Yitzhak
Robinson McClellan
About this work:
This is a semi-dramatic work which tells the story of Abraham's attempted sacrifice of Isaac.
The text for this piece is Everett Fox's translation of Genesis 22:1-10, from THE FIVE BOOKS OF MOSES copyright © 1983, 1986, 1990, 1995 by Schocken Books. Used by permission of Schocken Books, a division of Random House, Inc.
The chorus' text is by the composer.
I have included the biblical text after the program note below.
The file posted here is a sample score which includes title page, performance notes, and the score pp. 1 to 23.
The recording is a mockup of the piece which I created by singing and speaking the parts myself (except for the women's parts, which were sung by a friend), and putting the parts together with mixing software. It gives a sense of the piece, but its main drawback is the lack of differentiation between spoken voices, making the stark contrast between characters which I intended difficult to hear.
For a full perusal copy or to purchase a score, please visit my website.
Program note:
This piece tells the story of Abraham and his attempted sacrifice of his son Isaac. I wrote it as a reaction to my realization that Isaac fails to speak out in protest at the moment his father's knife is raised above him. His silence is both terrifying and mysterious to me, especially given that he is clearly able to speak and question his father earlier in the story. The piece focuses on the events of the story as Isaac might have experienced them. Through it I hoped to explore his possible state of mind at the moment he faces death.
The piece ends at the moment that Abraham's knife is raised above his son, leaving open the question of whether Abraham follows through with the sacrifice. By ending the piece at this point I wanted to focus the listener on the moment in which Isaac really believes he is about to die at the hands of his father and his father's God. I believe that this moment must profoundly alter his life, regardless of the events that follow. My piece emphasizes his refusal or inability to speak in that moment by bringing back the phrase "Yitzhak said to his father, he said:" from the previous section of the piece, but this time leaving it hanging in the air in the moments following the ending of the piece, leaving the listener to hear, and wonder at, Isaac's perplexing silence.
The switching of voice roles is another important device. In the first dialogue (beginning p. 2) the younger voice plays the part of Abraham and the older voice the part of God; in the second dialogue (beginning p. 22) the younger voice plays Isaac, the older voice plays Abraham. This switching of roles suggests several things. First, it equates God with Abraham (they share a voice) and Abraham with Isaac (they share a voice). Equating God and Abraham shows that, as far as Isaac is concerned, God and his father share equally the responsibility for what happens to him. Equating Abraham with Isaac shows a slightly different view: that they are equally at the mercy of God, and, as living beings, share a similar vulnerability before the forces of the ultimate and the unknown. In the same way, the two parallel dialogues—first between God and Abraham and then between Abraham and Isaac—show the similarity between the God/Abraham relationship and the Abraham/Isaac relationship.
This voice-switching also shows Isaac's spiritual removal from God, portraying Abraham as a sort of mediator, or perhaps an obstacle, between Isaac and God: Isaac never speaks to God directly. Abraham's role as an intermediary is reinforced in the fact that he is the only character spoken by both voices.
Finally, the chorus gives voice to the fear that afflicts both characters: while Abraham is talking with God, the choir addresses the deity on his behalf, speaking aloud the fear Abraham does not himself let on: "Adonai, he fears thee". In the same way, when Isaac speaks with his father in dialogue two, the chorus tells Abraham what his son can't, or won't, saying: "Avraham, he fears thee". In the final section, the chorus broadens the chant to speak for the fear that the two of them, and perhaps all humanity, feels before the vast destructive forces of the unknown: "God, we fear thee".
The unconventional method I used to align the spoken parts with the rhythmic beats (the performance notes in the score explain this fully) is part of my ongoing experiments with speech-rhythm as a musical element. The impetus for this particular piece was my participation in a spoken Christmas pageant with parishioners in a church I sang for. The innate power of the sound of the words made me want to take the rhythms of spoken language and integrate them rhythmically with musical backup. My goal was to create this blending of words and music without altering the raw, everyday speech rhythms.
I would very much like to see this piece used in a religious context, though I don't know of a current liturgical setting in which it would be appropriate. It may be semi-staged and/or performed as a concert work.
Program note copyright 2003 by Robinson McClellan.
TEXT: Genesis Chapter 22:1-10
1 Now after these events it was
that God tested Avraham
and said to him:
Avraham!
He said:
Here I am.
2 He said:
Pray, take your son,
your only-one,
whom you love,
Yitzhak,
and go-you-forth to the land of Moriyya/Seeing,
and offer him up there as an offering-up
upon one of the mountains
that I will tell you of.
3 Avraham started-early in the morning,
he saddled his donkey,
he took his two serving-lads with him and Yitzhak his son,
he split wood for the offering-up
and arose and went to the place that God had told him of.
4 On the third day Avraham lifted up his eyes
and saw the place from afar.
5 Avraham said to his lads:
You stay here with the donkey,
and I and the lad wish to go yonder,
we wish to bow down and then return to you.
6 Avraham took the wood for the offering-up,
he placed them upon Yitzhak his son,
in his hand he took the fire and the knife.
Thus the two of them went together.
7 Yitzhak said to Avraham his father, he said:
Father!
He said: Here I am, my son.
He said:
Here are the fire and the wood,
but where is the lamb for the offering-up?
8 Avraham said:
God will see-for-himself to the lamb for the offering up, my son.
Thus the two of them went together.
9 They came to the place that God had told him of;
there Avraham built the slaughter-site
and arranged the wood
and bound Yitzhak his son
and placed him on the slaughter-site atop the wood.
10 And Avraham stretched out his hand,
he took the knife to slay his son.
Year composed: 2001
Duration: 00:10:00
Ensemble type: Voice, Solo or With Chamber or Jazz Ensemble:Two or More Solo Voices One Non-Keyboard Instrument
Instrumentation: 1 Double bass, 1 Soprano, 1 Alto, 1 Tenor, 1 Bass, 3 Narrator
Instrumentation notes: This piece can be semi-staged or performed as a concert work, or it can be performed as part of a religious service. The three spoken parts should be: Speaker I (lower, mature male voice); Speaker II (higher, young male voice); Narrator (any voice not resembling the above)