For 75th Anniversary of Liberation of Auschwitz, Poet Dana Sandler Sets Poems to Music

Poet Dana Sandler of Newton, Massachusetts, has put poems written in the Terezin concentration camp during the Holocaust to music, reports JewishBoston. Based on a famous children's book, I Never Saw Another Butterfly, Sandler's "album of the same name features the poetry of five children." More, from Judy Bolton-Fasman:

“The overall concept of the album is to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau,” Sandler said. “I also want to honor the voices of those who were silenced too soon. My music is also a response to the rise of antisemitism and the overall hate in this climate. It’s so important to talk about this history today. For example, I’ve seen the artwork of separated children [at the U.S. southern border] who have drawn pictures of themselves in cages. These pictures are eerily similar to the artwork in the book. It alludes to the importance that the Holocaust happened not that long ago. It can happen again if we don’t talk about it.”

Sandler, a vocalist and composer, said that as she was writing, she was conscious of the work’s musical arc. Each of the song-cycles starts on a heartbreaking note but ends in a hopeful place. “There is beauty in those young poets’ words despite what they were going through,” she said. “My intention was to see their hopes and dreams go forward musically. The poems have classical settings, and each section has an instrumental dedication to set up the tone, the rhythmic figure and the center for the poems. There are also little hints of pieces from other parts that connect all four sections.”

Read on at JewishBoston.