AHAVAT OLAM
by Michael Reid Winikoff
SATB Choir with harp or piano
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DURATION: 3:40
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THE PRAYER - Ahavat Olam, from the daily
Ma-ariv (Evening)
service, is the second blessing following the call to prayer (Bar’chu).
It acknowledges the loving gift of G-d’s laws and commandments to
Israel, which are “surely… our life and the span of our days.”
THE SETTING -
Making use of the Friday Evening devotional nusach (chant mode)
known as the Magein Avot mode, this setting of Ahavat Olam employs two
distinct themes each first presented alone, then
together in double canon. The piece then concludes by presenting
the first theme alone, this time clothed in new full harmonic garb.
The work fades with a coda employing earlier thematic material.
PERFORMANCE NOTES - The approach to Ahavat Olam should be sweetly expressive with an overarching mood of traquility.
Effective unison singing is deceptively easy, that is to say, more
challenging than often assumed. Such passages are exposed even
more than harmonized lines. The unison lines assigned to the choir should be
thought of in the manner of
“plainchant,” with concentration on unity of pitch, vowel, line, tone-color and
general ensemble.
| Ahavat olam Beit Yisra-eil, amcha ahavta Torah umitzvot Chukim umishpatim Otanu limad'ta Al kein A-donay E-loheinu B'shochveinu uv'kumeinu Nasiach b'chukecha V'nismach b'divrei toratecha Uv'mitzvotecha l'olam va-ed Ki heim chayeinu V'orech yameinu Uvahem nehege Yomam valaila V'ahavat'cha al tasir mimenu l'olamim |
Everlasting love have you shown to the House of Israel, Your people. Your Law and commandments Statutes and judgments You have taught us. Therefore, O Lord our G-d, When we lie down and when we rise up, We will ponder Your teachings, And be joyful in the words of your Torah And it’s precepts forever; For surely they are our life And the span of our days, And we will meditate on them Day and night. May you never remove Your love from us. |