About

Lakol z’man/For everything a season was commissioned by the Cantabile Chamber Chorale, Rebecca Scott, conductor.  The piece is written in memory of Ronald Axelrad—a beloved member of the chorus, and a great lover of life and of music of many sorts.

The text for this piece is the famous section from the book of Ecclesiastes (known in Hebrew as Kohelet).  I have chosen to set the refrain in both Hebrew and English; the melody of the refrain is based upon the traditional cantillation of the text as it is chanted with the Hebrew text, as recited in services on the holiday of Sukkot. The opposing pairs of “a time to…” that make up the rest of the text are set in English, each verse leading to a fuller and more impassioned return of the refrain. The coda of the piece gives the melody of the refrain quietly to the piano, with the chorus singing words of the verses in a gentle recitation.

Gerald Cohen
August 2004

Commissioned by Cantabile Chamber Chorus

Score

Listen/Watch

Text

Lakol z’man, v’et l’kol chefets tachat hashamayim,
For everything a season, and a time for every purpose under the heavens.
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to break down and a time to build up —
Lakol z’man, v’et l’kol chefets tachat hashamayim,
For everything a season, and a time for every purpose under the heavens.
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
Lakol z’man, v’et l’kol chefets tachat hashamayim,
For everything a season, and a time for every purpose under the heavens.

Performances

Premiere: Cantabile Chamber Chorus, Rebecca Scott, cond., December 2004, New Brunswick, NJ