Stay up to date with the latest news and content from the Milken Archive of Jewish Music. Sign-up to our weekly newsletter.

Memories of Miriam Gideon

Known for setting poetry and prose in the context of vocal chamber music, Miriam Gideon--who was born October 23, 1906--studied composition with Lazare Saminsky and Roger Sessions, and taught at the Jewish Theological Seminary and the Manhattan School of Music. Her Shirat miriam l'shabbat is lauded for its balance of contemporary compositional practices and functional liturgical concerns. This complete kabbalat shabbat and Sabbath eve service was commissioned by Cantor David Putterman and premiered at New York's Park Avenue Synagogue in 1974. Hear excerpts.

Fine Works of Frederick Jacobi

Though his name and his music are now virtually obscure, during his lifetime--and especially throughout the 1930s and 1940s--Frederick Jacobi was considered one of the most distinguished figures in American music. Some works by the revered composer--who died October 24, 1952--are featured in the Milken Archive. Listen in.

Second Listen: Aaron Bensoussan

Scion of an illustrious family in the history of Moroccan Sephardi Jewry and equally versed both traditional Moroccan and Ashkenazi hazzanut, Aaron Bensoussan is a well-known contemporary cantor and recording artist. The Milken Archive’s Arvit Morocco arrangement is five excerpts from a traditional Moroccan weekday evening (ma'ariv) service and draws on both Cantor Bensoussan’s knowledge of Moroccan synagogue music and his own family's unique tradition to recreate the aesthetic of the peak years of Moroccan Jewry. Listen in.