Berakhot
for SATB choir with piano or harp accompaniment
2012
Winning piece for the Ithaca College Thirty-Sixth Annual Choral Composition Contest, and The Robert Campbell ’40, M.S. ’50, Endowed Choral Composition Prize
Berakhot (ברכות ) is the Hebrew word for “blessing,” and the text for this piece is that of a blessing that appears in the Berakhot Tractate of the Babylonian Talmud. According to the Tractate, this blessing was spoken by the third century Rabbi Ammi in Tiberias.
Note: This piece can be performed with either piano or harp accompaniment. The piece was originally written for choir and harp.
Romanized Hebrew pronunciation tips:
- “ei” is pronounced like “ay” in “say”, ([εi] in IPA)
- “ay” or “ai” is pronouced like “y” in “fly” ([ai] in IPA)
- an apostrophe with no vowel indicates an unaccented schwa like the “a” in about ([ə] in IPA)
- “ch” is that iconic Hebrew guttural sound, like the “ch” in “chutzpah” ([x] in IPA)
Text
from Talmud Bavli, Tractate Berakhot 17a
Olamcha tireh v’chayecha
V’acharitcha l’chayay haOlam haBa
V’tikvat’cha l’dor dorim
Lib’cha yehge t’vunah
Picha y’daber chachmot
U’lshoncha yarchish r’nanot
Af’apecha yaishiru negdecha
Einecha ya’iru b’me’or Torah
U’fanecha yazhiru k’zohar harakiya
Siftotecha yabiu da’at
V’chliyotecha ta’alozna meisharim
U’fe’amecha yarutzu lishmoa
Divrei Atik Yomin