The Seven Little Lanes (2021)

The Seven Little Lanes (2021)
seven portraits of Vilnius, inspired by the writings of Chaim Grade
for fadolín and accordion
commissioned by Muzika Erdvėje Festival, Vilnius, Lithuania

1. The Return
2. The Shoe-mender
3. The Child-doctor
4. Number 9
5. Spider-web
6. Toppled synagogues
7. Neilah

“The Seven Little Lanes” is inspired by the memoirs of the Vilna-born poet and writer Chaim Grade (1910-1982). Grade escaped the Holocaust and resettled in New York, but his mother and first wife perished in it. In Grade’s “Seven Little Lanes” (published as part of “My Mother’s Sabbath Days”, 1955), he writes about returning to the Vilna Ghetto, reconnecting with survivors who knew his family, recounting the horror of perseverance and of staying in place, he visits old synagogues, the single remaining one and all others inescapable from memory, with everything culminating in the Neilah, the final prayer of the Yom Kippur service — there is so much more, but you really should read the book instead of my poor-man’s retelling. (The original was written in Yiddish, and I’m aware of translations published in English and Russian.)

My composition, for fadolín and accordion, in seven short movements mirroring Grade’s literary form, offer musical portraits of the Vilna Ghetto, inspired by Grade’s recollections and my own walks. It is a concert piece written as incidental music to a theater play, hoping that one day “Seven Little Lanes” will be adapted as such.

I am very grateful to Musika Erdvėje for the commision, the idea of writing a site-specific work and support of the premiere, and to accordionist Agnė Dukštaitė for her artistry and input.

October 18, 2021 at Barbès, Brooklyn (NY premiere preview)New York premiere:
December 18 and 19, 2021 at Bargemusic, Brooklyn
with Ljova (fadolín) and Ivan Filipchyk (accordion)