KI KH'SHIMCHA
by Michael Reid Winikoff
Choir (SATB div.) with Optional Organ
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DURATION: 7:20 unabridged
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THE TEXT - Ki Kh'shimcha (traditionally rendered Ki K'shimcha) is the concluding section of the piyyut Un’ta-ne Tokef, recited in the Ashkenazic rite on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. In stark contrast to the lurid drama of the previous sections, Ki Kh’shimcha is deeply elegiac in mood, ruminating on the transience and frailty of humankind, while emphasizing the abiding patience and compassion that G-d maintains for the sinner “to the day of his death.” It concludes with sudden triumph, “But You are our Sovereign, ever-living G-d.”
THE MUSIC - This setting, atypically, gives no role at all to the cantor, instead assigning the full weight of interpretation to the choir. It is written largely in the customary “Ahava Raba” mode, in essence a Phrygian scale with a raised third degree.
PERFORMANCE - It is important to observe
with accuracy and discipline all of the
extended note durations and abidingly slow tempi, which are crucial to
the overall effect. This may be the greatest challenge of the
work. It may be abridged/excerpted. See
Adaptabilities
See also related settings,
Un'ta-ne Tokef,
Uv'shofar Gadol, and
K'vakarat.
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Ki kh’shimcha kein t’hilatecha |
For as is Your name, so is Your praise: |