In
England’s Canterbury Cathedral, one of the world’s great centers of
Christianity, the premiere of the Holocaust Requiem was given in June
1986 under the auspices of the United Nations, the German Government,
the International Council of Christians and Jews, and the Institute of
Jewish Music. This was the centerpiece of the first B’nai Brith
Festival, and a landmark ecumenical event, broadcast with several
repeats by the BBC, reported worldwide by Reuters and featured in
numerous journals.
The Holocaust Requiem is dedicated to the million and a half children who suffered and died under the Nazi regime. Surviving poems and diaries by child prisoners of Terezin (Theresienstadt) are set for children’s voices. The adult choir frames these children’s settings with mainly liturgical texts chosen as common to both Jewish and Christian tradition.The texts were collated by Rabbi Albert Friedlander, OBE, the Director of the Council of Christians and Jews. A Narrator links together the musical forces: two choirs, a Cantor, two soloists, orchestra. At the Canterbury Cathedral premiere, the Narrator was the late Rabbi Hugo Gryn, himself an Auschwitz survivor.
Before this historic performance, the Dean of Canterbury spoke from the pulpit of the historical rift between Christianity and Judaism, and hoped that this event would be one of many in a new era of dialogue. His broadcast words were heard by millions.
