W o r k s
Wheels of Heaven (2023)
Navona Records
Avner Finberg, composer
Avishay Shalom, composer
Ohad Stolarz, composer
Ensemble Ofanìm | Avishay Shalom conductor
"Avner Finberg, Avishay Shalom, and Ohad Stolarz decorate the choral scene in WHEELS OF HEAVEN, a new setting of sacred Hebrew and Aramaic texts admirably performed and recorded by Ensemble Ofanìm. WHEELS OF HEAVEN is a devotion to the literary elements of Hebrew traditions, illustrations of a rich and cherished history. These artists have composed, arranged, and presented a beautiful collection of a vast literary tradition in this release, and the resulting sound is remarkable."
To stream, click here.
Hedwig, Rudi, Irmgard, Heinz: Eine jüdische Familiengeschichte in Briefen und Memoiren (2022)
Hentrich & Hentrich
Language: German
184 Pages, Softcover
The letters, memoirs and photographs contained in this book were rediscovered in 2017 in an attic on Kibbutz Afikim in the Jordan Valley, Israel, after some 60 years. They recount the story of a Jewish family that had to leave Germany in the 1930s and create a new future for themselves in Palestine and Argentina. The questions, tragedies, joys and hopes shaped by this history are described firsthand and in real time. The son Rudi Michel – the later Israeli historian Reuven Michael – and his wife Irmgard report from their new home in Kibbutz Afikim to their parents in Stettin and in Osnabrück; mother Hedwig writes down her life story for her son; brother Heinz renews contact with his family in Israel after a long, unexplained radio silence. Some tragedies experienced by this family, such as the death of Irmgard at 28 and of their first son, Meir-Chen, at 21, do not appear at all in these writings, since the corresponding letters are lost. However, they are supplemented in notes by the editor, the grandson of Rudi Michel, who collected and annotated these documents.
To purchase, click here.
A Hebrew Choral Songbook (2022)
Breitkopf & Härtel
Instrumentation: Unaccompanied mixed choir SATB
Language: Hebrew
The present volumes represent a cross-section of historical Hebrew Song. Their goal is to render a selected repertoire of such beloved songs accessible to choirs of all countries. The works contained here are an expression of the versatility of Hebrew music, which, thanks to its complex genesis, offers a broad stylistic scope, despite its small base of native speakers. This genesis would be too broad to unpack within the frame of this book, yet I do hope that the information contained in the commentary to the individual songs would provide some insight into it.
Volume I consists of ten sacred and paraliturgical songs that may be sung in diverse circumstances. The piyutim, medieval sacred poetry in Hebrew or Aramaic, are the preeminent genre in this volume, to which five of the present arrangements belong. The primary performance opportunity for piyutim, whether publicly in the synagogue or privately at the dinner table, is on the Sabbath.
Volume II consists of ten secular songs that have become widely known in Israel during the 20th century. All those songs are part of Israel’s cultural history and belong to its core repertoire. For choral conductors and singers who wish to learn more about the songs in this book, detailed information, as well as translations into English and German, are included in the appendix.
Jeremy Jackman, Choir & Organ magazine, November 2022:
"None of Stolarz's versions are strophic harmonisations; all are through-composed scores with enough variation of texture to satisfy the listener's ear while ensuring that the original words and melody are not obscured. [...] Some of the most sophisticated material is in the sacred volume, such as a fine double-choir arrangement of Yigdal Elohim Chay ('God be magnified'), created during the Covid lockdown. Stolarz has taken a very practical approach to the representation of Hebrew in Latin script, and the notes at the back of each volume contain full and fascinating information about the original material."
Bettina Strübel, Chorzeit magazine, December 2022:
"Die klangschönen und teilweise umfangreichen Arrangements von Ohad Stolarz sind sehr abwechslungsreich, sowohl formal als auch klanglich und harmonisch. Bedingt durch orientalische Modi ergibt sich hie und da eine etwas herbe beziehungsweise archaische Harmonik, andere Chorsätze zeigen Jazzklänge oder sind eher der romanischten Tonsprache verbunden. (...) Spannend und Informativ auch die Erläuterungen zu den Stücken. (...) Insgesamt sind beide Bände sorgfältig gestaltet und empfehlenswert für Chöre, die sich für anspruchsvolle und klangschöne Chorstücke des hebräischen Repertoires interessieren."
Duration: ca. 60 minutes
To purchase, click here.
A Place Beyond Words (2022)
A Suite in Three Movements for Wind Orchestra
(Co-composition with Dave Schlossberg)
This new version of our joint work from 2019 came about as a result of a cooperation with the Saxon Wind Philharmonic and the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music. It was premiered on June 19th, 2022 in Berlin, conducted by Ohad Stolarz.
Sechs Lieder in den Ferien zu Singen (2021)
Six Partsongs to Poems by Marina Garanin
Instrumentation: Unaccompanied mixed choir SATB
Language: German
These humorous choral partsongs are inspired by the music of Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, though not attempting an exact replication of his style.
Duration: ca. 14 minutes
To purchase Marina Garanin's book, "Der Knopf"
I Got Plenty of Rhythm (2021)
Instrumentation: Big Band
Some colorful, old-timey Swing!
Duration: ca. 4 minutes
Kiryà Yefefiyà (2021)
After two Piyutim by Zechariah al-Dhahiri and Judah Halevi
Music: Maureen Nehedar
Arrangement: Ohad Stolarz
Instrumentation: Unaccompanied mixed choir SATB
Language: Hebrew
Awarded the 32nd Valentin Becker Prize by the Fränkischer Sängerbund in the arrangement category.
Duration: 3 minutes
To view the announcement, click here.
To listen to Maureen Nehdar's original song, click here.
