MOTET: Havieinu el Har Kodshecha
by Michael Reid Winikoff
SATB Choir, a cappella
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DURATION: 4:00
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Still widely known in the classic settings by its former incipit Tvieinu or Tvienu (as rendered in older prayer books), this text is the concluding one of a set of verses in the S'lichot service, each of which quotes a biblical passage preceded by a petition correlating to the scripture. The present verse based on Isaiah 56:7 petitions G-d to “Bring us to Your holy mountain, and let us rejoice in Your house of prayer” for “My house shall be proclaimed a house of prayer for all peoples.”
The work is called a motet due to its
interweaving texture, its “prelude and
fugue” form, and its challenging nature. The brief but intricate
fugue is built on a thematic fragment of the Kol Nidrei chant.
There follows a development of thematic material from the first section.
The style aimed for might well be described as “19th Century
Grandeloquent.”
The musical texture of Havieinu is full, but should be
approached in a lightweight manner, only occasionally waxing heroic. It does not require
a large ensemble, but certainly a skilled one. The
complex polyphony of the fugue and constantly shifting harmonic colors
throughout call for rhythmic and tonal accuracy.
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Havieinu [Tvieinu] el har kodshecha |
[You will] Bring us to Your holy mountain, |