Composer

:

Arnold Schoenberg

Genre

:

Choral

Style

:

Opera: Semi-Opera

Compose Date

:

1947

Average_duration

:

9:09

Arnold Schoenberg's "A Survivor from Warsaw, Op. 46" is a powerful and haunting work that was composed in 1947. The piece was premiered on November 4, 1948, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, with the composer himself conducting. The work is a single movement and lasts approximately 7 minutes. It is scored for narrator, men's chorus, and orchestra. The text is based on a first-hand account of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, which took place in 1943 during the Holocaust. The narrator tells the story of a Jewish man who is arrested and taken to a concentration camp, where he witnesses the brutal treatment of his fellow prisoners. Despite the horrors he witnesses, the man remains defiant and refuses to give up his faith. The music of "A Survivor from Warsaw" is characterized by Schoenberg's use of atonality and dissonance. The piece is written in a twelve-tone technique, which was a hallmark of Schoenberg's later works. The music is intense and dramatic, with the orchestra and chorus providing a powerful backdrop for the narrator's words. One of the most striking aspects of the piece is the use of the Shema Yisrael, a Jewish prayer that is recited daily. The prayer is sung by the men's chorus in a haunting and mournful melody, which adds to the emotional impact of the work. Overall, "A Survivor from Warsaw" is a deeply moving and powerful work that serves as a reminder of the atrocities committed during the Holocaust. Schoenberg's use of music to tell the story of one man's struggle for survival and faith is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit in the face of unimaginable horror.

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