Hallel
Item
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Score title
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Hallel
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Composer
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Shulamit Ran
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Program note
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The American Guild of Organists' commission of a short solo organ work for its 2006 Biennial National Convention in Chicago provided me with the opportunity to explore what was, for me, exciting new territory. Whenever writing for a musical instrument for the first time, I become acutely aware that an instrument is not merely a vessel through and from which a certain kind of sound flows. It is not just the carrier of a characteristic timbre which can be manipulated in various ways. To write well for an instrument it is essential that I discover, in the process of composing, what for me is that instrument's "soul."
In this work, I found myself drawn to the organ for its enormous range of expression: from the most opulent to truly intimate, from vehemently powerful to pure and delicate, from grand to mysterious. And of course the devotional quality that seems so innate to the organ came to the fore quite naturally (hence the title HALLEL which, in Hebrew is the verb form of "praise"), and joyously so. *
In a single movement, HALLEL intersperses full textures, solos, and brilliant toccata-like sections in a Fantasia style, its slow, introspective ending bringing back the work's opening musical materials.
Two superb organists deserve thanks for their work on HALLEL:
David Schrader, who premiered the work at Chicago's Symphony Center on July 2, 2006, generously and enthusiastically shared with me his extraordinary command of the organ during the composition of this work.
Randall Harlow later created the artful registration, based on the Daniel Jaeckel Op. 45 organ at the Emory University Donna and Marvin Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts, that has become the current edited version of HALLEL.
*To be pronounced as in Hebrew – Hallel – accent on second syllable.
—Shulamit Ran
Shulamit Ran