"Ad Matai" the first movement of "Three Hebrew Songs", composed for violinist Wendy Sharp and performed here at the premiere of the work June 2010, Wendy Sharp, violin and Gerald Cohen, piano. The movement is an arrangement of my setting of Psalm 82, "Ad Matai" for solo voice and piano.

Three Hebrew Songs (arr. For Violin)  1. Ad Matai

Composer's program note:
We are loved by an unending love is based on a text by Rabbi Rami Shapiro, a poet whose interpretations of the liturgy are used in many synagogues and prayer books, and whose poetry I have set before for chorus. “We are loved by an unending love” is a beautiful text, expressing the power of connection between human beings and between human and the divine, at all points in our lives and beyond.

We are loved by an unending love  was commissioned by Helen and Daniel Sonnenshine for Ohef Sholom Temple of Norfolk, Virgina, in memory of Kathleen Franz, a beloved mezzo soloist with the congregation for many years. As a tribute to Kathleen Franz, I have included a prominent solo for mezzo-soprano in the piece.  The premiere of the piece was on October 30, 2011, by the Ohef Sholom Temple choir, Chuck Woodward, conductor; Robynne Redmon, mezzo-soprano.

TEXT:
We are loved by an unending love.
We are embraced by arms that find us even when we are hidden from ourselves.
We are touched by fingers that soothe us even when we are too proud for soothing.
We are counseled by voices that guide us even when we are too embittered to hear.
We are loved by an unending love.
We are supported by hands that uplift us even in the midst of a fall.
We are urged on by eyes that meet us even when we are too weak for meeting.
We are loved by an unending love.
Embraced, touched, soothed, and counseled,
Ours are the arms, the fingers, the voices;
Ours are the hands, the eyes, the smiles;
We are loved by an unending love.

	-Rami Shapiro

Concert 10.30.11

We are loved by an unending love (premiere)

Gerald Cohen: Adonai Ro'i Lo Echsar, arr. for voice and string quartet by the composer.
Gerald Cohen, voice; Cassatt String Quartet
For more information on this piece, or to purchase the music:
www.geraldcohenmusic.com

Concert 2.2.15, Odessa, TX

Adonai Ro'i Lo Echsar (voice and string quartet)

Program note by composer Gerald Cohen

"Adonai, where shall I find you? (Ya ana emtza'acha?)" was commissioned for the Colorado Hebrew Chorale by Carol Kozak Ward, Founder and Artistic Director of the Chorale, in memory of her mother Joanne L. Kozak.  The text, part of a larger poem by Yehuda Halevi (c. 1075-1141), one of the greatest Jewish poets and philosophers of Medieval Spain, speaks of the mystery of and our relation to the divine: that God is both unknowable, and in every atom of the universe; and that by being open to that mystery, we can encounter the wonder of the divine presence.

I originally wrote the basic setting (using the English translation here) as an a cappella melody to be sung as part of the Yom Kippur service, and was very pleased in this composition to expand the melody into a larger choral piece including both English and Hebrew. I was also delighted  to write a new composition for Carol Kozak Ward and her chorus; I have known Carol since I was accompanist for her Connecticut Hebrew Chorale during my college years. My first commissioned piece, Libavtini Achoti Chala, was written for that chorus in 1983.

The premiere of Adonai, where shall I find you? was performed in Denver by the Colorado Hebrew Chorale, conducted by Carol Kozak Ward, in February 2024.
																												
Text, transliteration, and translation:

Ya ana emtza'acha?
m'komcha na'aleh v'nelam,
v'ana lo emtza'acha?
k'vodcha malei olam.

Darashti kirvat'cha,
b'chol libi k'raticha,
uvtzeiti likrat'cha
likrati m'tzaticha.

Adonai, where shall I find You?
 High and hidden is Your place.
 And where shall I not find You?
 The world is full of Your glory.  

 I sought Your closeness,
 I called to You with all my heart,
 And going out to meet You
 I found you coming toward me. 

Adonai, where shall I find You?

