Robert Stern

2-Part Women's Chorus, Optional Bells, and Piano

Editor's Note:

Adon Olam (“Lord of the Universe”) is a Hebrew liturgical hymn of uncertain authorship, sometimes attributed to the Spanish Jewish poet Solomon ibn Gabirol (1021–1058), though no definitive attribution has been confirmed.

The text is a piyyut (liturgical poem) written in a regular metrical and rhymed structure. It presents a theological progression beginning with universal statements affirming God’s existence prior to creation and eternal sovereignty, followed by personal declarations of trust in divine protection.

By the late medieval period, the hymn had entered widespread Jewish liturgical use, and today appears in daily prayer services and frequently at the conclusion of Sabbath and festival worship. Its consistent poetic meter has led to the creation of numerous musical settings.

Robert Stern’s Adon Olam is excerpted from—and forms the final section of—his larger cantata A Rushing of New Waters (1986), a work based on texts from the Book of Ruth and Grace Goldin’s poem Come Under the Wings, developed in collaboration with the composer’s wife, Judith Glaser, who contributed to the shaping of the libretto.

Commissioned by the Smith College Choir and the B’nai B’rith Hillel Foundation at Smith and Amherst Colleges, the cantata was premiered as part of a Musical Sabbath Service at Helen Hills Hills Chapel, Smith College, on March 7, 1986. The performance was conducted by Magen Solomon, then director of the Smith College Choir, and the larger worship service was led by Rabbi Yechiael Lander (1927-2026).

Within the cantata, Adon Olam serves as a concluding liturgical and musical summation. Stern subsequently prepared the movement as a stand-alone choral anthem, recognizing its suitability for both concert performance and synagogue worship.