Adam Schoenberg
NEVER SHALL I FORGET
for SSAA chorus, piano, bass drum and string quartet (2019)
Full score
This%commission%was%made%possible%by%the%Dale%Warland%Singers%Commission%Award% presented%by%Chorus%America%and%funded%by%the%American%Composers%Forum.% For%iSing%Silicon%Valley,%Jennah%Delp%Somers%&%Shane%Troll,%Artistic%Directors
Duration :!ca.!9!minutes!
World premiere : June 9, 2019 by iSing Silicon Valley, Jennah Delp Somers conducting, at Bing Concert Hall, Palo Alto, CA
©CopyrightbySchoenbergMusic.
Text!drawn!from!“Night”!by!Elie!Wiesel,!adapted!by!Charles!Anthony!Silvestri
I.
Never…!Never…
Never!shall!I!forget…
Never!shall!I!forget!that!night, The!first!night!in!the!camp, That!turned!my!life!into!one!long!night, A!night!seven!times!sealed.
Never!shall!I!forget!the!Selection, Men!to!the!left,!women!to!the!right, My!mother!and!my!sisters!disappearing!into! darkness.!
Never!shall!I!forget The!small!faces!of!children Transformed!into!smoke!under!a!silent!sky. Never!shall!I!forget!that!smoke. Never!shall!I!forget!those!flames That!consumed!my!faith!forever.
Never…
Never!shall!I!forget…
III.
But!I!cannot!keep!silent. I!must!bear!witness,!testify—! For!the!youth!of!today And!the!children!born tomorrow—! For!I!do!not!want!our!past Of!misery!and!ashes To!become!their!future.
©CopyrightbySchoenbergMusic.
II.
In!the!camp!I!lived!as!one!in!a!dream,!a! shadow…
My!father’s!hands My!father’s!tears My!father’s!voice!crying The!bell,!the!whip,!the!Appelplatz Marching,!fall!in,!five by five Work,!exhaustion The!terror!of!Selection Death!and!bread And!soup!that!tasted!of!corpses
