# Compositions dedicated to commemorating victims?



## Chrythes (Oct 13, 2011)

What compositions do you know of that commemorate the victims of violence, or serve as musical memorials?

The only ones I am aware of are so far these - 

Shostakovich's 8th string quartet, though it's dubious, as the Wikipedia article states - "According to the score, it is dedicated "to the victims of fascism and war"; his son, Maxim, interprets this as a reference to the victims of all totalitarianism, while his daughter Galina says that he dedicated it to himself, and that the published dedication was imposed by the Russian authorities. Shostakovich's friend, Lev Lebedinsky, said that Shostakovich thought of the work as his epitaph and that he planned to commit suicide around this time."

Shostakovich's 11th symphony - the 1905 revolution, Bloody Sunday. Possibly a "Requiem for a generation".

Penderecki - Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima.
But according to the Wikipedia article, it wasn't originally written in memory of the victims, only later Penderecki dedicated it to them. 

Beethoven - Fidelio. "...a story of personal sacrifice, heroism and eventual triumph (the usual topics of Beethoven's "middle period") with its underlying struggle for liberty and justice mirroring contemporary political movements in Europe."


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Benjamin Lees. A symphony.


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

Schoenberg, A Survivor from Warsaw, one of the truest memorials to the Holocaust ever written.


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## ahammel (Oct 10, 2012)

I'm not familiar with his work, but didn't Luigi Nono make rather a specialty of these?


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Some others, commemorating events of WW II:

Martinu:"Memorial to Lidice" http://www.allmusic.com/composition...tník-lidicím-for-orchestra-h-296-mc0002413038

Shostakovich:"Symphony no.13, Babi Yar" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_No._13_(Shostakovich)

Gunther Kochan:"Die Asche von Birkenau", cantata http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Die_Asche_von_Birkenau

Boris Tchaikovsky:"Sebastopol Symphony" http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2005/apr05/tchaikovskyb_sebastopol_CHAN10299H.htm;

- and some for other events:

Janacek: Piano Sonata "I.X.1905"; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1._X._1905 The Postnikova recording (Erato) is unusually moving.

Janacek:"From the House of the Dead", opera http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_the_House_of_the_Dead

Stravinsky:"Elegy for JFK" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elegy_for_J.F.K.

Pettersson:"Vox Humana Cantata" http://allanpettersson100.blogspot.dk/2012/04/vox-humana-1974.html;

Pettersson:"Symphony no.12, The Dead in the Square" http://www.classical.net/music/recs/reviews/c/cpo77146a.php

Elgar:"A Voice in the Desert" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Une_voix_dans_le_désert.


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## ahammel (Oct 10, 2012)

And this is dubious, but Haydn's War Masses might count.


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

ahammel said:


> I'm not familiar with his work, but didn't Luigi Nono make rather a specialty of these?


Yes, and it's no coincidence that he thought of A Survivor from Warsaw as being the most representative piece of 20th century music, because of its bent towards protest against atrocities.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Adams, "On the Transmigration of Souls," for the victims of the 9/11 attacks.


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

_Requiem_ by Roman Maciejewski was conceived by it's author as a work written in memory of victims of all wars in history, but the major influence were World War II events:


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

Malcolm Arnold - Peterloo Overture
John Adams - The Wound Dresser
Bright Sheng - Nanking! Nanking!


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## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

Richard Strauss, _Metamorphosen_. From the Wiki article on that piece: "It is widely believed that Strauss wrote the work as a statement of mourning for Germany's destruction during the war, in particular as an elegy for devastating bombing of Munich".


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## ahammel (Oct 10, 2012)

Ralph Vaughan Williams, symphony 3 is a war memorial piece.


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

SiegendesLicht said:


> statement of mourning for Germany's destruction during the war


Sorry, this is thread about works commemorating victims, not culprits who got hit in return.


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## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

Aramis said:


> Sorry, this is thread about works commemorating victims, not culprits who got hit in return.


