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WEISGALL: T'kiatot / Psalm of the Distant Dove / A Garden Eastward

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WEISGALL: T'kiatot / Psalm of the Distant Dove / A Garden Eastward

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MUSIC of HUGO WEISGALL HUGO WEISGALL ((1912-97) T'KIATOT: RITUALS FOR ROSH HASHANA (1986) PSALM OF THE DISTANT DOVE (1992 FOUR CHORAL ETUDES (1960) A GARDEN...

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MUSIC of HUGO WEISGALL

HUGO WEISGALL ((1912-97)

T'KIATOT: RITUALS FOR ROSH HASHANA (1986)

PSALM OF THE DISTANT DOVE (1992

FOUR CHORAL ETUDES (1960)

A GARDEN EASTWARD (1952)

The creator of a substantial body of music for various media, HUGO WEISGALL is probably best remembered as one of America's most important composers of opera and large-scale song cycles, reflecting his lifelong interest in both western and Judaic literature and his affinity for the human voice and the theater.� Born in Moravia but educated in the United States at the Peabody Conservatory and the Curtis Institute, he was descended from generations of cantors in the Bohemian-Austrian orbit.� Weisgall absorbed the Central European liturgical traditions--choral and cantorial--as well as the western lieder and operatic canons from his father, a cantor, laying the foundation for a creative life that would embrace both general and Jewish oriented musical realms.� Weisgall's works are marked by their literary merit, original vocal style, and attention to musical and dramatic detail.� His mature musical style closely approaches that of the Second Viennese School, especially its more lyrical aspects, and is marked by rather severe chromaticism.�

T'kiatot: Rituals for Rosh Hashana, though one of Weisgall's few purely orchestral compositions, is not absolute music, but rather one of his most overtly Jewish pieces.� Neil Levin points out that this Judaic aspect refers not so much to its overall sonority or style, which relate strongly to the abstract atonality Weisgall shared with Schoenberg, Berg and Webern.� Rather, the Jewish connection derives from the work's overall structural concept, which is based on a major section of the Rosh Hashana (Jewish New Year) liturgy; from its integral incorporation of a canonized, medieval Ashkenazi synagogue tune into the musical fabric; and from its introduction of the ancient Temple-era instrument, the shofar (ram's horn), which was used in antiquity for a variety of religious and secular occasions and is today most emblematic of the High Holy Days.� The great medieval sage and scholar Moses Maimonides interpreted the shofar blasts on Rosh Hashana as proclaiming: "You who are asleep, awaken! Search your deeds and repent!

The work's title, T'kiatot, refers to a central tripartite section of the Rosh Hashana liturgy, which the composer expresses and interprets instrumentally.� Each of the three divisions illustrates one of the central theological themes of this Holy Day, which in modern contexts can translate to God as the primeval source of all existence and creator of the universe; God in terms of history, especially in Israel's collective memory; and God the ultimate revealer of truth and wisdom.� The corresponding musical movements are a Fantasia (on the liturgical tune), a Scherzo that is optimistic in tone, and a concluding section based on the various prescribed shofar blasts or "calls."� T'kiatot was premiered at New York's 92^nd Street Y under the direction of Gerard Schwarz, who conducts the Seattle Symphony on this recording.

The second liturgical work on this disc is Four Choral Etudes: a cappella SATB settings of well-known Hebrew texts--three Psalms and a hymn for the conclusion of the Passover seder.� With their chromatic harmonic language, swiftly moving parts and considerable vocal demands, these challenging pieces are clearly intended for the concert hall rather than the synagogue.� Avner Itai conducts the BBC Singers.

The "Golden Age' of Spanish Jewry during the era of Moslem rule on the Iberian Peninsula (900-1200) served as the inspiration for two of Weisgall's major vocal works heard on this Milken Archive disc.� Psalm of the Distant Dove

was his last long song cycle, and is sung here by soprano Ana Maria Martinez with pianist Kristen Okerlund.� Its focal point is the age-old relationship between God and his loving but suffering people, Israel, represented by the poetic image of the dove, which throughout Mediterranean and especially Arabic poetry is associated with lovers, perhaps because doves never abandon their life partners.� Weisgall alternates three short "preludes"--excerpts from the biblical Song of Songs and rabbinic commentaries on those texts--with three "songs," which are based on the verse of three Spanish-Jewish poets, including the most widely recognized literary and philosophical figure of the period, Judah Halevi (ca. 1075-1141).� Serene images of spring give way to painful intimations of struggle and death, and the cycle concludes with a plea for the redemption of Israel.�

