I am in constant search for Medieval and Renaissance tunes to set, mostly for my  friends in the Rhode Island Recorder Society. Porque Llorax (Por Que Llorax) is one of the many beautiful tunes found in the repertoire of the Sephardic Jews; on first listening, it touched my heart.

Of course, it is always dangerous to tamper with something that is already so beautiful in its monophonic form, but I could not resist. I hope that I have not done it any lasting harm.

This setting is for SATB recorders. It opens with an eight-bar introduction— in my mind, reflecting the feeling of the tune. This introduction comes back later in the piece and is used to get away from the tune for a short while before the last section. (text continued in download)