Pit'chu li

 

Pit'chu li  - (1978)   

Text from the Mahzor
for two equal voices and organ


 

 

This text is drawn from the prayer book for the High Holy Days, and appears late in the services as an appeal to God to assist with the redemption of his people by taking part in the act of repentance. The duet for two equal voices is a responsorial - a call and response - in which the repetition of the prayer asking that "gates of righteousness be opened is repeatedly stressed. The tessitura for the voices is identical, such that singers could swap parts, should they wish two, the first voice beginning the more ornate of the two.

 

 

 

 A shift from the opening B minor to B major expresses the notion of the text, that at that moment in the liturgy indeed the gates of righteousness are opened, as suggested by the modal change from minor to major.  The work was first sung at services at Temple Ahavat Shalom in Northridge, California, in the year it was written, though I have edited the manuscript and made some recent changes.

 

The score is available as a free PDF download, though any major commercial performance or recording of the work is prohibited without prior arrangement with the composer. Click on the graphic below for this organ-vocal score.

 

 

Pit'chu li