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Diamond: Ahava / Music for Prayer

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DAVID DIAMOND: AHAVA (BROTHERHOOD) and WORKS by GOULD, HARRIS and MOORE *MUSIC FOR PRAYER: DAVID DIAMOND: Mizmor L'david - excerpts� (1951) MORTON GOULD:...

DAVID DIAMOND: AHAVA (BROTHERHOOD) and

WORKS by GOULD, HARRIS and MOORE

*MUSIC FOR PRAYER:

DAVID DIAMOND: Mizmor L'david - excerpts� (1951)

MORTON GOULD: Hama'ariv Aravim� 1947)

ROY HARRIS: Mi Khamokha� (1946)

DOUGLAS MOORE: Vay'khulu �(1948)

Judaically inspired works by four leading 20^th-century American composers born between 1893 and 1915 - David Diamond, Morton Gould, Roy Harris and Douglas Moore - are featured in their world-premiere recordings on this Milken Archive CD.� Two of the four composers - Roy Harris and Douglas Moore - were not Jewish, and only David Diamond had a background in synagogue music and wrote Judaically related works from the outset of his career.� All except Morton Gould studied in Paris with Nadia Boulanger, and all represent varying aspects of what may be considered mainstream 20^th-century art music in this country.� The works heard here are thus indicative of the symbiotic relationship between Jewish tradition and the world of serious cultivated American music as a whole.�

This year marks the 350^th anniversary of American Jewry.� David Diamond's A�ava was commissioned 50 years ago in 1954 to commemorate the 300^th anniversary of the arrival of the first Jews in North America by a consortium representing numerous Jewish-American organizations for performance as part of the extensive nationwide programs commemorating the anniversary.� The official theme of the nine-month, multifaceted celebration in 1954, which included concerts, seminars, exhibitions, religious services, radio and television broadcasts and an address by President Eisenhower, was "Man's Opportunities and Responsibilities Under Freedom."� It was perceived by Jews and non-Jews alike as a universal vehicle for reaffirming American political, social, and spiritual values, and for reinforcing those democratic ideals held in common by all citizens, regardless of origin.� The thrust of the commemoration was thus to highlight the mutually beneficial relationship between the Jews, who enjoyed unprecedented freedom to advance in this country, and American society as a whole, which benefited from the significant contributions made by members of the Jewish community well beyond parochial boundaries.

As David Diamond developed the concept for this commissioned work, he realized that the story of Jewish life in America had broader ramifications, and could serve as a metaphor for the pursuit of freedom, justice and opportunity everywhere.� In his own words, A�ava (Brotherhood) reflected "the big thing that I still believe should happen in this difficult world of ours."� The composer fashioned his text using various sources: biblical passages from Jeremiah, sayings of the sage, Hillel, historical documents including the words of Benjamin Franklin and George Washington, the prayer book of the American Reform movement, and the works of two great poets of the "golden age" of Spanish Jewry.� The resulting script is less about the first band of Jewish immigrants to New Amsterdam in 1654 and more closely tied to utopian sentiments of brotherhood and social justice.� It is also an expression of gratitude for the remarkable opportunities enjoyed by Jews in the United States.� Throughout the work, the narrative sections, which are set against a rich symphonic background, alternate with purely instrumental passages. A�ava is performed by Gerard Schwarz and the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, noted for their recordings of David Diamond's symphonies, with renowned theatrical personality Theodore Bikel as the narrator.

A native of Rochester, New York, David Diamond studied at the Eastman School and with Roger Sessions before spending several years in Paris, where he belonged to a circle of composers, writers and artists that included Ravel, Roussel, Milhaud, Joyce and Gide.� His musical style evolved within a traditional structural and contrapuntal framework; while his language grew increasingly chromatic, he firmly rejected atonality.� In addition to 11 symphonies, which were premiered under leading conductors, his oeuvre includes string quartets and numerous vocal works based on poetic and dramatic literary classics.

The four additional works on this Milken Archive disc are scored for soloists, choir and organ, and were all commissioned as part of an ambitious annual program - "Liturgical Music by Contemporary Composers" - at New York's Park Avenue Synagogue, directed by Cantor David Putterman.� This project encouraged both established and rising American composers, Jewish and non-Jewish alike, to create a sophisticated body of music for use in the American synagogue by responding to the liturgical texts in their own individual musical styles without restrictions.� The very first program, in 1943, included the Sabbath Evening Service by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, which was among the inaugural releases of the Milken Archive in September 2003.� For more than a quarter century afterward, prominent composers including Leonard Bernstein, Robert Starer, Darius Milhaud, and Lukas Foss produced many of the most significant works in the literature of American synagogue music.

David Diamond's Sabbath service, Mizmor L'david, was commissioned in 1951 and reviewed by Harold C. Schoenberg of The New York Times, indicating the interest in these annual new music concerts beyond Jewish circles.� Four prayer settings from this work are excerpted here.� The other composers represented all worked outside the specifically Jewish liturgical realm.� Each brought his particular stylistic and cultural orientation to his Park Avenue Synagogue commission: Morton Gould a fascination with popular American idioms; California - born Roy Harris an interest in folksong melodies and modalities, which he combined with European contrapuntal techniques; and Douglas Moore a propensity towards theater, opera and dance that impacted his expressive vocal lines.� Harris and Moore were two of several non-Jewish composers who were commissioned by Cantor Putterman as part of his determination to broaden the field of Jewish liturgical music from both spiritual and musical perspectives.

Disc 1

Ahava - Brotherhood

(more info)

Performed by: Seattle Symphony Orchestra
Composed by: David Diamond
Conducted by: Gerard Schwarz
Theodore Bikel, narrator
Recording date: June 1998

Prologue - 5:14
I. �-- - 6:20
II. �-- - 11:53
III. �-- - 3:10
Epilogue - 4:21

Mizmor L'David

(more info)

Composed by: David Diamond
Conducted by: Samuel Adler
Aaron Miller, organ
Charles Osborne, cantor
Recording date: December 1993

Ma Tovu - 3:07
Psalm 29 - 2:48
L'kha Dodi - 4:14
Psalm 93 - 2:05

Hamma'ariv aravim

(more info)

Composed by: Morton Gould
Conducted by: Timothy Koch
Richard Troxell, tenor
Margery Dodds, organ
Recording date: June 2001

Hamma'ariv aravim - 3:47

Mi khamokha

(more info)

Composed by: Roy Harris
Conducted by: Kenneth Davis
Karl Dent, tenor
Sarah Graves, organ
Recording date: October 1999

Mi khamokha - 8:00

Vay'khullu

(more info)

Composed by: Douglas Moore
Conducted by: Joseph Cullen
Christopher Bowers-Broadbent, organ
Elaine Close, soprano
Patrick Mason, baritone
Recording date: June 2001

Vay'khullu - 3:39

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Composer(s):
Diamond, David; Gould, Morton; Harris, Roy; Moore, Douglas

Conductor(s):
Adler, Samuel; Cullen, Joseph; Davis, Kenneth; Koch, Timothy; Schwarz, Gerard

Orchestra(s):
Seattle Symphony Orchestra

Artist(s):
Bikel, Theodore; Bowers-Broadbent, Christopher; Close, Elaine; Dent, Karl; Dodds, Margery; Graves, Sarah; Mason, Patrick; Miller, Aaron; Osborne, Charles; Troxell, Richard

Label: Naxos Milken Archives/American
UPC: 636943941225
Item Number: 8559412
Release Date: Apr 1, 2004