Lainie Fefferman – Here I Am
Vocal Soloists; Transit New Music
New Focus Recordings FCR403 (newfocusrecordings.com/catalogue/lainie-fefferman-here-i-am)
Who do you report to when you wake up in the morning? We have had anywhere between two thousand and seven thousand or so years to think about it.
Lainie Fefferman, the composer of this deeply meditative big ensemble piece didn’t always punch in the “right name” when she woke up until the political climate in the USA (and far and wide) began to take its toll on her state of mind. Her short introduction describes the rude awakening of American Jews.
There are six people in ancient scripture who uttered the words: “Here I Am (Lord).” The patriarchs Abraham and Jacob, the prophets Moses, Samuel, Isaih and Ananias, who was called to minister to Saul. However, Fefferman has expertly woven the miniatures that make up Here I Am with episodes from Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The cantors, led by Fefferman, nestle cheek-by-jowl with an accomplished improvising septet and the powerful neo-psalmody of a vocal trio to tell the story.
The words, “Here I Am” are pivotal to that story, and the unification of the tribes of Israel. This is Fefferman’s operatic “Here I am Lord.” A story of faith, expertly told from the brimstone and fire of Lot’s Daughters, And their Bloodguilt Shall Be Upon Them to the ultimate test of that faith in the story of Abrahan and Issac in Take Thy Son.
Listen to 'Lainie Fefferman: Here I Am' Now in the Listening Room
