Vocal(/Choral) Composition of the Day, Installment 10: "The Scattered Leaves": a Piece for Jewish Holocaust Remembrance for Solo Voice (or Unison Chorus) and Piano; Text by Joseph H. Albeck (1995, Revised 2005)
I composed "The Scattered Leaves" during an extended period of time in which I was coming to grips with being an adult who is a child of two Jewish Holocaust survivors. I suppose, though, that no one in my situation can ever say that this emotional process is not a never-ending one, but in many ways I have "made my peace with it", perhaps as much as one can at age 65.
The text is by my old friend, Joseph H. Albeck, of Newton, Massachusetts. Best known as a psychiatrist, Joseph, who is also a child of Holocaust survivors which is how we met, additionally writes poetry about it as one of his ways of coping with this common situation of ours. Joseph and I collaborated on writing three Jewish Holocaust remembrance pieces in the 1990s: "A Psalm Beyond the Silences", "There Is a Name", and "The Scattered Leaves".
Follow the next link to view a new synthesized YouTube music video of the version for solo voice (or unison chorus) and piano that I just created to encourage live performances.
Follow the next link to view a YouTube music video of the version for SATB chorus and piano performed by The Philovox Ensemble, Jane Ring Frank, conductor, Scott Nicholas, piano.
"The Scattered Leaves" is available from ECS Publishing Group in two versions: the one I am featuring today for solo voice (or unison chorus) and piano, Catalog No. 6841, and one for mixed chorus and piano, Catalog No. 6842. Follow the next link to visit the publisher's product page for the version for solo voice (or unison chorus) and piano.
Follow the next link to visit the publisher's product page for the version for mixed chorus and piano.
I hope you enjoy "The Scattered Leaves". Thank you for your time and attention.
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Editorial: A plea to musicians of all kinds: PERFORM JEWISH-CENTRIC MUSIC!
So much of Jewish-centric music has been and continues to be ignored, or worse, boycotted, today because of the crazy, divisive, upside-down times in which we live. A rich treasure-trove of Jewish-centric music exists.
Explore creative programming options from the time of the Renaissance through the music of today. Many reliable databases of sacred and secular Jewish-centric music exist.
Contact me for more programming ideas about my Jewish-centric music, and the music of countless other composers and arrangers, who include both Jews and Gentiles. I will be happy to help point you in whatever direction I am able.
If you are truly devoted to diversity, then you simply cannot arbitrarily exclude the music of a culture that is over 3500 years old because of geopolitics; to do so is the height of hypocrisy. Embrace and perform Jewish music as you would the music of any other culture.
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Stanley M. Hoffman, PhD
Link to my website: https://www.stanleymhoffman.com
Biography Published in Grove Music Online (The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Oxford University Press)
https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/browse?btog=chap&pageSize=20&sort=titlesort&subSite=grovemusic&t=music_People%3A18&t0=music_Topics%3A78
The "Stanley M. Hoffman Special Collection" was established at The Berklee College of Music Library Archive in January 2025. It will take whatever time is necessary for the archive to catalog my collection and make it available to the public.
Website: https://archives.berklee.edu
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