My composition, A DREAM (ca. 5:00), has much in its favor. Links to the two scrolling scores appear at the end of this blog posting.
MUSICALLY: I hear from conductors that a good deal of today’s new choral music is often slow in tempo. A DREAM has a good number of “zippy” sections; the mood is generally upbeat, hopeful. The accompaniment is more difficult than are any of the choral parts which are only moderately difficult. If need be, I can supply synthesized tracks of each choral part for singers.
TEXTUALLY: The fact that the text for this work even exists is a miracle. It was written by Abraham ("Abramek") Koplowicz, a Jewish boy who was exterminated by the Nazis during the Holocaust. Abramek was born in 1930 in Lodz, Poland, and died in 1944 in the infamous Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz-Birkenau. He wrote this poem during the time that his family was trapped in the Lodz ghetto. This poem was not found until 1983 when Eliezer ("Lolek") Grynfeld, the poet's half-brother, discovered it among their late father's belongings. Choristers who sing this work will be transported on a magical flight around the world and through time along with their audiences. The text follows.
A DREAM
When I am twenty years of age,
I will burst forth from this cage
And begin to see our splendid Earth
For the first time since my birth!
In my motorized bird I’ll soar so high
Above the world, up in the sky,
Over rivers and the seas,
With such stupefying ease,
With my brother wind and sister cloud, I’ll
Marvel at the Euphrates and the Nile;
The goddess Isis ruled the land that links
The Pyramids and the massive Sphynx.
I will glide above Niagara Falls,
And sunbathe where the Sahara calls;
If I want to escape the scorching heat,
I will fly up north to an Arctic retreat.
I will top the cloudy peaks of Tibetan fame
And survey the fabled land whence the Magi came.
From the Island of Kangaroos
I’ll take my time and cruise
To the ruins of Pompeii
At the edge of Naples Bay,
I’ll continue to the Holy Land, then seek
The home of Homer, the celebrated Greek.
More and more astonished will I grow
At the beauty of the Earth below.
In all my travelling I’ll be twinned
With my siblings, cloud and wind.
Abraham (“Abramek”) Koplowicz
(b. 1930, Lodz, Poland, d. 1944, Auschwitz-Birkenau)
Translation by Sarah Lawson and Małgorzata Koraszewska
© Copyright 1993 by the estate of Eliezer Grynfeld. All rights reserved.
Used by permission of Eliezer Grynfeld.
TOPICALLY: As I write this, 133 Israeli hostages are being held prisoner by Hamas. (Never Again Is Now! Let My People Go!) As my own parents were Jewish Holocaust survivors (Auschwitz survivor mother, Nazi POW father), I feel close to the text of A DREAM in ways that only a child of such survivors can feel. That its male, pre-teen author wrote so eloquently and knowledgeably about the world’s geography and history, and in a hopeful way, is remarkable given the very poor conditions of the Lodz Ghetto.
The sheet music is available from me, and from Sheet Music Plus. Please consider programming A DREAM in your next concert season or two, and thank you for your time and attention.
SCROLLING SCORES
FULL SCORE: https://youtu.be/kZ70D3tLl_U?si=V1X11pGxkB5Ylrm-
PIANO/CHORAL SCORE: https://youtu.be/HJj1w5_SqeY?si=r78iLD4IikE5ysVb
