TALMON, ZVI

TALMON, ZVI (1922– ), ḥazzan, composer, conductor. Born in Jerusalem, Talmon obtained his basic cantorial education in the Shirat Israel choir there with Cantor solomon zalman rivlin . He studied at the Eẓ Ḥayyim yeshivah and at the Mizrachi teachers' seminar, both in Jerusalem. He learned composition and conducting at the Jerusalem Institute of Music and at the Academy of Music. He set to music scores of selections from the prayers, biblical passages, Hebrew songs and also arranged the music for the Yad Vashem memorial services for Yom ha-Shoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day). He led synagogue choirs, including that of the Hekhal Shelomo synagogue in Jerusalem. His melodies for Sabbath prayers appeared in the Rinat ha-Heikhal anthology published by the Cantors Assembly in America. These works are based on traditional chants for prayers and cantillations for Torah reading interwoven with original Israeli tunes. Among his publications are La-Menaẓeiah Mizmor, biblical songs, and Mizmorei Shem ve-Yefet, Israeli, Jewish, and Italian songs for choirs, and an additional volume of his works for the Sabbath and the Festivals. He has written linguistic studies on the Hebrew and Aramaic languages for which he received his academic degree. Talmon served as an instructor in cantorial music and texts of the prayers at the cantorial school affiliated to the Great Synagogue in Jerusalem. (Akiva Zimmerman)