Stephen Paulus, Minnesota Orchestra, Osmo Vanska - To Be Certain Of The Dawn

Published Sunday 14th June 2009
Stephen Paulus, Minnesota Orchestra, Osmo Vanska - To Be Certain Of The Dawn
Stephen Paulus, Minnesota Orchestra, Osmo Vanska - To Be Certain Of The Dawn

STYLE: Choral
RATING 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
OUR PRODUCT CODE: 81872-
LABEL: BIS BISCD1726
FORMAT: CD Album
ITEMS: 1

Reviewed by Steven Whitehead

'To Be Certain Of The Dawn' was commissioned by the Basilica of St Mary in Minneapolis as a gift to the Temple Israel synagogue in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camps in 1945 and the 40th anniversary of the Vatican document 'Nostra Aetate'. The texts focus on the Jewish children - more than one and a half million of them - who were murdered during the Shoah and tries to give a message of hope for today's children. There are three main sections to the work: "Renewal", "Remembrance" and "Visions". It opens with three blasts from the ram's horn shofar before settling into a quietly ominous setting of the central prayer of the Jewish faith, the Sh'ma: "Hear, O Israel!" This is a serious work that deserves to be listened to seriously and is perhaps one of those pieces that work better in the concert hall where we are forced to give it our full attention. Any work of art that brings our attention to the horrors of the Holocaust has to be serious: God forbid that we look for entertainment in such a situation. And there lies the problem. Can I ask you to give an hour of your time to be reminded of man's inhumanity to man? If we do not want to be condemned to repeating the mistakes of the past then we must be confronted by the depths to which we are capable of sinking. Buy this CD, listen to it and think about what it is saying to us. The musicianship is first rate throughout, the booklet notes are helpful and the message is one we dare not ignore.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

Interested in reviewing music? Find out more here.

Reader Comments

Posted by Steven Whitehead in Buckinghamshire @ 20:46 on Jun 14 2009

But where's the review?



The opinions expressed in the Reader Comments are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms.

Add your comment

We welcome your opinions but libellous and abusive comments are not allowed.












We are committed to protecting your privacy. By clicking 'Send comment' you consent to Cross Rhythms storing and processing your personal data. For more information about how we care for your data please see our privacy policy.