{"id":82759,"date":"2020-11-07T19:17:17","date_gmt":"2020-11-07T17:17:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=82759"},"modified":"2020-11-07T23:15:58","modified_gmt":"2020-11-07T21:15:58","slug":"psalm-39-and-the-unetaneh-tokef-of-r-amnon-of-mainz","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/psalm-39-and-the-unetaneh-tokef-of-r-amnon-of-mainz\/","title":{"rendered":"Psalm 39 And The Unetaneh Tokef of R. Amnon of Mainz"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[],"acf":{"old_id":"82759","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":79834,"related_cahpter":"606","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"A new series - this time: Ron Weideberg (himself)\r\n\r\n","content":"

Ron Weideberg, Psalm 39 from \u201cThe Tale of Rabbi Amnon of Mainz\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

I set the story of Rabbi Amnon of Mainz to music in 1994, at the invitation of a professional choir from Scotland called Capella Nova. This is a cantata in 10 parts that recounts the story from the text of the \u201cOr Zarua\u201d according to its adaptation by S. Y. Agnon in his anthology <\/span>Days of Awe<\/span><\/i>. Interspersed among the sections that tell the story of R. Amnon\u2019s martyrdom, are several choral pieces, whose climax is the High Holiday prayer, <\/span>Unetaneh Tokef<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Psalm 39 is seen to be an inseparable part of the story of R Amnon, who left the presence of the ruler, with the request that he be given three days to decide whether to convert. The section gives voice to his suffering that he intimated that there might be a doubt as to his faith (\u201cI would watch my step lest I offend by my speech; I would keep my mouth muzzled while the wicked man was in my presence\u201d – 39:2); he knows his fate is sealed. On this point, this is one of the most pessimistic of all the psalms. The seven \u201cpsalms of penitence\u201d all end with at least an optimistic verse, whereas here, nothing awaits the psalmist except death and destruction.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The psalm was set to music for an a capella choir, except for one chord that is sounded on the harpsichord. My approach was \u201cnarrative\u201d – the choir recites the verses in one continuous flow, with no repetitions, and the shape of the section is determined by the text. The work was originally written in English (using the King James\u00a0 translation), except for the <\/span>piyyutim<\/em> <\/span>(the Jewish liturgical poems), which in my opinion are untranslatable. In its premiere in Israel, I adapted the music to the original Hebrew text.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Psalms 39:2-14, from \u201cThe Tale of Rabbi Amnon of Mainz\u201d<\/span>
\n<\/span>The New Vocal Ensemble, Yuval Ben Ozer, conductor. <\/span>
\n<\/span>The Israel Festival, Jerusalem, 1999<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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