Paths of Stone and Water: Shir Moledet

Abstract

Shir Moledet is the first of three movements of the piece Paths of Stone and Water. Through the vantage point of three texts of different nature and origins (modern Hebrew poetry, Psalms and modern liturgical), Paths of Stone and Water examines water, stone and man in a myriad ways. The text of Shir Moledet is by Yehuda Amichai, and portrays a perhaps complex relationship of the poet to the city of Jerusalem, familiarizing himself with local waterways through ‘the tears’. (His tears? Collective tears shed over the city? The poet leaves this ambiguous). Jerusalem architecture is known for its ubiquitous use of Jerusalem stone, and thus Stone and Water become symbols through which the poet can examine his own reaction to this city loaded with history and religion. The music of this movement pays tribute to the Israeli Mediterranean School of the 30’s and 40’s, in its use of modality and alternating homophonic and polyphonic textures. The composer’s own charged relationship to Jerusalem comes into play in the latter part of the song, where the words “currently I’m more inclined to favor stones” are laden with harmonic poignancy.