🌟 Music & Meaning: The Jewish Soul

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✡️ Songs of the Heart: Music as Prayer

There are moments when music speaks what words cannot — when a single note becomes a prayer, and silence itself turns holy. This program invites us into that sacred space, where the cello becomes a voice of the soul.

From Mendelssohn’s lyrical sonata to Bruch’s Kol Nidrei, we trace the path of yearning — the sound of one heart reaching toward the Infinite. Popper’s brilliant dances remind us that faith is not only solemn; it rejoices, it celebrates, it refuses to forget life’s sweetness even after the storm.

In the second half, Bloch opens a window to eternity — his Nigun and Prayer speak with the trembling sincerity of a people in dialogue with God. Lavry’s Suite answers with sunlight and renewal, the voice of a homeland reborn in hope. The evening concludes with the laughter and rhythm of Klezmer Journey — where heaven and earth meet in dance, and the heart remembers that joy, too, is a form of worship.

 First Half

Felix Mendelssohn – Sonata for Cello and Piano No. 2 in D Major, Op. 58
  – III. Adagio
  – IV. Molto allegro e vivace

Max Bruch – Kol Nidrei, Op. 47

David Popper – Tarantella, Op. 33

Traditional Hebrew Melody – Adon Olam
  (arranged version, melody only; cello part optional)

Traditional Yiddish Song – Yossel, Yossel
  (also known as “Joseph, Joseph,” by Samuel Steinberg and Nellie Casman)

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 Intermission

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 Second Half

Ernest Bloch – Nigun (No. 2 from “Baal Shem” Suite)
  (Alternative option: Bloch – Meditation hébraïque)

Ernest Bloch – Prayer (No. 1 from “From Jewish Life”)

Marc Lavry – Suite for Cello and Piano (Hebrew Suite)

Traditional / arr. Paul Schoenfield or similar – Five Melodies on Hebrew Themes
  – No. 1 Moyshele, Mayn Freund
  – No. 2 Oyfn Pripetshik
  – No. 5 Charleston
  (or just Nos. 2 & 5 if shortened)

Traditional Klezmer Suite – Klezmer Journey

David Popper – Concert-Polonaise, Op. 14

 

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