Ravinia 2022, Issue 3

New York Philharmonic on November 22, 1963, Bernstein received the tragic news that John F. Kennedy had been shot. He returned in a daze back to his apartment and later learned of the president’s death. “Ah, what a tragic waste,” he lamented, “what a stupid murder, irritating as well as painful.” On No- vember 24, the orchestra and chorus with mezzo-soprano Jennie Tourel performed Mahler’s Second Symphony (“Resurrection”) on a memorial concert broadcast by CBS. Bernstein dedicated Kaddish , which would receive its initial hearing only 16 days later, to the memory of Kennedy, “the man whom I did indeed love very much.” Though promised to Munch for his return as guest conductor of the Boston Symphony in January 1964, Bernstein fervently believed that the first performance of Kaddish belonged in Israel. Anticipating a hostile reaction to the irreverent language of the English text, he consulted with biblical scholars before allow- ing the performance to proceed. Bernstein re- ceived assurances that religious tradition con- tained many instances of men struggling with God: Moses, Job, and Jacob. In any event, or- thodox Jews who might raise cries of “blasphe- my” and “sacrilege” did not attend concerts. Symphony No. 3 ( Kaddish ) was first per- formed on December 10, 1963, in Tel Aviv by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Bernstein. The spoken text was translated into Hebrew and declaimed by the famous Israeli actress Hannah Rovina. The mezzo Tourel successfully pleaded with the composer for an opportunity to sing the solo soprano part. The symphony received mixed reviews. One author wrote: “It’s philosophy, it’s dramatic, it may even be music. But it is certainly not Kaddish .” Similar divided opin- ion surrounded the American premiere on January 31, 1964, given by the Boston Sym- phony Orchestra, New England Conservato- ry Chorus, Tourel, and speaker Felicia Mon- tealegre (Bernstein’s wife) under the direction of Munch. Charles Munch and Bernstein discussing the score of Symphony No. 3 ( Kaddish ) (1964) The musical language dramatizing this hu- man struggle touches upon extremes of sty- listic expression from Romantic lyricism to modern 12-tone technique, popular Broad- way theaters to the avant-garde concert hall, and hand-clapping jazz to thought-provoking classical music. Originally, Bernstein desig- nated the speaker to be a woman “because she represented das ewig Weibliche (eternal feminine), that part of man that intuits God.” Later, he allowed performances by a man or woman. Bernstein divided the symphony into three movements, or parts, performed without intervening breaks: part one con- tains the Invocation and Kaddish I ; part two includes the Din Torah and Kaddish II ; and part three comprises the Scherzo , Kaddish III , and Finale . In the Invocation , the speaker longs to sing a final Kaddish to God, which the chorus offers in a desperate and raucous Kaddish I . The Din Torah (Trial by the Law of God) second movement lays out man’s case against God: “But yours was the first mistake, creat- ing man in your own image, tender, fallible.” The soprano solo and children’s choir sing a lullaby prayer in Kaddish II . The speaker of- fers their vision of the Kingdom of Heaven in the Scherzo . A triumphant Kaddish III begins in the children’s choir while the speaker im- plores God to “believe in me and You shall see the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth, just as You planned.” In the Finale , the prolonged anguish and spiritual conflict gradually sub- sides, as it always does in the Kaddish , with the Hebrew song Oseh shalom : “He who ma- keth peace in His high places, may He make peace for us.” –Program notes © 2022 Todd E. Sullivan Invocation SPEAKER: O, my Father: ancient, hallowed, Lonely, disappointed Father: Betrayed and rejected Ruler of the Universe: Angry, wrinkled Old Majesty: I want to pray. I want to say Kaddish . My own Kaddish . There may be No one to say it after me. I have so little time, as You well know. Is my end a minute away? An hour? Is there even time to consider the question? It could be here, while we are singing. That we may be stopped, once for all, Cut off in the act of praising You. But while I have breath, however brief, I will sing this final Kaddish for You, For me, and for all these I love Here in this sacred house. I want to pray, and time is short. Yit’gadal v’yit’kadash sh’mē raba … Kaddish 1 MAGNIFIED … AND SANCTIFIED … BE THE GREAT NAME … AMEN. CHORUS: Yit’gadal v’yit’kadash sh’mē raba, amen, b’al’ma div’ra chir’utē, v’yam’lich mal’chutē b’chayēchon uv’yomēchon uv’chayē d’chol bēt Yis’raēl, ba-agala uviz’man kariv, v’im’ru: amen. Y’hē sh’mē raba m’varach l’alam ul’al’mē al’maya . Yit’barach v’yish’tabach v’yit’pa-ar v’yit’romam v’yit’nasē, v’yit’hadar v’yit’aleh v’yit’halal sh’mē d’kud’sha, b’rich Hu, l’ēla min kol bir’chata v’shirata, tush’b’chata v’nechemata, da-amiran b’al’ma, v’im’ru: amen. Y’hē sh’lama raba min sh’maya v’chayim alēnu v’al kol Yis’raēl, v’im’ru: amen. (Magnified and sanctified be His great name, Amen. Throughout the world which He hath created according to His will, Amen. And may He establish His kingdom During your life and during your days, And during the life of all the house of Israel, Speedily, and at a near time, And say ye, Amen. May His great name be blessed Forever and to all eternity. Blessed and praised and glorified, And exalted and extolled and honored, And magnified and lauded Be the name of the Holy One, blessed be He; Though He be beyond all blessings And hymns, praises and consolations, That can be uttered in the world, And say ye, Amen. May there be abundant peace From heaven, and live for us And for all Israel; And say ye, Amen.) SPEAKER: Amen! Amen! Did you hear that, Father? “ Sh’lama raba! May abundant peace Descend on us.” Amen. Great God, You who make peace in the high places, Who commanded the morning since the days began, And caused the dawn to know its place. Surely you can cause and command A touch of order here below, On this one, dazed speck. And let us say again: Amen. CHORUS: Oseh shalom bim’romav, Hu ya-aseh shalom alēnu v’al kol Yis’raēl, v’im’ru: amen. (He who maketh peace in His high places, May He make peace for us And for all Israel; And say ye, Amen.) Din-Torah SPEAKER: With Amen on my lips, I approach Your presence, Father. Not with fear, But with a certain respectful fury. Do You not recognize my voice? I am that part of Man You made To suggest his immortality. You surely remember, Father?—the part That refuses death, that insists on you, Divines Your voice, guesses Your grace. And always You have heard my voice, And always You have answered me With a rainbow, a raven, a plague, something. But now I see nothing. This time You show me Nothing at all. Are you listening, Father? You know who I am: Your image; that stubborn reflection of You That Man has shattered, extinguished, banished. And now he runs free—free to play With his new-found fire, avid for death. Voluptuous, complete and final death. RAVINIA.ORG • RAVINIA MAGAZINE 47