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The Hebrew poet and author Lea Goldberg was born 108 years ago, in May, 1911. Goldberg was born in Russia and eventually received a doctorate from the University of Bonn.Hosting the multidisciplinary singer Ofer Callaf, this program explores Goldberg's piercing texts bringing a fresh musical interpretation to the well-known classics as well as new compositions by young Israeli composers.
The program opens with "A walk in the countryside" a song Cycle commissioned on 2010 from the Israeli composer based in Kibbutz Sde Boker, Michael Wolpe. This cycle, for a vocalist and piano trio brings three postcards from the poet's life and premiered on a live concert broadcasted on the Israeli Radio. LISTEN
Other songs were composed by Alex Wasserman, Eran El-Bar, Haim Barkani, Berry Sakharof, Haim Alexander, Shlomo Yidov and others. Few of Goldberg's classics Arranged for the ensemble by Ofer Shelley. Parts of this program were broadcasted on the Israeli "Galey zahal' channel and performed on over 100 different concerts around Israel since launched on 2011.
Some of the songs included:
Is it true - will there ever come days of forgiveness and mercy? And you'll walk in the field, and it will be an innocent's walk. And your feet on the medick's small leaves will be gently caressing, And sweet will be stings, when you're stung by the rye's broken stalks!
And the drizzle will catch you in pounding raindrops' folly On your shoulders, your breast and your neck, while your mind will be clean, You will walk the wet field, and the silence will fill you - As does light in a dark cloud's rim
And you'll breathe in the furrow in breaths calm and even, And the pond's golden mirror will show you the Sun up above, And once more all the things will be simple, and present, and living, And once more you will love - yes, you will, yes, once more you will love!
You will walk. All alone. Never hurt by the blazing inferno Of the fires on the roads fed by horrors too awful to stand, And in your heart of hearts you'll be able to humbly surrender, In the way of the weeds, in the way of free men.
