Contact: Brian Levinson, 212.650.4221, blevinson@urj.org
Debbie Fellman, 212.650.4125, dfellman@urj.org
For Immediate Release
Brand-New, Yet Age-Old: Nigun Anthology Is a Comprehensive Compilation
of Spiritual and Soulful Jewish Music
Transcending history, language, and society, the nigun—or wordless Jewish melody—has long served to spark the human spirit and touch the soul. To celebrate this soulful form of Jewish music, Transcontinental Music has released the Nigun Anthology, a songbook and compact disc that represents the first comprehensive anthology of inspiring nigun melodies ever published.
This innovative work is a diverse, dynamic, and distinctive compilation of 56 new and old nigunim. The songbook, with arrangements for piano, voice, and guitar, features a foreword by renowned ethnomusicologist Judah Cohen that explains the colorful history of the form—from the eighteenth-century Chasidic melodies that were sung to create a mood of holiness during prayer and Torah study, to the melodies sung in synagogue to help focus worshipers toward prayer and away from the concerns of the outside world.
The Nigun Anthology songbook includes a compact disc that features performances of each track in the compilation, sung by cantors and professional Jewish musicians.
Nigun Anthology is available in paperback plus CD (retailing for $34.95), or CD alone (retailing for $16.95), both from Transcontinental Music Publications. For more information on this and other titles, visit the Transcontinental Music Web site at www.TranscontinentalMusic.com, or contact Transcon toll-free at 888.489.8242 or tmp@urj.org.
Transcontinental Music is the music-publishing arm of the Union for Reform Judaism (formerly the Union of American Hebrew Congregations), the synagogue arm of the Reform Movement in North America. Uniting more than 1.5 million Reform Jews in 900 congregations across the United States and Canada, Union programs and services include music and book publishing, adult education opportunities, outreach to unaffiliated and intermarried Jews, youth camps, and the Religious Action Center in Washington, D.C.
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2/05
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