♪♪ -[ Singing in Hebrew ] -Next, on "Great Performances"... Leonard Bernstein's powerfully dramatic "Kaddish" Symphony.

-Amen!

Amen!

-Amen!

Amen!

Did You hear that, Father?

Maestro Marin Alsop leads the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in Leonard Bernstein's symphonic meditation, examining the eternal questions of humanity and faith and structured in the form of the traditional Jewish prayer of praise and mourning.

-I want to pray, and time is short.

Time to begin our gallant Yit'gadal... -Actor Jaye Ladymore takes on the role of the speaker grappling with her relationship to a higher power.

-Lord God of Hosts, I call You to account!

And don't shrug me off.

-[ Singing in Hebrew ] -Also featured is soprano Janai Brugger.

-[ Singing in Hebrew ] -[ Singing in Hebrew ] -Along with the Chicago Symphony Chorus, singing the congregation's prayers in Hebrew.

Completed by the heavenly voiced Uniting Voices Choir.

-[ Singing in Hebrew ] -Marin Alsop, who was mentored by Leonard Bernstein himself, takes to the Ravinia Festival podium for a commanding rendering of the "Kaddish" Symphony next.

♪♪ ♪♪ Major funding for "Great Performances" is provided by... ...and by contributions to your PBS station from viewers like you.

Thank you.

[ Indistinct conversations ] [ Birds singing ] [ Indistinct conversations ] -My feeling always was that Bernstein wrote music as an outlet for his belief system, for his philosophy about life.

And his goal really was to connect all the dots in life so that, in a piece of music, it's not really just a piece of music.

The music is just the vehicle to express his concern about the world or his love for the world, or his worry.

Um, and this piece, of course, uh, the "Kaddish" Symphony, his last symphony, the Third Symphony, is a very complex piece because it's not only about the world he was inhabiting, it's also about the world of his family.

You know, of course his father was deeply religious, and he comes from a very, very, very serious, I would say even heavy, Jewish tradition and culture.

And he had to try to find his way with that.

I'm not Jewish, so it's a little bit difficult for me to really understand, I think, the cultural context of the Kaddish.

But I do know that it's the most important prayer in the Jewish tradition.

And it's a prayer that not only remembers people who have passed, but it also celebrates the cycle of life.

So it ends up being a prayer of positivity rather than of mourning.

-Kaddish, I looked up what that word means in general, and I saw that it was a prayer for the dead without actually mentioning death, which I found an absolutely fascinating concept.

-In his inimitable way, he uses forces that you don't expect.

So, of course, we have a choir.

All right, Beethoven did that.

Okay.

We have a choir.

We have a children's choir.

Oh, Mahler did that.

Okay.

We have a narrator.

Hmm, that's a new idea.

We have a soloist.

You know, there are all these elements that he brings together because, I think, for Bernstein, it's also about community.

It's about creating a family on stage as well as a family in the audience.

[ Orchestra warming up ] [ Notes stop ] [ Applause ] [ Applause ] [ Applause ends ] -O, my Father -- ancient, hallowed, lonely, disappointed father.

Rejected Ruler of the Universe.

Handsome, jealous lord and lover.

Angry, wrinkled old Majesty, I want to pray.

♪♪ I want to say Kaddish.

♪♪ My own Kaddish.

♪♪ ♪♪ Listen, Almighty, with all Your might.

There may just be no one to say it after me.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Do I have Your attention, majestic Father?

Is my end a minute away?

An hour?

Is there even time to ask the question?

♪♪ It could be here, while we are singing, that we're to be halted, once for all, cut off in the act of praising You.

But while I have breath, however briefly, I will sing this final Kaddish for You, for me, and for all these I love here in this sacred house.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ I want to pray, and time is short.

Time to begin our gallant Yit'gadal... ♪♪ Magnified... ♪♪ ...and sanctified... ♪♪ ...be the great name.

♪♪ Amen.

-[ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] ♪♪ [ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Singing in Hebrew ] ♪♪ [ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] -Amen!

Amen!

Did You hear that, Father?

Do I have your attention?

Sh'lama raba!

May abundant peace Descend on us.

