We were in touch a few years ago regarding coming to Melbourne for Limmud Oz. I work at Mt Scopus College in Melbourne as a teacher. I listened to your most recent episode about the Hebrew University and I notice the song that is played at end (the anthem of the University?) is the same tune as our school song. Do you any other additional information about that tune?
Like I wrote in the email, the words for the song were written by a Tel Aviv journalist, novelist, and lyricist named Yosef Heptman, a fact that does not help you get to the bottom of your question about the tune of your Mount Scopus College anthem.
This was written by a famous-in-his-day European cantor and composer named Abraham Zvi Davidovitz. Here is what I know about him: A.Z. Davidovitz was born in a small town near Grodno in 1877. As a child, he moved to Bialystok, where he sang in the choirs of Yaakov Berman and Moshe Rabinowitz, under whose guidance he studied music and the liturgy.
Davidovitz got his first position as a conductor in Kalisz, where he led the choir of the esteemed cantor Noah Zaludkowski—an exceptional scholar and one of the most important cantors and composers in the history of Polish Jewry. Zaludkowski composed the song “S’u Tziyonah Nes veDegel” (Raise, O Zion, the Banner and Flag), which became one of the great anthems of Zionism in the first decades of the 20th century.
Davidovitz grew close to the Zionist movement and relocated to Odessa, where he championed the Hebrew language and joined Bnei Moshe, the society founded by Ahad Ha’am. In Odessa, he also became acquainted with Hayim Nahman Bialik and the city’s literary circles. He was appointed as a music teacher at the Heder HaMetukan (the “Reformed Heder”).
Later, he was invited to Warsaw to lead the choir at the Nożyk Synagogue, and before long, he became a central figure in the musical life of Polish Jewry, across all its different streams.
Davidovitz’s choir at the Nożyk Synagogue was composed of sixty singers—forty boys and twenty adults. Its repertoire included works by various composers, with a particular emphasis on the compositions of David Nowakowsky, whom Davidovitz had met in Odessa. The choir occasionally performed liturgical concerts and participated in national celebrations, including memorial events for Theodor Herzl. In addition to his work at the synagogue, Davidovitz taught at the Warsaw State Seminary for Music Teachers.
Among his well-known Hebrew compositions are “Bar Yochai” and “Ginah Ketanah” (A Small Garden)—both of which continue to be sung in Israeli schools today.
The Nożyk Synagogue was always distinguished by the high caliber of its cantors. Both the chief cantor and the second cantor were required to meet a high musical standard, and at times, Davidovitz would appoint a second cantor from among the ranks of his own choir.
Of course, it seems likely that when Mount Scopus College was established in 1949, someone adopted the AZ Davidovitch’s anthem for the obvious reason that, if the name of the college suggested a homage to the site of the Hebrew University, there was sense in taking on the anthem of the day.
Hi Noah,
We were in touch a few years ago regarding coming to Melbourne for Limmud Oz. I work at Mt Scopus College in Melbourne as a teacher. I listened to your most recent episode about the Hebrew University and I notice the song that is played at end (the anthem of the University?) is the same tune as our school song. Do you any other additional information about that tune?
Thank you
Ellie Golvan, Melbourne Australia
Ellie!
Like I wrote in the email, the words for the song were written by a Tel Aviv journalist, novelist, and lyricist named Yosef Heptman, a fact that does not help you get to the bottom of your question about the tune of your Mount Scopus College anthem.
This was written by a famous-in-his-day European cantor and composer named Abraham Zvi Davidovitz. Here is what I know about him: A.Z. Davidovitz was born in a small town near Grodno in 1877. As a child, he moved to Bialystok, where he sang in the choirs of Yaakov Berman and Moshe Rabinowitz, under whose guidance he studied music and the liturgy.
Davidovitz got his first position as a conductor in Kalisz, where he led the choir of the esteemed cantor Noah Zaludkowski—an exceptional scholar and one of the most important cantors and composers in the history of Polish Jewry. Zaludkowski composed the song “S’u Tziyonah Nes veDegel” (Raise, O Zion, the Banner and Flag), which became one of the great anthems of Zionism in the first decades of the 20th century.
Davidovitz grew close to the Zionist movement and relocated to Odessa, where he championed the Hebrew language and joined Bnei Moshe, the society founded by Ahad Ha’am. In Odessa, he also became acquainted with Hayim Nahman Bialik and the city’s literary circles. He was appointed as a music teacher at the Heder HaMetukan (the “Reformed Heder”).
Later, he was invited to Warsaw to lead the choir at the Nożyk Synagogue, and before long, he became a central figure in the musical life of Polish Jewry, across all its different streams.
Davidovitz’s choir at the Nożyk Synagogue was composed of sixty singers—forty boys and twenty adults. Its repertoire included works by various composers, with a particular emphasis on the compositions of David Nowakowsky, whom Davidovitz had met in Odessa. The choir occasionally performed liturgical concerts and participated in national celebrations, including memorial events for Theodor Herzl. In addition to his work at the synagogue, Davidovitz taught at the Warsaw State Seminary for Music Teachers.
Among his well-known Hebrew compositions are “Bar Yochai” and “Ginah Ketanah” (A Small Garden)—both of which continue to be sung in Israeli schools today.
The Nożyk Synagogue was always distinguished by the high caliber of its cantors. Both the chief cantor and the second cantor were required to meet a high musical standard, and at times, Davidovitz would appoint a second cantor from among the ranks of his own choir.
Of course, it seems likely that when Mount Scopus College was established in 1949, someone adopted the AZ Davidovitch’s anthem for the obvious reason that, if the name of the college suggested a homage to the site of the Hebrew University, there was sense in taking on the anthem of the day.
Again, thanks for writing!