An addition to this page, following recent events in Palestine/Israel:
The setting of a prayer for peace seems timelier than ever in the current moment.
I stand in solidarity with voices calling for a ceasefire and accountability for the violence being committed against civilians.
I support thorough, fair and legal investigations of human rights breaches.
I request that my music, and particularly this piece, not be performed in settings that oppose these values.
For some more thoughts, please refer to one of my other pieces, Caedo, which deals with the dangers and tragedy of ideological violence.
Sim Shalom
a prayer against war
2020
for vocal ensemble (TTBB and SATB available)
Commissioned by Mosaic Voices, London
Sim Shalom was premiered by Mosaic Voices (cond. Michael Etherton) at the New West End Synagogue, London (16th February 2020). It was the first work by a non-male composer ever to be performed in an Orthodox Synagogue in the UK, as reported by UK media outlets.
Sim Shalom forms part of Mosaic Voices' Blue Book Project. Supported by Arts Council England, the Blue Book Project is about developing Jewish choral repertoire and bringing it to a much wider public. Further information can be found here.
Score available through the Australian Music Centre
About the work.
Sim Shalom is a modern meditation on peace and a prayer against war.
In setting the Sim Shalom text – the peace prayer – I was acutely aware that the call to grant peace is something that also implies its opposite. Our current moment has prompted many of us to think about power structures, community and exclusion in a very focussed way. In this piece, I wanted to hint at the light as well as the shade - the deep yearning for peace, but also what might be behind it.
This piece unequivocally condemns violence, occupation and discrimination.
COMPOSER / Meta Cohen
TEXT / Trad.
PERFORMERS / Mosaic Voices, London (Karl Gietzmann, Miles D'Cruz, Benjamin Till, Dickon Gough), cond. Michael Etherton (musical dir.: Michael Etherton). Recorded at Sonica Studios, London Mixed by Sam Featherstone
‘Meta Cohen’s “Sim Shalom”, [...] sung by the male voices only, has beautiful introspective passages that were sung with great sensitivity by the singers.'
Len Power, CityNews
Previous Performances.
Full score available through the Australian Music Centre
