CPS-8805
SOUND CLIPS
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Featuring the World Premiere of
HIDDEN CHILDREN
A film by Deborah Thurlow & James Manno
Film Score by Deborah Thurlow
TEA Productions
in association with
JAMMAN Productions
Location:
Puffin Cultural Forum
20 Puffin Way (off Teaneck Road)
Teaneck, New Jersey
201-836-8923
TURN ON THE MUSIC
Deborah Thurlow, horn & music director
Gregor Kitzis, violin
Clive Smith, electric guitar, laptop
David Grego, electric bass
GUEST ARTIST
Michael Thurlow, narrator
Susan Schneider, Hebraic Chant
Eduardo Alexander Rabel, percussion
Reception
ABOUT THE WORK
The Darwin Effect - Deborah Thurlow
The setting for The Darwin Effect is a sermon entitled, Evolution and Religion, by the well known Reform Rabbi, Kaufman Kohler (1843 - 1926). Kohler interweaves Darwin's theory of evolution with religious beliefs. He applies the evolution principles metaphorically to the development of religion. The other setting is the Hebrew chanting of passages from the creation story from the Book of Genesis (1:1-13 & 1:24-2:3).
Soundscape of the Soul is a pre-recorded accompaniment heard throughout the work and fading out at the end. It is played by tuning forks selected from a set called Holy Harmony Tuning Forks, based on the original solfeggio tones. I chose six forks from the set that are associated with the pitches from the piyyut (liturgical poem) Yedid Nefesh (Beloved Soul). The pitches also appear in the aleatoric improvisation, played by the violin, arranged in different octaves to form a curvy line representing the double helix of the DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) molecule…the blueprint of life. These pitches appear again, rearranged as an aleatoric tone row, for both the electric guitar and electric bass accompanying the narration.
The horn plays Hebraic melody fragments from the prayers introducing the Torah reader and following the aleatoric violin solo. The actual melody of Yedid Nefesh is played by the horn in between the narration and suspended cymbal. There is free improvisation with the narration and throughout the work, the longest occurring after the narrator says, "…the unbroken revelation of God first in endless varieties of matter, then in marvelous productions of the conscious mind." The textures and timbres are amazingly creative and intense.
ABOUT THE FILM
The Hidden Children explores the children who survived the Holocaust from a personal perspective. Ten percent of the children survived the Holocaust. Carl Hausman, Evelyn Ripp and Goldy Hess live in New Jersey and they share their personal stories of their interrupted childhoods under the Nazis through their published books, thoughts, songs and memories from the past and present.
Hidden Children illustrates the difference between childhood and adulthood through out door scenes of both children and adults at play in contrasting scenes creating not only a documentary…but an artistic film of collages.