ADONAI, WHERE SHALL I FIND YOU, for solo voice and SATB chorus_MIDI Recording

"A Psalm for Pittsburgh" - Esa Einai (Psalm 121) was commissioned by Tree of Life Congregation, Pittsburgh, in memory of the eleven victims of the October 27, 2018 shooting. Rabbi/Hazzan Jeffrey Myers of Tree of Life requested a setting of Psalm 121, with its famous opening line of “I lift my eyes to the mountains -  from where will my help come?” This Psalm was for him a vital link in seeking solace, and is a way to focus both on those who died and on the survivors.

In the piece, the tenor solo begins tentatively, attempting to find music and words that will allow for expression of the depth of emotional loss, and the attempt to begin the process of healing. The children’s chorus respond with words and music of comfort and hope—and eventually the soloist, supported by the chorus, begins to find a way forward to renewed faith and hope for the future. 

A Psalm for Pittsburgh received its premiere at an interfaith concert in Pittsburgh in November 2023 commemorating the fifth anniversary of the tragedy. Rabbi/Hazzan Jeffrey Myers was the tenor soloist, with The Pittsburgh Youth Chorus, conducted by Sean Funk. (program note by composer Gerald Cohen)

Text and translation: (Psalm 121, verses 1-2, 8)

Esa einai el heharim - 
me'ayin yavo ezri?
Ezri me'im Adonai,
oseh shamayim va'aretz.

Adonai yishmor tzetecha uvo'echa
me'ata v'ad olam.

I lift my eyes to the mountains - 
from where will my help come?
My help is from Adonai,
maker of the heavens and the earth.

Adonai will watch over your coming and your going
from this time forth, and ever and ever. 


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A Psalm for Pittsburgh—Esa Einai (Psalm 121) MIDI RECORDING

Gerald Cohen Avshalom B'ni V'ni (Avshalom, My Son, My Son)
Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, countertenor
Ronny Michael Greenberg. piano

Avshalom B'ni V'ni

Avshalom B'ni V'ni (Avshalom, My Son, My Son)

"Lighting our way/Hanerot Hallalu" was commissioned by Adath Jeshurun Congregation
in partnership with Kantorei Chamber Choir, both of Minneapolis, MN.  Cantor Joanna Dulkin of Adath Jeshurun, Music Director Adam Reinwald of Kantorei, and I all wanted to create a choral work for Chanukah exploring the larger importance of the holiday. We found a beautiful text by Rabbi David Evan Markus which reinterprets a traditional Chanukah poem, Hanerot Hallalu (The candles that we light). Markus’ poem asks us to reflect on the wonders of the world as symbolized by the lights, and how we now need to be partners with the Divine in making the world a better place: “For the wonders we will do with You, for our descendants and for our ailing planet in these urgent days for times to come.”

The piece was given its premiere by Kantorei in December 2024, with Cantor Dulkin as mezzo-soprano soloist, and Adam Reinwald conducting.

May these candles
that we kindle
be for the miracles
and for the salvations
and for the wonders
we will do with You
for our descendants
and for our ailing planet
in these urgent days
for times to come.

Just as generations of old 
whose audacity rededicated
their world defiled, 
for all eight days
of Chanukah,
may these candles we light
fill us with holiness.
We claim no power
to use them
except to see them,
to inspire gratitude 
for Your name,
for the miracles,
and for the wonders,
and for the salvations. 

Lighting Our Way-Hanerot Hallalu

Premiere performance by Kantorei in December 2024, with Cantor Dulkin as mezzo-soprano soloist, and Adam Reinwald conducting.

Learn more about this piece at https://www.geraldcohenmusic.com/compositions/choral/lightingourway/. 

Lighting Our Way/Hanerot Hallalu

Learn more at https://www.geraldcohenmusic.com/compositions/choral/birth-sleep-forgetting/.

Our Birth is but a sleep and a forgetting

Program Note: 
Lo Lanu (Psalm 115)  was written for the Canticum Novum Singers, Harold Rosenbaum, conductor, and was given its premiere by them at Merkin Concert Hall, New York, in February 1987.  The text is part of the Hallel—Psalms of praise—that are an important part of the liturgy on Jewish holidays.  This Psalm appealed to me for its strong contrasts of mood, which in the music moves from a solemn beginning to lead to a joyous dance.  The piece has also been performed in an arrangement for SATB chorus with winds, percussion, piano and bass, commisioned by the Hudson Valley Singers.

