Efferent Verb Team:

Meet Bracha Bdil, the winner of Voices, Vol. I, an Israeli composer, conductor and pianist.

Interviewer: You have been trained by various musicians and in different instruments, including studying piano, voice training. How have these diverse experiences with different teachers influenced your approach to composing and performing music?

The performance studies gave me a lot of inspiration for writing. First of all, they made me desire to create – that is, when I played a beautiful piece, I wanted “like this but my own.” And in the technical sense, each work is for me a lesson in composition in the melodic, harmonic, rhythmic, orchestral, and structural dimensions, among others. The analytical analysis allows me to understand the way in which the composer built his composition and to learn from it for my personal writing.

Interviewer: You had the opportunity to study composition with the late Professor Andre Hajdu and Professor Haim Permont at the Academy of Music and Dance in Jerusalem, piano chamber music with the late Professor Alexander Tamir and conducting with masters like Elli Jaffe and Evgeny Tzirlin. Can you share with us any valuable lessons or advice you received from these mentors that have stayed with you throughout your career?

Bracha: First of all, trust in the student. This is the most important thing I learned from them. The trust the teachers gave me was critical at this stage. I remember that in my first year with Hajdu, he hardly gave a real in-depth critique, but mostly gave a general opinion on everything I wrote and asked me to continue writing. Just to continue writing more and more. A year later, he explained that he didn’t want to stifle the burst of writing with external criticism and judgment. He wanted me to believe in myself, that I could really do it.

The late Prof. Alexander Tamir, with whom I studied chamber music, was also one of the first to trust me. For the piano duo course he taught, I composed a modal suite for piano for four hands. When I played it to him, together with my partner for the first time, there were tears in his eyes. New music was coming into the world, and he was very moved. Later, he recommended his students to play a piece of mine as part of their graduation recital (as an Israeli compulsory piece), meaning he found value in the music I wrote and tried to promote its performances. It meant so much to me.

From the conducting lessons with Evgeny Tsirlin, I learned what artistic humility is. The stage does not belong to the conductor; the stage belongs to the music. I learned that real greatness is conducting as little as possible and giving the music a place of honor.

Interviewer: You have won first places in international composition competitions, your symphonic poem “Genesis” received the Akum Award in Israel, and recently you also won the prestigious Prime Minister’s Award for your activities as a composer. Could you share with us some of your sources of inspiration and the creative process?

Bracha: Winning prizes is an important recognition. It is a confirmation that there is value in what you do, and that it is worthwhile to continue; there is an attentive ear and heart, people waiting to hear what you have to say, and it’s worth moving on.

My sources of inspiration include almost anything: a text, a painting, a metaphor, an event, a person, a sound, a movement, an abstract idea, or a musical theoretical foundation. The creative process is almost completely forgotten by me after the piece is written, so unfortunately, there is nothing to share regarding the creative process. In general, the compositional moments merge the rational and the non-rational at the same time. It’s always challenging.

Interviewer: Can you define your musical language? Is it identified with a certain style?

Bracha: I have a constant need for diversity, and therefore my writing spans different fields: instrumental, vocal, electronic; for different ensembles: solo, chamber, orchestra, choir; and in different styles, tonal, atonal, modal, heterophonic, and so on.

I remember that Andre Hajdu once said to Alexander Tamir at one of my concerts, “Don’t worry, she’ll eventually develop her own language. No rush.” That was when I started composing, writing in the styles of different composers, neo-classical, neo-baroque, tribute to Bach, tribute to Mozart… I wanted perhaps to test myself if I could do it too… maybe this is the pretension that must burn in every composer. In every artist. In fact, the fusion between the styles, Jewish-artistic, tonal-atonal-modal-heterophonic, etc. – you could perhaps say that this eclecticism in one casting is my musical language.

Interviewer: Given your extensive work in both vocal and instrumental music, which do you find more attractive or challenging to compose for, and why?

Bracha: I think that the human voice is the pinnacle. It is an undivided touch in the soul of music. The semantic load of the text and the energy of the sound – together are a tremendous power. And when this power is embodied in the singing of a choir – the “togetherness” – it is the peak of the peaks.

When writing for voice, the text seems to dictate the music to me. Usually, the vocal writing flows clearly to me without a struggle. Writing for a choir is especially close to my heart, not only because of the egalitarian corporate ideal, but also because of the wealth of range. It is a whole world!

Interviewer: How would you describe the influence of Israeli culture and traditions on your approach to music composition? Are they part of your artistic vision?

Bracha: The prayers from the Jewish prayer book are part of my identity and are a great inspiration for many of my works. The composition “Yizkerem” for an a-cappella choir, for example, which will be performed in collaboration with the New York Virtuoso Singers & Efferent Verb, deals with the tragedy of the Holocaust of the Jewish nation during World War II. “Yizkerem” in Hebrew means: “May Our Lord Remember Them.” And the work uses words from the prayers “Father of Mercy” prayer (“Av Harachamim” in Hebrew), “Our Father, our King” (Avinu Malkeinu), and the “Sanctified” prayer (Kaddish). Kaddish is a prayer said for the dead.

