|
(A Holocaust Remembrance Trilogy)
Lehigh Valley Chamber Orchestra
Donald Spieth, music director
Hildegard Chamber Players
New York-born Sylvia Glickman earned bachelor's and master's degrees in performance from the Juilliard School where she was a piano student of Beveridge Webster, and received a Licentiate in Performance from the Royal Academy of Music in London where she worked with Harold Craxton (piano) and Manuel Frankel (composition). She has performed to critical acclaim throughout the United States, and in Europe, Israel and Africa. Her performance and composition awards include the Loeb Memorial Prize (highest award for excellence) from Juilliard, a Fulbright Scholarship, the Hecht Prize in Composition from the Royal Academy, and a Solo Recitalist Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Honored by Women's Way of Philadelphia in 1986 for “exceptional talent as a musician and teacher, and for her unique contributions to women's music history,” Ms. Glickman also received the 1995 Award “for Distinguished Service in Support of Music Composed by Women” from the New York Women Composers, Incorporated. She has received annual ASCAP awards and several Meet the Composer grants in the past nine years. A resident of Pennsylvania since 1960, Glickman has written on commission for the Pro Arte Chorale, Network for New Music, the Main Line Reform Temple, the Huntingdon Trio, the Hildegard Chamber Players, the Schuylkill Symphony Orchestra, and twice for the Lehigh Valley Chamber Orchestra. Her music, for keyboard, voice, chamber groups, orchestra and chorus, has been performed throughout the United States, in Europe and in Israel.
Tim Page, Washington Post staff writer, wrote in 1999, “Sylvia Glickman's `The Walls Are Quiet Now,' a reflection on the Holocaust, was ... absorbing. It is difficult to memorialize such a ghastly event, and the many attempts to do so have often suffered from a certain sameness—a sort of white-knuckled, ultra-chromatic angst that can seem generic. Glickman took a different approach; this was a deeply felt but never indulgent work that invited solemn meditation rather than gnashing of teeth. The composer made particularly expert use of a phrase from the Allegretto from Beethoven's Symphony No. 7, which flickered through the piece as a sad echo from Germany's prouder days.”
Carved in Courage (1997) commemorates the fortitude of the Danish people who helped to save Denmark`s Jews from the Nazis. Donald Spieth, Music Director of the Schuylkill Philharmonic Orchestra, commissioned this work as a companion piece to Resistance and Rescue: Denmark's Response to the Holocaust, a collection of photographs by Judy Ellis Glickman (no relation) on exhibit in Pottsville, PA at the time of its premiere.
The work is in five short movements. A three-note “wailing” motive (a descending minor third followed by a descending minor second — intervals prevalent in synagogue and Jewish folk music), appears in all but the third movement. The trumpets herald this motive in
I: Premonitions, followed by other instruments in slight variation of the motive.
II: Preparations is an homage to Frøde Jacobsen, the leader of the Danish Resistance. In ABA form, this movement depicts frantic activity in the outer sections, and refers to the “wailing” motive in the B section. A photograph of Jacobsen, who died in June 1997, is included in J.E. Glickman's photographic exhibit. III: Krystalgade Synagogue is based on V'Shamru, part of a Prayer Service I wrote several years ago. Here it is also an homage to Dr. Køster, the director of Bispebjerg Hospital in Copenhagen, where 2,000 Jews were admitted with fictitious names and illnesses, and then issued false death certificates as part of the effort to save them. A photograph of the synagogue is in the collection. IV: Rescue by Sea is an homage to fisherman Jens Møller, one of the Danes who helped to hide the Jews in boats, eventually ferrying them to safety in Sweden. His photograph is also in the exhibit. V: The Afterward is a joyous celebration of the Danish courage. The earlier three-note descending, minor motive is now transformed into an ascending motive (a major third followed by a major second), mirroring the downward gestures of the opening movement. Another ABA structure, the B section of this movement is yet another variant of the original motivic material; the final A section includes the first phrase of the Danish national anthem shortly before it ends with a full tutti.
Am I a Murderer? (1996-97) is a cantata for bass voice, flute, piccolo, clarinet, bass clarinet, violin, viola, cello and piano, which I composed for basso Julian Rodescu. As in the familiar “Pierrot ensemble,” the flute/piccolo part, the clarinet/bass clarinet part, and the violin/viola part may each be played by a single performer. The singer speaks and sings the text written by Frank Fox, translator of the diary of Calel Perechodnik, a Polish Jewish policeman. Perechodnik was promised by the Nazis that his family would be saved if he helped to round up Jews for deportation. He assisted the Germans, but lost his family. His diary was found after he committed suicide.