Amen.

Great God, surely you who make peace on high, who manipulate clumsy galaxies, You who juggle a space full of suns, bend light, spin moons, surely You can handily supply A touch of order here below on this one, dazed speck.

♪♪ And let us say again... ♪♪ ...amen.

-[ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] ♪♪ ♪ Amen!

♪ -With amen on my lips, I approach Your presence, Father.

Not with fear, but with a certain respectful fury.

I have very little time, as You well know.

Do You recognize my voice?

Must I reintroduce myself?

Aní Havazélet Ha-Sharón, Shoshanát Ha-Amakím.

I am the Lily of Sharon, the Rose of the valleys, Daughter of Zion.

I am that part of man You made to suggest his immortality.

You surely remember, Father?

The part that refuses death, that insists on You, Divines Your voice, guesses Your grace.

And always You have heard my voice, always You have saluted me with a rainbow, a raven, a plague, something.

But now I see nothing.

This time You show me nothing at all.

♪♪ ♪♪ -[ Humming ] [ Humming ] [ Humming ] -Father, understand what is happening!

I am exiled by man, no longer cherished, while he runs free, free to play With his newfound fire, avid for death -- voluptuous, total, and ultimate death.

-[ Humming ] -Lord God of Hosts, I call You to account!

And don't shrug me off, as if I were playing defiant daughter, your impudent rebel who could do with a slap.

You know who I am.

Aní Havazélet Ha-Sharón.

The lily that man has picked and thrown away!

And You let this happen, Lord of Hosts?

You with Your manna, Your pillar of fire?

You ask for faith.

Where is Your own?

Why have You taken away Your rainbow, that pretty bow You tied round Your finger to remind You never to forget Your promise?

Shall I quote You Your own weighty words?

"For lo, I do set my bow in the cloud... and I will look upon it, that I may remember my everlasting covenant."

Your covenant!

Your bargain with man!

Tin God!

Your bargain is tin!

It crumbles in my hand!

And where is faith now -- Yours or mine?

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -♪ Amen!

♪ ♪ Amen!

♪ ♪♪ -♪ Amen!

♪ -♪ Amen!

♪ ♪ Amen!

♪ ♪ Amen!

Amen!

♪ ♪ Amen ♪ ♪ Amen ♪ -♪ Amen ♪ ♪ Amen ♪ ♪ Amen!

♪ -♪ Amen!

Amen!

♪ ♪♪ ♪ Amen!

♪ ♪♪ -♪ Amen ♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -♪ Amen!

♪ ♪♪ ♪ Amen!

♪ ♪♪ ♪ Amen!

♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪ Amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen ♪ ♪ Amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen ♪ ♪ Amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen ♪ ♪ Amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen, amen ♪ ♪ Amen, amen, amen... ♪ -Forgive me, Father.

I was mad with fever.

Chaos is catching, and I succumbed.

Have I hurt You, Father?

Forgive me.

In fever, I forgot You, too, are vulnerable.

If my faith is shaky, what must Yours be?

But Yours was the fatal, first mistake -- creating man in Your own image, fallible.

Dear God, how You must suffer so far away, ruefully eyeing your two-footed handiwork -- frail, foolish, mortal.

My sorrowful Father, If I could comfort You, hold You against me, rock You and rock You into sleep.

Shall I sing to You?

Shall I tell You stories of other stars, stars that You love, that deserve Your love, stars that do not disappoint and disgust and disgrace Your love?

Oh, I hope they exist, for Your sake, Father.

My heart's pity boils in my throat.

I can barely speak.

♪♪ Be comforted.

Be magnified... sanctified... -[ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] ♪♪ [ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Singing in Hebrew ] -♪ Amen ♪ ♪♪ -[ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] ♪♪ -[ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] ♪♪ -[ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] -[ Singing in Hebrew ] -♪ Amen!

♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] -[ Singing in Hebrew ] ♪♪ ♪♪ -[ Singing in Hebrew ] -[ Singing in Hebrew ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -[ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] ♪♪ [ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] -[ Singing in Hebrew ] ♪♪ -♪ Ooh ♪ ♪ Ooh ooh ooh ♪ ♪ Ooh ♪ ♪ Ooh ooh ♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -Sleep, my Father.

