The web page for this composition is in progress. Please contact me at gerald@nullgeraldcohenmusic.com for more information about the piece.
A setting of the weekday evening service, for cantor, chorus, clarinet and piano
Commissioned by the Cantors Assembly
The web page for this composition is in progress. Please contact me at gerald@nullgeraldcohenmusic.com for more information about the piece.
Composed for the Yale Concert Choir
About – Score – Arrangements – Listen/Watch – Text – Performances
Libavtini Achoti Chala (You have captured my heart, my dear one, my bride) was originally composed as a solo a cappella song for a wedding at which I was the cantor. The Connecticut Hebrew Chorale, Carol Kozak Ward, conductor, commissioned me to expand this into a choral piece in 1983. The words come from the great Biblical love song, the Song of Songs (Shir Hashirim), and capture words of passionate love being sung to a bride. The Connecticut Hebrew Chorale gave the premiere of the piece in New Haven, CT in 1983. I have also arranged the piece for solo voice and piano.
Commissioned by the Connecticut Hebrew Chorale.
Libavtini achoti chala,
Libavtini b’achad mei-einayich,
B’achad anak mitsavronayich.
Ma yafu dodayich achoti chala,
Ma tovu dodayich miyayin,
V’reiach sh’manayich mikol b’samim.
Uri tsafon uvo-i teiman,
Hafichi gani yiz’lu v’samav,
Yavo dodi l’gano, v’yochal p’ri m’gadav.
You have captured my heart, my own, my bride,
You have captured my heart with one glance of your eyes,
With one coil of your necklace.
How sweet is your love, my own, my bride,
How much more delightful your love than wine,
Your ointments more fragrant than any spice.
Awake, O north wind, come, O south wind!
Blow upon my garden, that its perfume may spread.
Let my beloved come to his garden and enjoy its luscious fruits!
Premiere performance: Gerald Cohen, baritone; Connecticut Hebrew Chorale, Carol Kozak Ward, conductor, New Haven, CT 1983.
The web page for this composition is in progress. Please contact me at gerald@nullgeraldcohenmusic.com for more information about the piece.
Commissioned by the Canticum Novum Singers
Published by Transcontinental Music Publications
The web page for this composition is in progress. Please contact me at gerald@nullgeraldcohenmusic.com for more information about the piece.
Commissioned by Temple Shaaray Tefila, New York
by Andrew Adler For Frank A. Heller III, every concert describes a small journey of inner space. Voces Novae, the chorus he trains and nurtures season after season, looks first to the spirit present within each of its singers, and by extension his audiences. It’s no exaggeration to call Heller’s perspective a pan-theistic, summoning faiths […]
by Sheila Steinman Wallace In one of the most cohesive and moving concerts I have heard from this community chorus, Voces Novae presented “Choral Portraits: Gerald Cohen, Eleanor Daley and Eric Whitacre” on Sunday, March 7. … Gerald Cohen’s “Adonai Ro’i” (Psalm 23) has long been a personal favorite. The chorus and soloist Sarah Nettleton […]
About – Score – Text – Arrangements – Listen/Watch – Performances – Press
Prices vary depending on arrangement. See below.
V’higad’ta L’vincha (And You Shall Tell Your Child…) was composed in 1996 for the Syracuse Children’s Chorus, Barbara Tagg, founder and director, and was commissioned by the Chorus as part of the “Commissioning Music/USA” program of Meet The Composer and the National Endowment for the Arts, with support from the Helen F. Whitaker Fund. In addition to this original SSA version, I have also written a version of the piece for SATB chorus.
V’higad’ta L’vincha is based on selections from the Passover Haggadah. The Haggadah, or “telling,” is the text that is used at the Seder, the family meal—full of discussion, ceremony, and song—that is the central feature of the Passover celebration of freedom and rejoicing.
One of the most significant themes of the Haggadah, emphasized in my choices of text for the piece, is that we all must experience the story of the deliverance from slavery as if we ourselves had lived through it; we must then tell our children that story so as to pass it down, vividly, from one generation to the next. Children are thus the central figures in the Seder, and it seemed most appropriate to write a setting of this text in a work composed for children’s chorus.
