Holocaust Suite

From Wind Repertory Project
Morton Gould

Morton Gould (transcribed by composer)


General Info

Year: 1978 / 1980
Duration: c. 22:00
Difficulty: (see Ratings for explanation)
Original Medium: Orchestra
Publisher: G. Schirmer
Cost: Score and Parts – Rental   |   Individual movements available separately


Movements

1. Main Theme (Prologue) – 3:15
2. Kristallnacht (The Night of Broken Glass) – 5:35
3. Berta and Joseph – 2:55
4. Babi Yar – 3:50
5. Liberation (Warsaw Ghetto Surrender and Finale) – 2:30
6. Elegy (Epilogue) – 3:00


Instrumentation

Full Score
C Piccolo
Flute I-II
Oboe I-II
English Horn
Bassoon I-II
E-flat Soprano Clarinet
B-flat Soprano Clarinet I-II-III
E-flat Alto Clarinet
B-flat Bass Clarinet
E-flat Alto Saxophone I-II
B-flat Tenor Saxophone
E-flat Baritone Saxophone
B-flat Trumpet I-II-III-IV
Horn in F I-II-III-IV
Trombone I-II-III-IV
Euphonium
Tuba
String Bass
Timpani
Piano
Percussion I-II-III, including:

  • Bass Drum (optional)
  • Chimes
  • Marimba
  • Tam-Tam (large)


Errata

None discovered thus far.


Program Notes

Holocaust is a 1978 American four-part television miniseries which recounts the trajectory of the Holocaust from the perspectives of the fictional Weiss family of German Jews and that of a rising member of the SS, who gradually becomes a merciless war criminal. Holocaust highlighted numerous events which occurred up to and during World War II, such as Kristallnacht, the creation of Jewish ghettos, and later, the use of gas chambers.

Although the miniseries won several awards and received positive reviews, it was criticized by others, such as the Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, who wrote in The New York Times that it was: "Untrue, offensive, cheap: as a TV production, the film is an insult to those who perished and to those who survived."

Morton Gould's music score was nominated an Emmy and for a Grammy Award for Best Album of Original Score for a Movie or Television Program.

- Program Note from Wikipedia


[Morton Gould's] unerring sense for evocative, dramatic music is everywhere on display in the work, from the tender theme for the family’s father and mother, Joseph and Berta (including an extended solo for the piano, Berta’s favorite instrument) to the implacable march accompanying the merciless and systematic massacre of the Ukranian Jews in the ravine of Babi Yar.

- Program Note by Rob Haskins from liner notes for Mark CD Echoes of the Holocaust


Mediay


State Ratings

  • Louisiana: V
  • Tennessee: VO


Performances

To submit a performance please join The Wind Repertory Project

  • Middle Tennessee State University (Murfreesboro) Wind Ensemble (Reed Thomas, conductor) - 24 October 2023
  • University of Maryland (College Park) Wind Ensemble (Christine Higley, conductor) - 5 May 2022
  • Florida State University (Tallahassee) Wind Orchestra (Stephen Peterson, conductor) - 7 March 2013 (ABA 2013 Annual Convention (Tampa, Florida))
  • Arizona State University (Tempe) Band (Morton Gould, conductor) – 10 April 1980 *Premiere Performance*


Works for Winds by This Composer


Resources

  • Gould, M. (1980). Suite from Holocaust (NBC TV Movie) : for Band [score]. G. Schirmer: New York.
  • Holocaust (miniseries), Wikipedia Accessed 18 June 2020
  • Perusal score
  • Smith, Norman E. (2002). Program Notes for Band. Chicago: GIA Publications, pp. 244-245.