World Music for the Classical Guitar- Steven Saulls, Classical Guitarist

About the music and the composer…

"Erev Shel Shoshanim" (English: Evening of Lilies or Evening of Roses; the Hebrew word shoshana has been identified with both flowers) is a poetic Hebrew love song. Its melody is often used as wedding music in Jewish weddings. It is well known within Israeli and Jewish music circles and throughout the Middle East, and is often used as a belly dancing song.

The song is by Yosef Hadar, with lyrics by Moshe Dor. It was first recorded in 1957 by singer Yafa Yarkoni, and a year later by the duo HaDuda'im, whose version became a smash hit in Israel. They toured the world extensively in the '60s, and their version became one of their international signature songs.

In 1966, Israeli folk dancing choreographer Zvi Hillman created the first folk dance based on the song.

During the '60s and '70s the song was recorded by various international singers, including Harry Belafonte, Olivera Katarina, Nana Mouskouri, Daliah Lavi, Victor Jara and Quilapayún, Martin Simpson and Miriam Makeba. In 1974, Yugoslav progressive rock band Dah recorded their hit song "Šošana", which featured a melody based on "Erev Shel Shoshanim". In 1975, after moving to Belgium and changing the name to Land, they recorded an English-language version of "Šošana" entitled "Shoshana", which became an international hit and made the song's melody a popular football chant.

The song has been translated into Armenian, in which it is called "Yarus (O, Rose!)".

Juhani Forsberg used the melody, which he thought to be an Israeli folksong, in his song "Tiellä kenvaeltaa", which was later added to the hymnbook of Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland.

The melody of the song is also used for the Polish Catholic song "Jeden jest tylko Pan (There is only one God)", with the lyrics being about the church being the house of God. (Wikipedia)

About the performer...

Steven began studying the guitar at age nine and has attended some of the finest music schools in the world including the Berklee College of Music (Boston), and the Mozarteum (Salzburg, Austria). He holds both a Bachelor of Arts degree from Western Washington University (1980) and a Master of Music degree from the University of Arizona (1982).

Over the past 40 years, Steven has performed hundreds of concerts throughout the United States, Central & South America and Europe. His debut recordings ‘Espressivo’ and ‘Steven Saulls Plays Works by Ponce, Torroba & Bach’ have received wide acclaim both nationally and internationally. In addition to solo concerts, he has performed over 200 chamber works including guitar concerti (with orchestra) by Vivaldi, Ponce and Rodrigo.

About the recording...

Recorded at The Steven Saulls Guitar Studio, Sahuarita, Arizona 2023/Guitar handcrafted by Martin Blackwell.

Copyright© 2023 Steven Saulls, Sahuarita, Arizona

For additional information please contact Steven Saulls at [email protected]