Author: Boris Pigovat

Light from the Yellow Star (2011)
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Light from the Yellow Star (2011)

For Symphonic Wind Band

  • Duration: ca. 40 minutes
  • Picc, 2 Fls, A.Fl, Obs, Bsns, P.Cl, 3 Cls, B.Cl, C-b.CL, S.Sx (= A.Sx.1), 2 A.Sxs, T.Sx, B.Sx, 4 Hns, 5 Tpts, 4 Tbns, Bar, 2 Tbas, Str.B, Synth, Timp, Perc (5), Solo Soprano.

In 2010, Matthew J. George, a conductor of the University of St. Thomas Symphonic Wind Ensemble, proposed that I write a composition based on books and paintings by the Holocaust survivor Dr. Robert O. Fisch.

Inspired by Dr. Fisch works, I wrote a suite of five parts:

        I. Introduction
        II. When the Stones weep
        III. 1956
        IV. Silent Music
        V. Song of Love and Hope

The premiere took place in Minneapolis, in 2011, with the participation of Dr. Fisch himself; he read fragments from his books before each part of the suite and at the end of the composition. His paintings were demonstrated on a large screen during the performance. Dr. George even brought a dance ensemble for the performance!

It was  extraordinary event with a big emotional impact on the audience. I invite you to view it (below are eleven clips from the premiere):

Later Matthew J. George and the University of St. Thomas Symphonic Wind Ensemble recorded Light from the  Yellow Star, which was released in 2016 by the Innova label, as part of their album Persistence.

Oct, 2011: Holocaust Requiem at the International Viola Congress, Wurzburg, Germany
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Oct, 2011: Holocaust Requiem at the International Viola Congress, Wurzburg, Germany

Viola Congress at 2011 was the third time when Donald Maurice performed Requiem, after his great performance at the Concert of Remembrance for 70th the Anniversary of Kristallnacht.

Sep, 2023: the US premiere of the Holocaust Requiem
Sep, 2023: the US premiere of the Holocaust Requiem
Jun, 2015: NAXOS Records launched “Holocaust Requiem & Poem of Dawn” CD
Jun, 2015: NAXOS Records launched “Holocaust Requiem & Poem of Dawn” CD
Feb, 2014: “Lux Aeterna” from the Holocaust Requiem, Pittsburgh, USA
Feb, 2014: “Lux Aeterna” from the Holocaust Requiem, Pittsburgh, USA
Sept, 2012: “Requiem” CD received Pizzicato’s Supersonic Award
Sept, 2012: “Requiem” CD received Pizzicato’s Supersonic Award
Oct, 2011: Holocaust Requiem at the International Viola Congress, Wurzburg, Germany
Oct, 2011: Holocaust Requiem at the International Viola Congress, Wurzburg, Germany
Nov, 2010: Launch of “Requiem” CD by Atoll, New Zealand
Nov, 2010: Launch of “Requiem” CD by Atoll, New Zealand
Nov, 2008: Concert of Remembrance of 70th Anniversary of Kristallnacht, Wellington, New Zealand
Nov, 2008: Concert of Remembrance of 70th Anniversary of Kristallnacht, Wellington, New Zealand
Oct, 2001: Memorial evening dedicated to the Babi Yar tragedy, Kiev, Ukraine
Oct, 2001: Memorial evening dedicated to the Babi Yar tragedy, Kiev, Ukraine
Holocaust Requiem for Viola and Symphony Orchestra (1994-1995)
Holocaust Requiem for Viola and Symphony Orchestra (1994-1995)

Donald received an invitation to give the work’s first-ever performance in Germany, on October 15th at the final gala concert of the International Viola Congress in Wuerzburg.

The performance commemorated the 70th anniversary of the Babi Yar massacre, and featured Donald, with the Camerata Louis Spohr orchestra from Duesseldorf, conducted by Bernd Peter Fugelsang.

Below are some photos from the event, kindly given to me by Dwight Pounds.

Donald Maurice (Viola) and "Camerata Luis Spohr", conductor – Bernd Peter Fugelsang
Donald Maurice (Viola) and "Camerata Luis Spohr", conductor – Bernd Peter Fugelsang
After performance, Boris Pigovat and Donald Maurice
After performance, Donald Maurice and Boris Pigovat
Donald Maurice, Boris Pigovat and Bernd Fugelsang
Donald Maurice, Karin Wolf (Congress Host), Louise Rider, Peter Rider (NZ Ambassador), Boris Pigovat (Composer) and Emile Cantor (Congress Host)
Prayer (1994-1995)
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Prayer (1994-1995)

  • Duration: ca. 6 minutes

I composed Prayer for Viola and Piano in 1994, after completing the third part of the Holocaust Requiem for Viola and Symphony Orchestra, Lacrimosa. I then collected materials for the fourth part of Requiem, Lux Aeterna. Therefore, Prayer is stylistically very similar to Requiem, and especially to Lux Aeterna. I even used one of the themes from Requiem: “Shema Yisrael”.