Obviously, Strauss believed that the civilian citizens of Munich, Dresden, Hamburg and other cities that were destroyed by Allied air raids, were _also_ human beings and deserved to be mourned. I happen to believe the same, by the way.


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## Mahlerian (Nov 27, 2012)

Strauss was against the Nazi party and the war that they engaged in. He wrote several anti-war works around that time.


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## Aramis (Mar 1, 2009)

SiegendesLicht said:


> Obviously, Strauss believed that the civilian citizens of Munich, Dresden, Hamburg and other cities that were destroyed by Allied air raids, were _also_ human beings and deserved to be mourned. I happen to believe the same, by the way.


Your quote from wikipedia didn't include the whole sentence: "(...) an elegy for devastating bombing of Munich, especially places such as the Munich Opera House". Having read about the piece some time ago in other sources, I recall that most of associations have indeed more to do with this kind of destruction of German "heritage" than with the common people dying in the bombings. In this context, my comment stands firmly, as Germany earned this descruction with heavy efforts to destroy cultural and historical heritage of other nations during WWII.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Aramis said:


> Your quote from wikipedia didn't include the whole sentence: "(...) an elegy for devastating bombing of Munich, especially places such as the Munich Opera House". Having read about the piece some time ago in other sources, I recall that most of associations have indeed more to do with this kind of destruction of German "heritage" than with the common people dying in the bombings. In this context, my comment stands firmly, as Germany earned this descruction with heavy efforts to destroy cultural and historical heritage of other nations during WWII.


Germany as in the government earned destruction. "Strategic" bombing is an abomination no matter who are the victims.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Here's a link to the clip from the Boston Symphony broadcast the day of Kennedy's assassination:

http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2013/11/22/music-to-mourn-by/


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## EricABQ (Jul 10, 2012)

Ukko said:


> Here's a link to the clip from the Boston Symphony broadcast the day of Kennedy's assassination:
> 
> http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2013/11/22/music-to-mourn-by/


What an incredible moment to be captured on audio. Chilling.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

Ukko said:


> Germany as in the government earned destruction. "Strategic" bombing is an abomination no matter who are the victims.


An easy morality. The strategic atomic bombing of two Japanese cities killed about 200 thousand people but resulted in speedy capitulation, thus saving probably between 5 and 10 million more Japanese lives. Which was the better path?


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

The better path would have been to demonstrate the power of the weapon at first, and then select military targets afterwards.


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## KenOC (Mar 7, 2011)

joen_cph said:


> The better path would have been to demonstrate the power of the weapon at first, and then select military targets afterwards.


This was discussed at the time and rejected, for reasons that seemed good then. An interesting subject to research -- most of the first-level material is easily available on Wiki.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

KenOC said:


> An easy morality. The strategic atomic bombing of two Japanese cities killed about 200 thousand people but resulted in speedy capitulation, thus saving probably between 5 and 10 million more Japanese lives. Which was the better path?


You are right; it's an easy call.


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## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

Fascinating as the morality of strategic bombing may be it is a) off topic and b) a political or religious topic not related directly to classical music. To quote the T&Cs:



> A special forum has been created for Political and/or Religious discussions that are related to Classical Music. If members wish to create topics for discussion regarding political and religious topics not related to Classical Music, such will be strictly limited to Social Groups only. As always, the same rules apply to Social Groups as they do on the open boards.


Please get back on topic.


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## Ukko (Jun 4, 2010)

Taggart said:


> Fascinating as the morality of strategic bombing may be it is a) off topic and b) a political or religious topic not related directly to classical music. To quote the T&Cs:
> 
> Please get back on topic.


You are absolutely right; the topic is bad enough without strategic bombing. BTW that's ToS in common TC Admin parlance.


