Kaddish is the third symphony of Leonard Bernstein. The 1963 symphony is a dramatic work written for a large orchestra, a full choir, a boys' choir, a soprano soloist and a narrator. The name of the piece, Kaddish, refers to the Jewish prayer that is chanted at every synagogue service for the dead but never mentions "death."
This often-neglected symphony is dedicated to the memory of John F. Kennedy who was assassinated on November 22, 1963, just...
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Kaddish is the third symphony of Leonard Bernstein. The 1963 symphony is a dramatic work written for a large orchestra, a full choir, a boys' choir, a soprano soloist and a narrator. The name of the piece, Kaddish, refers to the Jewish prayer that is chanted at every synagogue service for the dead but never mentions "death."
This often-neglected symphony is dedicated to the memory of John F. Kennedy who was assassinated on November 22, 1963, just weeks before the first performance of the symphony. Though some see the symphony as a reaction to the Holocaust, there is no documented basis for this view.
The text begins with a narrator addressing "My Father" (i.e., God). He/she states that he/she wants to pray a kaddish. After the initial approach to the Father in prayer, a chorus sings his kaddish in Aramaic. At the end, the narrator repeats the final words of the prayer:
The speaker then questions why he would allow such disorder in mankind's lives, suggesting that surely he must have...
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