COMPOSING “SHVISI” FOR THE JEWISH SQUARE MILE
Amanda Dean
As part of the original group that became Jewish Square Mile, it has been a joy to help develop the idea for a commenmorative event at the Barbican site. At the earliest stage of discussion, music emerged as an essential element for what has become the 4 September launch evening.
Two of us in the group, Brian Solomons and I, are musicians, and we worked on finding an offering of music that would include the right elements to celebrate, enlighten and entertain. Having secured London Cantorial Singers to help open the occasion, and klezmer group Hop Skotshne for later in the evening, we were already set for a treat.
At some point, it was suggested that the programme of music should include a new piece to mark the occasion. I was too excited at being asked to write something to realise for a while that this was rather daunting. I write a lot of vocal and choral music, so this was well within my comfort zone. However, I had never set any Hebrew words before and had never studied Hebrew. Fortunately for me, London Cantorial Singers, who already have a wide repertoire, were open to including a new piece. Having discussed the group’s vocal range and listened to recordings of them, their Chair David Druce offered to put forward extracts from two of the psalms for me to choose from. The selection which immediately resonated with me was two verses from Psalm 16. The themes of trust and security seemed to fit well with commemorating the ancient burial site, and the two verses selected contrasted well, giving scope for the music to reflect more than one mood.
With the psalm words carefully written out for me in Hebrew, English and transliteration, I would then have been stuck without assistance. When I am setting words to music, I start with the text, saying or singing individual words or phrases to try out ideas: which are the particularly significant words which should stand out or be repeated, what rhythm and melody they suggest to me. I had a zoom call with David who patiently went through each word so I could learn how to pronounce it, including which syllable should be stressed.
I was then ready to get to work in earnest. In the meantime, I had been listening more intently to Jewish music and thinking about how certain scales and modes give such a distinctive sound. In particular I thought about the shifts between major and minor keys, and how minor-key music can feel joyous, and the ‘phrygian dominant’, which I didn’t know by name but recognised by ear. I wanted the piece to have something in the sound suggesting a long span of time, as well as feeling new, and with proper tunes for the singers and listeners to enjoy. I hope this will come across in the finished piece, ‘Shivisi’. My favourite words from the text are ‘Baal Emot’, so I used these in both of the contrasting sections to link them with the idea of steadfastness and continuity.
In the weeks before the event, I am looking forward to visiting London Cantorial Singers at the Belmont United Synagogue to hear them rehearse, and of course attending the event on 4 September. I hope all of this will fit in with the arrival of a first grandchild, due early September. It will be a very exciting week!