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## quack (Oct 13, 2011)

Toshio Hosokawa - Voiceless Voice In Hiroshima






Bruno Letort - Requiem pour Tchernobyl






Nancy Van de Vate - Chernobyl


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## SarahO (Nov 16, 2013)

http://www.academia.edu/2170773/Tragedy_Trauerspiel_and_Transcendence_Beethovens_Heroic_Egmont_Overture

http:/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsI0yTC7bic/

Beethoven's Egmont Overture ...dedicated to commemorating the death of Count Egmont.


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## Blake (Nov 6, 2013)

Edit: Wrong topic.


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## Alydon (May 16, 2012)

Benjamin Britten's War Requiem must count as one of the greatest utterances against the futility of war and the anguish of the victims of war.


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## jim prideaux (May 30, 2013)

Steve Reich-Different Trains


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## quack (Oct 13, 2011)

Peter Eötvös - Seven (Columbia space shuttle)





Alfred Schnittke - Nagasaki





Dmitri Shostakovich - Symphony No. 13 (Babi Yar massacre)





Wojciech Kilar - Requiem Father Kolbe





Bechara El Khoury - New-York, Tears and Hope (9/11)

Not classical but there is also this interesting set _People Take Warning: Murder Ballads & Disaster Songs, 1913-1938_. Three CDs: Man vs. Man, Man vs. Machine and Man vs. Nature documenting many tragedies.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

SiegendesLicht said:


> Richard Strauss, _Metamorphosen_. From the Wiki article on that piece: "It is widely believed that Strauss wrote the work as a statement of mourning for Germany's destruction during the war, in particular as an elegy for devastating bombing of Munich".


*Richard Strauss* wrote "In Memoriam" on the score, but to who or what exactly its in memory of, we don't exactly know. Munich does figure there, since he was devastated by the bombing of the opera house there, a place that meant a lot to him. The funeral march from Beethoven's Eroica symphony quoted at the end of this piece is also some kind of clue or cryptic comment. Another thing is he wrote it whilst in exile in Switzerland, I think his home was commandeered after the war by the Americans and he became a refugee. After de-Nazification, Strauss' name was cleared and he returned to Germany.

Re *Shostakovich*, Symphony #11 is taken by some to be a veiled comment on the events in Budapest in 1956, when it was composed, and less about 1905. So too there are subtexts to the String Quartet #8, Shostakovich joined the Communist party at that time, and felt it to be a moral death. It coincided with a visit to Dresden, which was fire bombed by the allies. In terms of Babi Yar symphony too, there is the issue of how the text had to be watered down. Nevertheless, the text as it remains roundly condemns all sorts of anti-Semitism - not only that which was promulgated by the Nazis, but by the Russians themselves (Stalin was just as anti-Semitic as Hitler, and some say he turned a blind eye to those events, and war criminals continued to live there after liberation without being punished).

Other works by Shostakovich which incorporate Jewish themes serve to underline what he saw as the similarities between what was happening to the Jews under Nazism with Stalin's war on his own people. Eg. Violin Concerto #1 (written for the drawer and not performed until after Stalin's death), String Quartet #4 (banned), Piano Trio #2 (in effect banned, its performance after the premiere heavily discouraged, people left the venue weeping).


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## PetrB (Feb 28, 2012)

Pendercki's Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima was named by the composer, after the fact of composition and the first title he had for it, "8'37." Even with the association, and that the piece fits the qualification of a threnody, none of that was in his mind when he was composing the piece, or immediately after its completion or its premiere performance.

ADDING:
Gavin Bryars ~ Cadman Requiem, for an acquaintance killed in the Pan American flight downed by a terrorist bomb over Lockerbie, Scotland, which also claimed the lives of a number of the local residents of the town.


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## Ebab (Mar 9, 2013)

Aramis said:


> Your quote from wikipedia didn't include the whole sentence: "(...) an elegy for devastating bombing of Munich, especially places such as the Munich Opera House". Having read about the piece some time ago in other sources, I recall that most of associations have indeed more to do with this kind of destruction of German "heritage" than with the common people dying in the bombings. In this context, my comment stands firmly, as Germany earned this descruction with heavy efforts to destroy cultural and historical heritage of other nations during WWII.


