This CD, Hershel Sounds, presents the music I composed for Gas & Electric Arts' theatrical adaptation of Eric Kimmel's book, Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins. The story takes place in a fictional shtetl, located somewhere in what is today Ukraine, in which the inhabitants are forbidden from celebrating Hanukkah by a berserk gaggle of goblins. Enter the legendary and fabled Hershel of Ostropol, who decides to face the goblins in exchange for food and shelter. Accompanied by an orphan girl (Rachael), he waits in the synagogue each night, ready to light the candles. The goblins come one by one, but Hershel outwits them all, eventually lighting all 8 candles of the menorah, banishing the goblins and liberating the town. This CD contains themes of the principal characters, the village music (played by the village band), and musical dramatization of Hershel's showdowns with the goblins. The music draws on klezmer music, rhythms and modes from East...