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Holocaust-related music | Holocaust music | Holocaust songs | Jewish Holocaust music | WWII music compositions | Holocaust memorial compositions | Holocaust music history | Holocaust-themed oratorio | Jewish choral compositions | Holocaust remembrance music | Holocaust documentary music | Holocaust composers | Jewish WWII music | Holocaust musical tributes | Holocaust educational music

HOLOCAUST-RELATED MUSIC

AND THE TRAINS KEPT COMING...

oratorio

Duration:

44 minutes
 

Instrumentation:   

soloists:

tenor solo; bass baritone solo

narrator I: basso profundo (amplified)

narrator II:  baritone (amplified)

chorus:

boy mezzo-soprano; various soloists from the chorus; chorus – SATB   
 

orchestra:

2 flutes, 1 oboe; 2 clarinets; 1 bassoon; 2 horns; 2 trumpets; 3 trombones; 3 percussion ; harp; 
piano + celesta (one player); strings 

Year Composed:  

2007

Text:

Authentic documents, memos, letters,
telegrams, notes, newspaper ads and speeches. 

Language:

English, German, Polish

Written For:

Cantata Singers Boston
David Hoose – music director

Commissioned By:
Cantata Singers Boston
David Hoose – music director

Premiere Performance:

18 January 2008
Boston, USA
The Cantata Singers (Boston)
James Petosa, narrator
Jason McDowell-Green, narrator
Rockland Osgood, tenor
David Kravitz, baritone
Frederick Metzger, boy-soprano
Karyl Ryczek, soprano
Carola Emrich-Fischer, alto
David Hoose, conductor

holocaust-related music

HOLOCAUST-RELATED MUSIC

Program Notes:

The horrifying stories and testimonies from prisoners in the Nazi death camps became known only gradually, reported to the Allies by survivors, intelligence agencies, and local residents near the camps. It is hard to believe that the world, even as it was immersed in the problems of war, could not grasp the scale of the tragedy unfolding at the death camps, and when it did, it did not act decisively.

Could the Allies have done anything? It is true that the British people had to endure the Blitz and defend their country's existence, while the Americans, following the attack on Pearl Harbor, found themselves engaged on multiple fronts. When exhausted armies struggled to preserve their nations, when food was scarce and blood was spilled in every major European city—could anyone have had the means and resolve to halt the mass murder of six million Jews, half a million Gypsies, at least 250,000 mentally or physically disabled individuals, and over three million Soviet prisoners-of-war?

Did the Allies know what was happening in the camps? The answer is yes, but awareness came in stages. Initially, only a few intelligence reports mentioned the killings in Eastern Europe. Later, testimonies from fortunate escapees from the Nazi inferno arrived, yet these were often dismissed as exaggerated or delusional. There was also a phase of denial: although corroborating testimonies indicated that the publicly declared Nazi goal—extermination of all Jews—was being actively pursued, few comprehended the full extent of the figures, horrors, and inhumanity. This denial persisted even among Jewish communities in the United Kingdom, the United States, and the future state of Israel.

At the outset of the war, Allied armies were indeed unable to reach Eastern Europe. However, from August 1944 onwards, Allied aircraft frequently flew over the death camps, which continued to operate at full capacity. Despite thousands of bombs falling on Germany and hundreds of appeals flooding the war departments of the British and US armies, why was no order given to bomb the Auschwitz rail tracks and other camps, not to mention the gas chambers and crematoria? Such actions might have prevented thousands of deaths. Survivors' reports even mention their desperate hope to be bombed by Allied planes, seeing it as preferable to the certain death awaiting them in the gas chambers. Why was nothing done?

With these questions in mind, I began researching various archives, examining authentic letters, memos, telegrams, protocols, and other forms of Allied communication. Many of these documents had previously been classified as "secret" or "confidential." The findings were shocking. The slow wheels of bureaucracy, indifferent diplomats and decision-makers, officers in remote offices treating victims and refugees as mere statistics on a page, responding to matters of life and death with bureaucratic detachment—all contributed to inaction. In some cases, particularly within the British Colonial Office handling refugees, officers at all levels obstructed, delayed, and redirected refugees, thereby condemning many to death. While Allied high command often expressed sympathy for refugees in emotional statements, subordinate actions rarely reflected this compassion.

These bureaucratic documents, written in a robotic and self-serving manner, contrast starkly with another form of "efficiency"—the chilling bureaucratic correspondence of the Nazis: train schedules detailing origins, destinations, times, and numbers of "passengers." Upon return, these trains traveled empty, adhering strictly to schedule. For me, trains have always symbolized freedom—discovering new landscapes, movement, and optimism. Here, however, these trains represent horror, with eighty to one hundred people crammed into cattle cars without water or food, traveling for days or weeks, standing on the bodies of the deceased, headed towards an "unknown destination."

And yet, behind all this cold correspondence, the real suffering belongs to individuals. Through my research, I uncovered hundreds of testimonies—from those trapped in the trains to camp escapees, adults recounting childhood experiences, witnesses to Allied planes flying over Auschwitz, and even a woman who miraculously survived the gas chamber. I found heart-wrenching letters and farewell notes hidden in barracks' crevices by prisoners on their final days. This personal side to official inaction and vicious action stands in stark contrast to the dry, mechanical bureaucratic communications.