The final work is A Garden Eastward, which resembles a symphony for voice and orchestra and is set to English versions of image-rich medieval poetry by the great Spanish Hebrew poet and philosopher Moses Ibn Ezra (1055-1135).� It is cast in three contrasting movements: the ethereal but intense Fantasia, which extols the wonders of the heavens and all creation, a lyrical, lilting Scherzo that recalls a Moorish garden (or possibly the Garden of Eden), and Free Variations, a hymn to the wisdom of past generations that is based on a traditional German Ashkenazi synagogue melody.� This tune, one of many melodies used in western and Central Europe for the text of Adon olam,

the hymn of praise commonly sung at the conclusion of synagogue services, was sung by Weisgall's father.� Illustrating the Milken Archive's practice of recording works in culturally and historically appropriate locations whenever possible, soprano Phyllis Bryn-Julson is heard with the Barcelona Symphony/National Orchestra of Catalonia led by Jorge Mester.�

Hugo Weisgall was repeatedly drawn to historical, literary, biblical, and liturgical Jewish subjects, and in addition to his acknowledged position among important American composers, he championed the perpetuation of authentic Jewish musical tradition.� Many of his works were inspired by his sense of Jewish identity, among them the most famous of his ten operas, Esther, produced at New York City Opera; settings of Yiddish folksongs; numerous chamber pieces on Jewish subjects; and a Reform Friday evening service.� His non-Judaically related works include his well-known opera, Six Characters in Search of an Author, based on the Pirandello play, and other dramatic compositions on texts by W.B. Yeats, Strindberg and Frank Wedekind.

In addition to his composing and synagogue-related musical activities, Weisgall established the foremost curriculum in America for cantorial education and training as chairman of the faculty of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America's Cantors Institute (now the H.L. Cantorial School), a college of Jewish music, bringing his exacting musical standards to bear upon that institution's approach, and mentoring many important composers during his 44-year tenure.� He also taught at Queens College and The Juilliard School in New York.

Disc 1

T'kiatot: Rituals for Rosh Hashana

(more info)

Performed by: Seattle Symphony Orchestra
Composed by: Hugo Weisgall
Conducted by: Gerard Schwarz
Steven Ovitsky, shofar
Recording date: June 1998
Produced by: Stern, Adam

I. Malkhuyyot - 10:30
II. Zikhronot - 8:02
III. Shofarot - 7:01

Psalm of the Distant Dove

(more info)

Composed by: Hugo Weisgall
Kristen Okerlund, piano
Ana Maria Martinez, soprano
Recording date: December 2000
Produced by: Weir, Simon

Prelude: My Lover Called - 1:20
Days of Cold Are Past - 2:22
Prelude: The Dove Knows Her Mate - 2:29
Distant Dove - 3:59
Elegy - 1:36
Prelude: Birds Struggle - 2:48
Avi, Avi - 4:08

4 Choral Etudes

(more info)

Composed by: Hugo Weisgall
Conducted by: Avner Ital
Recording date: November 1999
Produced by: Weir, Simon

Yihyu l'ratzon - 1:53
Hodu ladonai - 1:56
B'tzet yisrael - 1:58
Ki lo na'e - 2:02

A Garden Eastward

(more info)

Performed by: Barcelona Symphony-National Orchestra of Catalonia
Composed by: Hugo Weisgall
Conducted by: Jorge Mester
Phyllis Bryn-Julson, soprano
Recording date: July 1999
Produced by: Weir, Simon
Produced by: Jolesz, Gyorgy

I. Fantasia - 4:58
II. Scherzo - 4:09
III. Free Variations - 6:28

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Composer(s):
Weisgall, Hugo

Conductor(s):
Ital, Avner; Mester, Jorge; Schwarz, Gerard

Orchestra(s):
Barcelona Symphony-National Orchestra of Catalonia; Seattle Symphony Orchestra

Artist(s):
Bryn-Julson, Phyllis; Martinez, Ana Maria; Okerlund, Kristen; Ovitsky, Steven

Label: Naxos Milken Archives/American
UPC: 636943942529
Item Number: 8559425
Release Date: Jun 1, 2004

WEISGALL: T'kiatot / Psalm of the Distant Dove / A Garden Eastward

TCHAIKOVSKY, P.: Piano Trio in A minor, Op. 50 (G. Shaham, T. Mork, Y. Bronfman)

GRIEG: Norwegian Melodies Nos. 118 - 152

GLAZUNOV: Raymonda (NTSC)

BUXTEHUDE: 7 Sonatas, BuxWV 259-265

Scenes from Jewish Operas, Vol. 2

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WEISGALL: T'kiatot / Psalm of the Distant Dove / A Garden Eastward

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