Prayer – Three Festivals

Description

Three Festivals Prayer Chant and Liturgy

Objectives:  To prepare for the examination, the candidate is expected to be able to recognize the text distinguishing it from other liturgical pieces; be able to rapidly adapt to different repertoire; recall the appropriate information (melody) from among many possibilities; focus on the proper melody from among many hundreds; assemble the components in his mind; and express the melody with classic and own interpretation and being able to sing the melodic line within the basic rules of Hebrew grammar, specifically: proper smichut of the words and proper pronunciation.

Instruction:  The proficiency examination is administered under secure and proctored conditions. Content covered includes: Prayer chant for the Three Festivals and analysis of all the Festival services with an emphasis on special music for the TAL and GESHEM prayers and improvisation techniques. The candidate is expected to recognize and chant according to classic Nusach melody and mode any verse at random from the following four hour long Three Festival holiday liturgy: Maariv, Shacharit including Hallel, Musaf including the classic Tal and Geshem recitations and demonstrate awareness of thematic content and its relationship to the melodic nusach. The student is graded using the Julliard vocal performance evaluation form.

This course has a value of 3 upper-level undergraduate credits.