About – Score – Text – Arrangements – Listen/Watch – Performances

Contact Gerald to Purchase.

Piano score: $3.00
Score and parts with string quartet: $15.00

Oseh Shalom: performance at Jewish Theological Seminary, New York, NY ,  January 2020
H.L. Miller Cantorial School Choir; Jacob Agar, Arielle Green, and Jacob Greenberg, soloists; Cantor Natasha Hirschhorn, conductor

About

Oseh Shalom was commissioned by Temple Sholom, Greenwich, CT for Cantor Asa Fradkin and Sasson: The Temple Sholom Teen Choir, in celebration of its centennial.  I had never written a choral setting of this very familiar text, and delighted in having the opportunity for Cantor Fradkin, this dedicated teen choir, and this occasion. In this setting, I chose to expand upon the traditional Hebrew text, making it both more personal and more universal: where the original text asks for peace “for us and for all Yisrael,” the text here speaks of peace “within myself, for us and for all Yisrael, and all who dwell on earth, and all of the world/universe.” The simple, but wide-ranging melody is first heard in Hebrew in the solo voice, then in the full choir, before the choir begins a contrasting section, with the text in English. Finally, the original melody returns, bringing us to a peaceful conclusion. The premiere of the piece was at Temple Sholom in May, 2016.

Score

SATB and Piano Score Sample 
SATB with String Quartet Score Sample

Text

Oseh shalom bimromav,
Hu yaaseh shalom b’kirbi,
Aleinu v’al kol Yisrael,
V’al kol yoshvei tevel,
V’al kol haolam,
V’imru amen.

O You who makes peace in the heavens,
Make peace within myself,
For us and all Yisrael,
And all who dwell on earth,
And all our precious world,
And all our wondrous world,
And let us say amen.

Arrangements

—Arrangement for solo voice and piano (2020)
—Arrangement for chorus with string quartet

To purchase score and parts, contact Gerald Cohen: gerald@nullgeraldcohenmusic.com
PDF version of score and parts: $2.50 a copy (minimum 6 copies)

Listen/Watch

Premiere at Temple Sholom, Greenwich, CT, May 2016
The Temple Sholom Teen Choir, Cantor Asa Fradkin, solo, Gerald Cohen, conductor

Performances

Premiere: May 2016:  The Temple Sholom Teen Choir, Cantor Asa Fradkin, solo, Gerald Cohen, conductor; Greenwch, CT
January 2017: Shir Chadash: The Brooklyn Jewish Community Chorus, Cantor Natasha Hirschhorn, solo, Rachel Brook, conductor; Brooklyn, NY
May 2017: Gerald Cohen Vocal Ensemble, Cantor Asa Fradkin, solo; Scarsdale, NY
January 2018: Colorado Hebrew Chorale, Cantor Asa Fradkin, solo, Carol Kozak Ward, conductor; Denver, CO
January 2020: H.L. Miller Cantorial School Choir, Jewish Theological Seminary; Jacob Agar, Arielle Green, and Jacob Greenberg, soloists; Cantor Natasha Hirschhorn, conductor; New York, NY

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Collection of solo vocal works
Including: Hariu  Ladonai (Psalm 100), Y’varech’cha, Ad Matai (Psalm 82), Libavtini Achoti Chala, V’haarev Na, Dayeinu

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Note:  All versions/arrangements are published by composer Gerald Cohen.
Please contact gerald@nullgeraldcohenmusic.com to purchase scores or for other inquiries.

Adonai Ro’i was originally written, on the loss of a dear friend, as a solo a cappella melody.  I am a cantor, and a dear friend and congregant died of cancer at the age of 42 in 1989.  Her husband asked me to sing at her funeral, and I decided to write a setting of Psalm 23, which is traditionally sung at Jewish funerals and memorial services.  This was indeed one of those cases of a piece of music just writing itself, in the course of perhaps 30 minutes, as I was filled with the emotions of my friend’s death.

As I started singing the piece at other services, I received a very strong response to it, and decided to make a piano accompaniment.  This was published in 1995, and soon was used by cantors all over the country, as well as in churches and other services and concerts.  It is a very curious thing for a composer:  I write many pieces of music of all kinds, and it is hard to know exactly why one particular piece captures people’s emotions so strongly, but that is what happened with this particular piece.