1. Introduction (flute/piccolo, clarinet, violin, viola, cello, piano)
2. How Pleasant Was the Morning (piccolo, clarinet, violin, viola, cello, piano)
3. The Polish Jew (flute/piccolo, clarinet, violin, viola, cello, piano)
4. Your Town Is Not on the List (flute, clarinet/bass clarinet, violin, viola, cello, piano)
5. Things (flute/piccolo, clarinet/bass clarinet, violin, viola, cello, piano)
6. A Father's Farewell (violin, viola, cello, piano)
7. Perochodnik Remembers (flute/piccolo, clarinet/bass clarinet, violin, viola, cello, piano)
8. The Extermination Camp (flute, clarinet, violin, viola, cello, piano)
9. Zol Zayn [So Be It] (flute, clarinet, viola, cello, piano)
The overall tonal journey of the work (from the B-flat minor Introduction to the C-minor ninth section) is heard in microcosm within the Introduction. While no section save #6 and #9 is traditionally tonal, each is defined by a tonal center, moving from one to another via rising tritones and descending minor seconds, agonizing intervals mandated by the horrific subject matter of the work.
After opening with diarist Calel Perechodnik's own spoken words in the Introduction, How Pleasant Was the Morning, based in E, is a lilting, slow-waltz reminiscence of better times in his past life. As Calel agonizes about his dual identity of Jew and Pole in The Polish Jew, the tritones rise and fall. Two instrumental interruptions become background to shouted outbursts, moving from E-flat here to A in Your Town Is Not on the List, where the sarcastic, lying promises of the Germans are depicted in syncopated, dance-like rhythms. The voice whispers, speaks and shouts through Things as the wail of high woodwinds paints the sad pictures, based in A-flat minor, of bereft Jews. A Father's Farewell, a gentle lullaby in D minor, incorporates an excerpt of a traditional Polish lullaby in the major, middle section. The wild, fugal subject, based on diminished octaves in Perechodnik Remembers, alternates with calmer, more introspective sections, incorporating a bit of #2 as part of a reminiscence. The desolation of the Extermination Camp is expressed in widely separated, dissonant intervals in the accompaniment while the vocal part hovers around the dominant tone (C-sharp) of the F-sharp tonal center. Moving up a tritone to the final section, the work concludes with an adaptation of Zol Zayn, a familiar Yiddish plaint.
The Walls are Quiet Now (1993) was commissioned by the Lehigh Valley Chamber Orchestra in 1992, the first of two commissions they gave me. The work reflects emotions evoked by the sight of a memorial wall outside the Grünwald S-bahn station in Berlin, Germany. This wall honors the memory of the Jews of the city, transported from that station to concentration camps. I came upon the wall by chance, having alighted from the train at Grünwald to visit friends in January 1992. The simple, rough-hewn stone wall, punctuated by irregular silhouettes of disappearing figures, made an extraordinarily powerful impression on me and was the impetus for this work. The “walls” in the title also refer to the walls of the station itself — walls of the long, wide corridor, which for me still echoed with the shuffle of feet of years ago. (See cover photo.)
The work is composed of four short, connected sections entitled I: Fear, Foreboding, II: Fright, III: Frenzy, and IV: Lest We Forget. It is not meant to tell a story, but rather to explore feelings aroused by the Holocaust. The musical elements of this mostly tonal work include a persistent ascending-second interval in the first and fourth sections, a fragmentary reference to the second movement theme of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony in the first and fourth sections, rhythmic and melodic allusions to Dies Irae and Yis-ka-dol (two prayers for the dead) in the second section, and fragments of two Yiddish folk lullabies in the last section. The second section is a valse macabre, the third a frenzied fugue based on a theme that grows from material heard earlier. The work begins and ends in A-minor, moving through keys of the tri-tone E-flat in section II, and F in section III. The first section mirrors the large tonal pattern within itself (a, Eb, F, a), as does the second section in Eb (Eb, a, B, Eb), and the third in F (F, B, C#, F). The Walls are Quiet Now was later rescored for string quartet and has had several performances in both versions.
Celebrating its twentieth anniversary in 2001, the Lehigh Valley Chamber Orchestra, based in Allentown, PA, has become one of the premiere regional orchestras in the U.S. The New York Times reviewed a Lincoln Center performance with, “The Lehigh Valley chamber orchestra, led by Donald Spieth, played energetically, precisely and sweetly.” In addition to its busy Lehigh Valley schedule and performances in New York City, the LVCO has appeared live on WQXR radio in that city and on public radio and television. Special recognition has come from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, along with regional awards for outstanding contributions to the performing arts. The LVCO has commissioned twenty new works for chamber orchestra and has presented premieres in the Lehigh Valley, New York City and in Philadelphia. This recording marks their third appearance on CD.
