Sacred Services for the Sabbath Eve
October 07, 2014
Prayer in Judaism is perhaps best understood as both a natural and a highly developed mode of communication with God—both an act of faith and an expression of one’s inner spirituality. Thus, it should come as no surprise that virtually every period and community in the recorded history of Judaism has offered fresh contributions to the forms, types, and styles of prayer, as well as to its musical counterparts. With the latest installment to the Cycle of Life in Synagogue and Home(Volume 4 of...
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Volume 11: Symphonic Visions, Part 2
August 04, 2014
When the Editorial Board of the Milken Archive began deliberations about a volume on orchestral music of Jewish spirit, they had no idea how “voluminous” it would turn out to be. Later, when recording sessions began, musicians and conductors were equally surprised at the number of high-quality, Jewish-themed orchestral works—many by major American composers—that had been created. Looking back with the 20/20 vision that hindsight allows, it’s equally surprising that many of them fell mo...
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Passover Album is Newest Offering From Milken Archive of Jewish Music
April 01, 2014
Is it too obvious to begin a discussion of an album of Passover music with the question: What makes this album different from all others? The newest release from the Milken Archive of Jewish Music contains a compelling mix of old and new, known and obscure musical settings pertaining to the Passover holiday. As part of the series Cycle of Life in Synagogue and Home: Prayers and Celebrations Throughout the Jewish Year (Volume 4), the collection highlights the nature of a holiday that is playful a...
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Volume 4: Cycle of Life in Synagogue and Home, Part 2
March 04, 2014
If you’re in the midst of planning a wedding you’ve probably already started thinking about one of the occasion’s most important components: music. And not just the klezmer band to kick off the party after the crushing of the glass, but music during the ceremony to accompany the processionals and the lighting of candles, to segue between different parts of the ceremony. The freylakhs and bulgars—and, of course, the hora—are a lot of fun and should by no means be dismissed, but often it...
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Volume 20: L'DOR VADOR
January 07, 2014
A singing of angels.
That's the title of one of two works by composer Charles Davidson that you'll find in Volume 20 from the Milken Archive of Jewish Music: The American Experience. And it's also an apt description of what you'll encounter throughout this collection of pieces featuring the voices of children.
The sound of children's voices has been a part of Jewish music for millennia. Young boys sang in the choruses of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem, and in the synagogue choirs that flouris...
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Volume 4: Cycle of Life in Synagogue and Home
November 04, 2013
Few Jewish holidays generate as much good cheer among Jews and non-Jews alike as Hanukka. And it's easy to see why: The Festival of Lights has it all, from fried treats and fun props (donuts and dreidels, anyone?) to some of the best songs of the holiday season.
Those songs appear in many guises in the latest offering from the Milken Archive of Jewish Music: The American Experience. This double-album set of Hanukkah music is the first installment in Volume 4, which covers the vast trove of music...
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Volume 3: SEDER T’FILLOT
September 03, 2013
Get ready for a heavy dose of soul music. Jewish soul music, that is.
That's one way, at least, of looking at Volume 3 from the Milken Archive of Jewish Music: The American Experience. SEDER T’FILLOT (literally, "order of the prayers") is devoted to the musical soul of the Jewish people: the prayers that for millennia have been central to Jewish spirituality.
Music has always been a vital part of Jewish worship, and for good reason. Rabbis who long ago established the order and content of th...
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Volume 17: Odes and Epics
July 02, 2013
Go big, or go home.
That could well be the unofficial motto of Volume 17 from the Milken Archive of Jewish Music: The American Experience. The Archive, which marks the release of the 17th of its 20 volumes on July 2nd, contains plenty of works with a dramatic component, from Yiddish musicals to full-blown operas. But if it's spectacle and grandeur and sheer artistic ambition you're after, Odes and Epics: Dramatic Music of Jewish Experience is the place to find it.
"Spectacle" is one of many term...
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