The piece begins with a chant-like presentation of the biblical verse that instructs us to tell our children the story of the Exodus, and then moves, as does the Haggadah, from the oppression of slavery to the joy of deliverance. That joy is expressed especially in the famous text “Dayeinu” (“It would have been enough…”), set here as a lively dance, and in the final “L’fichach,” which gives thanks to God in a procession which grows from a quiet beginning to an exuberant conclusion.
NOTE: Also available in a version for SATB chorus. Both versions can either be performed with the instrumental version of clarinet, cello, and piano, or with the piano reduction as accompaniment.
1. V’higad’ta l’vincha bayom hahu leimor: baavur ze asa Adonai li, b’tseiti mimitsrayim; ki v’yad chazaka hotsiacha Adonai mimitsrayim.
2. Avadim hayinu l’faro b’mitsrayim, vayotsieinu Adonai eloheinu misham b’yad chazaka uvizro’a n’tuya. V’chol hamarbe l’saper bitsiat mitsrayim harei ze m’shubach.
3. Ha lachma anya, diachalu avatana, b’ara dimitsrayim. Kol dichfin yeitei v’yeichul, kol ditsrich yeitei v’yifsach. Hashata hacha, lashana haba’a b’ara d’yisraeil. Hashata avdei lashana haba’a b’nei chorin.
4. Kama maalot tovot lamakom aleinu!
Ilu hotsianu mimitsrayim, Dayeinu!
Ilu kara lanu et hayam, Dayeinu!
Ilu sipeik tsorkeinu bamidbar arbayim shana, Dayeinu!
Ilu keirvanu lifnei har sinai, Dayeinu!
Ilu natan lanu et hatorah, Dayeinu!
Ilu hichnisanu l’erets yisraeil, Dayeinu!
5. B’chol dor vador, chayav adam lirot et atsmo k’ilu hu yatsa mimitsrayim. Shene’emar: V’higad’ta l’vincha bayom hahu leimor: baavur ze asa Adonai li, b’tseiti mimitsrayim.
6. L’fichach anachnu chayavim l’hodot, l’haleil, l’shabeiach, l’faer, l’romeim, l’hadeir, l’vareich l’alei, ul’kaleis, l’mi sheasa lavoteinu v’lanu et kol hanisim ha’eilu. Hotsianu meiavdut l’cheirut, miyagon l’simcha, meieivel l’yom tov, umeiafeila l’or gadol, umishibud ligula. V’nomar l’fanav shira chadasha, Hal’luya!
1. And you shall tell your child on that day, saying: it is because of what Adonai did for me when I went out of Egypt. For with a mighty hand did Adonai bring you out of Egypt.
2. We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, and Adonai our God brought us out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. And the more one talks about the exodus from Egypt, the more praiseworthy it is.
3. This is the bread of poverty which our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt. Let all who are hungry come and eat; let all who are needy come and celebrate the Passover. Now we are here; next year may we be in the land of Israel. Now we are slaves; next year may we be free people.
4. How many acts of kindness God has performed for us!
If God had brought us out of Egypt, Dayeinu! (it would have been enough for us!)
If God had split the sea for us, Dayeinu!
If God had sustained us in the wilderness for forty years, Dayeinu!
If God had brought us before Mount Sinai, Dayeinu!
If God had given us the Torah, Dayeinu!
If God had led us to the land of Israel, Dayeinu!
5. In every generation, each person should feel as if he or she had actually experienced the exodus from Egypt. As it is written: And you shall tell your child on that day, saying: it is because of what Adonai did for me when I went out of Egypt.
6. Therefore, we should thank, praise, laud, glorify, exalt, honor, bless, extol, and adore the Power who performed all of these miracles for our ancestors and for us. God brought us from slavery to freedom, from sorrow to joy, from mourning to celebration, from darkness to great light, from bondage to redemption. Let us then sing a new song to God, Halleluya!