Music Director of the Lehigh Valley Chamber Orchestra since its first season, Donald Spieth conducted the orchestra in its debut concerts at Carnegie Hall and at Lincoln Center in New York City, as well as at several Philadelphia performances. Under his leadership, the orchestra was awarded the coveted ASCAP Award for Adventuresome Programming of Contemporary Music. Mr. Spieth currently serves also as Music Director of the Schuylkill Symphony Orchestra and as guest conductor for opera, ballet and orchestra performances, as well as festival presentations. An accomplished musician, he has performed with various orchestras and ensembles throughout the United States and Europe. He holds a master of music degree from the University of Iowa and has studied conducting with Sixten Ehrling, James Dixon and Walter Charles.
In the 1999-2000 season Julian Rodescu earned raves for his debuts in Madrid, Naples, Los Angeles and Tel Aviv. “Julian Rodescu proved a perfect singer,” wrote the Los Angeles Times of his singing with Simon Rattle and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Of his Madrid debut in Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth of Mzensk with Mstislav Rostropovich, El Pais wrote “Special mention must be made of the basso profundo of Julian Rodescu, memorable as the High Priest, capturing tragic and comic at the same time, impeccable, beyond reproach.” Mr. Rodescu made his La Scala debut in 1991 as Titurel in Parsifal with Riccardo Muti conducting. In 1997 he sang Fafner in Siegfried, also with Maestro Muti. Among important orchestral appearances, Mr. Rodescu has performed with Wolfgang Sawallisch and the Philadelphia Orchestra, Seiji Ozawa and the Boston Symphony, and took part in the World Premiere performances of Shostakovich's Rayok with Maestro Rostropovich and the National Symphony. In 1999 he recorded Zemlinsky's Der Traumgorge with James Conlon and the Köln Gurzenich-Orchester. Other roles he has performed include Mozart's Magic Flute and Requiem, Verdi's Rigoletto and Aida, Bellini's Norma and I Puritani, Monteverdi's Orfeo, Berg's Lulu, Beethoven's Missa Solemnis and Bruckner's Te Deum.
The Hildegard Chamber Players, founded in 1991 by Artistic Director Sylvia Glickman, celebrate their tenth season of presenting concerts of music by women composers in 2001. Dedicated to bringing newly composed and rediscovered repertoire to the eyes and ears of contemporary audiences, they have performed the works of more than 125 women — from the ninth through the twentieth centuries — in venues throughout Pennsylvania and neighboring states, and have recently embarked on a recording project. The players include members of the Philadelphia Orchestra and other prominent area free-lance musicians. Among the groups with whom they have collaborated are the Lehigh Valley Chamber Orchestra, Orchestra 2001, Pomerium, Voces Novae et Antiquae, and Network for New Music.
Frank Fox is professor emeritus of East European history at West Chester University, PA. He has traveled to Poland many times in recent years to interview and write about artists for a project to promote Polish-Jewish understanding. He has written extensively on Polish poster art and on Eastern European culture. His translation of the diary of Calel Perechodnik, entitled Am I a Murderer? was published by Westview Press in 1996.
TEXT for Am I a Murderer?
“It is October 23, 1943. I have lost my wife and daughter to German barbarism and on account of my selfishness. I know that sooner or later I will share the fate of all the Jews of Poland. A day will come when they will take me into a field, command me to dig a grave. order me to remove my clothing and shoot me. The earth will be smoothed over, a farmer will plough it and sow rye or wheat. It is now time to write my last will and testament...
I, Calel Perechodnik, the son of Ussher and Sara Goralska, born on September 8, 1916, in full possession of mental and physical faculties, am writing down the following last will and testament. On orders of German authorities, I and my entire family, as well as all the Jews of Poland, have been sentenced to death. This sentence has been almost completely carried out...”
2. How Pleasant Was the Morning
How pleasant was the morning
We tasted grass and wild flowers
We lay beneath the tall pines
How pleasant was the morning
The grey wolves came and circled us
Their snouts dripped poison
Am I a Pole or am I a Jew?
Am I a Jewish Pole or a Polish Jew?
But to see my Polish people
I know the Germans hate me.
I know they will seize me, kill me.
But to see my Polish neighbors
How can branches entwine?
Am I a Pole or am I a Jew?
Am I a Jewish Pole or a Polish Jew?
— Frank Fox and excerpts from S'stut we]
4. Your Town is Not on the List
To think your town will die,
To think that you will die,
Your town is not on the list.
Your doctors, your shoemakers,
Your tailors to sew our clothes,
There's just a little trifle
Give up your poor, your sick
The rest are worth their weight in gold.
To think your town will die.
With whom it's best to agree.
