King David: The First Great Novel, the Next Great Musical

When I was in cantorial school we studied the entire Tanach in one year--Torah, Prophets, and K’tuvim (Psalms ,Proverbs and 11 more books).  It was like trying to see the entire Metropolitan Museum in fifteen minutes!  There were many stories and characters I longed to hang out with just a bit longer as we rushed past. 

One such character stands out for me above all the others.  King David, Israel’s second king, is one of the most complex and fascinating personalities in all literature.  In fact, his story is perhaps the first great novel. (The David Story spans from I Samuel 16:1 to I Kings 2:11.)

David is a musician, warrior, lover, and ruler.  On one hand he is loyal, noble and pure, and on the other hand, deceitful, unfaithful, conniving, brutal and narcissistic.  In other words, our first great ruler is no figure of mythic proportions, but a real person.  Perhaps that is why we still sing “David, melech Yisrael, chai, chai, v’kayam” (David, king of Israel lives and endures), and why King David has been the subject of so much music and art. But new music about King David is what I want to tell you about.

You may know that about 5 years ago I brought together a group of Jewish composers, many who had never written for the synagogue.  I wanted to see what television and film composers could do to interpret our holy texts.  We have now had several retreats and scores of meetings during which we have created over 40 pieces of music.  I hope you have enjoyed some of our programs.

The latest project of our group, called the Helfman Institute, is the story of King David.  It’s a unique undertaking. This work will be composed by a number of the Helfman composers as well as by 6 UCLA Music Composition students under the guidance of UCLA’s Chair in   Jewish Music. Our collective composition will run about 90 minutes, and will cover multiple episodes in David’s life.  We have begun a series of meetings, lectures, and retreats leading up to the premier of the piece on March 5, 2017 as part of the American Jewish Music Festival at UCLA.  We will also be performing some of the material here at VBS prior to the premier, and I will certainly send you some reminders over the coming year.

If you have never read the David story, or if you have not visited it for a while, I urge you to do so.  I’d like to recommend some supplemental reading as well.  Here are some resource books that our composers are studying for ideas and inspiration:

“David: The Divided Heart” (David Wolpe)

“The Secret Chord” (Geraldine Brooks)

“King David: The Real Life of the Man Who Ruled Israel” (Jonathan Kirsch)

“The David Story: A Translation with Commentary” (Robert Alter)

You will also have an opportunity to hear several of the Helfman Institute’s compositions at the upcoming service on the first day of Pesach (also Shabbat), April 23, here at VBS.     Please join the VBS Choir and me for that lovely service.  And if you wish to do some of the suggested reading above, please let me know that you’ll be part of our learning on this fascinating subject. 

Shabbat shalom.