Music and Texts of GARY BACHLUND
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Ein jüdisches Kind - (2011)
Erika Taubefor medium or low voice and piano
Du bist ein Kind wie all die vielen,
die auf der ganzen Erde sind,
wie all die anderen Gespielen
und doch bist du so anders, Kind.
Du bist ein Kind, dem Heimat fehlt,
in allen Städten bist du fremd.
So lang dich nicht das Wort beseelt:
Heimat, dein Herz ist ungehemmt.2 pages, circa 2' 30"
1942
You are a child like all others,
all over the whole world,
like all other playmates,
and yet you are different, child.
You are a child without a home,
in all places you remain a stranger.
As long as this word is not yours:
home, -- your heart must roam.
paraphrase by the composer
A sole song text from 1942 remains to us from author, Erika Taube (1913-1944), and composer, Carlo Sigmund Taube (1897-1944) , who together with their child survived the National Socialists' "showplace" Terezin which managed to fool the press in wartime, but did not survive the systematic murder of Auschwitz. The song setting by Carlo Taube has been recently recorded in a collection, but I considered another setting for the text as well. Many texts are set by various composers, and the text's bittersweet truth seemed worth revisiting.
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-vocal score.
