Songs from the ashes: An examination of three Holocaust-themed song cycles by Lori Laitman

During the years of the Holocaust, literature of many different types was generated in order to fulfill the distinctive needs of people caught in an unimaginable nightmare. Despite the horrific conditions or perhaps propelled by them, the Jewish people kept diaries, wrote poetry and stories, and they made music, in particular, by singing. This literature represents the undying hope, the very soul of the Jewish people; Lori Laitman is one of the most prolific composers of American art songs working today. Although the amount of scholarly work on Laitman\u27s music is rather limited, this should not diminish the worthiness of the composer\u27s contributions to American art song, her extremely productive output, and her evolving and growing body of work; Laitman has composed five Holocaust-themed song cycles to date. Three of these are composed for baritone voice and various instrument parings and will occupy the body of the musical examinations of this document. These works are: (1) Holocaust 1944, for baritone and double-bass (1996, revised 1998); (2) Fathers, for baritone and piano trio or baritone, flute, cello and piano (2002, revised 2003); (3) The Seed of Dream, for baritone, cello and piano (2004); The document will examine Laitman\u27s musical translations of the texts by Jerzy Ficowski, Karen Gershon, Anne Ranasinghe, Tadeusz Rozewicz, Abraham Sutzkever and David Vogel which reflect life during the Holocaust. Further, it will briefly examine dramatic and pedagogical aspects of these song cycles; The research will rely heavily on interviews, journal articles, current performance practice and a review of related literature. Most importantly, insights of the composer herself, taken from the interviews, letters, and shared, unpublished information will be incorporated to the study