Kaddish
Program Notes
Every culture deals with the loss of life with different rituals. In the Jewish culture part of the grieving process is the incantation of the Mourners Kaddish. When a son or daughter loses a parent it is expected that they will recite the Kaddish for eleven months after death and then again on the anniversary of the death. While the prayer doesn’t specifically reference death itself it has become the prayer of mourning. One explanation is that it is an expression of acceptance of Divine judgment and righteousness at a time when a person may easily become bitter and reject God.
My Kaddish is not a dedication to any specific loss in my life but is instead meant to honor the multitude of feelings associated with loss and death. The work carries moments of beauty, drama, anger and meditation. It also draws from the repetition of the prayer incantation by repeating the opening section in different variations moving from consonant to it’s most dissonant iteration. Overall this is my prayer for loss and eventually hope.