																														—Gerald Cohen


Translation: 

No, not for our merit, Adonai, but for Your own name win praise,
for your great love and for  your faithfulness. 
Why do the nations say,  "Where then, where is He, their mighty God?" 
But our God is in the heavens, everything He wills He does,.
Gold and silver are their graven gods, manufactured by human hands.
They have mouths but cannot speak, they have eyes but cannot see; 
they have ears but cannot hear, have a nose but cannot smell, have hands but cannot feel; 
they have feet but cannot use them,  nor make a sound with their throats. 
Those who make them will become like them, all of those that have faith in them. 
Israel, have faith in Adonai, your help and shield  is He.
House of Aaron, have faith in Adonai, your help  and shield is He.
Those who revere Adonai, have faith in Adonai, your help  and shield is He.
Adonai, He is mindful, blessing us. 
Bless the House of Israel, bless the House of Aaron, 
bless all those who revere Adonai, young and old together. 
May Adonai bring blessing to you, to you and all of your kin.
May your blessing be great, from Adonai, He who made heaven and fashioned the earth. 
All the heavens belong to Adonai, and the earth He gave to mortal men. 
Though the dead shall not exalt You, Adonai, nor those who go down in silence.   
We who live shall praise Adonai, praise Him now and evermore, Haleluya! 

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Lo Lanu (Psalm 115)

Performed by the Combined Choirs of Hebrew Union College and Jewish Theological Seminary, Joyce Rosenzweig, conductor.

V’higad’ta L’vincha by Gerald Cohen is based on selections from the Passover Haggadah. The Haggadah, or “telling,” is the text that is used at the Jewish Seder, the family meal—full of discussion, ceremony, and song—that is the central feature of the Passover celebration of freedom and rejoicing.
One of the most significant themes of the Haggadah, emphasized in Cohen’s choices of text for the piece, is that we all must experience the story of the deliverance from slavery as if we ourselves had lived through it; we must then tell our children that story so as to pass it down, vividly, from one generation to the next. Children are thus the central figures in the Seder, and it seemed most appropriate to write a setting of this text in a work composed for children’s chorus.

The piece begins with a chant-like presentation of the biblical verse that instructs us to tell our children the story of the Exodus, and then moves, as does the Haggadah, from the oppression of slavery to the joy of deliverance. That joy is expressed especially in the famous text “Dayeinu” (“It would have been enough…”), set here as a lively dance, and in the final “L’fichach,” which gives thanks to God in a procession which grows from a quiet beginning to an exuberant conclusion.

Also available in the original SSA version. 


V’higad’ta L’vincha (And You Shall Tell Your Child…)

The Dogwoods is a set of four songs on the beuatiful and expressive poetry of Linda Pastan: 1) “The Dogwoods” – a meditation on the nature of beauty and its immense power; 2) “Because” – Pastan looking back on the various unpredictable factors that led her to say “yes” to her husband many years before; 3) “Go Gently” – the poet seeing the pain that her dying father is experiencing, and her longing to tell him to let go of life; and 4) “Anna at 18 months” – watching with delight as a toddler begins to acquire the miracle of language. 
Performance by Adelaide Muir, soprano; Kent Conrad, piano

Dogwoods_ 3. Go Gentle

Dogwoods_ 2. Because

Dogwoods_ 1. The Dogwoods

Dogwoods_ 4. Anna at 18 Months

Hariu Ladonai is a setting of the exuberant Psalm 100: ”Sing to the Lord, all the earth; worship the Lord in gladness, come before God with joyous song.” 
Gerald Cohen, Baritone, William McCorkle, piano


Hariu Ladonai (Psalm 100), for solo voice and piano

"We are loved by an unending love" is based on a text by Rami Shapiro, a poet whose interpretations of the liturgy are used in many synagogues and prayer books, and whose poetry I have used in several choral compositions. The poem uses Jewish liturgy as a starting point to create a moving expression of caring and connection between all human beings, and between people and the sense of the divine in the world. 
Gerald Cohen, baritone, Kantorei Chorus, Adam Reinwald, conductor

We are Loved By an Unending Love, for solo voice, SATB chorus, and piano

The title track from the album "From Such Sparks: Choral Music of Gerald Cohen", with Kantorei (chorus), conducted by Adam Reinwald. 

