”L’ombra che Porta il Sogno” was commissioned by the Italian music institution Tempo Reale, a center for musical production, research and education, founded in Florence by Luciano Berio. The piece was premiered during the yearly concert ”La giornata della memoria”, which took place in Florence on January 27, 2005, in collaboration with the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino Orchestra. The concert was dedicated to the memory of children who were victims of the Holocaust.

”To compose a narrative piece of music to commemorate the Sho’ah is indeed a difficult task. I accepted this invitation with dread and trepidation.

The events are so horrible and hard to believe, to be true; the subject itself awakens such a myriad of emotions that it is easy to fall into rhetoric statements, thus enabling the listener to avoid real solidarity and sincere empathy with the victims in the horrific trials they faced. This approach makes their memory profane. The magnitude of events is such that only the words of direct witnesses can forestall repudiation of the catastrophe. Documents and concrete evidence are able, through their silence, to tell the story faithfully. Any outside commentary or artistic manipulation runs the risk that the most important sound will not be heard at all: the howl of silence.

I therefore decided, in this work, to present documents in a metaphorical sense. Various types of traditional Hebraic music appear among the shouts of children at play; an ancient Hebraic chant against the clamor of an ecstatic crowd. All of these are inserted into an actual musical theater context.

Regarding the choice of texts assigned to the two children’s choirs, I turned to the actual writings of children imprisoned in Terezin, choosing those which spoke of hope, or joy, or praise for the enchanting beauty of the creation. Their simple words surge forth like a hymn, full of life.

These texts, together with the recorded voices of a little girl and boy, grandchildren of a Holocaust survivor, represent the sheer power of the spirit which triumphs over evil, over all the cruel forces that were at work during what was one of the darkest periods of human history.

I dedicate this composition to all the children, regardless of ethnic background, culture or religion, who are innocent victims of war.”

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Betty Olivero

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Text for L’ombra che porta il sogno

(edited by Betty Olivero)