Babi Yar by Leon Schidlowsky
Scope and Content
Shostakovich Symphony No. 13, titled Babi Yar. Composed by Leon Schidlowsky (b. Santiago, 1931, immigrated to Israel in 1969) on March 31, 1971. Babi Yar is a ravine northwest of Kiev and the site of one of the largest mass killings at an individual location during World War II. The hour-long work is laid out in five movements, each a setting of a Yevgeny Yevtushenko poem. This unusual form gives rise to various descriptions: choral symphony, song cycle, giant cantata. The five earthily vernacular poems denounce Soviet life one aspect at a time: brutality, cynicism, deprivation, anxiety, corruption.
Note(s)
Cassette label in Hebrew writing.