Arrangement for SATB chorus, clarinet, cello and piano (1999)
Both versions can either be performed with the instrumental version of clarinet, cello, and piano, or with the piano reduction as accompaniment. Prices are as follows:
SA Octavo: $7.00
SA Full Score and parts: $25.00
SATB Octavo: 10.00
SATB Full Score and parts: 30.00
The 4th movement “Dayeinu“, is often performed as a separate piece, and is available with the instrumental ensemble, or with piano reduction.
V’higad’ta L’vincha: complete performance of SSA version by Syracuse Children’s Chorus, Barbara Tagg, conductor—from album Generations
Selected:
Premiere: April 1997 – Syracuse Children’s Chorus, Barbara Tagg, cond.; Syracuse, NY
May 1998 – Juilliard Pre-College Chorus, Rebecca Scott, cond.; New York, NY (SSA version)
April 2006 – Princeton Pro Musica, Frances Slade, cond., Lawrenceville, NJ (SATB version)
December 2006 – Zamir Chorale, Matthew Lazar, cond., Merkin Concert Hall, New York, NY, (SATB version, “Dayeinu” movement)
April 2010 – Choirs of Jewish Theological Seminary and Hebrew Union College, Joyce Rosenzweig, cond. (SATB version)
May 2010 – Concerto Della Donna, Iwan Edwards, cond.; Montreal, Québec (SSA version)
April 2016 – HaZamir, the International Jewish High School Choir, Joel Caplan, cond., New York, NY (SATB version, “Dayeinu” movement) See video of this performance at Carnegie Hall
Recorded on album Generations: Music of Gerald Cohen, performed by the Syracuse Children’s Chorus, Barbara Tagg, cond.
by Andrew Adler For Frank A. Heller III, every concert describes a small journey of inner space. Voces Novae, the chorus he trains and nurtures season after season, looks first to the spirit present within each of its singers, and by extension his audiences. It’s no exaggeration to call Heller’s perspective a pan-theistic, summoning faiths […]
by Eric Haines Hebrew liturgy provides blessings for every major event in the Jewish life cycle. Blessings for children, weddings, the Kaddish, the Kol Nidre and the Song of Solomon have inspired composers to write works that deserve a place on the concert stage. The Pittsburgh Jewish Music Festival ended its three-concert season on Tuesday […]
by Sheila Steinman Wallace In one of the most cohesive and moving concerts I have heard from this community chorus, Voces Novae presented “Choral Portraits: Gerald Cohen, Eleanor Daley and Eric Whitacre” on Sunday, March 7. … Gerald Cohen’s “Adonai Ro’i” (Psalm 23) has long been a personal favorite. The chorus and soloist Sarah Nettleton […]
About – Score – Text – Arrangements – Listen/Watch – Performances
$3.00 (2-part choral version)
This gentle and luminous piece was inspired by the birth of my child and sets texts that are traditionally said by parents in blessing their children on the Sabbath. The piece is appropriate for any setting of blessing, including interfaith services. It can be sung by an SA or TB choir, or by two soloists in all voice types.
The text of Y’varech’cha really consists of two parts: the first three lines, from the book of Numbers, is known as the Priestly Blessing, and is perhaps the earliest extant blessing we have in Jewish texts. It is a part of all Jewish and Christian liturgies. The last two lines are additional blessings traditionally said by parents to their children at the beginning of the Sabbath.
The core melody of Y’varech’cha, with the mood of a lullaby, was originally written in 1995 on the joyous occasion of the birth of our child, Cass. I first composed it in a version for two-part chorus (or solo duet) and piano, and have since made many different arrangements, with accompaniments available for an obbligato instrument with piano, for string quartet and orchestra, as well as various purely instrumental arrangements. I recently wrote a new version, also available, for SATB chorus and piano.
Y’varech’cha Adonai v’yishm’recha,
Ya-er Adonai panav eilecha vichuneka,
Yisa Adonai panav eilecha v’yasem l’cha shalom.
