Symphony no. 1: in memoriam Gross Breesen
Daniel McCarter
Recording for demonstration purposes
piccolo, two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, four horns, two trumpets, three trombones, tuba, two percussion, timpani, piano, soprano, strings.
Daniel McCarter’s Symphony for Kristallnacht: in memoriam Gross Breesen was inspired by a phone call in August of 2012 from Steve Strauss, acclaimed 60 Minutes photographer and creator of Learning Seeds—a multimedia exhibition displaying the photographs and the story of the Gross Breesen School students. Established as an agricultural school for Jewish youth before the start of World War II, Gross Breesen also taught its students an appreciation for the arts, morality, and the natural world. The school was raided by the Nazis on Kristallnacht, after which their beloved Steinway grand piano lay shattered. Mr. Strauss asked for a piece of music to capture that particular moment in time: the destruction of the piano. Composition of Symphony for Kristallnacht began during the summer of 2013. McCarter revised the work the following two summers, completing it in August of 2015.
The first movement, Andante moderato, explores the emotional journey of leaving a beloved home but going to a beautiful place of refuge. The second movement, Allegro ma non troppo, expresses the effort required to work the land mixed with a foxtrot-like melody reminiscent of the 1930’s. Descending into a more foreboding mood, a massive orchestral onslaught turns against the piano. The last movement incorporates a soprano soloist, singing an adaptation of Psalm 74 in English and Hebrew. The movement mourns the loss of the piano and the creative spirit it represents before concluding with a statement of hope tempered by memory.
Special thanks to Arlene Jaffee Frank and Randall Schwartz for their assistance with the Hebrew text.
World premier performance November 17, 2015 by the Bay Atlantic Symphony, Jed Gaylin, conductor
If interested in performing this work or learning more, please contact the composer.