Hallelujah. So much meaning is compounded in this word. From its religious to colloquial uses, it conjures up a litany of emotions: praise, despair, relief, awe. The same could be said for Leonard Cohen’s iconic song by the same name; it is loaded with complexity. “Hallelujah” delves into brokenness, yearning, and atonement, and it questions the point of everything … which is a sentiment we all can relate to during this pandemic.
Cohen, a spiritual seeker throughout his life, once summed up the meaning of his song:
“This world is full of conflicts… of things that cannot be reconciled, but there are moments when we can transcend the dualistic system and reconcile and embrace the whole mess, and that's what I mean by ‘Hallelujah.’ …That's the only moment that we live here fully as human beings.”
In surrendering to the turmoil surrounding us, perhaps we might open a pathway to new realms of awakening and revelation.
Greg and I were inspired by these concepts in creating our composition “Hallelujah Variations.” We began writing the score in the wake of Cohen’s death in November 2016 (incidentally another fraught time in recent history); we inevitably felt the need to channel the range of psychological states in response to loss. Alongside the inspiration of Cohen’s song itself, we also looked to the music of Franz Schubert and Ludwig van Beethoven; their compositional styles were a fitting match for the transcendental message of “Hallelujah.” We found resonance between Schubert’s poetic, intimate piano-duet (and lied) writing and Cohen’s bard-like lyrics and simple melodic lines. As our variations progress toward an exalted climax we incorporate the metaphysical spirit of late Beethoven (the ghost of a certain piano sonata hovers—music lovers, try to spot it).