Y’sim’cha Elohim k’Efrayim v’chiM’nashe,
Y’simeich Elohim k’Sara, Rivka, Rachel, v’Leia.
May the Lord bless you and guard you,
May the Lord cause the light of His face to shine upon you, and be gracious unto you,
May the Lord lift up His face to you, and grant you peace.
May God give you the blessings of Ephraim and Menasheh,
May God give you the blessings of Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah.
Solo voice with piano, or with obbligato instrument and piano (1998)
SATB with piano (2020), or with orchestra
2 clarinets and piano as part of Sea of Reeds (2009)
Piano solo as part of Sea of Reeds (2020)
Like “Adonai Ro’i,” this has been sung as a solo by cantors for many years at services and life cycle events.
About – Score – Arrangements – Text – Performances
Sim Shalom was commissioned by the Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts, located on Long Island, NY. This summer program has been an inspiring place for young musicians and other artists since 1968. Sim Shalom was given its premiere in August 2001 by the Usdan Festival Chorus, Elliot Bean, conductor.
The text Sim Shalom (Grant Peace) is recited every morning as the final section of the Amidah, the central prayer of the Jewish liturgy. Sim Shalom is felt as the culmination of the entire Amidah, which thus concludes with a prayer for peace and a sense of gratitude for our many blessings in life.
—Gerald Cohen
Sim shalom tova uvracha,
chein vachesed v’rachamim,
aleinu v’al kol Yisrael amecha,
al kol Yisrael amecha.
[v’al kol yoshvei olamecha]
Barcheinu avinu kulanu k’echad
b’or panecha,
Ki v’or panecha natata lanu Adonai Eloheinu,
torat chayim v’ahavat chesed,
uts’daka uv’racha, v’rachamim v’chayim v’shalom.
V’tov b’einecha l’vareich et am’cha Yisrael,
b’chol eit uv’chol shaa bishlomecha.
Sim shalom tova uvracha,
chein vachesed v’rachamim,
sim shalom.
Grant peace, goodness and blessing,
grace and mercy and compassion,
for us and for all Israel, your people.
[and for all the inhabitants of Your world.]
Bless us, our Creator, one and all,
with the light of Your presence.
For by that light You have given us, Adonai our God,
life-giving Torah, and merciful love,
righteousness, blessing, compassion, and life and peace.
And let it be good in your eyes to bless Your people Israel,
in every season and at every hour with Your peace.
Grant peace, goodness and blessing,
grace and mercy and compassion,
grant peace.
The web page for this composition is in progress. Please contact me at gerald@nullgeraldcohenmusic.com for more information about the piece.
Text by Elie Wiesel
Commissioned by Kol Dodi Community Chorus
About – Score – Arrangements – Text – Performances
Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting was commissioned by St. Bartholomew’s Church, New York, NY as part of the Faith Partners Residency of the American Composers Forum, with funds provided by the Wolfensohn Family Foundation.
For this residency, in which St. Bartholomew’s Church collaborated with Temple Emanu-El and the Church of St. Ignatius-Loyola, also of New York City, I composed four pieces, one for each congregation, and one as a joint commission to be performed by each of the three congregations. St. Bartholomew’s, wanting for its individual commission a piece for both the children’s and adult choirs of the congregation, chose a beautiful excerpt of William Wordsworth’s Ode: Intimations of Immortality. The text highlights a principal idea of the entire poem—that in childhood we have intimations of an existence transcending our everyday physical world, and that as we grow into adults, this vision fades. The piece juxtaposes the clear unison lines of the children’s choir with the more complex harmonies of the mixed choir and organ, beginning and ending in quiet wonder.
The premiere of Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting was performed by the St. Bartholomew’s adult and children’s choir, William Trafka, conductor, in November 2002.
—Gerald Cohen
St. Bartholomew children’s and adult choirs, William Trafka, conductor
Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting,
The Soul that rises with us, our life’s Star,
Hath had elsewhere its setting,
and cometh from afar.
Not in entire forgetfulness,
And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come
from God, who is our home:
Heaven lies about us in our infancy!