Ave verum corpus (2020)
Instrumentation: Unaccompanied mixed choir SATB
Language: Latin
Granted 4th place in the International Ave Verum Composition Competition in Baden, Austria.
Duration: 3 minutes
A Place Beyond Words (2019)
A Suite in Three Movements for Symphony Orchestra
(Co-composition with Dave Schlossberg)
Instrumentation: 2(picc),2(eh),2(bc),2-4,3,3,0-timp+1-hp-str
To download Midi-file click here.
The three movements of this work are based on original melodies by: 1. Rabbi Moshe Rothblum; 2. Anonymous; 3. Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach z”l, respectively. These melodies are sung to the following traditional Hebrew and Aramaic texts: 1. Exodus 31:16-17 (”V’shamru B’nei Yisrael”); 2. Zohar 2:206a:8 (”Beh Ana Rachitz”); 3. Psalm 29 (”Mizmor l’David”).
The creation of this work began with the album ”A Place Beyond Words” by Dave Schlossberg, released in 2017, featuring improvisations for piano on ten Jewish melodies. Two years later, selections from this album were arranged for orchestra by Ohad Stolarz, in collaboration with Dave Schlossberg, with additional material introduced for the purpose of the current version. This is the two creators’ first collaboration.
Duration: ca. 15 minutes
Sephardic Folk Songs: Eight Settings for Mixed Choir (2019)
Breitkopf & Härtel
Instrumentation: Unaccompanied mixed choir SATB
Language: Judeo-Spanish (Ladino)
1. Una pastora yo amí
2. Tres hermanicas eran
3. Morenica a mi me llaman
4. Durme, durme
5. Yo m’enamorí d’un aire
6. Árvoles lloran por luvias
7. La vida do por el raquí
8. Cuando el rey Nimrod
The present volume is an attempt to promote the performance of Sephardic songs within the choral medium. It is suitable for any choir or ensemble that takes an interest in the language, music and culture of the Sephardim. While numerous Western-Classical composers have successfully brought Sephardic songs to the concert stage, not many of the best-known pieces of this repertoire were hitherto set for the traditional four-part mixed choir a cappella in a manner that enables performance by amateurs and professionals alike. This volume, therefore, is the author’s modest attempt to fill this gap, by creating a collection suitable for usage by choirs and vocal ensembles of varying sizes and levels. The entire eight songs in this book may be performed as a single program, yet any number of them may be performed individually or alongside works of other composers. German and English translations of all texts are provided in the appendix, along with a description of every song (including information on recordings and alternative versions) as well as a select bibliography.
Duration: ca. 30 minutes
To purchase, click here.
Byť světem vládla (2016)
Pavane Publishing
Instrumentation: Unaccompanied mixed choir SATB
Language: Czech
Words: attributed to Rafael Schächter
Melody: Attributed to Gideon Klein
Transcription: Nick Strimple
Arrangement: Ohad Stolarz
This song was composed for one of the girls’ barracks in the Theresienstadt (Terezín) Concentration Camp during the Holocaust (ca. 1942). It was always sung in unison, unaccompanied. It’s intent was two-fold: first, when the girls were being moved about in a group outside the barrack it was sung on “lai, lai, lai” to keep the girls together and to identify them as belonging to a certain barrack; second, the text consisted of virulently anti-Nazi lyrics that could be sung in the barrack to keep Hope alive when the girls were alone. Further, it helped the children maintain a connection to their cultural roots because the final phrase of text, “Pravda vítězí” (Truth will prevail!) were the last words of the Czech Reformation hero Jan Huss when he was burned at the stake in 1415. The song was never written down, so the exact authorship of text and tune cannot be verified. Dasha Lewin, the survivor who first dictated the song to Nick Strimple in 1989, remembered it being taught to the girls by Raphael Schächter and Gideon Klein; her opinion was that these two men most likely wrote it together.
Duration: ca. 2 minutes
To purchase, click here.
Azkirech livracha, Tsiyon ("I recall your name for a blessing, Zion", 2011)
From the Dead Sea Scrolls
Instrumentation: Unaccompanied mixed choir SATB with solo baritone
Language: Hebrew
There are several theories concerning the origin of the Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered between the years 1946 and 1956 in Khirbet Qumran, near the Dead Sea. It has been suggested that this unique collection of 930 texts and segments was written and archived by the Essenes, one of the three major Jewish factions in existence at the time of the first Jewish revolt against the Roman Empire, in the First Century. However, the exact origin of the Scrolls remains at the heart of an ongoing historical debate.
Among the findings at Cave 11 from 1956 was Scroll 11Q5, known as the Scroll of Psalms. It includes several poetic texts, several of which can be found in the Book of Psalms, others known from extra-biblical sources, and a few previously unknown works. Among the latter is one psalm-like text, preserved in full, which was chosen as the subject of this musical setting. Azkirech livracha Tsiyon praises the city of Jerusalem, also known as Zion, and expresses a yearning for its ultimate salvation. It is divided into 22 lines, which form a perfect alphabetical acrostic in the order of the Hebrew alphabet, as sometimes occurred in the Psalms (e.g. 111, 112, 119), as well as various other traditional Jewish texts.
Although this psalm-styled poem remains widely unknown to the general public, the language of Azkirech is fresh and appealing, and requires relatively little interpretation to the modern Hebrew speaker. This timeless quality made it ideal to serve as the basis for a musical work. My choice to set these words in the medium of soloist and unaccompanied choir was influenced by the traditional Jewish liturgical model, whereby a single cantor leads the congregation in song and prayer.
Duration: ca. 13 minutes
Premiered on May 22nd, 2016 by Hebräischer Chor Berlin, conducted by Ohad Stolarz, with Assaf Levitin, baritone. Spandau Citadel, Berlin.
