Rega echad, sheket bevakasha

The poem just a moment, silence please by Natan Zach is a pivotal poem in the history of Hebrew literature. It marks a turning point from a more historical collective and public point of view towards a personal, close by and internal focus.

What attracted me to the text in addition to this is also the waves of movement in the poem. These waves move between the world of objects and the world of man/emotion and further to the world of nature, seamlessly and subtly. These waves have everything to do with rhythm and timing, an infinitely nuanced timing. The piece is an attempt to give a sonic expression to the game with the hidden and the exposed. Each member of the choir sits near “his” or “her” instrument. The voice and instrument create a unified sound, in which at times the voice can hide or come out to various degrees. At times though, all voices become a choir and all instruments become an orchestra. All this in subtle waves where something always remain hidden. Chaya Czernowin