The “Shema Yisrael” theme opens and concludes Lux Aeterna. Hence, the best way to understand my expression of Prayer is by first listening to the Requiem recording, or at least to Lux Aeterna.

In 1995 I prepared the version of Prayer for Violin and Piano. In 2004, this version premiered in Carnegie Hall, in New York, performed by Carmit Zori (violin) and Gilbert Kalish (piano).

In 2010, the version Prayer for Viola and Piano was included in the “Requiem” CD launched by Atoll, performed by Donald Maurice (viola) and Richard Mapp (piano).

Both versions were published by the Israel Music Center – Music Publishing.

Below are recordings of two more great performances of both versions: by Gilad Karni (viola) and Anna Keiserman (piano), and by Litsa Tunnah (violin) and Petr Limonov (piano).

Version for Viola and Piano

Gilad Karni, Viola
Anna Keiserman, Piano
2016

Version for Violin and Piano

 Litsa Tunnah, Violin
 Petr Limonov, Piano
 2011

Nov, 2010: Launch of "Requiem" CD by Atoll, New Zealand
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Nov, 2010: Launch of "Requiem" CD by Atoll, New Zealand

In November 2010, two years after the performance of Requiem at the the Concert of Remembrance for Kristallnacht 1938 at Wellington, a live recording of the concert was released by Atoll. This recording also includes three of my other pieces, featuring my dear friend, Donald Maurice (viola), and other great performers. The CD includes the following pieces:

Prayer for Viola and Piano
Donald Mautice, Viola
Richard Mapp, Piano

Silent Music for Viola and Harp
Donald Maurice, Viola
Carolyn Mills, Harp

Nigun for String Quartet
Dominion String Quartet

Sep, 2023: the US premiere of the Holocaust Requiem
Sep, 2023: the US premiere of the Holocaust Requiem
Jun, 2015: NAXOS Records launched “Holocaust Requiem & Poem of Dawn” CD
Jun, 2015: NAXOS Records launched “Holocaust Requiem & Poem of Dawn” CD
Feb, 2014: “Lux Aeterna” from the Holocaust Requiem, Pittsburgh, USA
Feb, 2014: “Lux Aeterna” from the Holocaust Requiem, Pittsburgh, USA
Sept, 2012: “Requiem” CD received Pizzicato’s Supersonic Award
Sept, 2012: “Requiem” CD received Pizzicato’s Supersonic Award
Oct, 2011: Holocaust Requiem at the International Viola Congress, Wurzburg, Germany
Oct, 2011: Holocaust Requiem at the International Viola Congress, Wurzburg, Germany
Nov, 2008: Concert of Remembrance of 70th Anniversary of Kristallnacht, Wellington, New Zealand
Nov, 2008: Concert of Remembrance of 70th Anniversary of Kristallnacht, Wellington, New Zealand
Oct, 2001: Memorial evening dedicated to the Babi Yar tragedy, Kiev, Ukraine
Oct, 2001: Memorial evening dedicated to the Babi Yar tragedy, Kiev, Ukraine
Holocaust Requiem for Viola and Symphony Orchestra (1994-1995)
Holocaust Requiem for Viola and Symphony Orchestra (1994-1995)

Dwight Pounds reviewed the disc in the Journal Of The American Viola Society, he writes:

Completing the album and complementing the Requiem musically and emotionally are three small ensemble compositions, each by Boris Pigovat. The very dramatic and tragic Prayer was written the same year as the Lux Eterna (1994) and in fact shares at least one common theme. Silent Music, known in Hebrew as Nerot Neshama (Candles of the Soul), was written in 1997 in response to a particularly vicious terrorist attack. In Nigun, conceived originally for string orchestra, Pigovat’s goal is to give “expression to the tragic spirit which I feel in traditional Jewish music” by giving homage to the style and spiritual atmosphere of ancient tunes, but without quoting traditional melodies.

In 2012, the Requiem CD was awarded a Supersonic Award by the Luxembourg classical music magazine Pizzicato.

Below are some samples from the CD.

