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Catalogue


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YEAR: 2021
DURATION: 6 minutes
CATEGORY: Choir
INSTRUMENTATION: SATB Choir
PREMIERE: December 12, 2021
St. Andrews Episcopal Church, College Park, MD
Conductor // Donald Nally
PUBLISHER: E.C. Schirmer
Donald Nally Choral Series

Program Note:

Exodus was written for The Crossing as part of their “Carols After the Plague” series. For this project, I was asked to compose a personal “carol” in response to a “plague”.

Growing up Jewish, I did not feel a personal connection with the word “carol”. I did, however, have a connection with the word “plague”. The Old Testament is riddled with them, and I couldn’t help but draw a line between the plagues in the bible and the current plagues we face in our society. I found myself returning to the Mi Chamocha (Exodus 15:1-18): a prayer that was sung at the end of the Passover story directly after the Jews escaped Egypt. It is a love poem to God and it begins with a rhetorical question: “Who is like you, O God...” To me, I did not see this as a rhetorical question but one of deep complication with my faith. This small phrase became the fertile ground for me to ask further questions. I wanted to take the grandiosity of that phrase and distill it into a child-like curiosity intertwined with uncertainty.

who is like you

will you protect me

should i thank you

will you stay silent

 

nevertheless, i pray