THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 30, 1995 TAG: 9509290067
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY RICKEY WRIGHT, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 129 lines
ASK RABBI Lawrence Forman how Richard Danielpour's ``Canticle of Peace'' fits into Ohef Sholom Temple's long tradition of support for the arts and he takes no more than a second before raising the question to another, higher plane.
``Write this down,'' he directs. Then, with forceful eloquence, he continues: ``Reform Judaism considers religion as one's spiritual and social response to one's finitude. And when we surround ourselves with beauty, with truth, with love and harmony and art and music, then life works for us all, and elevates us and enhances the way we relate to others from the fullness of our humanity, from that God-given spark in each of our hearts.''
Ohef Shalom commissioned composer Danielpour to write the choral work to celebrate its 150th anniversary. ``Canticle of Peace'' premieres Sunday afternoon at the Stockley Gardens synagogue.
``Canticle,'' which will be conducted by Virginia Symphony music director (and former Danielpour schoolmate at Juilliard) JoAnn Falletta, pulls together many of the Reform church's most profound concerns.
``I think the great thing about Reform Judaism,'' said temple music director Charles Woodward, ``is there is room for all types of expression.''
``Religious expression,'' stressed Forman, who's been at Ohef Sholom since 1970. ``As much as people say about Jewish mothers'' - he paused, enjoying his slyness - ``no Jewish mother ever rejected a child. Catholicism, Christianity, Islam are all the children of Judaism. We all believe in one great universal God, no matter how we see that.
``These things are really at the foundation of the religion, of life, and how they're incorporated into one's daily experience. That is the foundation that has allowed this congregation to embark on this project.''
The idea of commissioning a work came four years ago during planning of anniversary-related activities.
``We went on a nationwide search to identify the composer who would exemplify the spirit of this congregation, and the spirit musically,'' Woodward said. ``And there was only one man.''
Danielpour's resume includes a cello concerto for Yo-Yo Ma, a symphony for the San Francisco Symphony and a piano quintet for the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. He will set poems by Toni Morrison to music for a spring 1996 premiere at Princeton University and is preparing a work for the Pittsburgh Symphony.
He is a particularly apt choice for a temple whose name translates as ``lovers of peace.'' In a conversation with Leonard Bernstein not long before the maestro's 1990 death, Danielpour was touched by the composer/conductor's urgency as they spoke of Bernstein's ``Chichester Psalms,'' among other subjects.
``We talked about how wonderful it would be if all brothers could live in peace. Bernstein was a great peacemaker, but he could also stir things up,'' Danielpour said with a laugh. ``But so much of his life was involved in bringing people together, people who otherwise probably wouldn't have gotten together. He was very concerned with this in the last 10 years of his life.''
had also crossed paths with Abba Eban, former Israeli ambassador to the United States, whose remarks at a Dallas Symphony performance stayed with him.
``His point was simply that we should start thinking of war as an obsolete form of solving the world's problems,'' Danielpour said. ``While it's very utopian, it really struck me as something we need to begin entertaining. That led me to the idea of writing a work about peace.''
The result, Danielpour said, is a work that combines ancient (``in the almost pagan sense'') and modern. It will be performed by the temple choir, bass-baritone soloist James Weaver and players recruited from Apollo, the Virginia Symphony's chamber group. Danielpour's choice of Hebrew texts from Psalms and liturgical prayers allowed him further access to the past.
Falletta said ``Canticle'' is ``very dramatic, very strong, very vital. It does communicate somehow viscerally but also very, very thoughtfully.''
``My piece begins in a very ecstatic way,'' Danielpour said. ``If there was an equivalent of a gospel choir in Hebrew music, that was it.
``In order to address the idea of peace, you have to be awake. You can't be half-asleep. That's why the piece begins in this very alive way. It's not just peace. Now is the time for awakeness.''
In past years, Ohef Sholom has hosted packed concerts that have drawn from a wide spectrum of Hampton Roads listeners.
``Certainly we attract large numbers from the Jewish community,'' Woodward said, ``but also from the community in general. I think there is a thirst for the type of musical experience that feeds one's soul.''
Forman said: ``The truth is, you see, there is a phenomenon with this music in which you become Jewish, and that's why you see sitting before you one of the most Jewish Episcopalians ever.'' He pointed mirthfully at Woodward. ``As with any art - I see it with opera singers - there is a change.
``He may not have been born of Jewish parents,'' Forman said of Woodward, ``but he was born of more Jewish parents than I was, in terms of music, because his music lifts my soul. I don't care what he labels himself. See,'' he said, smiling, ``he doesn't know any better, and he uses this label.
``We don't care what religion they are. We are concerned with bigger questions. We are the horizon people, reaching out to the universe. We know that we can only touch the outer skirts of God. But we try.''
At the end of the millennium, said Forman, has come a chance.
``This is a window of opportunity after thousands of years, after the Holocaust, the oppression of Russian Jews and Ethiopian Jews. Now, Judaism in America is Judaism in freedom.''
We rehearsed for three hours,'' Woodward reported gleefully of the first chorus session two weekends ago. ``Everyone is extremely excited. No one ever has a vocal rehearsal that lasts three hours. I had to push them out the door. I was exhausted.''
At the temple earlier, Woodward had hazarded a guess that ``Canticle of Peace'' would be received as the first major work of liturgical music in Hebrew by a major composer since Bernstein's ``Chichester Psalms.''
``This piece of music is a masterpiece, in my humble opinion,'' he said. ``I think it is going to enter the standard choral repertoire.''
Danielpour, while happy with his music, was more measured in his enthusiasm.
``I mean, that's very nice to hear,'' he said, ``but frankly, one of the things that made me so excited about writing this piece was the notion that I would have the chance to work with people like this, whom I both respect and get along with.
``The appearance is we get together to do these projects, but sometimes I wonder if we don't do these projects in order to get together to remind ourselves that we are part of the same family, regardless of whether I live in New York and you live in Norfolk. Do you know what I mean? It feels that way more and more.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color staff by Motoya Nakamura
Rabbi Lawrence Forman demonstrates use of the shofar that will be
used to signal Ohef Sholom Temple's 150th anniversary celebration
Sunday.
Color staff photo by Christopher Reddick
Richard Danielpour, composer of "Canticle of Peace," rehearses with
musician who will premiere it.
by CNB