Live recording of "Requiem" (samples)

 

Donald Maurice, Viola
Mark Taddei, Conductor
Vector Wellington Orchestra

Part 4 “Lux Aeterna” published by Atoll in YouTube

Prayer for Viola and Piano (samples)

Donald Maurice, Viola
Richard Mapp, Piano

Silent Music for Viola and Harp

Donald Maurice, Viola
Carolyn Mills, Harp

Nigun for String Quartet (samples)

Dominion String Quartet

Donald Maurice’s solo playing vividly captures the music’s gamut of supplicatory emotion, while Marc Taddei and the orchestra provide an accompaniment richly-mixed with ambiences of faith and trust, doubt and fear. READ MORE

Peter Mechen
Middle C, Classical Music Reviews
Wellington, NZ
September 15, 2011

This is a most extraordinary release. I guarantee it contains music like you’ve never heard before and that will leave you emotionally shattered and physically drained. …the performance and the recording are stunning, impactful, and overwhelming.

Jerry Dubins
Fanfare Magazine
Junuary, 2012
Aug, 2010: Wind of Yemen at Mano a Mano, Bunol, Spain
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Aug, 2010: Wind of Yemen at Mano a Mano, Bunol, Spain

  • Duration: ca. 18 minutes
  • Picc, Fl, Ob, Bsn, P.Cl, 3 Cls, A.Cl, B.Cl, A.Sx, T.Sx, B.Sx, 4 Hns, 3 Cnts, 2 Tpts, 3 Tbns, Bar, Tba, Str. Bass, Timp, Perc (4-5)

The symphonic poem Wind of Yemen for Symphonic Wind Band was performed at Mano a Mano festival, in August 2010 in Bunol, Spain, by the CIM La Armónica de Buñol (Valencia), conducted by  Frank De Vuyst.

I was excited to receive an invitation to that event and to have an opportunity to work with such great performers!

More words are redundant, just listen to the recording from the concert, below.

Frank De Vuyst and CIM La Armónica de Buñol (Valencia)
After performance of "Wind of Yemen"
Left-to-right: Jose Corachan (President of C.I.M. 'La Armonica'), Luis Serrano Alacorn (composer, conductor of Symphonic Band Centre Artistic Musical de Betera, Spain), Victoriano Valencia (composer, Columbia), Gregory Fritze (composer, Chair of the Composition Department, Berklee College of Music, USA), Boris Pigovat, Frank De Vuyst (Music Director of C.I.M. 'La Armonica')
Left-to-right: Boris Pigovat, Victoriano Valencia (composer, Columbia), Frank De Vuyst (Music Director of C.I.M. 'La Armonica')
Mano a Mano 2010, Bunol, Spain (after the concert)
Lest We Forget (2009)
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Lest We Forget (2009)

For Symphonic Wind Band / For Symphony Orchestra

  • Duration: ca. 16 minutes
  • SWB: Picc, 2 Fls ( = Picc. 2,3), A.Fl, Ob, Bsn, P.Cl, 3 Cls, B.Cl, 2 A.Sxs, T.Sx, B.Sx, 4 Hns, 4 Tpts, 3 Tbns, Bar, Tba, Timp, Perc (4-5).
  • SO: Picc, 2 Fls ( = Picc 2, 3) 2 Obs, Eb Cl, 2 Cls, B.Cl, 2 Bsns, C-Bsn, 4 Hns, 3 Tpts, 2 Tbns, B. Tbn, Tba, Timp, Perc, Hp, Str.

Lest We Forget is a tone poem that begins with narration of the following text:

It was as in a dream:
I was standing at the top of the mountain and watching down at the Alpine valley. The view was marvelous – the green meadows surrounded by groves, small houses and herds. The pure mountain air rang as the most wonderful and fascinating music. Calm and serenity reigned at that corner of Paradise.
Suddenly I shuddered, because the name of the place I was standing was Kehlsteinhaus (the Eagle’s Nest). From this place had crawled out into the world a monster that brought suffering, torment and death to millions of people. This monster defiled and contaminated the all that it had touched; its stink poisoned the pure air. It was an absolute evil – self-satisfied, impudent, triumphant and bloodthirsty. This evil devastated the wonderful world that was full of Hope, turned it into the valley of weeping, the valley of sorrow, pain and tears.
If we forget about it, the monster will come back.

I conceived the composition in 1999, , but it  took me about 10 years to complete it.
In Hebrew, I named it Lo Tishkach! (Do not forget!); these words conclude the verse about Amalek from Deuteronomy (25:19).
That was also how I initially named the piece in English. But later I decided to rename it Lest we forget, a phrase that is inscribed on a monument for Holocaust victims that I was in Wellington.

The poem was written for symphonic wind band. In February, 2010, Michael Delman premiered it with the symphonic wind band of the Petah-Tikva Conservatoire.

In 2010, I prepared a version for symphony orchestra, which has not yet been performed.

Below is the recording from the premiere.

Petach-Tikva Conservatoire Symphonic Band
Michael DELMAN, Conductor