"The Germans" "earned" it. They started this kind of warfare, and they got it back. It seems "only fair" in war, particularly in a war that was as evidently a one-sided aggression as WWII was.

"The Germans" affected, of course, includes all sorts: Genuine Nazis, politically ignorant, negligent or naive people, and adversaries of the regime (not to forget the many prisoners or refugees of other nationalities whose bad luck had them at one of those places at that wrong time). The "casualties" of war don't differentiate; as the German aggression certainly didn't.

I certainly don't want to play human lives against cultural heritage. In the moment, human fates are all that counts. Still, I oppose the notion of "it's only an opera house, so why would I care".

I've been to the cities of Dresden or Würzburg, enjoyed what, sometimes miraculously, can still be experienced there, but all the more, felt the the loss of cultural heritage caused by allied WWII attacks. They were substantial, and the results make you feel like looking into an abyss. At the same time I'm so aware of the devastation and heartbreak that we Germans did not only to individual human lives, not only to cities like Coventry, not only to countless soldiers, civilians, their relatives and friends, to cultural landmarks, but to individuals and a social culture in a vast area entirely, namely the Jewish, and that especially with the infamous German efficiency.

So, finally, what am I getting at? I mourn the victims, and I feel the shame. I feel the cultural losses, and I feel that they are _everybody_'s losses, not only German losses, not only allied losses, but losses for _humanity_. So: when we've buried our victims, considered the insurmountable grief that we've caused to others, there is a place also to consider the loss of historical buildings and artifacts.

I don't know what Richard Strauss really felt, or, at his age and at that particular point in history, how to "judge" his priorities. But if he felt like expressing sorrow over a building burned to the ground that once had housed humanly inspiring events, I'm with him.


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

Ebab said:


> ...
> So, finally, what am I getting at? I mourn the victims, and I feel the shame. I feel the cultural losses, and I feel that they are _everybody_'s losses, not only German losses, not only allied losses, but losses for _humanity_. So: when we've buried our victims, considered the insurmountable grief that we've caused to others, there is a place also to consider the loss of historical buildings and artifacts.


I think that how you expressed it there is how I see Metamorphosen. I see it as a lament for the destruction caused by the war, for the whole thing. It is inextricably tied up with the life of the composer, but exactly how is a mystery and I like that sense of questioning and lack of a clear "programme" to the piece. Maybe he didn't know either, he did say that he didn't know how the Eroica quote got there in the end, it just came to him. Technically this work is amazing, all 23 string players are soloists in their own right and they also join as a whole, in unison throughout the work. And for once, Strauss the great composer of tone poems which represent all manner of physical phenomena - from storms to sheeps bleating and such things - goes within himself to do this piece without such things to hang onto, in effect an emotional stream of consciousness.

I have heard this work a number of times live, and it continues to fascinate me, but its always a profound experience and not that easy a journey to go onto. On the whole I am not a fan of his music, I enjoy it to some degree, however this piece is among my favourites in the string orchestra repertoire. That says something, its unique in his output and overall in the repertoire too.

I was judgemental of Strauss once, but not so much now. It is a similar issue with Shostakovich, its only relatively recently I have been able to sense the irony in such works as his Symphony #5, which before I considered not much more than Stalinist agitprop. These issues are very complex, and yes they are emotional. What I think is important is to remember these histories and commemorate them.

Anyway here are some others:

*Kurt Weill* _Berliner Requiem _- dedicated to Rosa Luxembourg, the murderd Communist leader

*Theodorakis* March of the Spirit - Oedipus Tyranus, dedicated to victims of the military coup in Greece, the composer had just escaped from a concentration camp there before composing it.

*Peter Sculthorpe* has written a number of works, one is _Port Essington _that looks at the conflict between whites and Aboriginals in colonial times, others are _Port Arthur In Memoriam_, for victims of the massacre there in 1996, others to victims of natural disasters such as the bushfires of 2009, _Anthem for Australia_.


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