Rest Your anger.

Dream softly.

Let me invent Your dream, dream it for You, as gently as I can.

And perhaps, by dreaming, I can help You find your image again, and love him again.

I'll take You to Your favorite star, the world most worthy of Your creation.

We'll make it a sort of holiday.

And hand in hand, like eager children, we'll watch in wonder, wide-eyed, the workings of perfectedness.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ So, this is the Kingdom of Heaven, Father, just as You planned it.

Every immortal cliché in place.

Lambs frisk.

Wheat ripples.

Sunbeams dance.

Something is wrong.

The light -- flat.

The air -- sterile.

Do You know what is wrong?

There is nothing to dream.

Nowhere to go.

Nothing to know.

And these creatures of Your kingdom, these smiling painless people, are they created in Your image, also?

♪♪ You are serenity, but rage, as well.

I know.

I have borne it.

You are hope, but also regret.

I know.

You have regretted me.

But not these -- these perfect ones.

They are beyond regret, or hope.

They don't exist, Father, not even in the light-years of our dream.

Come back with me, to the star of regret.

Come back, Father, where dreaming is real and pain is possible -- so possible You will have to believe it.

And in pain, You will recognize Your image at last.

♪♪ Now I will show You a dream to remember!

Real-life marvels!

Genuine wonders!

Dazzling miracles!

Look, a burning bush!

Look, a fiery wheel!

A ram!

A rock!

Shall I smite it?

There!

It gushes!

It gushes!

And I did it!

I am creating this dream!

Now will You believe?

♪♪ You can't escape yet.

I have You, Father, locked in my dream, and You must remain till the final scene.

Now look up!

High!

What do You see?

A rainbow, which I have created for You!

My promise, in permanent, sunfast colors!

Look at it, Father.

Believe!

Believe!

Look at my rainbow and say after me -- Magnified... and sanctified... be the great name of man!

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ The colors of my rainbow are blinding, Father, and they hurt Your eyes, I know.

But don't close them now.

Don't turn away.

Look.

Do You see how simple and peaceful it all becomes once You believe?

♪♪ ♪♪ Believe!

♪♪ ♪♪ Believe!

-[ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] ♪♪ -Don't waken yet!

However great Your pain, I will help You suffer it.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ O God, believe.

Believe in me, and You shall see the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth, just as You planned.

Lambs will frisk.

Wheat will ripple.

Believe.

Believe.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Sunbeams will dance.

Seraphim hover.

See how my rainbow lights the scene.

Cherubim call from corner to corner, chanting Your praises.

-[ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] -The rainbow is fading.

-[ Singing in Hebrew ] -The dream is over.

-[ Singing in Hebrew ] -We must wake up now, and the dawn is chilly.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ The dawn is chilly, but the dawn has come.

Father, we've won another day.

We have dreamed our Kaddish and wakened alive.

♪♪ Good morning, Father.

We can still be immortal, You and I, bound by my rainbow.

You can no longer afford my death, for if I die, You die with me.

But as long as I sing, I shall live.

And as long as I live, I shall continue to create You, Father, and You me.

That is our pact; and to honor it is our honor.

It's not quite what we bargained for, so long ago, at the time of that other, first rainbow.

But then, I was only Your helpless infant, Arms hard around You, dead without You.

We have both grown older, You and I.

And I am not sad; don't You be either.

Unfurrow Your brow, look tenderly again at me, at us, at all these growing children of God here in this sacred house.

And we shall look tenderly back to You.

O my Father, lord and lover, beloved majesty, my image, myself!

We are one, after all, You and I.

Together we suffer, together exist, and forever will recreate each other.

-[ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] [ Singing in Hebrew ] ♪♪ [ Singing in Hebrew ] ♪♪ ♪ Amen ♪ -♪ A... ♪ -♪ A... ♪ -♪ A... ♪ -♪ ...men ♪ [ Cheers and applause ] [ Applause ] [ Cheering ] [ Cheers and applause ] -To find out more about this and other "Great Performances" programs, visit... Find us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.

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