[HANASHIR:11407] Re: Hatikvah--an initial inquiry.

[DAcker9854 <DAcker9854...>]

Clarification:

 David, if we don't know the composer of Hatikvah, then how is it possible we 
 can attribute to that same person the change of words--decades after the 
tune 
 became the standard one for this text?  Or do you know the composer?

I got some of my names mixed up.

As best we know, the person who set Hatikvah to the Roumanian folk-song (and 
there is some question about the relationship between a couple of folk songs 
from Moldavia and which one was the primary source) was Shmuel Cohen. It was 
a tune he knew from his childhood, before he made aliyah.  

The changes in the lyrics are attributed to Dr. Yehuda-Matmon Cohen, who was 
one of the founders of Gymnasia Herziliyah.

Interestingly, this was not the first melody set to Hatikvah.  A composer by 
name of Leon Igly set the poem to music, with a different melody for each 
verse.  It was too difficult for people to learn and went nowhere.  

David
 

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