For January 27 International Holocaust Remembrance Day and the 75th anniversary of the liberation of AuschwitZ
You are listening to “Uv’tzeil K’nofecho” ("In the Shadow of Your Wings") (Terezin, 1943) by Zigmund Schul performed by the Hawthorne String Quartet.
The title of this haunting and contemplative piece is taken from the prayer Hashkiveinu ("Grant that we may lie down in peace").
Before his transport to Terezín in 1941, Schul studied composition with Paul Hindemith at the Berlin Musikhochschule and with Alois Haba in Prague, and he conducted with George Szell at the German Music Academy. His vocal and instrumental compositions from Terezín were largely inspired by Biblical texts. In Prague and later in Terezín, the composer Viktor Ullmann was Schul's close friend and mentor. Two of Schul's works were featured in Ullmann’s Studio for New Music series in the camp. Schul died of tuberculosis in Terezín on June 2, 1944.
Hashkiveinu Grant that we may lie down in peace, Eternal God, and awaken us to life. Shelter us with Your tent of peace and guide us with Your good counsel. Shield us from hatred, plague and destruction. Keep us from warm famine and anguish. Help us to deny our inclination to evil. God of peace, may we always feel protected because You are our Guardian and Helper. Give us refuge in the shadow of Your wings. Guard our going forth and our coming in and bless us with life and peace. Blessed are You, Eternal God, whose shelter of peace is spread over us, over all Your people Israel, and over Jerusalem.
