The following selection was chosen from thousands of records held in the National Sound Archives. Some of these records were produced in Israel while others were produced by foreign record companies wanting to distribute the new Hebrew song in Israel and in the Diaspora. Most of the songs were composed before the establishment of the State of Israel. The poets and composers, most of whom were new immigrants from Europe, created a new and rich repertoire, which gave expression to the emerging Israeli reality. The songs reflect the feelings of the pioneers towards the new homeland, the building of the country , and the absorption of immigrants. In addition, of course, we have included songs dealing with love, work and other aspects of daily life in life in Erets Yisrael, as well as children’s songs.
The songs were initially performed on theater stages, in concert halls, and in radio broadcasts, and before long they became folk songs sung by ordinary people who still sing them to this day. The recordings in this collection are by the original performers, some of these whom have become identified with the songs they were the first to record.
The recordings were transferred without any acoustical improvements in order to maintain their original spirit.
Credits:
Sound engineers: Shai Drori, Avi Nahmias
Compiling and editing: Dr. Gila Flam, Ruth Freed, Roni Goell, Daria Israeli
Information Technology: Irina Asviyan, Tamar Hazan, Tomer Koren, Moshe Sadan, Orly Simon