Voices of Connection: 09/24 Bloch Sacred Service Pt. III

Part Three deals, symbolically, with the law, its order, discipline and limitations. But before accepting it, to understand it and to submit joyfully to its discipline, a purification of heart is required. The short prelude, "Silent Devotion", and the a cappella chorus, "My the words of my mouth", express this feeling.

Then the Cantor intones "Lift up your heads, O ye portals, that the king of Glory may enter". This I interpreted in the sense of clouds rising high into the sky, and of darkness receding from man's heart, so that the light may enter. I wanted to express the wish that man may free himself from hate, from dark instincts and all that prevents him from rising above himself and seeing the Truth.

Then the Scroll is taken from the Ark (symphonic interlude) and borne slowly through the assembly, and the Cantor explains: the Law which God gave through Moses is the Law of the house of Jacob; the chorus repeats it, and both the Cantor and chorus call "House of Jacob" -in the sense, for me, of all mankind - "Come ye and walk with me in the Light of God". And light bursts our, clear and mystical. It abates, and mysteriously, the Cantor once more proclaims the act of faith: "Our God is ONE!"

After a great crescendo and ascending progression, there bursts forth a final chorus of exultation, "Thine, Adonoy, is the greatness." – Ernest Bloch

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ERNEST BLOCH Avodath Hakodesh - Sacred Service (Part III)

Voices of Ascension
Dennis Keene, Artistic Director
Cantor: Zachary Nelson, Baritone
Sarah Griffiths, Soprano
Helen Karloski, Mezzo-soprano
Heather Petrie, Contralto
Brandon Lloyd Hynum, Tenor
Jason Eck, Bass-baritone
Andrew Henderson, Organ

Recorded live May 17, 2018, at Church of the Ascension
The singers in this performance are represented by the American Guild of Musical Artists, AFL-CIO.

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