This moving piece, written in memory of a beloved choral conductor, celebrates how every person can be a spark of light—the light of all who strive, in all our different ways, to make the world a better and more beautiful place. Three verses from Book of Proverbs, honoring a woman of a wise and generous spirit, each receive their own melody; they are then complemented by a mystical text by Abraham Isaac Kook, where we hear vividly the “torches of light” from divine sparks. The three original melodies are intertwined in a stirring climax, which is then followed by a gentle conclusion—her light, our lights, can indeed “illuminate the entire world with their glory.”

Composer’s Note:
From Such Sparks was commissioned by the Seattle Jewish Chorale in memory of Mary Pat Graham, who was the Music Director of the Chorale from 2009 to 2014, and who passed away in January 2023. The Chorale suggested several passages from a variety of sources as possible texts for the piece, from which I chose excerpts from chapter 31 of the biblical Book of Proverbs (a section known as “A woman of valor”), and from Orot Hakodesh by Abraham Isaac Kook. Together these texts communicate how the love and friendship of Mary Pat were felt by all who knew her, and that her life created “sparks…{which] illuminate the entire world”. The Seattle Jewish Chorale performed the premiere of From Such Sparks in June 2024, conducted by Jacob Finkle.

From Such Sparks, for SATB chorus and piano

www.geraldcohenmusic.com
This performance is sung by Asa Fradkin (solo), Ilana Davidson, Natasha Hirschhorn, Magda Fishman, and Gerald Cohen, with Linda Hall Gerson, piano
Oseh Shalom was commissioned by Temple Sholom, Greenwich, CT for Cantor Asa Fradkin and Sasson: The Temple Sholom Teen Choir, in celebration of its centennial.  I had never written a choral setting of this very familiar text, and delighted in having the opportunity for Cantor Fradkin, this dedicated teen choir, and this occasion. In this setting, I chose to expand upon the traditional Hebrew text, making it both more personal and more universal: where the original text asks for peace “for us and for all Yisrael,” the text here speaks of peace “within myself, for us and for all Yisrael, and all who dwell on earth, and all of the world/universe.” The simple, but wide-ranging melody is first heard in Hebrew in the solo voice, then in the full choir, before the choir begins a contrasting section, with the text in English. Finally, the original melody returns, bringing us to a peaceful conclusion. The premiere of the piece was at Temple Sholom in May, 2016.

Gerald Cohen 30th Anniversary Concert

Oseh Shalom for solo, SATB chorus, and piano

Excerpts from Amicitia Duo's (Diane Barger and Denise Gainey, claetinets) recording of Gerald Cohen's "Sea of Reeds", for two clarinets and piano; from their Album "Play Pretty", released by Potenza Music. With Mark Clinton, piano. For information on Gerald Cohen's music, go to www.geraldcohenmusic.com.

Play Pretty

Sea of Reeds 3. Dodi Li Va'ani Lo

Gerald Cohen: Adonai Ro'i, a setting of Psalm 23 (The Lord is My Shepherd)
Performed by Gerald Cohen, baritone, and Marija Stroke, piano

Adonai Ro'i (The Lord Is My Shepherd) (Psalm 23)

Gerald Cohen: Sarah and Hagar, Trio from Act I, Scene 3
Hagar: Ilana Davidson; Sarah: Elizabeth Shammash  Avram: Robert Gardner

Sarah and Hagar: Trio from Act I, Scene 3

Gerald Cohen: "Y'varech'cha (May You Be Blessed)", (excerpt), a setting of the Priestly Blessing (in Hebrew – the English translation begins "May the Lord bless you and watch over you"). Performed by Gerald Cohen, baritone; Michael Kannen, cello; Marija Stroke, piano. From the CD: "Generations: Music of Gerald Cohen."

Y'varech'cha (May You Be Blessed)

Gerald Cohen: "V'haarev Na (May the words be sweet)", (excerpt), a setting from the Jewish liturgy. Performed by Gerald Cohen, baritone; Marija Stroke, piano. From the CD: "Generations: Music of Gerald Cohen."

Gerald Cohen, composer

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