About the creation

Kiddushim and Killulim is a single-movement work commissioned by Maestro Christian Lindberg and the Netanya Kibbutz Chamber Orchestra. The piece was inspired by the volatile, high-strung, and holy site shared by Jews and Muslims—the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, home to the ancient Jewish Temples and the Al-Aqsa Mosque. It reflects - or translates into music - the intense religious emotions bound to this site.

The Hebrew title plays on the words Kidushim (sanctifications/blessings, rooted in holiness and spiritual beauty) and Kilulim (harsh curses or vitriol). The poetic rhyming of "Blessings and Curses" carries a bitter, sarcastic nuance, evoking the notion of coming to bless yet ending up cursing (the inverse of the biblical story of Balaam in the Book of Numbers), while highlighting the paradox of those overcome by dark forces despite their initial intent to do good. The piece serves as a musical chronicle of a sacred, breathtaking place that simultaneously acts as a powder keg for violence—a byproduct of unresolved interreligious conflicts and political entanglements.

Written for chamber orchestra, Kiddushim and Killulim consists of 20 seamless sections (musical tableaux) played continuously. These sections weave together contrasting compositional approaches from radically distinct traditions: Eastern modes (classical Arabic music and liturgical piyutim) and Western techniques (European avant-garde), bridging the ancient with the new.