Radzynski’s setting of Psalm 137, Al naharot bavel (By the Rivers of Babylon), for solo tenor and orchestra, is a self-contained movement of his Psalm sequence Shirat ma’ayan, which he wrote in 1997 on a joint commission from the Rothschild Foundation and the Haifa Symphony Orchestra. (Apart from this movement, the work also features a mezzo-soprano soloist.) His interpretation of this Psalm differs radically from Zavel Zilberts's large choral setting, although, despite the sharp divergences in harmonic language, period-driven style, rhythmic complexities, and linear contours, both express the agony of exile and the historical longing for return to Zion. Like Zilberts, Radzynski pays close attention to the text, but on his own terms and in his own musical language.

The orchestral opening sets the tone of anguish, with hints at forthcoming melodic elements interrupted by ponderous percussive gestures. High registers are exploited in the string, suggesting at the same time outrage and pain. Following the tenor solo entry and the reference to the Babylonian captors, the orchestra builds to an impassioned climax on its own. In the last two verses, the solo lines become declamatory as they portray Jerusalem’s destruction. The piece concludes with a spun-out, meditative postlude.