As a Jew, I can't avoid the weight our history. Our resilience as a people has been strengthened through the millennia with every adversarial contact. Yet, in spite of all the negative aggression, we survived. And, in the process, created a legacy of knowledge and community which has lasted for almost six thousand years.
Jerry Jacobs, to whom this work is dedicated, miraculously survived a six-year hysteria when the world proved how inhuman the human race can be. From the age of ten to sixteen, starting in the Lodz, Poland ghetto, he subsequently found himself in such camps as Auschwitz-Birkenau, Buchenwald and Rehmsdorf.
When you first meet Jerry, you would never know he was someone who survived such an irrational horror. He embodies someone who celebrates life with deep conviction for the arts and humanities. A successful textile merchant and grandfather, he established The Interfaith Concert Of Holocaust Remembrance and commissioned me to write this choral-orchestral work for the fourth annual concert which had its world premiere at The Cathedral of Saint John The Divine in front of four thousand people on November 13, 1993.
As we became friends, we inevitably began talking about his past. Instead of getting a better understanding of this insanity that we call the holocaust, I found myself dealing with even greater incongruities of logic to such an extent as to almost believe that what he witnessed was not possible. But, unfortunately for the so many who died, it was very possible! And this loss of brothers and sisters, fathers and sons, mothers and daughters was our greatest tragedy!
How could one keep his belief in God after such a horrendous event? Why would God allow this to happen to his chosen? It became clear to me that this was the final coup de grace for us and that now, in fact, we would always intervene and prevent such a thing from ever happening again. This ultimate sacrifice guaranteed us the wherewithal for our survival as a people. Never again will we passively accept injustices that are thwarted at us. And, we will celebrate our survival so that those who died, will not have died in vain! We will celebrate our oneness as our aspirations for knowledge and humanity reach for God. Our belief in God is unshaken. Our belief in ourselves is unrelenting. And our future is guaranteed because of this resolve.
I wanted to write a work that embraced the flood of emotions that filled me, culminating with the blowing of the shofar, our oldest traditional ritual that brings in the new year. Then I thought about Jericho and the trumpeting that brought the walls tumbling down. Why not twelve shofars representing the twelve tribes of Israel. Why not reenact and possibly trigger our genetic memory with such a triumphant sound! But to my amazement, upon hearing the first performance, the six of the twelve shofars we were able to find did not evoke a memory of history, but the voices of the dead.
1-2 Flute
1-2 Oboe
1-2 Bb Clarinet
1-2 Bassoon
1-2 Horn in F
1 Bb Trumpet
2-8 1st Violins
2-7 2nd Violins
2-4 Violas
2-4 Celli
1-3 Basses
Soprano, Alto (div.), Tenor, Bass
with incidental soprano, alto, tenor bass solos
(when expanding the string section, keep
in mind that the wood wind quintet should
be doubled in size so that during the forte
sections they will be heard. The strings
should never be smaller than 2,2,2,2,1;
the chorus never smaller than 3,3,3,3. )
[running time:15:42]
WE US YOU ME I WILL NOT FORGET I WILL NOT FORGET I WILL NOT FORGET I WILL NOT FORGET WE WILL NOT FORGET! NEVER AGAIN! NEVER AGAIN! NEVER AGAIN! NEVER AGAIN! WE US YOU ME BROTHERS AND SISTERS FATHERS AND SONS MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS WE WILL CELEBRATE OUR ONENESS AS OUR ASPIRATION FOR KNOWLEDGE AND HUMANITY REACHES FOR GOD REACHES FOR GOD REACHES FOR GOD BROTHERS AND SISTERS FATHERS AND SONS MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS WE WILL NOT FORGET WE WILL NOT FORGET YIS-GA-DAL VE YIS-KA-DASH SHEMAY RAB-BO BE-OL-MO DEEVE-RO-CHIR-OO-SAY YIS-GA-DAL VE YIS-KA-DASH SHEMAY RAB-BO BE-OL-MO DEEVE-RO-CHIR-OO-SAY YIS-GA-DAL VE YIS-KA-DASH SHEMAY RAB-BO BE-OL-MO DEEVE-RO-CHIR-OO-SAY WE WILL NOT FORGET NEVER AGAIN, NEVER AGAIN WE WILL NOT FORGET NEVER AGAIN, NEVER AGAIN WE WILL NOT FORGET NEVER AGAIN, NEVER AGAIN WE WILL NOT FORGET NEVER AGAIN, NEVER AGAIN GOD OH, GOD WHY DID YOU FORSAKE US? OH, GOD OH, GOD A-NI MA-A-MIN A-NI MA-A-MIN... REMEMBER GOD THE SOULS OF OUR LOVED ONES WHO HAVE GONE TO THEIR REPOSE REMEMBER GOD A-NI MA-A-MIN A-NI MA-A-MIN... REMEMBER GOD BROTHERS AND SISTERS THE SOULS OF OUR LOVED ONES FATHERS AND SONS WHO HAVE GONE TO THEIR REPOSE MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS A-NI MA-A-MIN BROTHERS AND SISTERS REMEMBER GOD FATHERS AND SONS MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS MAY THEY ENJOY ETERNAL LIFE MAY THEY ENJOY ETERNAL LIFE MAY THEY ENJOY ETERNAL LIFE MAY THEY ENJOY ETERNAL LIFE MAY THEY ENJOY ETERNAL LIFE MAY THEY ENJOY ETERNAL LIFE MAY THEY ENJOY ETERNAL LIFE MAY THEY ENJOY ETERNAL LIFE WITH THE SOULS OF THE REST OF THE RIGHTEOUS IN PARADISE WE WILL CELEBRATE OUR ONENESS AS OUR ASPIRATION FOR KNOWLEDGE AND HUMANITY REACHES FOR GOD SH'MA YIS-RO-EL A-DO-NOI E-LO-HE-NU * A-DO-SHEM E-LO KE-NU A-DO-NOI E-CHOD * A-DO-SHEM E-CHOD A-DO-NOI E-CHOD * A-DO-SHEM E-CHOD A-DO-NOI E-CHOD * A-DO-SHEM E-CHOD A-DO-NOI E-CHOD * A-DO-SHEM E-CHOD SH'MA YIS-RO-EL SH'MA YIS-RO-EL A-DO-NOI E-CHOD * A-DO-SHEM E-CHOD SH'MA YIS-RO-EL A-DO-NOI E-CHOD * A-DO-SHEM E-CHOD