Composition and audio © Alexander Massey 25 March 2012
Download the free sheet music (round for 3 voices & optional piano)
“How great are your works, God! Your thoughts are very deep.”
The morning service includes Psalm 92 Tov l’hodot (‘It is a good thing to give thanks to God’). We begin the day by giving thanks, acknowledging the wonder of Creation, and the gift of our own life. Wonder, or ‘radical amazement’ as A J Heschel called it, are core to our relationship with God.
I think of verse 6 of the psalm as wrapping together all the four kabbalistic levels. The ‘spirit’ and ‘thoughts’ of God (the levels of atzilut and beriah) are experienced in the physical ‘works’ (level of assiyah) – the world we can see; we make this connection through our direct, emotional ‘You’ connection with God (the level of yetzirah).
Developing kavannah, single-focused attention directed towards God, is integral to prayer, both in method and purpose. Singing this Mah gadlu chant many times in a single sitting provides an opportunity to develop such a focus. Chanting meditatively alone has its own special power. Singing – praying – with others gives a different, equally important dimension to prayer; we are, after all, taught to pray together, in community. Making a particular prayer, or sung prayer or chant, a repeated feature of our services, adds depth to our experience of it – it is never the same twice. Each repetition can bring a new perspective. Allow enough time for this chant to sink deeply into body, breath, mind and heart.
This song and two others were performed as part of a concert based on Book 4 of the Psalms produced by the Society for Old Testament Study Conference at Oxford University. Mah Gadlu is also one of my collection for Shabbat Shacharit, all available here.