Bresnick’s melancholy solo for cello with piano was inspired by the poem “Gods Come and Go, Prayers Remain Forever,” by the great Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai. In the words of the composer: “Although Amichai surely meant to calm and console us by the gentle wisdom and beauty of his words, I now also hear a strain of existential reproach. In my work, Prayers Remain Forever, I join my prayer to his.” For advanced players.