Jewish wagons carry tables, stools, suitcases
Bundles, bedding, dresses, suits, portraits,
Pots, glasses, jars of preserves, plates,
And in the coat pocket a bottle of vodka
As they pass the corner, gone are all their shirts,
Plates, suits, bedding, preserves and portraits.
But in the coat pocket there is still vodka
One last corner and all is gone
except a suitcase and a coat
And a bite-size piece of caramel candy...
Now they march five abreast
Each with a suitcase and a piece of bread
The lucky one has a poison tablet.
In empty Jewish apartments life still grows
Like hair and nails after death.
In abandoned rooms there are bundles, dresses,
Suits and bed-covers, plates and stools,
Fires that smolder, family pictures, open books,
Unfinished lists, half-filled glasses.
The wind rustles a sleeve of a winter shirt,
A rumpled cover is on the bed,
Ownerless things, dead households.
The newcomers make up beds,
launder the Jewish shirt,
Pour out the left-over coffee,
put the books back on the shelves.
But on a night full of terror, the Jewish things
Will come out of these homes,
All the tables and stools, bundles and suitcases, suits,
Preserves in jars, plates, tea-kettles,
They'll come out of windows,
they'll come out of doors
They'll go out to the streets and follow the roads
They'll follow the rail lines
The Jewish things will leave and
no one will see them again.
— Frank Fox, adapted from Rzecy by
Wladyslaw Szlengel from his Co Czyta/em Umarlym
How you stretch your hand to me
Ai lu lu Iu Iu Iu, Kolebka z'marmuru,
Pieluszke z'rabeczku, Iulaj anoileczku.
How dark and shiny your eyes
And you don't cry, you're only a child
Your eyes are so big, your eyes
You know that you will die, will die
— Frank Fox and traditional Polish lullaby
Don't let your hand shake,
throw the child out of the window,
Let it fall beneath the wheels,
let it be crushed to a pulp, do it!
But maybe if there's a God in the world
Maybe they would spread a magic carpet
so that she'll fall, fall softly,
Fall asleep, and in the morning
a decent Christian will pick her up
And cuddle her and take her home as his own.
Anka, Anka, my love, are you holding
Does she sip your tears like a butterfly?
How is it that your Calek who loved you for ten years,
Guessed and fulfilled your wishes,
Allowed you to enter the cattle car and remain behind.
Maybe he went home to sleep on clean bedding
And you sit with Alushka in your arms,
I know you clench your fists, you hate the child!
It is, after all, his child
You want to throw the little one out the window
8. The Extermination Camp
There are woods beyond barbed wire
There are meadows beyond woods
There are roads beyond meadows
There are homes beyond roads
There is nothing beyond the bend
There are woods beyond barbed wire
There are meadows beyond woods
There are roads beyond meadows
There are homes beyond roads
There is nothing beyond the bend
Zol zayn as ich boy in der luft meiner schlesser
Zol zayn, as mein Gott iz in gantzen nito
In holem der himmel iz bloier fun boi
So what if I always build castles in air
So what if my God is nowhere in view
My dream will uplift me, a dream fairer than fair
The sky that I see is bluer than blue
Zol zayn, as ich kh'vel kayn mol
tsum tsin nicht derlangen
Zol zayn, as mein schiff vet
Mir geht nit in dem ich zol hubben dergangen
Mir geht nur in gang oif a zuniken weg
So what it I don't reach a harbor to save me
So what if my ship will not touch a shore
with but one star to guide me
It's the journey that counts and never the goal
— I. Papernikov. Translation by Frank Fox
Text and music: © Hildegard Publishing Company 2000
All music on this CD is used by permission of the Hildegard Publishing Company, Box 332, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010.
Produced and Engineered by Adam Abeshouse
Edited by Adam Abeshouse and Silas Brown
Mastered by Adam Abeshouse
Rachel Warburg: the memorial wall at the Grünwald station, 1992.
This CD is supported by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, The Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia, and the Hildegard Institute.
(A Holocaust Remembrance Trilogy)
3 Krystalgade Synagogue [2:50]
Lehigh Valley Chamber Orchestra
Donald Spieth, music director
Am I a Murderer? (1996-97)
7 How Pleasant Was the Morning [2:12]
9 Your Town Is Not on the List [2:10]
11 A Father's Farewell [2:29]
12 Perochodnik Remembers [4:10]
13 The Extermination Camp [3;56]
Hildegard Chamber Players
Barbara Govatos, violin • Kathy Basrak, viola
Ohad Bar-David, cello • Kazuo Tokito, flute/piccolo
Victoria Smith, clarinet/bass clarinet • Charles Abramovic, piano
15The Walls are Quiet Now (1993) [15:29]
Lehigh Valley Chamber Orchestra
Donald Spieth, music director
|
