The piano and voice parts are independent in metre and tempo, although in all five sections, they must start simultaneously, the pianist always finishing each section solo and indicating the beginning of the following section to the singer.
The sung text, in Hebrew, is ‘Ata hareta’ – the chant appropriate to Simchat Torah. I am grateful to Sioned Vos for providing this material.
The spoken text is from eyewitness accounts and contemporary newspaper accounts of the Cable Street Riots of 1936. I am grateful to the Archive-staff of the Jewish Museum, Finchley – and, in particular, Guido Wolf of the ‘Acti on / Reconciliation’ programme there – for providing this material.
Michael Finnissy