Hava Nagila

"Hava Nagila" is one of the first modern Jewish folk songs in the Hebrew language. It went on to become a staple of band performers at Jewish weddings and bar/bat(b'nei) mitzvah celebrations.

The melody is based on a Hassidic Nigun.[1] It was composed in 1918 to celebrate the Balfour Declaration and the British victory over the Ottomans in 1917. It was first performed in a mixed choir concert in Jerusalem.[2]

Abraham Zevi Idelsohn (1882–1938), a professor at Hebrew University, began cataloging all known Jewish music and teaching classes in musical composition; one of his students was a promising cantorial student, Moshe Nathanson, who with the rest of his class was presented by the professor with a 19th-century, slow, melodious, chant (niggun or nigun) and assigned to add rhythm and words to fashion a modern Hebrew song. There are competing claims regarding "Hava Nagila"'s composer, with both Idelsohn and Nathanson being suggested.[3][4]

The niggun has been attributed to the Sadigurer Chasidim, who lived in what is now Ukraine.[3] This version has been recreated by Daniel Gil, based on a traditional song collected by Susman Kiselgof.[5] The text was probably refined by Idelsohn.[6] Members of the community began to immigrate to Jerusalem in 1915, and Idelsohn wrote in 1932 that he had been inspired by that melody.[2]

• Singer Harry Belafonte is known for his version of the song, which was recorded for his album Belafonte at Carnegie Hall in 1959.[7] He rarely gave a concert without singing it, and stated that the two "stand out" songs from his professional career were "The Banana Boat Song" and "Hava Nagila".[3][8] Belafonte noted and claimed, "Life is not worthwhile without it. Most Jews in America learned that song from me."[9]
• Laurindo Almeida[8]
• Barry Sisters[8]
• Nissim Black, a Jewish Orthodox rapper, recorded an adaptation titled "The Hava Song".[10]
• Brave Combo[11]
• Glen Campbell[8]
• David Carroll[8]
• Jasper Carrott (on his 1976 album, Carrott In Notts)
• Chubby Checker[8]
• Herman Clebanoff[8]
• Carmela Corren – Israeli singer[12]
• Celia Cruz[8]
• Dick Dale and the Del Tones (surf rock)[8]
• Dalida (1959)[8]
• Neil Diamond, in addition to having performed Hava Nagila in his 1994 Live In America concert,[13] incorporated it into The Jazz Singer, based on Samson Raphaelson's play, in which he acted out a cantor with popular-music ambitions.
• Dream Theater performed a cover of "Hava Nagila" in Tel Aviv, Israel, on 16 June 2009.[14]
• Bob Dylan[8]
• The E Street Band with guest accordionists performed it at a Bruce Springsteen concert in Sunrise, Florida, on 9 September 2009.[15]
• Percy Faith[8]
• Irving Fields[8]
• Four Jacks and a Jill released a version of the song on their 1965 album, Jimmy Come Lately.[16]
• Connie Francis[8]
• Benny Goodman, (c. 1960s)
• Lionel Hampton[8]
• Lena Horne, "Now!" (US #92, 1963)[8][17]
• Abraham Zevi Idelsohn published the Hebrew song book, Sefer Hashirim, in 1922, which includes the first publication of his arrangement of "Hava Nagila". He also produced the first commercial recording in 1922, on the Polyphon record label ("Order No. 8533."), as part of a series which recorded 39 Hebrew folk songs.[18]
• Los Iracundos[8]
• Kare and the Cavemen[8]
• Bert Kaempfert[8]
• Harold Land[8]
• James Last[8]
• Liel Kolet
• Abbe Lane[8]
• Jon Lord of Deep Purple included Hava Nagila in his solo keyboard improvisations as heard on Made in Europe (1975).[19]
• Arthur Lyman[8]
• Betty Madigan, "Dance Everyone Dance" (US #31, 1958)[17]
• Shelly Manne[8]
• Mantovani[8]
• Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, who recorded the song live for the album Ruin Jonny's Bar Mitzvah. They also recorded a second version on the same album to the tune of Feliz Navidad.[20]
• Perez Prado[8]
• Louis Prima
• Flora Purim[8]
• Ivan Rebroff[21]
• Frank Slay and his Orchestra, "Flying Circle" (US #45, 1962)[17]
• The Spotnicks[22]
• Pete Townshend, whose ability to play the song was instrumental to his induction in The Who.[23]
• Richard Tucker[8]
• Caterina Valente[8]
• Rika Zarai[8]

George Lam recorded a Cantonese version of "Hava Nagila" titled《狂歡》("Carnival") for his 1981 album《活色生香》.

Allan Sherman recorded a parody, "Harvey and Sheila," on his album "My Son, The Celebrity," using the tune but spoofing middle-class life.

Thrash Metal band Anthrax included the melody in their 1987 single "I'm the Man".

• Hora (dance)
• Jewish music
• Music of Israel
• Zum Gali Gali

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hava Nagila.

• Hava Nagila's Long, Strange Trip at My Jewish Learning
• Hora Music, How do you sing and dance "Hava Nagila" – lyrics and steps
• Hava Nagila - The Original, & Unaltered Hasidic Melody
• Who wrote "Havah Nagilah"?
• Hava Nagila at HebrewSongs.com
• Historical research includes first recording of Hava Nagila
• Romani version of "Hava Nagila" (Aven, rromalen)
• Harry Belafonte sings "Hava Nagila" with Danny Kaye (1966) on YouTube