Daughters
Lori Laitman
About this work:
Daughters was commissioned by pianist Kirsten Taylor, and when Kirsten first asked me to compose the work, I had not yet written for voice with small ensemble. I found that I used the same method of composition for this ensemble as I did in my other vocal works -- I composed the vocal line first, illuminating the text to the best of my ability, and then used the additional colors and textures available to further define the setting of the words.
Anne Ranasinghe and Karen Gershon have both written a great deal of Holocaust themed poetry, no doubt due to their similar experiences. Anne Ranasinghe was born Anneliese Katz in Essen, Germany in 1925. An only child, she witnessed “Kristallnacht” (“the Night of Broken Glass”), the burning of the Synagogue in Essen, her father’s arrest and transportation to Dachau, and his subsequent return as a physical and mental wreck. In 1939, when Anne was 13, her parents sent her to England to escape the Nazis. She was met by an aunt she had never seen before and, within a week, was sent to a school 140 miles away to live among strangers and to learn a new language. Within six months, World War II broke out, and she became an enemy alien. Much later, Anne would learn that her parents and all of her relatives had been murdered by the Nazis. Anne continued her education, became a Nursing Sister, and received a degree in Journalism. She married a Sinhalese Professor of the Colombo Medical Faculty, moved to Sri Lanka (where she has been the only resident Jew), raised a family, and began writing poems and prose in the early seventies. She has published nine books and has won numerous prizes for her works. Her poetry has been translated into seven languages.
Karen Gershon was born in 1923, as Kaethe Loewenthal. She was the youngest of 3 sisters - Anna, Lise, and Kaethe - who lived in Bielefeld. In 1938, Karen and Lise came to England on a Children’s Transport - a scheme, organized from overseas, to get Jewish children out of Germany. Karen effectively was on her own in England from 1939 when Lise went on to Palestine. (Although Anna arrived in England the same year, she went her own way). Karen’s parents were murdered by the Nazis.
Karen married Val Tripp in 1948. They had four children. Their daughter Stella was born in 1954. The family emigrated to Israel at the end of 1968. In 1971 Stella returned to England to attend art college - a parallel to Karen leaving her own parents. The poem “Stella Remembered” was written in 1972 and was first published in My Daughters, My Sisters and other Poems (1975). The following is a quote from Karen which appears on the dust-jacket: “....(the poems) were written during the past two years abroad - which in this context matters only in so far as, for me, it meant a separation from Stella, my third child and the one closest to me.”
Val and Karen returned to live in England in 1973. Three of their four children now live in Israel -- Stella lives in England. Karen died after a heart-bypass operation in March 1993. She published 6 collections of poetry, 3 non-fiction books and 3 novels.
Although there is clearly a reference to the Holocaust in the third poem, each of these poems focuses on a mother-daughter relationship filtered through the lens of time. I am a mother of three (including one daughter) and these poems touched me on a very emotional level.
Year composed: 1998
Duration: 00:15:30
Ensemble type: Voice, Solo or With Chamber or Jazz Ensemble:Voice with Chamber/Jazz Ensemble, 2-5 Players
Instrumentation: ,1 Piano soloist(s), ,1 Violin soloist(s), ,1 Cello soloist(s), ,1 Mezzo-Soprano soloist(s)
Instrumentation notes: This score is available for sale through Classical Vocal Reprints, 1-800-298-7474.