Kaddisch

The 'Kaddish' prayer is one of the central and best-known texts within Judaism. It is considered as a Jewish Prayer for the Dead and for Mourners and is recited at Jewish funerals as well as at the anniversaries of a death or at memorial events. Death and Mourning do not as such appear in the text; the Aramaic and Hebrew words speak more of a glorification of God and God's forthcoming Kingdom - words which should traditionally provide comfort for the mourners and strengthen them for their continuing lives.

The Kaddish has however also a further function and is recited more frequently in traditional Jewish services; here it serves always as a division between different sections of the service text, as the conclusion of a reflection or meditation, and also as a form of transition and division between different themes. Special about the Kaddish is that it may only be used in a liturgical context when there is a 'Minyan' present, a quorum of at least ten Jewish adult males. 

Max Doehleman has now set this multi-layered traditional mourning song with the methodology of a Lied. The basic mood is melancholy, as is appropriate to the main theme - the setting should however not illustrate total hopelessness; the listener should instead experience a communication direct to the soul despite all the sense of loss and sorrow. A Kaddish that (as the prayer text itself indicates) reflects also the continuity of life and the cycle of arrival and departure. As well as the moment of grief the music can also beas an expression of transition or change.