The Song of Solomon

My posts in March 2010 present the Song of Solomon in 5 parts. Most recently (March 2017) I reverted to the traditional chapters. They don't seem to have much to do with the structure as measured by the repeated adjuration (2:7, 3:5, 5:8, 8:4). Now I am at the beginning of working on music for the Song. I have done the first section 1:1 to 2:7 for singers and woodwind trio, flute, oboe, and bassoon.

It remains to be heard what the music says about the poetry, the conclusion and the appendix. But here is the introduction and the first poem using the usual deciphering key for cantus firmus. I note that several times a lone g (accent tifcha ב֖) appears in the music. This was unusual enough for me to want to highlight it.

Esther Lemandier sings the song in the Phrygian mode. Haïk-Vantoura sets it mostly in her default chromatic Dorian. I have gone mostly with the Phrygian but an occasional accidental does appear. In this, as in the Elegy of 1 Samuel, I have left the Hebrew rhythms in place and not changed them to fit the English, but I have written an English libretto for reference.

I have now set this down a semitone.