Oratorio part 6 Jeremiah and Genesis

I continue to revisit the oratorio I wrote in 2019, Unleashing Leviathan. 

Part 6 begins with day 6 of Genesis. Again this performance is the example for all recitative singing. 

One area that absolutely struck me is the detailed allusion to Genesis 1 in Jeremiah 4:23-27. This little section begins with the obstinacy of the people (v22): 

For obstinate are my people. Me, they do not know. Silly children, they are, and without understanding they are.
Shrewd they are to do evil, but to do good they do not know.

I really should add this verse to the score - A four part fugue?

Jeremiah 4:22

Then the four verses following reflect Genesis 1 - so I have put the music of Genesis 1 as a reprise against Jeremiah's allusions. I won't go line by line here but you can see the music on page 118 in the pdf of the score here.

The curious thing is that erets (arx) can be either 'land' or the 'earth' (Psalms 24:1) - both are Yahweh's as if to say that our exploitation of them, land or earth as a whole, does not proceed from our 'ownership' of them. Not that we should read too much into three letters, aleph, resh, tsade. But the overall effect is to recognize that the earth as described in Genesis is there in miniature in Jeremiah's reflection on the land of Israel. 

I have set the music according to the te'amim in the Hebrew text. In this piece I have set it in two conflicting keys. Jeremiah is a bass singing with d as his tonic. In Genesis I have made e the tonic. The results are quite dismal at times.

Jeremiah 4:22-27
Syllables: 155. Words: 66. Roots: 44. Root Recurrence: 53%. Average per verse: 5.8.

adm ain (2) al amr ap arx (2) at (2) avil avr bhv bin bn ch ci (2) cl (4) clh crml 'tvb gby hih hm (3) hnh (4) hr idy (2) ihvh (2) kcm krh la (4) mdbr ndd ntx pnh (2) qll rah (4) ryw ryy scl thv wmim (2) wmm yir ym yvp ywh

כִּ֣י ׀ אֱוִ֣יל עַמִּ֗י אוֹתִי֙ לֹ֣א יָדָ֔עוּ בָּנִ֤ים סְכָלִים֙ הֵ֔מָּה וְלֹ֥א נְבוֹנִ֖ים הֵ֑מָּה חֲכָמִ֥ים הֵ֙מָּה֙ לְהָרַ֔ע וּלְהֵיטִ֖יב לֹ֥א יָדָֽעוּ		22 ♪B For obstinate are my people. Me, they do not know. Silly children, they are, and without understanding they are. Shrewd they are to do evil, but to do good they do not know.
cb ci avvil ymi aoti la idyu bnim sclim hmh vla nbonim hmh kcmim hmh lhry ulhi'tib la idyu	25 15	ci avil ym\i avt\i la idy\v bn\im scl\im hm\h v/la n/bvn\im hm\h kcm\im hm\h lh/ry vlhi/+b la idy\v
רָאִ֙יתִי֙ אֶת־הָאָ֔רֶץ וְהִנֵּה־תֹ֖הוּ וָבֹ֑הוּ וְאֶל־הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֵ֥ין אוֹרָֽם		23 I saw the land, and behold, formless and void, and to the heavens, and their light was not.
cg raiti at-harx vhnh-tohu vbohu val-hwmiim vain aorm	15 9	ra\iti at h/arx v/hnh thv v/bhv v/al h/wmim v/ain avr\m
רָאִ֙יתִי֙ הֶֽהָרִ֔ים וְהִנֵּ֖ה רֹעֲשִׁ֑ים וְכָל־הַגְּבָע֖וֹת הִתְקַלְקָֽלוּ		24 I saw the hills and behold, quaking, and all the hillocks, dwindling.
cd raiti hhrim vhnh roywim vcl-hgbyot htqlqlu	12 9	ra\iti h/hr\im v/hnh ryw\im v/cl h/gby\vt ht/ql\qlv
רָאִ֕יתִי וְהִנֵּ֖ה אֵ֣ין הָאָדָ֑ם וְכָל־ע֥וֹף הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם נָדָֽדוּ		25 I saw and behold, there was no human, and all the fowl of the heavens have fled.
ch raiti vhnh ain hadm vcl-yof hwmiim nddu	10 9	ra\iti v/hnh ain h/adm v/cl yvp h/wmim ndd\v
רָאִ֕יתִי וְהִנֵּ֥ה הַכַּרְמֶ֖ל הַמִּדְבָּ֑ר וְכָל־עָרָ֗יו נִתְּצוּ֙ מִפְּנֵ֣י יְהוָ֔ה מִפְּנֵ֖י חֲר֥וֹן אַפּֽוֹ ס		26 I saw and behold, the plantation in the wilderness, and all its cities were broken down from the face of Yahweh, before his fierce anger.
cv raiti vhnh hcrml hmdbr vcl-yriv nitxu mpni ihvh mpni kron apo s	12 17	ra\iti v/hnh h/crml h/mdbr v/cl yr\iv ntx\v m/pn\i ihvh m/pn\i kr\vn ap\v
כִּי־כֹה֙ אָמַ֣ר יְהוָ֔ה שְׁמָמָ֥ה תִהְיֶ֖ה כָּל־הָאָ֑רֶץ וְכָלָ֖ה לֹ֥א אֶעֱשֶֽׂה		27 Because thus says Yahweh, Desolate, will be all the land, but a consuming end, I will not make.
cz ci-ch amr ihvh wmmh thih cl-harx vclh la aywh	15 7	ci ch amr ihvh wmm\h t/hih cl h/arx v/clh la a/ywh

Selected recurrence

Recurrence patterns in Jeremiah 4:22-27