Choose Life, Uvacharta Bachayim, Chamber Orchestra Version: String Orchestra Conductor Score & Parts
Arranged by Mona Lyn Reese
Item: 35-PK00283626
$84.65
Pickup currently not available
Buy Extra Parts (Digital PDF Download)
Parts Added to Cart!
Description
Choose Life combines solos, choruses, and a narrator. Gregorian chant, polyphonic motets, Anglican verse and choral anthems, Jewish modes and hymnody, recitative, and Klezmer music blend to create the score. The music and text express bitterness, anguish, anger, our sorrow and need for comfort, our will to overcome evil, and our determination to choose life over death. The readings were selected from Holocaust survivors' writings. Choose Life is staged with singers in costumes, minimal sets, lighting, and choreography. Many musical styles and sounds occur in the score. The music of Adonai and Lazar includes traditional Jewish modes and hymnody, recitative, and klezmer music. Music in the Christian tradition such as Gregorian chant, polyphonic motets, Anglican Verse and Choral anthems also appear in the work. see www.chooselife-music.com Duration: 50:00
Choose Life, Uvacharta Bachayim, Chamber Orchestra Version: String Orchestra Conductor Score & Parts isn't in MakeMusic Cloud just yet...but it could be. Let us know you'd like to see it, and you'll help shape what comes next. In the meantime, start a free trial and dive into thousands of interactive titles your students can play along with today.
Request This Title
Tell us you want it.
Start Your Free Trial
Explore everything that's ready to play right now.
Sample Audio
No sample audio found.
Sample Video
No sample videos found.
Additional Details
Publisher:
Hal Leonard
SKU:
35-PK00283626
More about this title
Why we love this
This arrangement transforms a deeply significant work into something your string orchestra can actually perform, preserving the composer's ambitious vision across multiple musical traditions without requiring a massive choir or soloists you may not have available. The string writing carries narrative weight; it doesn't simply accompany but becomes part of the storytelling itself. Programming this gives your ensemble a role in something genuinely important, a chance to engage with Holocaust remembrance and interfaith dialogue through music.
What to expect
Grief and defiance move through these pages. You'll shift between the austerity of chant, the intricate polyphony of Renaissance motets, the folk idioms of Klezmer music, and the grandeur of choral writing, each style carrying its own emotional weight. The result is neither fusion nor pastiche but rather a conversation across traditions, all pointing toward a single conviction.
Who it's for
String orchestras with access to singers and a narrator, or ensembles that want to expand into staged, interdisciplinary performance. This works for advanced high school orchestras, chamber orchestras, and community ensembles seeking repertoire with genuine artistic and educational substance.
How to get the most out of it
- Study the source material at chooselife-music.com before rehearsals begin. Understanding the cultural and historical context of each musical quotation (Gregorian chant, klezmer idioms, Jewish modes) will help you shape the sound with authenticity rather than generic precision.
- Coordinate closely with any vocalists and the narrator early in rehearsal. String orchestras often lead here, so your ensemble's rhythmic clarity becomes the anchor for singers and spoken text.
- Treat the klezmer passages with particular attention to ornamentation and flexibility. This music lives in slight rhythmic play and expressive slides that feel clumsy if played mechanically.
How to use it
Program this as a concert centerpiece, paired perhaps with a pre-concert panel discussion or community dialogue about the themes. The 50-minute duration positions it beautifully as the capstone of a concert season or as a standalone evening of music and remembrance.
Skills your students will build
- Ensemble precision across mixed meters and rhythmic complexities
- Stylistic differentiation (performing idiomatically within Gregorian, polyphonic, klezmer, and anthem contexts)
- Sectional leadership and balance when supporting soloists and narration
- Musical phrasing and expression beyond technical accuracy