My ideas for this piece stem from a discussion I had with Rabbi Jim Bennett a few years ago. Ashamnu is a part of the High Holiday liturgy in which we list ways that we have not lived up to our potential. The text is set in Hebrew acrostic (aleph to taf) , and our congregation, like many others, has used a relatively happy sounding tune as its setting. The tune includes a niggun as a refrain, and the text is set in a call/response style, with each word sung first by the songleader or cantor and then repeated by the congregation. After a number of such words, the niggun interposes.
It seems to me that the old tune (and at least one web site claims that it may have existed for some time by now) no longer doees justice to the spirit of the words, due primarily to modern connotations of its key, meter, and style.
As a result, I wrote the following tune and arranged it for the instrumentation we have at our high holiday alternative (less formal, more participational) services. The meter is Andante and not too slow, to reflect a sense of purpose. The niggun is simple, to be easily learned, and the text is set to facilitate congregational repetition of each word without requiring transliteration.
I dedicate this piece to my daughter, Melanie Avis Cytron, in honor of her Bat Mitzvah which took place on 4 March 2006. Her portion is Terumah, or gifts, and her study of that portion brought her to the idea that everybody could contribute somehow to help construct the Jerusalem Temple. By extension, we all bring gifts to the construction and maintenance of the Jewish community and the world.
The assosication of Melanie with this particular piece is in stark contrast to its text, as she consistently provides me with examples of how we can live up to our potential. Melanie is an example, not of the ways in which people transgress, but of the ways in which people possessed of beautiful soul and spirit can bring out the best in those around them.
I've written some other music, but much of it is not online yet.