Past Programs
Judaism - 2008
Days of Awe and Mystery
10/10/2008
This week, Jewish music and prayer for Yamim Nora'im, the Days of Awe (also known as the Days of Repentance), the ten days between Rosh Hashanah (New Year) and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement). And some soulful singing from Australia's Tina Harrod as she tackles a Nick Drake song, River Man, full of mystery and prophecy.
We'll hear the opening prayer of the evening service of Yom Kippur, Kol Nidre, which means 'all our vows'. It's set to a haunting melody which we'll hear twice, played once on a harp and then sung by the Singers of the Amsterdam Synagogue. One of Australia's finest singers, Tina Harrod, brings a jazz inflection to a classic Nick Drake song. And to finish, Byzantine chant from cantor Petros Kyriacou and a male choir chanting in Hebrew from the Book of Genesis. These chants are part of a choral work called Prayer Bells or Pentekostarion, for 3 solo cantors in Hebrew, Greek and Latin and 8 male voices, composed by Con Koukias of Tasmania's Ihos Music Theatre and Opera.
