HOLOCAUST-THEMED VOCAL MUSIC
Contemporary Vocal Music Reflecting Holocaust Memory
Classical music inspired by the Holocaust often seeks to give voice to personal stories, fragments of memory, and moments of humanity preserved against unimaginable circumstances.
This page presents Lior Navok’s vocal work based on an authentic wartime note, alongside a curated list of classical compositions that engage with Holocaust remembrance through music.
FOUND IN A TRAIN STATION
for soprano and ensemble
Duration:
11'30" minutes
Instrumentation:
soprano, mandolin, clarinet, violin, cello, piano
Year Composed:
2007
Text:
An authentic note found in a train station during World War II
Language:
To be read in the local language
Written For:
Avi Avital
Commissioned By:
In memory of Edwin Jaffe
Premiere Performance:
26 January 2008
Modena, Italy
Tehila Nini-Goldstein, soprano
Avi Avital, mandolin
Gilad Harel, clarinet
Jonathan Keren, violin
Luca Bacelli, cello
Amit Dolberg, piano
Audio
Program Notes
The text I have used for my composition is a note, written and found at a train station, somewhere in Poland, during the Second World War Holocaust. It contains the last words of a mother, who right before stepping into the train that carried Jewish passengers to their bitter end, had decided to abandon her child with an attached note, bearing the hope that someone will have a heart to save the kid. The music portrays the running thoughts, passiveness, stored-anger, remorse and hope that ran in the mind of the mother, facing this heart-breaking dilemma.
The work is dedicated to mandolin player Avi Avital and was commissioned in memory of Edwin Jaffe, who always looked for the bright and hopeful side of life.
Abstract
This work is based on a note discovered at a train station in Poland during the Holocaust—written by a mother who, moments before being forced onto a transport train, made the agonizing decision to leave her child behind in the hope that someone might save them.
The music traces the mother’s inner world in those final moments: her racing thoughts, helplessness, suppressed anger, remorse, and fragile hope. Through an intimate vocal line and the mandolin’s delicate resonance, the piece gives voice to a private human tragedy within the vast historical catastrophe.
Commissioned in memory of Edwin Jaffe and dedicated to mandolinist Avi Avital, the work reflects both remembrance and the search for light amid darkness.
Video
FOUND IN A TRAIN STATION
for soprano and ensemble.
Performers in this video are listed above.
The text of this work is to be translated into the local language for a direct and personal dramatic effect.
In Memoriam - Lior Navok - Found in a Train Station pt1
Video
Score of Found at a Train Station for soprano and ensemble
About Music Inspired by the Holocaust
Classical music connected to the Holocaust often serves as a form of remembrance, giving voice to individual stories and preserving fragments of lived experience. Composers across generations have responded to this history through works that reflect grief, resilience, memory, and the human capacity for hope. These compositions form an important part of contemporary musical culture, offering performers and listeners a way to engage with history through sound.
Classical Music Inspired by the Holocaust
This list includes foundational masterpieces, works composed during the Holocaust (Terezín), and significant contemporary reflections.
-
Arnold Schoenberg: A Survivor from Warsaw, Op. 46 (1947)
A landmark cantata for narrator, male chorus, and orchestra based on survivor testimony. It concludes with the Shema Yisrael. -
Steve Reich: Different Trains (1988)
A minimalist masterpiece for string quartet and tape, juxtaposing the composer's childhood train journeys with those of Holocaust victims. -
Henryk Górecki: Symphony No. 3 “Symphony of Sorrowful Songs” (1976)
Includes a text inscribed by an 18-year-old prisoner on the wall of a Gestapo cell in Zakopane. -
Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 13 “Babi Yar” (1962)
A symphonic choral work setting Yevgeny Yevtushenko’s poem about the massacre of Jews in Kiev. -
Viktor Ullmann: The Emperor of Atlantis (1943)
An opera written in the Terezín (Theresienstadt) ghetto. Ullmann was a central figure in ghetto musical life before his deportation to Auschwitz. -
Krzysztof Penderecki: Dies Irae (Auschwitz Oratorio) (1967)
A large-scale memorial work dedicated to the victims of the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp. -
Hans Krása: Brundibár (1938/1943)
A children's opera performed 55 times by the children of Terezín, later used for Nazi propaganda. -
Lior Navok: Found in a Train Station (2007)
A contemporary chamber work for soprano and ensemble based on an authentic note from a mother found at a Polish train station during WWII. -
Mieczysław Weinberg: Symphony No. 21 “Kaddish” (1991)
Dedicated to the victims of the Warsaw Ghetto by a composer who fled the Nazis but lost his entire family. -
Olivier Greif: Lettres de Westerbork (1993)
A song cycle for soprano and piano setting letters from Etty Hillesum, written while she was held at the Westerbork transit camp. -
Ruth Lomon: Songs of Remembrance (1996)
A song cycle for voice quartet and ensemble based on poetry by Holocaust victims and survivors, including children from Terezín. -
David Botwinik: From Holocaust to Life (2010)
A collection of 56 Yiddish songs and choral works composed by a survivor of the Vilna Ghetto to preserve Jewish culture. -
Ilse Weber: Ich wandre durch Theresienstadt (1940s)
Poignant songs written and performed by Weber in the Terezín infirmary to comfort children before they were sent to Auschwitz.