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Hava Nagila | STACY GARROP

STACY GARROP

a composer with a story to tell

a composer with a story to tell

Hava Nagila



AUDIO
Days of Awe and Rejoicing
Chicago a cappella Records CAC 2006

DURATION
3’50”

INSTRUMENTATION
SATB (div.) a cappella

TEXT
Traditional Jewish song

YEAR COMPOSED
2007

COMMISSIONER
Chicago a cappella

ORDERING SCORES
This work is published as a digital score with a performance license. The pricing is based on the number of singers in a choir:
  • $50: up to 20 singers
  • $100: 21-50 singers
  • $150: 51-79 singers
  • $200: 80+ singers
To order:
  • Click on the link to email Inkjar Publishing Company
  • Specify the number of singers and the name of your choir.
  • An invoice will be sent to you via PayPal.
  • Once payment is received, you will be emailed the licensed PDF within three business days (excluding weekends and holidays).



PERUSAL SCORE
Click here

TEXT
Hava nagila, hava nagila
Hava nagila ve-nis'mecha
Hava neranena, hava neranena
Hava neranena venis'mecha
Uru, uru achim
Uru achim belev same'ach.

TRANSLATION
Let us rejoice, let us rejoice
Let us rejoice and be glad
Let us sing, let us sing
Let us sing and be glad
Awaken, awaken brethren
Awaken brethren with a cheerful heart.

PROGRAM NOTE
When Jonathan Miller asked me to write two pieces for Chicago a cappella, I knew right away that I wanted to choose two songs from my own past. Hava Nagila, a celebratory song full of joy, is the first of two Hebrew works (the other is the more somber text of Lo Yisa Goy, a prayer for peace). Shortly before composing this piece, I attended the Bat Mitzvah of one of my cousins. The Bat Mitzvah was held in a reformed synagogue, and the service utilized quite a bit of “new age” music in place of more traditional tunes. So it was a wonderful surprise when the moment came for the Torah to be removed from its cabinet and paraded around the congregation. Not only did the rabbi and cantor sing a very old, traditional song, but the entire congregation broke out in a unexpected celebration, accompanying the torah’s passage around the synagogue with clapping, dancing, and singing. I wanted to capture that joyous moment in my rendition of Hava Nagila.
-S.G.