Motty Steinmetz ‘s “Brivele” opens new pathways to Tehillim
W ith Motty Steinmetz’s debut album Haneshama Bekirbi flying off the shelves among the heartwarming songs his fans are enjoying is a long Yiddish ballad entitled “Brivele” which brings home the power of reciting Tehillim. The composer badchan Motti Ilowitz explains his parable: “A king has a beloved servant a writer who writes him eloquent letters of loyalty and longing. When the writer dies the courtiers comfort and revive the king’s spirit by reading the beautiful letters. They know that with those letters in hand they can always approach and win the king’s favor by drawing on the memory of this most favored subject. To say a kapitel of Tehillim is to approach the Ribbono shel Olam with the letters of his beloved servant Dovid Hamelech.”
Ilowitz says that when he heard this concept it changed his attitude toward Tehillim forever and inspired him to write and compose “Brivele.” And he’s humbled that he’s been able to pass on that profound and comforting idea. “A man of 90 told me that he looks at his regular recitation of Tehillim differently now. If only we would realize what a treasure we hold in our hands.”
“I arranged the Carlebach set for Yaakov Shwekey’s recent nostalgic release Those Were the Days says musician and arranger Avrumi Berko. “We used something a little different in that medley a middle Eastern instrument called the baglama. That’s a string-plucked instrument used mainly in Turkey and I think it added beautiful flavor to those arrangements.”
Arranger conductor and musical director Yuval Stupel studied music for years but conceded that his formal musical education is dwarfed by what he learned on the job when he played under Mona Rosenblum in the IDF Rabbinical Choir. “For three years I was practically glued to Mona and I learned what no music school could have taught me about concerts and recording. I owe Mona a lot and truthfully he was the musical genius who touched everyone in my generation. All of us gained from his incredible skill knowledge and experience.”
Create a free account to keep reading.
