Voices of Connection: 09/26 Bloch Sacred Service Pt. V (Epilogue)
The first part of the Epilogue (Adoration) expresses the peace and solemnity of the Sabbath.
Now the Cantor addresses the people in a recitative in which he prays that before long virtue may reign, that all men, no longer enslaved by fetishisms, will worship one God and live in brotherhood - "Then shall Thy Kingdom he established on earth". The chorus answers "On that day the Lord shall be ONE, and His name, ONE."
And suddenly the color changes, and the Cantor in tragic accents intones: "And now, ere we part..." Here the mind turns to those "who have finished their earthly course... but have not ceased to be". Then are the words "In the divine order of Nature" is expressed the whole philosophy of the work. All this section, from the "spoken'' recitative, is kind of general projection of the hidden philosophy of the Service, a proclamation of its central idea to all mankind. It is the conception of the Hebrew Prophets, and the eternal contribution of Israel to humanity.
From afar is heard again the supplication of mankind, its cry to God for help, for an explanation of this sad, incomprehensible world. for the reason for our sufferings.
"O God of Israel, arise to the help of Israel!"
After an ominous silence, from the uttermost distance, out of time, out of space above time, space and matter, of which we know nothing - a kind of collective voice rises slowly, mysteriously. Is it the key? The explanation?
The beautiful poem, Adon Olom ("Eternal God''), was used here. It embodies a philosophy which transcends all creeds, all "Science", and which, properly interpreted, may outlive them all: it is perhaps the last word of wisdom and knowledge. I interpreted this last strophe:
"Into His hand I commit my spirit, And, with my spirit, my body.
The Lord is with me – I shall not fear" the idea of Death, accepted, as Life is accepted, with serenity and confidence, with the conviction that man is too bounded, imprisoned as he is in the narrow walls of his senses, to be able to understand the infinite. The "equations" of his pride and knowledge" arc formulas, mere labels and theories, to be changed from time to time in the course of history. He is completely ignorant of the causes of all that is essential - Time, Space, Matter, Thought. Thus, as a last resort, he commies himself, soul and body, into God's hands, or, if one prefers it, he relies humbly upon the vast forces, the laws, the everlasting, the higher Truth of the Universe, and upon their ultimate wisdom.
After this "cosmic" dream we come back to earth again, with the Three Benedictions and the Three Amens. And the last expression of the Cantor to the Assembly is the beautiful word “Shalom”, which means “Peace”. – Ernest Bloch
ERNEST BLOCH Avodath Hakodesh - Sacred Service (Part V - Epilogue)
Voices of Asension
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
from the concert Bloch Sacred Service & Bernstein Chichester Psalms
May 17, 2018, The Church of the Ascension, New York, NY
The singers in this performance are represented by the American Guild of Musical Artists, AFL-CIO.