Music and theremin performance by Dalit Warshaw.

"While in Babylon" was initially conceived as an a cappella setting of the Hebrew psalm "Al Naharot Bavel" ("By the Waters of Babylon") during the week of Sept. 11, 2001. For this project, I recorded all four voices (SATB) on theremin, playing an "ether-choral ensemble" against myself through overdubbing. I also employed the Electro-Harmonix Talking Machine, a device chiefly used in conjunction with electric guitars in order to expand their timbral palette, adding a vast spectrum of quasi-vocal effects. 

 As a New York native, I had always taken my American citizenship for granted. When the Twin Towers fell on Sept. 11, 2001, I felt for the first time the pangs of true American patriotism, along with a desperate, urgent need to return to my own beloved Manhattan, and an intense frustration at being unable to do so for those first two days after the explosions. Finally back in my studio on West 86th St., I spent the remainder of the week transcribing and editing this piece as WNPR aired the seemingly endless stories of sorrow told by survivors and family members of those left behind. 

"While in Babylon" received its "ether premiere" at Joe's Pub on Sept. 15, 2013, with myself performing the soprano line on theremin over the pre-recorded lower voices.

While In Babylon (for a cappella theremin choir)

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