Sheet Music: Shalom Aleichem

TitleShalom Aleichem
Alternate titlesשלום עליכם
ComposerIsrael Goldfarb (1879–1967)
InstrumentationFlute solo
KeyD minor
RangeG4–Bb5
Time signature4/4
Tempo66 BPM
Performance time1:00
Difficulty leveleasy
Download printable scorePDF Sheet Music (44 kB) (preview)
Download audio tracksMIDI (change tempo/key) MP3 (483 kB)
Date added2011-04-27
Last updated2011-04-27
Download popularity index☆☆☆☆☆ 1.0 (average)
Categories
Jewish music, Traditional/Folk

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Wednesday 27 April 2011

Tune of the Day: Shalom Aleichem

Traditional Jewish song

“Shalom Aleichem” is a traditional song sung on Friday night at the beginning of the Jewish Sabbath. The liturgical poem was written at the end of the 17th century, and many different melodies have been composed for it. The most well-known melody was composed by the American Rabbi Israel Goldfarb in 1918, while sitting near the Alma Mater statue in front of Low Memorial Library at Columbia University. It was to be part of his Friday Evening Melodies collection, which was published in 1918.

Goldfarb's work is often presumed to be a traditional melody, as the composer himself remarked: “The popularity of the melody traveled not only throughout this country but throughout the world, so that many people came to believe that the song was handed down from Mt. Sinai by Moses”.