Eric Kisch [SMTP:[log in to unmask]] wrote:

>You mention Britten in the list of composers - are you referring to the War
>Requiem? I don't see this as being specifically a Holocaust composition.

I was thinking of that, but I was stretching.  However, there's also a
little-known work called The Children's Crusade, as well as parts of Our
Hunting Fathers ("Rats away!") and the Spring Symphony ("Out on the lawn").

>On the subject of Gorecki and this 3rd symphony, ...  of all the music
>I've heard that tries to come to grips with that monumental desecration of
>humanity, the Gorecki succeeds the most.  ...  It resonates, as in a weird
>parallel, so does Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan," his homage to WWII
>films that tries to make some sense of that war for a contemporary audience
>50 years removed from those events.

It obviously does resonate (although not particularly with me; there's
other Gorecki I like better), and I think it's due to his canniness at
realizing the power inherent in conventions - which, after all, are what
we think is true.

Steve Schwartz