Music and Texts of GARY BACHLUND
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On "s'brent" - (2017)
for piano
A melody with lyrics which foretold the horrors of the Holocaust was composed by Mordekhay Gebirtig (1877-1942), who himself was murdered in Cracow, Poland, as Jews from the ghetto were being herded into wagons to be taken to their deaths at Belzec. The melody is taken in the top voices at first, and then repeated in the lower.
Of the tragic lyrics for the tune, a first verse sings: " 's’brent! briderlekh, s’brent! / oy, undzer orem shtetl, nebekh, brent! / beyze vintn mit yirgozn / raysn, brekhn un tseblozn, / shtarker nokh di vilde flamen, / alts arum shoyn brent!" " 't's burning, brothers, it's burning! / Oh, our poor shtetl burns, poor shtetl, / Bad angry winds Tear, break, and blow / Stronger still on the wild flames / Everything around is burning already!" The setting is intended to express anger set against the lyricism of the folk-like melody.
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5 pages, circa 4' 00" - an MP3 demo is here:
The score is available as a free PDF download, though any major commercial performance or recording of the work is prohibited without prior arrangement with the composer. Click on the graphic below for this piano score.
