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Zlata Razdolina
Requiem: The Song of the Murdered Jewish People

[ CD Cover - 'Requiem: The Song of the Murdered Jewish People' ]

After the Poem by Itzhak Katzenelson

Composed by Zlata Razdolina
The Moravska Filharmonie Olomouc (The Czech Republic)
Victor Feldbrill (Conductor / Canada)

Anonin Hradil (Violin)
Zlata Razdolina (Vocal and Synthesizer)
Shlomo Blumberg (Production)

The Opening Bars of the Requiem (118k µ-law)

Zlata Razdolina

Itzhak Katzenelson

Requiem: The Song of the Murdered Jewish People

Part I

Introduction
Tempo giusto

I Play
Lento

Part II

Introduction
Lento dramatico

O My Agonies
Lento

Part III

Introduction
Andante e rubato

The Train Wagons
Andante con moto

Vocalize
Andante sostenuto

To the Heavens
Adagio doloroso

Part IV

Introduction
Adagio sostenuto

Warsaw
Lento

Part V

Introduction
Lento expressivo

Too Late
Lento

Part VI

Introduction
Allegro

The Synagogues Are on Fire
Allegro moderato; Andante

Part VII

In the Beginning of the End
Lento e rubato; Lento

Part VIII

Introduction
Marcia (moderato assai)

The Uprising
Lento e rubato (recitativo); Marcia

Part IX

Prayer
Lento espressivo

Part X

Rise Up, My People!
Lento (quasi marcia funebre); Lento

[ 'Requiem' Excerpt from CD Liner Notes Cover ]

Canto XV.15: It's All Over

Woe is unto me, nobody is left. . . There was a people and it is no more.
There was a people and it is. . . Gone. . .
What a tale. It began in the Bible and lasted till now. . . A very sad tale.
A tale that began with Amalek and concluded with the far crueller Germans. . .
O distant sky, wide earth, vast seas, Do not crush and don't destroy the wicked.
Let them destroy themselves!

    From The Song of the Murdered Jewish People
    By Itzhak Katzenelson  /  Translated by Noah H. Rosenbloom
    Israel: Beit Lohamei Haghetaot (Hakibbutz Hameuchad Publishing House, 1980)
    Copyright © 1980 by The Ghetto Fighter's House Ltd. (All Rights Reserved.)

[ Facsimile of Part of Katzenlelson's Manuscript ]
Facsimile from Katzenelson's Manuscript

Important Links

Zlata Razdolina's Official Web Site: Zlata Razdolina's Web page provides biographical information, an overview of the Requiem and a review by Michael Eisenstudt from The Jerusalem Post of the orchestral work. Zlata's official site also provides detailed descriptions of each of her other musical masterpieces. In addition, Zlata Razdolina's Web site provides many images and biographical information. (Note: Although Zlata's official Web site is in English, it has a section in Russian that includes multimedia content in WMV format.)

Zlata Razdolina — Interview with Seva Novgorodchev (in Russian): On 18 October 2003, Zlata Razdolina performed at a concert in Birmingham, England, and was interviewed by the famous BBC Russian program host, Seva Novgorodchev. At Seva.Ru, you may read the BBC interview and listen to the program (in Russian) — in RealPlayer or MP3 format. The interview provides interesting details about Zlata's personal and professional musical life/career. For example, she began learning to play the piano at age four, influenced by the fact that her brother and sister were already studying music — and her passion for music, even at such a young age. (In response to Zlata's revelation, Seva Novgorodchev makes a comparison between Razdolina and Mozart as child prodigies; Zlata, however, is very modest about her musical genius during the interview.) The interview covers Zlata's career chronologically, from her compositions based upon Russian poets (while living in Russia) — such as the great Anna Akhmatova — to her interest in writing compositions based upon Israeli poets after her immigration to Israel. (For information on Zlata's entire life and career, up to the present, please visit her official Web site.)

Zlata Razdolina: BBC London
(18 October 2003)

Composer Zlata Razdolina (Rozenfeld): Hosted by AnnaAkhmatova.org, this Web page in Russian provides a biography of Zlata Razdolina and several links that provide enlightening information about Zlata Razdolina's musical compositions.

Zlata Razdolina
(Akhmatova Fountain House)

Zlata Razdolina — ArtBoomer.com: This Web page presents a brief biography and overview of the career of Zlata Razdolina, along with information on how to contact Zlata.

Zlata Razdolina: Early Years - St. Petersburg, Russia
Zlata Razdolina
(St. Petersburg, Russia)

Zlata Razdolina — Classical Composers Database: The Classical Composers Database provides a brief profile of Zlata, along with relevant links. "Zlata Razdolina (Rozenfeld), composer, author and performer of her own music, was born in Leningrad (St. Petersburg). She began her career in 1978 performing her works in the artists' organization 'Lenconcert' in Leningrad. She is a Laureate of many national and international music competitions. Among her awards is her laureate at the all-Russian competition celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the Victory over Fascism (1985-Leningrad). The summit of her career in Russia were her Laureate awards for her musical setting of Anna Akhmatova's poem 'Requiem' in the national competitions in 1988 — Moscow and 1989 — Leningrad. Zlata was chosen to perform her composition 'Requiem' during the Anna Akhmatova centennial in 1989 at the Kremlin, Moscow. The 'Requiem', written for symphony orchestra, choir and soloists, was later performed in Finland, Sweden, the Czech Republic, USA and Israel."

Zlata Razdonina: Studio in Israel
Zlata Razdolina
(Studio in Israel)

Zlata Razdolina — The Musical Career of a Russian Jewish Composer: Zlata Razdolina: Composer, Author, Performer is a profile of Zlata Razdolina by the Union of Councils for Jews in the Former Soviet Union (UCSJ). The presentation focuses on her composition, Requiem: The Song for the Murdered Jewish People.

Zlata Razdolina: "I Can Still See Hilly Pavlovsk" (MP3): This 3-MB MP3 file is a recording of Zlata Razdolina performing her composition, "I Can Still See Hilly Pavlovsk," based upon the poem of, and with lyrics by, the great Russian poet, Anna Akhmatova. Zlata plays the piano and sings the vocals in Russian. (Warning: Please note the large size of this MP3 file.)

Anna Akhmatova

Ghetto Fighters' House — Holocaust and Jewish Resistance Heritage Museum (Beit Lohamei Haghetaot): The Ghetto Fighters' House was "founded in 1949 by Holocaust survivors, ghetto fighters and partisans, who settled in the Western Galilee and set up Kibbutz Lochme Hagetaot on the main road from Acre to Naharia." At first, the Ghetto Fighters' House was primarily a documentation center; now, it is a museum, research institute, and education center. (Individuals in the United States may be interested in visiting the Web site of The American Friends of The Ghetto Fighters' House, which is the American office of The Ghetto Fighters' House. Copies of Rosenbloom's English translation of Katzenelson's The Song of the Murdered Jewish People can be ordered from The American Friends of The Ghetto Fighters' House.)

"May this elegy and Requiem bear witness to the millions of Jews murdered by the Nazis, and be an eternal warning to the generations born after the Holocaust."

Last Updated: 22 December 2005

Return to David Dickerson's Home Page.

This presentation is made possible by the nonprofit IGC Networks.

In Memory of Zlata Razdolina's Beloved Mother, Asia Rozenfeld
— Aleha ha-Shalom —