Identifier
198
Date
2022
Document Type
Honors Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Music
Major
Music
Concentration
Music Education
Committee Chair
Randal Rushing
Abstract
American composer Lori Laitman has composed many pieces about stories from the Holocaust. This thesis presents a historical background, a theoretical analysis, commentary on compositional devices, and performance suggestions for one of those, Vedem Songs, a work Laitman began composing in 2009 as a full oratorio and later arranged for mezzo-soprano, tenor, clarinet, and piano. Vedem Songs tells the story of four residents of Home Number One in the Terezin ghetto who wrote, published, and disseminated an underground literary and political magazine while interned there through six poems that they wrote for the magazine. The poems speak of life before internment, life in the ghetto, and aspirations and fears for the future. By analyzing and providing commentary on this work, insight into Laitman's compositional process and resulting theoretical framework, understanding of the purpose of compositional choices, and expressive considerations for performers can be gained.
Library Comment
Honors thesis originally submitted to the Local University of Memphis Honor’s Thesis Repository.
Recommended Citation
Ward, Daniel John, "A Chorus of Thirty Thousand: A Theoretical Analysis and Performance Commentary on Laitman's Vedem Songs" (2022). Honors Theses. 126.
https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/honors_theses/126
Comments
Undergraduate Honor's Thesis