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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

AboutAudio
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.

AboutArrangementsPerformancesScoreAudioVideoPhotosPressTestimonials

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

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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

The Louisville Courier-Journal

Posted: March 8, 2008

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 […]

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 […]