Why this tune?
This week’s tune is in honor of Passover, an interpretation of the “Song of the Sea” in Exodus 15, which we read during the holiday. It’s another addition to my “Torah Tunes” series, for Parashat Beshalach where these verses appear.
Moses and the Israelites sing this song following the dramatic crossing of the Red Sea, where the waters part for them and close on their Egyptian pursuers. In my lyric I tried to capture how the text alternates between praise to G-d for the redemption and descriptions of the fate of the Egyptians. I’m not trying to compete with the power and detail of the original text, which includes several “hits” of the Jewish liturgy that we say and sing year-round.
I like where the song is so far, and will come back to it to add more lyrics and build out
the arrangement.
You can hear more Torah Songs on my website and YouTube channel.
Oren Levine, jazz pianist and songwriter 