Shevirah
vessels for ensemble
20234:30
any number of singers and/or instrumentalists
- Likutei Moharan, Rabbi Nachman of Breslov
The title, meaning "shattering/brokenness", refers to the myth of the "shattering of the vessels" where, according to the Mishnah, god's light was stored in clay jars that fell from heaven and scattered into every being and object in the world. See Leonard Cohen "there is a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in".
The action of the piece is to look at these fractured, incomplete and sometimes contradictory fragments and figure your way around them, creating a whole piece, and working together with your friends (haverai). The hope, is that if we can come together, in microcosm on stage, to make whole this small piece, we can do similarly in the whole broken world.
Presented by: the Art Song Collaborative Project
video by Joseph Glaser