SONG OF SONGS

I had the
opportunity of hearing Chana Bloch read from her translation of The
Song of Songs shortly after it was published in 1995. I was deeply
moved by the beauty of this sensual poem, and knew I would one day set
it to music. The story about the sexual awakening of a young woman and
her lover is told in a series of subtly articulated scenes, where the
two meet in an idealized landscape of fertility and abundance and
discover the pleasures of love. The work is in 5 movements. I excerpted
some of the most powerfully emotional sections of the poem, alternating
between the woman and man, before a final ecstatic duet.