Yerushalayim Shel Zahav: (Jerusalem of Gold)

By Alice Parker

Item Number: EC.1.3428

ISBN 600313134289. Hebrew.

This arrangement was commissioned jointly by Brad Spencer, Scott Spencer, and the Washington Men's Camerata and first performed by the Camerata on June 13, 2015, at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

Naomi Shemer wrote this lovely poem honoring the fabled city, Jerusalem. Its history and mystery are evoked in each verse and in the passionate refrain. At the beginning, Jerusalem is seen asleep, alone, guarding the Temple Wall at its center. Then we picture a deserted, conquered city, empty and desolate. In the third verse, the writer reveals herself as the latest and least of all the notable scribes who have invoked the city, those writers of magnificent Psalms, odes and poems. At the end, people have returned to the city, enlivening its streets and neighborhoods, adding new chapters to its story.

Naomi Shemer's music, with its mixture of nostalgia, melancholy, and desire, lifts her verses to memorable phrases: one does not want the song to end. In performing the work, follow the given dynamic markings and allow the song to slowly accumulate dramatic tension, saving the climax for the final refrain. -Alice Parker