Women of Valor is a celebration of women from the Old Testament. The oratorio was inspired by a midrash (biblical commentary) on Proverbs where each line of the biblical text from Proverbs 31 represents a biblical woman. The hour-long oratorio is scored for soprano and mezzo-soprano soloists, narrator and symphony orchestra. The Women’s Sacred Music Project commissioned Ms. Clearfield to arrange two of the arias for women’s chorus, “Sarah” and “Jocheved”. Women of Valor was given its world premiere in Los Angeles on April 16th, 2000 by the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony under the direction of Dr. Noreen Green and was favorably reviewed in the Los Angeles Times. Soloists were Hila Plittman, soprano and Gail Dubinbaum, mezzo-soprano, and the narrator was noted television actress Valerie Harper. The performance was sponsored by Hadassah Southern California and educational programs were created around the work. Portions of Women of Valor were broadcast nationally on NPR’s “All Things Considered”. CD’s are available upon request.
Texts for Women of Valor are drawn both from the Bible and from modern poems and prose. The Biblical texts include portions from Genesis, Judges, The Book of Esther as well as the entire “Eishet Hayil” (literally “A Woman of Valor”) poem from Proverbs, sung and narrated in English, Hebrew and Yiddish. The work is composed in three large sections, each including recitatives, arias, duets, narrated portions and orchestral interludes, similar to an oratorio. The Eishet Hayil text comprises the recitatives, and the arias are the stories of biblical women from the perspective of ten contemporary women writers. Women of Valor highlights the stories of Sarah, Leah, Rachel, Jocheved, Miriam, Hannah, Jael, Michal, Ruth and Esther.
While not an authentic representation of any traditional ritual, prayer or musical style, Women of Valor is influenced by cantorial ornamentation, biblical instruments, Jewish dance forms and Middle-Eastern and Sephardic music so that these elements became resources for color, melody, rhythm, phrasing and orchestration. Mixed meters, syncopated rhythms, traditional scales and percussion instruments such as the dumbek, riq (small tambourine), finger cymbals and sistrem add a Middle-Eastern ambience to the composition. Portions of ancient melodic patterns (tropes) sung to the Torah, can be heard in the Sarah, Miriam, Hannah and Ruth arias as well as in fragments and layers in the orchestral prelude and other interludes.
The biblical stories have been passed down from generation to generation and transformed with each re-telling. Likewise, the music in Women of Valor unfolds in continuous variation. By employing a type of polyphony called heterophony, a melody is heard by many instruments simultaniously, each statement differing slightly from the others. Out of this sea of chant, various themes emerge. Strata of musical ideas also represent the rich and complex interpretative layers of the Eishet Hayil text. This large-scale work can be likened to a musical midrash which reflects the poetic, colorful, heart-felt, mysterious, evocative and celebratory aspects of the texts.
LISTEN
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RECORDING
Magdalene and the Other Mary: Songs of Holy Women
The Women’s Sacred Music Project, Inc.
Church Publishing
www.churchpublishing.org
TEXT
[Narrated text, Exodus 2:1-4; Sung text “Jocheved’s Song” by Sandy Shanin]
A certain man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman. The woman, [Jocheved], conceived and bore a son; and when she saw how beautiful he was, she hid him for three months. When she could hide him no longer, she got a wicker basket for him and caulked it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child into it and placed it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile. And his sister [Miriam] stationed herself at a distance, to learn what would befall him.
There’s a wind that blew the dark news to me
Of Pharaohs harsh and ugly decree
that my first born Moshe is soon to die
So I hid him in the river where the reeds are high
Oh wind that blows on the river of reeds
Blow Moshe his mother’s sweet melodies
Rock him in your watery womb
And keep him safe and warm
With pain, I brought Moshe into this world
With agony sharp, I must let him go
To save his life I must crush my soul
And I cast off the seed that I once did sow
Oh wind that blows on the river of reeds
Blow Moshe his mother’s sweet melodies
Rock him in your watery womb
And keep him safe and warm
I will suckle him on his mother’s sweet love
I will suckle him on what God says is right
I will suckle him on our history
I will suckle him on God’s word and God’s might
Oh wind that blows on the river of reeds
Blow Moshe his mother’s sweet melodies
Rock him in your watery womb
And keep him safe and warm
Jocheved
Scored for: mezzo-soprano solo, SSA, flute, percussion, piano, narrator
Text: Exodus 2:1-4 (narrated text), Sandy Shanin (sung text)
Language: English
Duration: 5:25 min.
