UN'TA-NE TOKEF
by Michael Reid Winikoff
Choir (SATB or TTBB) with optional organ
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DURATION: 2:20 Purchase
| -- for SATB (G
minor) Listen/View (with organ) Listen Only (faster load) -- for TTBB (A minor) Listen/View (a cappella) Listen Only (faster load) |
THE PRAYER - “We recognize the profound holiness of this
day…” Part of the Ashkenazic rite, Un’ta-ne Tokef
(sometimes rendered Unetaneh Tokef) is
one of the most celebrated passages in the High Holy Day Musaf, not
least due to the well-known
martyrdom legend attached to it. Its
pictorial imagery is at times remarkably similar to that found in the
famous Latin sequence Dies Irae, and just as that text has
inspired great musical renderings by the likes of Mozart, Berlioz and
Verdi among others, Un’ta-ne Tokef has spurred similar inspiration for
synagogue musicians and composers such as Lewandowski, Binder, Zilberts
and Helfman.
The first sections of this piyyut (liturgical poem) are, in
essence, the depiction of a lurid courtroom drama, where G-d plays the
principal roles of judge, witness, jury, prosecutor and defender, meting
with perfect balance of justice and mercy the decree of judgment to each
living soul.
There follows a terrifying enumeration of the many sentencing
possibilities that might befall us, followed by a reminder of the
opportunity to throw ourselves on the mercy of the court through
"penitence, prayer and charitable deeds."
We eulogize on the frailties of humanity, its transience, its vain
pursuits, its seemingly inconsequential existence, but all in the
ultimate context of an abiding and eternal G-d
THE MUSIC - This brief work (setting only the first verses)
is effective as a dramatic introduction to this important moment in the
service, and may, in some circumstances, be preferable to a lengthy
full-scale rendition of this prayer. It adapts
a
pre-existing melody (first eight measures of this piece), the origin
of which is unknown to me. In my youth, I knew this tune as the refrain
tune for B’rosh Hashana, the middle section of the piyyut.
PERFORMANCE - To achieve the desired effect of grandeur and gravitas
worthy of the prayer, the setting should be
sung sostenuto throughout and, at its climactic forte,
with restraint. See also related settings,
Ki Kh'shimcha,
Uv'shofar Gadol and its excerpt,
K'vakarat.
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Un’ta-ne tokef k’dushat hayom |
We recognize the profound sanctity of this day, |