About

Adon Olam is a setting of one of the best known Jewish liturgical poems— attributed to Solomon Ibn Gabriol—expressing God as present both in the infinity of space and time, and the nearness of our own being. When used in synagogue, the text is often sung at the very end of services, often to  lively tunes that do not particularly reflect the meaning of the text. In this piece, I hoped to write a choral setting that was indeed a close reflection of the beauty and the content of the poem.

I was pleased to write this piece commissioned, for SATB chorus and organ,  as part of the Faith Partners fellowship of the American Composers Forum, for the Church of St. Ignatius-Loyola, New York, NY, Kent Tritle, Music Director, who premiered it in September 2003. I wrote a new arrangement for chorus and piano, which was given its premiere in September 2024 by the New York Virtuoso Singers, Harold Rosenbaum, conductor.     

Score

Performances

September 14, 2003, Church of St. Ignatius-Loyola, New York, NY