El Malei Rachamim (feat. Max Bloom) - Stephen Levey/Stuart Izon

I am very proud to present this new recording of El Malei Rachamim for the Israel Defense Forces and all those who died in the defence of the State of Israel. I'm grateful to everyone who participated in this recording, our wonderful choir and most notably our boy soloist Max Bloom (14 years old, student at Immanuel College, Bushey, England) whose performance is incredibly beautiful and earnest.
Several years ago, Stephen Levey composed a new melody for this prayer to be sung at Immanuel College, and approached me to arrange it for the Shabbaton Choir. This is a strange arrangement, but Stephen saw the prayer not as a sad reflection but as a proud declaration. We worked together on this arrangement (with new material composed by me). The music is positive in a major key, and with the melody line given to an angelic boy soprano floating high above the choir.
Given the current situation in Israel and seeing the tremendous bravery and resilience of our chayalim, it felt impossible not to record it this year. May those who gave their lives al kiddush Hashem, ha'am v'haaretz receive an aliya in heaven, and may this prayer provide a small measure of warmth and consolation to those who mourn them.
Melody: Stephen Levey/Stuart Izon
Arrangement: Stuart Izon
Boy Soloist: Max Bloom
Choir: Eli Daiches, Jonathan Green, Stuart Izon, Zevi Muller, Pinchas Teitz
Produced and mixed by: Stuart Izon
Additional recording engineer: Yuval Havkin - Kemda Studios, England
With thanks to: Immanuel College, England

[@JanineBloom]

Amazing, what a brilliant voice