About

V’higad’ta L’vincha (And You Shall Tell Your Child…) was composed in 1996 for the Syracuse Children’s Chorus, Barbara Tagg, founder and director, and was commissioned by the Chorus as part of the “Commissioning Music/USA” program of Meet The Composer and the National Endowment for the Arts, with support from the Helen F. Whitaker Fund. In addition to this original SSA version, I have also written a version of the piece for SATB chorus.

V’higad’ta L’vincha is based on selections from the Passover Haggadah. The Haggadah, or “telling,” is the text that is used at the Seder, the family meal—full of discussion, ceremony, and song—that is the central feature of the Passover celebration of freedom and rejoicing.

One of the most significant themes of the Haggadah, emphasized in my choices of text for the piece, is that we all must experience the story of the deliverance from slavery as if we ourselves had lived through it; we must then tell our children that story so as to pass it down, vividly, from one generation to the next. Children are thus the central figures in the Seder, and it seemed most appropriate to write a setting of this text in a work composed for children’s chorus.

The piece begins with a chant-like presentation of the biblical verse that instructs us to tell our children the story of the Exodus, and then moves, as does the Haggadah, from the oppression of slavery to the joy of deliverance. That joy is expressed especially in the famous text “Dayeinu” (“It would have been enough…”), set here as a lively dance, and in the final “L’fichach,” which gives thanks to God in a procession which grows from a quiet beginning to an exuberant conclusion.

NOTE: Also available in a version for SATB chorus.  Both versions can either be performed with the instrumental version of clarinet, cello, and piano, or with the piano reduction as accompaniment.

Score

Text

1. V’higad’ta l’vincha bayom hahu leimor: baavur ze asa Adonai li, b’tseiti mimitsrayim; ki v’yad chazaka hotsiacha Adonai mimitsrayim.

2. Avadim hayinu l’faro b’mitsrayim, vayotsieinu Adonai eloheinu misham b’yad chazaka uvizro’a n’tuya. V’chol hamarbe l’saper bitsiat mitsrayim harei ze m’shubach.

3. Ha lachma anya, diachalu avatana, b’ara dimitsrayim.  Kol dichfin yeitei v’yeichul, kol ditsrich yeitei v’yifsach. Hashata hacha, lashana haba’a b’ara d’yisraeil. Hashata avdei lashana haba’a b’nei chorin.

4. Kama maalot tovot lamakom aleinu!
Ilu hotsianu mimitsrayim, Dayeinu!
Ilu kara lanu et hayam, Dayeinu!
Ilu sipeik tsorkeinu bamidbar arbayim shana, Dayeinu!
Ilu keirvanu lifnei har sinai, Dayeinu! 
Ilu natan lanu et hatorah, Dayeinu!
Ilu hichnisanu l’erets yisraeil, Dayeinu!

5. B’chol dor vador, chayav adam lirot et atsmo k’ilu hu yatsa mimitsrayim.  Shene’emar: V’higad’ta l’vincha bayom hahu leimor: baavur ze asa Adonai li, b’tseiti mimitsrayim.

6. L’fichach anachnu chayavim l’hodot, l’haleil, l’shabeiach, l’faer, l’romeim, l’hadeir, l’vareich l’alei, ul’kaleis, l’mi sheasa lavoteinu v’lanu et kol hanisim ha’eilu.  Hotsianu meiavdut l’cheirut, miyagon l’simcha, meieivel l’yom tov, umeiafeila l’or gadol, umishibud ligula.  V’nomar l’fanav shira chadasha, Hal’luya!

Translation

1. And you shall tell your child on that day, saying: it is because of what Adonai did for me when I went out of Egypt.  For with a mighty hand did Adonai bring you out of Egypt.

2.  We were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt, and Adonai our God brought us out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.  And the more one talks about the exodus from Egypt, the more praiseworthy it is.

3. This is the bread of poverty which our ancestors ate in the land of Egypt.  Let all who are hungry come and eat; let all who are needy come and celebrate the Passover.  Now we are here; next year may we be in the land of Israel.  Now we are slaves; next year may we be free people.

4. How many acts of kindness God has performed for us!
If God had brought us out of Egypt, Dayeinu!  (it would have been enough for us!)
If God had split the sea for us, Dayeinu!  
If God had sustained us in the wilderness for forty years, Dayeinu!  
If God had brought us before Mount Sinai, Dayeinu!  
If God had given us the Torah, Dayeinu!  
If God had led us to the land of Israel, Dayeinu!  

5.  In every generation, each person should feel as if he or she had actually experienced the exodus from Egypt.  As it is written:  And you shall tell your child on that day, saying: it is because of what Adonai did for me when I went out of Egypt.

6. Therefore, we should thank, praise, laud, glorify, exalt, honor, bless, extol, and adore the Power who performed all of these miracles for our ancestors and for us.  God brought us from slavery to freedom, from sorrow to joy, from mourning to celebration, from darkness to great light, from bondage to redemption.  Let us then sing a new song to God, Halleluya!

Arrangements

Arrangement for SATB chorus, clarinet, cello and piano (1999)

Both versions can either be performed with the instrumental version of clarinet, cello, and piano, or with the piano reduction as accompaniment. Prices are as follows:
SA Octavo: $7.00
SA Full Score and parts: $25.00
SATB Octavo: 10.00
SATB Full Score and parts: 30.00

The 4th movement “Dayeinu“, is often performed as a separate piece, and is available with the instrumental ensemble, or with piano reduction.

Listen/Watch

EXCERPTS of all movements of V’higad’ta L’vincha:

Performances

Selected:

Premiere: April 1997  – Syracuse Children’s Chorus, Barbara Tagg, cond.; Syracuse, NY
May 1998 – Juilliard Pre-College Chorus, Rebecca Scott, cond.; New York, NY (SSA version)
April 2006 – Princeton Pro Musica, Frances Slade, cond., Lawrenceville, NJ (SATB version)
December 2006 – Zamir Chorale, Matthew Lazar, cond., Merkin Concert Hall, New York, NY, (SATB version, “Dayeinu” movement)
April 2010 – Choirs of Jewish Theological Seminary and Hebrew Union College, Joyce Rosenzweig, cond. (SATB version)
May 2010 – Concerto Della Donna, Iwan Edwards, cond.; Montreal, Québec (SSA version)
April 2016 – HaZamir, the International Jewish High School Choir, Joel Caplan, cond., New York, NY (SATB version, “Dayeinu” movement) See video of this performance at Carnegie Hall

Recorded on album Generations: Music of Gerald Cohen, performed by the Syracuse Children’s Chorus, Barbara Tagg, cond.

Press