Hava Nagila

The melody is based on a Hassidic Nigun, with its rhythm mirroring Prusso-French composer Jacques Offenbach's "Galop infernal" from his 1858 opera, Orpheus in the Underworld. It was composed in 1918 to celebrate the Balfour Declaration and the British victory over the Ottomans in 1917. It was first performed in a mixed choir concert in Jerusalem. Abraham Zevi Idelsohn (1882–1938), a professor at Hebrew University, began cataloging all known Jewish music and teaching classes in musical composition; one of his students was a promising cantorial student, Moshe Nathanson, who with the rest of his class was presented by the professor with a slow, melodious, 19th-century chant (niggun or nigun) and assigned to add rhythm and words to fashion a modern Hebrew song. There are competing claims regarding "Hava Nagila"'s composer, with both Idelsohn and Nathanson being suggested. The niggun has been attributed to the Sadigurer Chasidim, who lived in what is now Ukraine. The text was probably refined by Idelsohn. Members of the community began to immigrate to Jerusalem in 1915, and Idelsohn wrote in 1932 that he had been inspired by that melody. ==Lyrics==

\header { tagline = ##f } \layout { indent = 0 \context { \Score \remove "Bar_number_engraver" } \set Score.tempoHideNote = ##t } global = { \key g \minor \numericTimeSignature \time 4/4 } chordNames = \chordmode { \global \set chordChanges = ##t \set midiInstrument = "acoustic guitar (nylon)" \repeat volta 2 { d,1\ppp | d, | c,:m | d,4 c,:m d,2 | } \repeat volta 2 { d,4. c,8:m d,2 | c,4.:m g,8:m c,2:m | c,1:m | d,4 c,:m d,2 | } g1:m | g:m | \repeat volta 2 { g:m | } \repeat volta 2 { c:m | } d:7 | d | g2.:m s4 \bar "|." } sopranoVoice = \relative c' { \global \autoBeamOn \set midiInstrument = "clarinet" \tempo 4 = 108 \repeat volta 2 { d4 d4. fis8 es d | fis4 fis4. a8 g fis | g4 g4. bes8 a g | fis4 es16 d es8 \tempo 4 = 114 d2 | } \repeat volta 2 { \tempo 4= 120 fis8 fis4 es8-. d-. d-. d4 es8 es4 d8-. c-. c-. c4 | c es8. d16 c8 c g'4 | fis es16 d es8 \tempo 4 = 126 d2 | } \tempo 4 = 132 g2 g | 4 | \repeat volta 2 { g8 g bes8. a16 g8-. bes-. a-. g-. | } \repeat volta 2 { a a c8. bes16 a8-. c-. bes-. a-. | } a a \tempo 4 = 54 d4\fermata \tempo 4 = 108 d,8 d \tempo 4 = 54 d'4\fermata | \tempo 4 = 108 r8 d, d d bes' ([a g fis]) | g2. r4 \bar "|." } left = \relative c { \global \clef bass \set midiInstrument = "vibraphone" \repeat volta 2 { d,8 d' a d d, d' a d | d, d' a d d, d' a d | c, c' g c c, c' g c | d, d' c, c' d, d' a d | } \repeat volta 2 { d, d'4 8 d, d' a d | c, c'4 8 c,, c' g c | c, c' g c c, c' g c | d, d' c, c' d, d' a d | } g, g' d g g, g' d g | g, g' d g g, g' d g | \repeat volta 2 { g, g' d g g, g' d g | } \repeat volta 2 { c,, c' g c c, c' g c | } 4 r4 r | d,8 d' a d d, d' a d | g, g' d g 4 r \bar "|." } verse = \lyricmode { Ha -- va na -- gi -- la, ha -- va na -- gi -- la. Ha -- va na -- gi -- la ve -- e -- nis -- me -- ḥa. Ha -- va ne -- ra -- ne -- nah, ha -- va ne -- ra -- ne -- nah. Ha -- va ne -- ra -- ne -- nah ve -- e -- nis -- me -- ḥa. U -- ru, u -- ru a -- ḥim! U -- ru a -- ḥim be'lev sa -- me -- aḥ. U -- ru a -- ḥim be-lev sa -- me -- aḥ. Uru a -- ḥim, uru a -- ḥim b' -- lev sa -- me -- aḥ. } \score { > \layout { } } \score { \unfoldRepeats { > } \midi { \context { \Score midiChannelMapping = #'instrument } \context { \Staff \remove "Staff_performer" } \context { \Voice \consists "Staff_performer" } } } ==Notable performers==

• Israeli folk duo Ran & Nama (Ran Eliran and Nechama Hendel) released what is likely the earliest recording of the version that was later made famous throughout the world, on their album Ran & Nama – The First Record (Hed Arzi AN-42-70, 1959). • Singer Harry Belafonte is known for his version of the song, which was recorded for his album Belafonte at Carnegie Hall, recorded at the titular Carnegie Hall in 1959. He rarely gave a concert without singing it, and stated that the two "stand out" songs from his professional career were "The Banana Boat Song" and "Hava Nagila". Belafonte noted and claimed, "Life is not worthwhile without it. Most Jews in America learned that song from me." • Aliza Kashi recorded the song for her 1963 album A Internacional Aliza Kashi (The International Aliza Kashi). • Laurindo Almeida • Bruno Blum included an instrumental ska section of the song in his version of French singer songwriter Georges Brassens' "" [Bad Reputation] on his 2002 album Think Différent. • Brave Combo • Glen Campbell released True Grit / Hava Nagila via Label Capitol Records in 1969. • David Carroll • Celia Cruz incorporated it into The Jazz Singer, based on Samson Raphaelson's play, in which he acted out a cantor with popular-music ambitions. • George Lam published a Cantonese adaption of the song in 1987, named "Ecstasy" (). • Dream Theater performed a cover of "Hava Nagila" in Tel Aviv, Israel, on 16 June 2009. • Bob Dylan • Percy Faith • Connie Francis • Los Iracundos • Arthur Lyman • Shelly Manne • Pérez Prado • Frank Slay and his Orchestra, "Flying Circle" (US #45, 1962) • Richard Tucker • Mik Kaminski of Electric Light Orchestra performed a violin solo that included Hava Nagila in the band's 1977 tour promoting their 1976 album A New World Record • Party Animals, with a happy hardcore remix in 1996. • Scooter, with a similar happy hardcore remix, titled Last Minute. • Charles Aznavour with Enrico Macias in 1973 ==Use in sports==

Association football Ajax Amsterdam Supporters of the Dutch association football club AFC Ajax, although not an official Jewish club, commonly use Jewish imagery. A central part of Ajax fans' culture, "Hava Nagila" can often be heard sung in the stadium by the team's supporters, and at one point ringtones of "Hava Nagila" could even be downloaded from the club's official website. Tottenham Hotspur Supporters of the English football club Tottenham Hotspur commonly refer to themselves as "Yids" and say they are strongly associated with Jewish symbolism and culture. "Hava Nagila" has been adopted as an anthem of sorts by the club, and was one of the most frequently sung songs at the team's former stadium at White Hart Lane. Gymnastics In the 2012 Summer Olympics floor exercise final, Aly Raisman placed first with a score of 15.600, becoming the first American woman to win a gold medal on the floor exercise. She performed to the tune of "Hava Nagila". == See also ==