ANA TAVO
by Michael Reid Winikoff
Mixed (SATB) or Men's (TTBB) Choir a cappella
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THE PRAYER - Ana Tavo is a powerful, psychologically insightful prayer which functions as a preamble to the first confessional (Ashamnu) in the penitential rite of Yom Kippur and Slichot. It serves as mental preparation for the confessional (vidui) by evoking in us the sober and uncompromising acknowledgment of our imperfections – a necessary step in the process of repentence. Consistent with much of the atonement liturgy, Ana Tavo is worded in the first-person plural (“we” “us”), reflecting the precept that Jews are responsible for one another in atonement.
THE MUSIC - Although modern prayer books omit the first word Ana (“please”), this
setting continues the tradition of many musical renderings by including
it. This dramatic rendition is inspired by that of the great
Baruch Schorr. The central fugal section, which must be sung
softly and sostenuto throughout, suggests the empty
rhetoric of our excuses and rationalizations, which build to a cacophony
before ultimately dissipating like steam “l’fanecha” (“before You”).
This piece must be performed in a very sustained manner, and the slow
tempo necessitates a constant mindfulness of shape and contour to its
long melodic lines. Staggered breathing is essential to such an
approach.
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E-l-oheinu vei-l-ohei avoteinu |
Our G-d and G-d of our Ancestors: |