4. Hāle luya hāle ‘ǝleka

A prayer for specific days of the month in which foundational events are remembered, in this case the 10th, 12th and 15th of each month, and ‘Arfe `esert, the commemoration of deliverance after the Biblical Flood. They who pray are always to praise God, who is asked to be eternally merciful and just. Praises to God are eternal, since He Himself is eternal. God’s attributes are alluded to, with a partial quotation of Psalm 145, specifically starting from verse 13.

The piece consists of three sections. A first long antiphonal verse is followed by a hemiola section. The third section is again antiphonal. The piece is unmeasured and the choir produces a heterophonic texture. In the second section, we can hear several plurivocal passages resulting from the superposition of two melodic units sung previously in succession.