Paul Lewis

Songs of Israel

Scored for harp, two violins, viola, cello and bass, this suite is in three movements: Shalom Chaverim Fantasia; Hava Nagila Rumba; Mevo Hama Nocturne.
A full score and set of parts is included.

When Israeli harpist Rachel Talitman suggested that I might write a work for harp and string quintet the subject matter sprang immediately to mind. Both she and I had a Russian Jewish grandfather; mine spawned a generation of musicians whose offspring includes two composers. Though not of the Jewish faith my violinist mother was sentimental about all things Jewish and would have been deeply satisfied to know that this composition celebrates not only the heartfelt playing of Rachel Talitman but also her own Jewish heritage.
There is Jewish blood in my wife's family too, in fact her Aunt Helen moved to Israel to live in a kibbutz, only to die there a few years later. 'Songs of Israel' could be said to follow Helen's story from her farewell to friends and family in England in the first movement and her enthusiastic espousal of life in the kibbutz in the second to the final gentle nocturne in her memory. This was not my intention when I set out to write the piece, the storyline only occurring to me as the sequence of movements revealed itself. Such are the mysteries of the creative process. 'Paul Lewis'
'Duration 17 minutes'