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shiron for shirah b'tzibur
- From: Robert Wiener <wiener...>
- Subject: shiron for shirah b'tzibur
- Date: Tue 30 Mar 2004 12.20 (GMT)
Any suggestion for a comprehensive volume or series of booklets of
shironim/songsters for shirah b'tzibur/group singing of Israeli songs -- a kind
of "Rise Up Singing" with the following characteristics (have I left any
important ones out?):
1. comprehensive (includes a large number of songs from all periods, from the
First Aliyah to the present, primarily secular, especially those reflecting
Israel's history)
2. correct (text without too many errors)
3. legible
4. transliterations
5. translations (to English)
6. complete (all verses of songs as composed, in both Hebrew and
transliteration and translation)
I think that it would be wonderful to have a companion version with music.
(Now that I think of it, there used to be a book "The Songs We Sing" by Harry
Coopersmith that had a words-only book and a book with music. But my copy is
dated 1950, and it is inconsistent in the inclusion of translations and
transliterations. The Tara series, too, has only partial translations and
transliterations and would require acquiring many volumes which have no
particular themes (e.g., organized by historical period or topic).)
The Young Judaea shiron comes close, but for many of the songs it omits several
verses and only translates and transliterates about half of the verses it
includes. B'kol Echad does well for the relatively small number of songs it
includes.
What do list members think of the desirability of having such a work? Does my
difficulty in finding such a work reflect:
1. the belief that anyone interested enough in the songs of Israel is probably
fluent in reading and understanding Hebrew
and
2. the great difficulty and time commitment in making good transliterations and
translations?
On the other hand, and a former "BJ" member I have seen how accessibility can
be crucial in getting people involved in singing. Comments please.
Bob
P.S. In the alternative, I would be interested in suggestions for a
comprehensive volume or series of booklets of shironim/songsters in Hebrew
alone (e.g., I know of the Camp Ramah shiron) that had characteristics 1, 2, 3,
and 6.
P.P.S. This post is quite long, so I imagine that list-members would
appreciate it if those who reply include just the section of my post relevant
to their comments.
Robert Wiener
wiener (at) mindspring(dot)com
- shiron for shirah b'tzibur,
Robert Wiener