Premiere: August, 2001, The Lady Chapel Singers, Lisa Neufeld Thomas, artistic director, Heilig-Geisty-Kirche, Heidelberg, Germany
Commissioned by: The Women’s Sacred Music Project
Published by: Self-published, Angelfire Press
Contact Andrea Clearfield for score and parts:
See preview score pages: JOCHEVED SSA CHORAL SCORE EXCERPT (PDF)
PROGRAM NOTES
Women of Valor is a celebration of women from the Old Testament. The oratorio was inspired by a midrash (biblical commentary) on Proverbs where each line of the biblical text from Proverbs 31 represents a biblical woman. The hour-long oratorio is scored for soprano and mezzo-soprano soloists, narrator and symphony orchestra. The Women’s Sacred Music Project commissioned Ms. Clearfield to arrange two of the arias for women’s chorus, “Sarah” and “Jocheved”. Women of Valor was given its world premiere in Los Angeles on April 16th, 2000 by the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony under the direction of Dr. Noreen Green and was favorably reviewed in the Los Angeles Times. Soloists were Hila Plittman, soprano and Gail Dubinbaum, mezzo-soprano, and the narrator was noted television actress Valerie Harper. The performance was sponsored by Hadassah Southern California and educational programs were created around the work. Portions of Women of Valor were broadcast nationally on NPR’s “All Things Considered”. CD’s are available upon request.
Texts for Women of Valor are drawn both from the Bible and from modern poems and prose. The Biblical texts include portions from Genesis, Judges, The Book of Esther as well as the entire “Eishet Hayil” (literally “A Woman of Valor”) poem from Proverbs, sung and narrated in English, Hebrew and Yiddish. The work is composed in three large sections, each including recitatives, arias, duets, narrated portions and orchestral interludes, similar to an oratorio. The Eishet Hayil text comprises the recitatives, and the arias are the stories of biblical women from the perspective of ten contemporary women writers. Women of Valor highlights the stories of Sarah, Leah, Rachel, Jocheved, Miriam, Hannah, Jael, Michal, Ruth and Esther.
While not an authentic representation of any traditional ritual, prayer or musical style, Women of Valor is influenced by cantorial ornamentation, biblical instruments, Jewish dance forms and Middle-Eastern and Sephardic music so that these elements became resources for color, melody, rhythm, phrasing and orchestration. Mixed meters, syncopated rhythms, traditional scales and percussion instruments such as the dumbek, riq (small tambourine), finger cymbals and sistrem add a Middle-Eastern ambience to the composition. Portions of ancient melodic patterns (tropes) sung to the Torah, can be heard in the Sarah, Miriam, Hannah and Ruth arias as well as in fragments and layers in the orchestral prelude and other interludes.
The biblical stories have been passed down from generation to generation and transformed with each re-telling. Likewise, the music in Women of Valor unfolds in continuous variation. By employing a type of polyphony called heterophony, a melody is heard by many instruments simultaniously, each statement differing slightly from the others. Out of this sea of chant, various themes emerge. Strata of musical ideas also represent the rich and complex interpretative layers of the Eishet Hayil text. This large-scale work can be likened to a musical midrash which reflects the poetic, colorful, heart-felt, mysterious, evocative and celebratory aspects of the texts.
LISTEN
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
RECORDING
Magdalene and the Other Mary: Songs of Holy Women
The Women’s Sacred Music Project, Inc.
Church Publishing
www.churchpublishing.org
TEXT
[Narrated text, Exodus 2:1-4; Sung text “Jocheved’s Song” by Sandy Shanin]
A certain man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman. The woman, [Jocheved], conceived and bore a son; and when she saw how beautiful he was, she hid him for three months. When she could hide him no longer, she got a wicker basket for him and caulked it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child into it and placed it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile. And his sister [Miriam] stationed herself at a distance, to learn what would befall him.
There’s a wind that blew the dark news to me
Of Pharaohs harsh and ugly decree
that my first born Moshe is soon to die
So I hid him in the river where the reeds are high
Oh wind that blows on the river of reeds
Blow Moshe his mother’s sweet melodies
Rock him in your watery womb
And keep him safe and warm
With pain, I brought Moshe into this world
With agony sharp, I must let him go
To save his life I must crush my soul
And I cast off the seed that I once did sow
Oh wind that blows on the river of reeds
Blow Moshe his mother’s sweet melodies
Rock him in your watery womb
And keep him safe and warm
I will suckle him on his mother’s sweet love
I will suckle him on what God says is right
I will suckle him on our history
I will suckle him on God’s word and God’s might
Oh wind that blows on the river of reeds
Blow Moshe his mother’s sweet melodies
Rock him in your watery womb
And keep him safe and warm