Re: Mah-Nishtanah

[Gwynne Sigel <gittele...>]

Thanks for this informative post about Mah-Nishtanah...

Is the oratorio available  or any of its melodies, by chance?

Thanks,

Gwynne Sigel

At 11:59 AM 4/8/03 -0400, you wrote:
>At 07:05 AM 4/8/03, Bob Wiener wrote:
>>I'm curious about the musical development of the different tunes for Ma 
>>Nishtana (e.g., the "chant" and "Israeli" versions).  Can anyone enlighten us?
>
>The Four Questions were taught to practically everyone in the European 
>Cheder, and reviewed by younger students every year before Pesach.  As 
>with almost everything learned in the Cheder, it was chanted in one of 
>the  "study modes," in this case the question-and-answer talmudic chant 
>marked by reciting tones on the open 5th and octaves. This was 
>particularly appropriate to the Mah-Nishtanah, which, like many of the 
>core texts of the Haggadah, are citations from the Talmud. (The last 
>question, about reclining, is a later substitution for the original 
>Mishnaic question about eating only roasted [sacrificial] meat.) This 
>chant was carried over to the home, and became traditionally associated 
>with Mah-Nishtanah.
>A related "study mode" marked by the falling motive from the minor third 
>to reciting tones on the tonic followed by a leap to the 5th (cf. Yiddish 
>question-and-answer songs like "Vos Vet Zayn Az Meshiakh Vet Kumen") was 
>also sometimes used for the Four Questions, but was more typically used 
>for the "Answer", i.e. the rest of the Haggadah.  The "Israeli" 
>Mah-Nishtanah melody taught in most Hebrew schools today is essentially a 
>rhythmicization of this chant.  A posting several years ago sent by 
>Professor Eliyahu Schleifer of Jerusalem refers to the genesis of this melody:
>
><< ... Ephraim Abileah was among the founders of the Society for Jewish 
>Folk Music in St. Petersburg in 1901... he was the composer of the melody 
>of Mah Nishtanah that we all sing at the Seder. In the year 1936, Ephraim 
>Abileah composed an oratorio "Chag Ha-Cherut" Festival of Freedom which 
>included many pieces on texts from the Haggadah, among them the 
>Mah-Nishtanah. The oratorio was performed only once in Haifa and was 
>forgotten. But the melody became part and parcel of the Seder celebration 
>in many families around the world. As usual, the melody soon won the 
>status of "Trad." and no one remembered the composer. >>
>
>BTW here is one traditional East-European version of the Four Questions 
>(Fir Kashes).  Note that in the Hebrew segments I used the Sephardic 
>pronunciation, but of course in Eastern Europe the Ashkenazic 
>pronunciation was normally used.
>
>[child:]
>Tate lebn, ikh vil dir fir kashes fregn:
>Ma nishtana halayla hazeh mikol haleylot.
>Farvos iz di nakht fun peysekh andersh fun ale nekht fun a gants yor?
>
>Di ershte kashe iz,
>Sheb'khol haleylot anu okhlin khameytz umatzah,
>Halayla hazeh kulo matzah.
>Ale nekht fun a gants yor esn mir say khomets un say matseh,
>Ober di nakht fun peysekh, esn mir nor matseh.
>
>Di tsveyte kashe iz,
>Sheb'khol haleylot anu okhlin sh'ar yerakot,
>Halayla hazeh maror.
>Ale nekht fun a gants yor esn mir alerlay grintsn,
>Ober di nakht fun peysekh, esn mir nor morer.
>
>Di drite kashe iz,
>Sheb'khol haleylot eyn anu matbilin afilu pa'am ekhat,
>Halayla hazeh sh'tey p'amim.
>Ale nekht fun a gants yor tinken mir nisht ayn afileh eyn mol,
>Ober di nakht fun peysekh, tinken mir ayn tsvey mol.
>
>Di ferte kashe iz,
>Sheb'khol haleylot onu okhlin beyn yoshvin uveyn m'subin,
>Halayla hazeh kulanu m'subin.
>Ale nekht fun a gants yor esn mir say zitsndik un say ongeleynt,
>Ober di nakht fun peysekh, esn mir nor ongeleynt.
>
>Tate lebn, entfer mir di fir kashes.
>
>[father:]
>Der terets iz,
>Avadim hayinu l'far'o b'mitzrayim...
>Knekht zenen mir geven bay paren in mitsrayim...
>
>
>_____________________________________________________________
>Cantor Sam Weiss === Jewish Community Center of Paramus, NJ 

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