PLEASE GO TO THE FOLLOWING SITE FOR DOWNLOADABLE VERSIONS OF THE KABBALAH SUITE ALONG WITH THE COMPLETE PROGRAM NOTES:

http://www.meyefi.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=70%3Anew-from-meyefi--yochanan-sebastian-winston-kabbalah-suite&catid=37%3Aunseen-rain-recordings&Itemid=53

Notes on Kabbalah Suite (2011) by Yochanan Sebastian Winston, Ph.D.
My Kabbalah Suite (Meditations on the Ten Sefirot – 2011) was originally inspired by a trip to Carmel, California with my daughter Sarah in the Spring of 2010. While driving through Carmel, I was struck by how many intelligent and seemingly spiritual gentiles there were who I felt would profit from exposure to the traditional Jewish mysticism of the Kabbalah. When I returned home to San Diego, I began a conversation with Rabbi Philip Graubart of Congregation Beth El in La Jolla that subsequently resulted in his commission for a piece based upon the ten sefirot. A partial première (four movements) was performed at Beth El on Selichot (September 4), 2010 with the world première of the complete work following on Selichot (September 24), 2011.
The compositional genesis of the piece came from analyzing the gematria (numerology) of each sefirah’s Hebrew name. I then assigned the numbers to a series of notes, rendering ten chords (one for each sefirah) and then adjusted each chord to suit my ear. Then, I transposed the chord sequence ten times using various standard techniques that gave me the pitch material for each movement. After creating the chord progressions, I spent many hours in traditional prayer and meditation in an attempt to access the inner, hidden nature of each sefirah and attempt to manifest the mystical into sound. How well I succeeded will obviously depend upon the listeners’ judgment.
The following are some notes on the Kabbalistic concepts of sefirot as well as some background on the mysticism. These notes are based upon my study of the work of Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, the websites of Chabad.com and Aish.com as well as the seminal works of Dr. Gershon Scholem (z’lv), R. Aryeh Kaplan (z’lv) and Dr. Moshe Idel . I am deeply and gratefully indebted to all of these brilliant scholars.
A sefirah (pl. sefirot) is a channel of Divine energy and is one of the basic terms and concepts of Kabbalah. The word has many possible meanings. A few of the more common explanations are as follows:

Technical information:
All recordings by Dr. Yochanan Sebastian Winston
Mixing and Mastering by Lee Ray
Musical Instruments: Flute: Brannen-Cooper 14K gold, Bass Flute: Kotato-Fukushima, Soprano and Alto Saxophones: Selmer Super Action 80 Series II
Special thanks go to my wife Roberta for her patience and unfailingly constant faith in my work; Lee Ray for his exquisite mixing and mastering; David Dramm for his insight; Rabbi Philip Grauberg for his wisdom, encouragement and inspiration; Jack DeSalvo; Jim DeSalvo; Gene Gaudette and Cyndee Kane.
An unusual, sincere and deep special thanks go to John Coltrane for showing us all the way; Hubert Laws for showing us just how well jazz can be played on the flute; and Pierre-Yves Artaud, my great French master and inspiration. Thank you, gentlemen.