The work was dedicated during his lifetime to the pianist Alexander Tamir (Wolkowyski), a Holocaust survivor. As an 11-year-old boy in the Vilna ghetto, he composed the melody for the poem about the massacre of “Ponar.” The song “Ponar” (Quiet, Quiet \ Shtiler, Shtiler) later became one of the symbols of the Holocaust. I cannot forget the chilling story he told me: The truck that took his father and other Jews to be shot by the Nazis returned to the concentration camp empty. On the side was an inscription written with a finger dipped in blood: “They are killing us, Take revenge!”

There are mortal sins that cannot be forgiven, and even in the holy texts, legitimacy can be found for the act of revenge that cannot bear the inconceivable human tragedy. Despite this, the purpose of “Yizkerem” is not only to express feelings and to sanctify the memory of those who perished, but mainly for the sake of remembering, so we can live in a world that raises the banner of peace and brotherhood of nations.

The subject of the Holocaust is a part of my being and has led me to write other works such as “Tombs Are Growing Here” for double bass and string orchestra, “Sanctified” for stereo sound track, and “Memorial Candle” for chamber ensemble.

“Day of Judgment” (Hayom) for tenor and horn won the music-Holocaust competition named for Wolf Durmashkin (Germany 2018). Durmashkin was a 30-year-old composer, conductor, and pianist from the Vilna ghetto, who died (was burned to death) half a year before the liberation. I remember this as a particularly moving event in my mind.

Many of my works create a fusion between the Jewish identity and the artistic aspect. It seems to me to be my musical vision that distinguishes me as a composer.

Some of them use themes or words from holy books, while others employ scales, motifs, melodies, and ethnic-Jewish raw materials treated with a contemporary touch.

Among these works, one can find “Genesis” – a symphonic poem that describes the days of creation; “Metamorphosis on Hava Nagila,” for clarinet and piano/orchestra; “Memory of Voices,” for chamber ensemble; and “Shofar,” for piano.

Other works draw inspiration from the Israeli Mediterranean atmosphere, such as “Oasis” for clarinet and piano, and “Mediterranean Suite” for orchestra.

Interviewer: Are there other topics that motivate your writing?

Bracha: Universal issues also occupy me a lot. I recently composed an ironic piece called “The Year 2022 – Solemn Overture” (referring to Tchaikovsky’s “Year 1812”), which deals with the Russia-Ukraine war, as well as “What is Peace?” for a women’s choir and piano. I also created “Rest, Your Majesty, Rest” for a choir and bagpipes, in memory of Queen Elizabeth II (a work dedicated to my British parents).

Subjective subjects also engage me. Examples of this include “Planned Chaos” for string quartet, “The Inner Soul” – a cycle of songs for soprano and piano, and artistic children’s songs such as “My Snowman” and “Gnomes of the Night.”

Pedagogical writing is important to me, which is why I composed pieces like “Modal Fragments” for harp and “Variations” for piano. These works serve as a quick guide to understanding Greek modes and different musical styles, offering a pleasant way to learn.

I also enjoy composing dance and entertainment pieces, such as “Waltz Parody” for piano and “The Hippopotamus Speech” for double bass and strings. Additionally, I like neoclassical/baroque writing, demonstrated in works like “Homage” – a piano concerto, “Fugue Fugitiva” for woodwind quintet, and “Flöte am Bach” for two flutes.

Interviewer: What is your artistic statement, what would you like to say in closing?

Bracha: Art, as I believe it should be, merges three aspects: the emotional, the intellectual, and the aesthetic, into a harmonious, holistic, and one-time experience.

“There is nothing in the physical world as fine as music” (Ramban). Music, for me, is a fascinating world, surprising, funny, and melancholy, full of inspiration, color and imagination; a world in which I experience adventure, daring beyond the borders, disappointment, and achievement.

I hope that my experiences pass through the music to the listeners’ ears and hearts.

I am very interested in the combination of the arts, which includes composing music for films, dance, literature, theatre, musicals, visual arts, and so on. I was a pianist for dance lessons – ballet and modern (Graham/Cunningham) and for theatre performances. I have also been working for many years with Cubase software – recordings and playbacks – and can stage electronics.

Currently, I am pursuing my studies in general and comparative literature at the Hebrew University, focusing on the relationship between literature and music.  So this is also a significant field for me – composing for poetry or inspired prose, composing for drama-theatre, and opera.

Arrangements for the choir – only if it is a very artistic arrangement, not sticking to the original.

Contact:

Email: b5377018@neto.bezeqint.net

Website: http://brachabdil.blogspot.co.il/