I was soon asked by the Zamir Chorale of Boston to write a version for SATB chorus, and that version has also been widely performed.  I have also arranged it for solo voice and orchestra, and chorus and orchestra; these versions have been performed by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and the San Diego Symphony.

I just have to assume that the piece somehow taps into the strong emotions that I felt as I was writing it (I had also lost my father about 8 years before, so I am sure that loss is present as well), and that this then communicates itself to performers, listeners, and mourners.  In 2003, I had the sad but powerful experience of singing the piece at my mother’s funeral.

I am grateful that this piece has become a way for so many to express deep and delicate feelings.  I hope that, if it is a piece that is meaningful to you, that you will feel free to contact me about your experience with it.

I have arranged Adonai Ro’i for many different vocal and instrumental ensembles; a selection of those are listed here.  Please contact me with questions about these or other arrangements:

SOLO VOICE OR UNISON CHORUS
Solo voice or unison chorus with piano
Solo voice or unison chorus with piano and obbligato instrument (Flute, clarinet, violin, viola, cello, etc.)
Solo voice or unison chorus with string quartet
Solo voice or unison chorus with piano trio (vn/vc/pno)
Solo voice or unison chorus with orchestra
Solo voice or unison chorus with string orchestra

SATB, SSA, etc.
SATB chorus with piano
SATB chorus with orchestra or string orchestra
SSA chorus with piano
Two voices, a cappella

INSTRUMENTAL VERSIONS
Solo instrument with piano
Two clarinets and piano
Clarinet, viola and piano

Adonai Ro’i has somewhat of a different performance history from many of my compositions, as it is used, probably every day, by cantors all over the world at funerals and memorial services.

A few of its most significant concert performances are listed here:
November 2010: American Conference of Cantors, Lauren Bandman, cond., Basilica Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri, Rome, Italy
December 2004: Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Daniel Meyer, cond., with the Children’s Festival Chorus, Heinz Hall, Pittsburgh PA
October 2002: Usdan Festival Chorus and Orchestra, Carnegie Hall, New York, NY (premiere of version for SATB with orchestra)
March 2000: Marin Cosman, soprano; San Diego Symphony, Jung-Ho Pak, cond., (premiere of version for solo voice with orchestra)
1997: Featured in the film, The Jew in the Lotus, with Gerald Cohen, baritone
May 1994: Syracuse Children’s Chorus, Barbara Tagg, cond. (premiere of unison chorus version)

thumbnail of Adonai Ro’i (solo & piano) score sample      thumbnail of Adonai Ro’i (SATB & piano) score sample     thumbnail of Adonai Ro’i (SATB & Orchestra) score sample

Solo score sample                             SATB score sample                             SATB with orchestra score sample

To purchase, contact Gerald Cohen: gerald@nullgeraldcohenmusic.com

Prices vary depending on arrangement.
Solo version also available in transposed keys.
For instrumental version without voice, see Sea of Reeds page

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Posted: June 8, 2006

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 […]

Sheila Steinman Wallace

Posted: March 7, 2004

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 […]

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Four songs on Poems of Linda Pastan
Premiered by Adelaide Muir, soprano, Kent Conrad, piano

 

 

 

 

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Poem by Marge Piercy

Commissioned by Meet The Composer’s New Music/New Donors program

 

 

 

Includes: Adonai Adonai El Rachum, S’lach Lanu Avinu, Rachamana, Haven Yakir LI, Haneshama Lach, Adonai Ma Adam, P’tach Lanu Shaar
Commissioned by the Cantors Assembly

About – Score – Text – Photos – Performances

Contact Gerald to Purchase.

$3.50

About

L’dor Vador (“From generation to generation”) was commissioned by the Cantors Assembly for HaZamir: The International Jewish High School Choir, in honor of their founder and director, Matthew Lazar; the piece received its premiere in March 2015 at Avery Fisher Hall in New York City.  After thinking about several different texts for the commissioned piece,  the musical idea for L’dor Vador came to me as soon I as began composing: the perpetual motion in the piano, like time flowing by, with the choral melody poised, hovering, over the accompaniment. The text, from the Kedusha (holiness) section of the central daily Amidah prayer, is a natural choice for a choir that plays such a key role in transmitting our rich Jewish musical tradition “from generation to generation”.  HaZamir is a treasure, one that we are so fortunate to have for our young people in their growth as musicians and Jews.  I am so pleased to have had the opportunity to write this piece for them, especially with the support of the Cantors Assembly, another vitally important organization in preserving and advancing Jewish music.

