How many times have we heard our children gleefully singing “Chag Purim”? But where does this song come from. It seems that it was composed by Levin Kipnis, employing a traditional melody. Kipnis (1894 to 1990) was an Israeli children's author and poet who wrote mainly in Hebrew and Yiddish. He won the Israel prize in 1978. Max Stern has set this song for unaccompanied female voices (the Antifona Women's Choir, conducted by Constantin Ripa) here. For the lyrics in Hebrew, transliterated Hebrew and English click here.
Max has also arranged “Shoshanat Ya’akov” for a group of instrumentalists from the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. We all sing this song with great gusto when we conclude the recitation of Megillat Esther, but where does it come from? It is actually the concluding section of a poem, Asher Heni, an anonymous acrostic dating to early medieval times (the closing lines are not part of the acrostic scheme). You can enjoy Max’s orchestration here. For the lyrics in Hebrew, transliterated Hebrew and English click here.