The important phrase of the Chanukah season is “neis gadol haya sham”, translation:
“A great miracle happened there, in those olden days in this season” referencing the miracle of the candles that lasted for 8 days instead of only 1.
I have set these lyrics in two completely different ways. My 1990 arrangement uses only this phrase as the lyrics whereas my newest arrangement, this year, 2022, is based on the first Hebrew letters of each of these words: “nun gimel heh and shin” the letters that appear on the child’s spinning top “Dreydl” as part of the traditional children’s game for Chanukah. (FYI, here are the rules as explained by Scholastic magazine; https://www.scholastic.com/content/dam/teachers/blogs/alycia-zimmerman/migrated-files/how_to_play_dreidel_game_directions.pdf) In my current arrangement there is much interplay between the choral sections, imitating the “spinning” of the dreydl. The key lyric “Neis gadol haya sham” also occurs. Please visit the Chanukah section of my website to listen to and hopefully enjoy both renditions. There are very few Hebrew words, there is a pronunciation guide and Hebrew is an easy language to pronounce. You are of course invited to peruse all the other arrangements available.
Why I write new melodies for traditional and beloved lyrics for Christmas and Chanukah
I know very well how much audiences enjoy hearing the familiar hymns and songs they know and love at Holiday concerts. My goal is to revisit these lyrics and create a new musical framework for them, one which enables the singers and audiences to hear and appreciate the lyrics through a new musical “lens” that expresses the meaning of the text in settings “new” and meaningful to the ear and mind.I strive to write a musical setting for the essence and mood of the lyrics and create an arrangement that is enjoyable and fun for a chorus to rehearse and perform and for the audience to enjoy on first hearing without “missing” too much the traditional settings with all their personal meaning.
In subsequent blog postings I’ll talk about my intentions for individual new melodic arrangements for the Holidays in English, Hebrew and Yiddish.
Welcome to the Arnold Harris Music Blog
Let me introduce myself. My name is Arnold (Arnie) Harris, and this is my 38th year as Music Director of the Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, MA, the oldest school for the Blind and Visually impaired in America.
In that role I coordinate musical events and direct two audition-based choruses, the Secondary Program Chorus and the Chamber Singers. I also teach lessons on any wind, brass, string or percussion instrument a student would like to learn. And, very central to my work here, I am also a composer and arranger for chorus. In my years here I have written many SATB (accompanied and unaccompanied by piano) arrangements of choral music for the Holiday seasons of Christmas and Chanukah, and I also have a varied repertoire of arrangements for spring concerts. You will find many of them on my website.
A major thrust of my composing is to create new melodies and harmonic arrangements of many of the beloved Holiday lyrics for Christmas and Chanukah. These have proven to be refreshing for both choruses and audiences as the lyrics are presented in a fresh, new light. The arrangements are very melodic and quite singable. My choruses at Perkins have done all of them over the years, as have many high school, college, community and church choirs.
So as you visit ArnoldHarrisMusic.com, you will find new holiday arrangements in English, Spanish, Catalan, Barbershop style, Hebrew and Yiddish of traditional lyrics, and also discover many fun and engaging arrangements of the American Songbook. Each song has an MP3 and a perusal score for your browsing. There is also an easy way to order the songs for your groups.
Thanks for any time you spend with music, I am hopeful you will find arrangements for you, and your choruses and audiences to enjoy at any time of year.