Stanley Friedman: Jerusalem Fugue: Kammerensemble

Jerusalem Fugue for solo horn and strings was commissioned by Israel Philharmonic principal hornist James Cox and the International Horn Society (the Meir Rimon Commissioning Assistance Fund). The piano reduction can be used both for practice and for recital performance. The pitch sets (plus transpositions) yield “Hebraically” inflected scales and harmonies. The music reflects the dramatic and conflicted nature of my experiences in Israel, where I was inspired by the noblest of human aspirations and made heartsick by the shattering of dreams. The choice of a fugal treatment for the musical expression of my Israel experience was deliberate; the fugue is simultaneously a great intellectual, artistic challenge and a representation of an obsession, an idea run amok, in perpetual conflict with itself. Specifically Jewish references include the “shofar-esque” opening theme and the quasi-cantorial melody, first expressed in Section A. The ending of the piece is purposefully inconclusive; there is much more of this story yet to be told. Stanley Friedman, May 2007