Thus, And the Trains Kept Coming… juxtaposes these heartbreaking documents with the cold, calculated ones, gradually revealing the tragedy. Structured as a series of unstaged scenes, the work changes rapidly, each contributing a new perspective to the broader narrative. Unlike an opera where each singer typically portrays one character, the vocal soloists, narrators, and choir embody multiple roles, often conflicting with each other. The distinction between good and bad blurs—a sentiment echoed by many survivors. The choir, for instance, serves as the voice of the people, akin to a Greek chorus, propelling the plot forward. The entire work unfolds in one movement, progressing chronologically through historical developments.

While And the Trains Kept Coming… focuses on the Holocaust and its profound impact, it also reflects humanity's capacity to turn a blind eye to the suffering of others, a phenomenon that persists to this day—from genocide in Darfur to crises in the Middle East to homelessness alongside local drugstores.

I extend my gratitude and credit to the following individuals and institutions:

- Evan Fallenberg – Hebrew to English translations, English text consultant
- Carola Emrich – German translation
- Blanka Bednarz – Polish consultant
- Markus Goessl and Inge Huhn – assistance with German documents
- Yad Vashem Archives, Jerusalem, Israel
- Central Zionist Archives, Jerusalem, Israel
- Joseph Wulf Bibliothek, Wannsee, Germany
- The MacDowell Colony, Peterborough, NH, USA

And the Trains Kept Coming… was commissioned by the Cantata Singers, David Hoose, Music Director, in Boston, MA, 2007. It is the third work in the Cantata Singers' Slavery Documents series.

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Score of And the Trains Kept Coming... Holocaust-related Oratorio

Holocaust-Related Choral Music

Works Composed During the Holocaust (or immediately after, reflecting immediate experiences)

 

  • Gideon Klein: (Died in Auschwitz, 1944)

  • Bachuri Le'an Tisa (Boy's Chorus, 1942) - Composed in Terezín.

  • The First Sin (TTBB, T solo, 1942) - Composed in Terezín.

  • Two Madrigals (SSATB, 1943) - Composed in Terezín.

  • Pavel Haas: (Died in Auschwitz, 1944)

  • Al Sefod (TTBB, 1942) - Composed in Terezín.

  • Viktor Ullmann: (Died in Auschwitz, 1944)

  • Five Choruses for Women's Choir (SSA, c. 1942–44) - Composed in Terezín.

  • Three Choruses for Men's Choir (TTB, c. 1942–44) - Composed in Terezín.

  • Three Hebrew Choruses for Children (SSA, c. 1942–44) - Composed in Terezín.

  • Two Hebrew Choruses for Mixed Choir (SATB, c. 1942–44) - Composed in Terezín.

  • Mordechai Gebirtig: (Died in Kraków Ghetto, 1942)

  • Es brent (It's Burning) (1938) - Though pre-Holocaust, it became a prophetic anthem of the impending tragedy. Originally a song, often performed chorally.

  • Hirsh Glik: (Died near Estonia, 1944)

  • Zog nit keyn mol (Never Say) / Partisaner Himn (The Partisan Hymn) (1943) 

  • Lazar Weiner: Gele Late (Yellow Patch) (SATB, 1947) 

Works for Chorus and Orchestra (Reflections)

  • Arnold Schoenberg:

    • A Survivor from Warsaw, Op. 46 (Narrator, Men's Chorus, Orchestra, 1947) 

  • Dmitri Shostakovich:

    • Symphony No. 13 in B-flat minor, Op. 113, "Babi Yar" (Bass Solo, Bass Chorus, Orchestra, 1962) 

  • Krzysztof Penderecki:

    • Dies Irae (Oratorio for Soprano, Tenor, Bass, Mixed Chorus, and Orchestra, 1967) - Subtitled Oratorium Ob memoriam in perniciei castris Oświęcim necatorum (Oratorio in memory of those murdered in the Auschwitz camps).

    • Kadisz (Kaddish) (Tenor, Baritone, Children's Chorus, Male Choir, Orchestra, 2009)

  • Sir Michael Tippett:

    • A Child of Our Time (Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano, Tenor, Bass, Mixed Chorus, Orchestra, 1939–1941) - While not exclusively about the Holocaust, it was inspired by the events leading up to WWII and the Kristallnacht pogrom, and deals with oppression and human suffering. It includes spirituals within its structure.

  • Lori Laitman:

    • Vedem: A Holocaust Oratorio (Boychoir, Mezzo-soprano, Tenor, Clarinet, Violin, Cello, Piano, 2010; revised 2019) - Uses texts from the boys of the Vedem magazine in Terezín. 

  • Lior Navok:

    • And the Trains Kept Coming... (Soloists, Narrators, Mixed Chorus, Orchestra, 2007) - A large-scale oratorio juxtaposing bureaucratic documents with survivor testimonies.

  • Charles Davidson:

    • I Never Saw Another Butterfly (SA Chorus, Piano or Orchestra, 1971) - Sets poems by children from Terezín.

  • Samuel Adler:

    • Stars in the Dust (Mixed Chorus, Chamber Ensemble/Orchestra, 1986)

  • Lawrence Siegel:

    • Kaddish (Holocaust Oratorio, specific instrumentation can vary, often chorus, soloists, orchestra) - A major work using texts written by survivors.

  • Aharon Charlap:

    • The Fire and the Mountains (Ha-Eish VeHeHarim) (Mixed Chorus, Soloists, Narrator, and Orchestra, 1980)

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