Mizmor Shir, New Music at Park Avenue Synagogue 2015
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A psalm, a song for Shabbat.
It is good to praise Adonai; to sing to Your name...
The righteous bloom like a date-palm;
they thrive like a cedar in Lebanon;
planted in the house of Adonai,
they flourish in the courts of our God.
In old age they still produce fruit;
they are full of sap and freshness.
It is a good thing indeed to engage in prayer with a vibrant and dynamic community. When we sing together, we express emotions, connect to our roots, build deeper relationships, and give voice to our dreams. Through music we celebrate our past and invest in the future, constantly renewing and reinventing ourselves and our community. Our prayers are fruitful, constantly freshened by new musical interpretations.
Park Avenue Synagogue has a long tradition of commissioning liturgical music, and we are proud to continue this tradition by inviting accomplished composers to write music for our services. Most of the music on this CD was composed in the past year. Our prayer services evolve with new liturgical settings that accommodate the musical sensibilities of our generation. From innovative instrumentations to a novel pace, from inclusion of our matriarchs to prayers in English, we build on our heritage and draw meaning from it. We are grateful to our community, to our talented and dedicated staff, and to the gifted musicians who partner in the sacred mission of writing the score for us and for future generations. We hope you will enjoy the melodies on this CD and sing along, so that our music will resonate within the walls of our synagogue and beyond.
Cantor Azi Schwartz
Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove
Art Penn, Chairman
Melvin Schweitzer, Chair of Music Committee
August 2015 · Av 5775
