The motivic material for this work is inspired by a manuscript containing medieval musical notation discovered in Cairo in early 20th century- the manuscript started with the Hebrew words “Wa-Edah Ma.” The unlikely combination of oriental Hebrew and Italian Christian musical notation found in these fragment puzzled many scholars, until the mystery has been solved – two additional manuscripts were revealed, signed by Obadiah the Proselyte.

Originally a catholic priest, Obadiah converted to Judaism in the 11th century and traveled to Egypt, Syria and Palestine where he notated the music he had heard using nematic notation, thus notating the earliest notated Jewish music in existence. The trio for Flute, Oboe and Double Bass re-imagines the music from the times of the First Crusade, taking its inspiration from medieval Catholic chant, as well as from early Middle-Eastern Jewish music.

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Mátti Kovler