Score

SATB Score Sample 

Text and Translation


L’dor vador nagid god’lecha,
U’l’netsach n’tsachim k’dushat’cha nakdish.
V’shivchacha, Eloheynu, mipinu lo yamush l’olam va-ed,
Ki El Melech gadol v’kadosh Atah.
Baruch Atah Adonai, haEl hakadosh.


From generation to generation we will declare your greatness,
And for ever and ever we will make sacred your holiness.
Your praise, our God, shall never depart from our lips,
For you, God and sovereign, are great and holy.
Praised are you, Adonai, the holy God.

– from the Siddur: Kedusha section of Amidah

Photos

Photos from the premiere of L’dor Vador, March 2015 at Avery Fisher Hall, New York, NY

Performances

Premiere: March 2015:  HaZamir: The International Jewish High School Choir, Kelly Shepard, conductor, Avery Fisher Hall, New York, NY
June 2015: The Zamir Chorale, Matthew Lazar, conductor, New York, NY
December 2015: The Zamir Chorale and Zamir Noded, Matthew Lazar, conductor, New York, NY
May 2017: Gerald Cohen Vocal Ensemble, Scarsdale, NY

About – Score – Text – Listen/Watch – Performances

Contact Gerald to Purchase.

PDF version of score and parts: $3.00 a copy (minimum 6 copies, includes clarinet part). For printed version of score and parts, contact me.

About

Praise Life! Praise Wonder! is a setting of Rami Shapiro’s adaptation of Psalm 150, and was commissioned by Sharim v’Sharot, Dr. Elayne Robinson Grossman, Music Director, in honor of their 18th (Chai/Life) year as a chorus.  I have known Elayne for 35 years, and am thrilled to write this celebratory piece for her and her chorus!

For the commissioned piece, we wanted to do a piece that celebrates life, and expresses gratitude and wonder. After thinking about many different possibilities, Elayne and I decided on doing a setting of Psalm 150—the last of the book of Psalms, a great outburst of joy and praise, and also a text that has been set many times. I had never set Psalm 150, so I was excited by that. But then there was the choice of Hebrew vs. English, and if English, which translation? We decided on a superb poem by Rami Shapiro, which is not exactly a translation, but more of a transformation of the psalm. I had set Rami’s poetry before in other choral works, and love his wonderful way of engaging with the text to create something new which is nevertheless deeply tied to the original.

The commission of this piece was funded by the following generous donors:
—Amy Rappaport and Allan Freedman in celebration of their marriage, and in celebration of the Chai – 18th Anniversary of Sharim V’Sharot, Dr. Elayne Robinson Grossman, Music Director and Conductor
—Ron and Joan Portman, L’dor vador: in honor of our family and their love of Jewish music
—Max Yaffe and Joan Amatniek, in honor of synagogue Singers everywhere.

Score

thumbnail of Praise Life! Praise Wonder! score sample
Score Sample

Text

Rami M. Shapiro, Psalm 150
From “Accidental Grace: Poetry, Prayers, and Psalms”

Praise Life!
Praise Wonder!
look and see
listen and hear
taste and touch and smell
the awesome simplicity of This.

Praise Life!
in sacred places.
Praise Life!
through just acts and compassionate deeds
Praise Life!
With upbeat horn, lilting harp, entrancing lyre.

Praise Life!
With drum and dance
violin and flute
clashing cymbals.

Let all that breathe
breathe praises!
Breathe in psalms
breathe out hymns.

Breathe and sing
and let joy resound
within you
and without you.

Listen/Watch

Premiere of “Praise Life! Praise Wonder!”—with Sharim v’Sharot music Director Elayne Robinson Grossman, and the families that commissioned the work.

Performances

Premiere: June 2018:  Sharim v’Sharot, Elayne Robinson Grossman, cond., Ewing Township, NJ.