L'DOR VADOR ("From Age to Age")
by Michael Reid Winikoff
Mixed Choir (SATB) A Cappella
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DURATION: 2:20
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LITURGICAL CONTEXT - L'Dor Vador - “From
generation to generation. we magnify your greatness..." This
lofty text is the concluding paragraph of the K'dushah, the central core
of the Amidah repetition for the Shacharit (Morning), Musaf
(Additional) and Minchah (Afternoon) services. The
K'dushah is really the Sanctus of the Jewish
liturgy, in that one of its three core scriptural verses is Isaiah 6:3
"Kadosh kadosh kadosh Adonay tz'va-ot; m'lo chol ha-aretz k'vodo
(Holy holy holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His
glory.)" - the other core verses are Ezekiel 3:12 and Psalm 146:10.
The K'dushah constitutes the third benediction of the Amidah, and takes
on expanded and elaborated iterations for Shabbat and the major
holy days, further varying by service. It is recited with elevated
spiritual intensity, and only in the presence of a minyan
(quorum), while standing and facing the Ark. It features its own
special "choreography," including rising briefly on tiptoe for each of the three
repetitions of the word kadosh. Tradition tells us this
is to help us imagine we are elevated to the company of the heavenly host as we
chant this verse together with them.
THE MUSIC - The normal procedural rules governing the chanting of K'dushah (at least in the Ashkenazic rite) dictate that L'dor Vador, as its concluding passage, is the text on which the reader may transition to a different chant mode (nusach), i.e., the one in which the remainder of the Amidah repetition is to be chanted, depending on the occasion.
The present setting does not necessarily follow that rule, and actually is not fully specific to a particular nusach, though it perhaps most closely correlates to that of Saturday morning. Indeed, it presents in a subtle way a few of the earmarks of that nusach, such as the Phrygian cadence at measures 12-13, the pick-up into measure 14 where the tonality shifts up a 4th to a major feel, and the characteristic melodic phrase in bars 20-22.
But the pure Phrygian cadencing is also
apropos to the nusach of the corresponding place in the High Holy Day Musaf, particularly the
passages Chamol al ma-asecha and Ki makdishecha which
immediately follow this text. And so this rendition will, with its
quiet grandeur, fit quite seamlessly into that service.
PERFORMANCE - While this setting is fully choral, and
demands a sensitive and refined approach (it is equally appropriate for
service or concert use), it is also designed as a tune
which might be adapted for unison congregational singing.
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L'dor vador
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From generation to generation
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