Wojciech Kilar - Exodus (1981)

Orchestra - Polish Radio National Symphony Orchestra
Choir - Polish Radio And Television Choir - Cracow
Conductor - Antoni Wit
Producer - Jacek Złotkowski
Engineer - Michał Gola

Label - Polskie Nagrania
Cat. Number - SX 2334
Recorded - 16-18.09.1985 (Katowice)
Released - 1986

Notes:
Wojciech Kilar got the idea of EXODUS in February 1979 and completed the composition in the spring of 1981. It is based on the biblical Book of Exodus. After having crossed the Red Sea the people of Israel intone the song: "Let's Sing to God for He Is Praised and Worshiped ... ". The singing is accompanied by drums and the dance of women led by the prophetess Mary, Aaron's sister. The words of the song have been used as a motto of the composition. The critics have been indicating that the work has a formal affinity to Ravel's „Bolero". And the composer has confirmed that this resemblance is intentional: EXODUS would be thus - after Ravel and Shostakovich (Symphony No. 7) - the third version of a fascinating crescendo of a piece based on the obsessive repetition of a theme or idea: in this case this is the melody of a Jewish religious song, short - one might even say - banal, had it not been for its noble, archetypical simplicity, reminiscent in its longingly extatic intonation of an old Hebraic prayer. The song starts with the cry Hosanna and its initial phrase bears the words referring to the feast of Purim, of which there is talk in the Book of Esther. The increasing in tone, as this simple motive is being repeated, leads to the entry of the choir. The Latin text of the song recalls the basic tenets of Christianity: the existence and presence of God, joy of faith, appeal to God for help, desire to remain under His protection: Domine Deus unus, Ecce venit populus tuus Domine, Alleluja, Hosanna homini, Hossanna ei qui venit hodiae in nomine Domini. The climax of the work, having evolved from a simple and naiv melodic motive, overwhelms the listener with its triumphant, extatic and almost eschatological power. Exodus was performed for the first time at the festival of modern music „Warsaw Autumn" in September 1981.