Symphony No.21 "Kaddish" - Mieczysław Weinberg

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra & Kremerata Baltica conducted by Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla (who is also the wordless soprano).

I - Largo (0:00) - Allegro molto (18:35) - Largo (24:38) - Presto (30:16) - Andantino (33:28) - Lento (40:45)

Weinberg's Symphony No.21, subtitled "Kaddish", was composed between 1989 and 1991. It was the last full-orchestral symphony that Weinberg completed (he died in 1996, leaving his 22nd symphony unorchestrated). The work is dedicated to the Warsaw Ghetto's Holocaust victims. The symphony is a single-movement work in six sections, with a wordless soprano in the final part.

The first section starts with an extended, profound and tragedy-infused chorale for the strings, with prominent solos for the violin. The music rises with the entrance of the whole orchestra, in a dissonant and expressive climax. The score as a whole includes a number of quotations. The violin soloist quotes early on from one of Mahler’s "Des Knaben Wunderhorn" songs, where a child cries out for bread, but is ignored and dies. It also quotes Chopin’s G minor Ballade, Op 23, as well as Weinberg's own String Quartet No.4.

There are several very powerful, even harrowing passages and many more in which the textures are pared back to the bone, despite the whole piece being scored for a large orchestra. Dry, percussive chords open a a more lyrical part, followed by a clarinet solo agains the tense support of the strings. Then other woodwinds join in the form of several dialogues. The strings retake the initial chorale, interrupted by a strong blow of the timpani.Then begins an extended episode in which the violin has a delicate solo, accompanied by the harp. A bleak passage for brass comes, followed by a solo from the piano. A slow and dramatic coda, referencing again Chopin's Ballade, leads to the next part.

The second section opens with an expressive theme of judaic roots, introduced by the strings. It is much more fully scored; both music and scoring verge on the strident at times. Ferocious chords interrupted by percussion and sudden, sharp outbursts of violence. The material is then widely developed, but always maintaining the tragic spirit along with an incisive and percussive orchestration. The section concludes with a violent anticlimax, with brass calls taking us to the next part.

The third section is structured in ternary form. Begins with a powerful and expressive climax. The brass introduces a anthem over the tremolos of the strings, presented in a very dramatic way. A more lyrical but tense passage opens with dialogues between the wood and strings. Then comes a solo for the double bass, alterned with phrases from the brass. Dissonant brass chords leads to a dialogue between clarinet and violin, referencing traditional jewish music. This leads directly to the next part.

The fourth section is in binary form. It opens with the motif from the previous dialogue, transformed in a sardonic rhythmic theme, almost like a nightmarish distorsion of the jewish music. Strong chords from the strings leads to the second part, which opens with the violin, later joined by the flute in a bleak solo. A pedal note from the strings takes us to the next part.

The fifth section is a passacaglia. It begins with notes of the glockenspiel, followed by pizzicatos of the violin, stablishing the bass line. The wood joins in several solos, derived from said line. Glockenspiel and violin recapitulate the line, followed by new variations of the wood. The ambient rarifies with a solo of the mute trumpet, followed by the flute. The music transforms in a chamber-like ensemble, with dialogues between few instruments. A massive entrance of the strings leads to a dissonant and tragic climax. A sardonic transition leads to the final part.

The last section opens with bell blows, a tragic theme is presented by the strings in the middle of this opressive atmosphere, answered by ominous brass chords. Clarinets phrases introduce the soprano, singing a wordless threnody of great expressive power. For the most part, the only other sounds we hear are a soft double bass pedal note and some comments from the solo violin and clarinet. The piano enters, calmly quoting again Chopin's Ballade, followed by solos of other instruments. The soprano continues with her singing, suddenly rushing into a massive anticlimax, after which the work comes to a very soft, sorrowful conclusion.

Picture: During the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943, an unidentified Jewish boy raises his hands at gunpoint after Nazi SS soldiers forcibly removed him and other ghetto residents from the bunker in which they'd taken refuge.

Musical analysis partially done by myself, source: https://bit.ly/39gkSyo