Music and Texts of GARY BACHLUND
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Va'ani zot - (1974)
Biblical text
for high voice and piano
for Cantor Ray Roberts
וַאֲנִי זאת בְּרִיתִי אותָם אָמַר יְהוָה רוּחִי אֲשֶׁר עָלֶיךָ וּדְבָרַי אֲשֶׁר־שַׂמְתִּי בְּפִיךָ לא־יָמוּשׁוּ מִפִּיךָ וּמִפִּי זַרְעֲךָ וּמִפִּי זֶרַע זַרְעֲךָ אָמַר יְהוָה מֵעַתָּה וְעַד־עולָם׃
[ 2 pages, circa 2' 00" ]
Cantor Ray Roberts with Rabbi Solomon Kleinman
The text is from Prophets (Isaiah 59:21):
"As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever." (From the Jewish Publication Society edition, 1917.)
The text is set as a cantorial solo, with declamando and rubato recommended for the performance. The melisma is the voice is answered with in the accompaniment as a short recitativo section precedes a cantabile for the large part of the text, the statement of the covenant itself.
The successive lyrical lines add to the generations of the promise, and the cantabile section ends quietly as a prayer, for which the word, Amen, is added.
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 piano-vocal score.
