For violoncello, whisperers, mixed choir and orchestra
Symphony No. 6
Vessels of Light
A symphony for violoncello, whisperers, mixed choir and orchestra dedicated to Chiune Sugihara and all those who risk everything to save others.
Dedication
Dedicated to Chiune Sugihara. And to all those who risk everything to save others.
Commission
Commissioned by Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem. With The American Society for Yad Vashem.
World Premiere
5 November 2022. Philharmonic Hall, Kaunas — Kristina Reiko Cooper, cello; Kaunas State Orchestra; Kaunas State Choir; Constantine Orbelian, conductor.
Structure
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Shards and Whispers — Prologue
- Psalm 121:1–2 appears silently.
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Part I. Letters to Nowhere
- Yiddish poems and fragments as vessels of memory.
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Shards and Whispers — Interlude I
- Silent Psalm 121:3–4.
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Part II. Lullaby
- After Itzik Manger.
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Shards and Whispers — Interlude II
- Silent Psalm 121:5–6.
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Part III. Burning
- After Peretz Markish.
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Shards and Whispers — Interlude III
- Silent Psalm 121:7–8.
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Part IV. Farewell Greetings
- Poems of departure, witness and memory.
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Shards and Whispers — Interlude IV
- The Psalm returns to its beginning.
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Part V. Miracle — Epilogue
- After Reyzl Zhikhlinski.
Work Information
Abbreviations PDF
The Poets
Poetry is central to Vessels of Light. The symphony becomes a vessel for Yiddish voices: poems, fragments, lullabies, laments and farewells carried through cello, whisperers, choir and orchestra.
- PoetYisroel EmyotMemory, witness and address.
- PoetDovid HofshteynYiddish modernist voice of rupture and endurance.
- PoetItzik MangerLullaby, folklore and theatrical imagination.
- PoetPeretz MarkishFire, lament and visionary intensity.
- PoetSimkha-Bunim ShayevitchFragments of survival and testimony.
- PoetAvrom SutzkeverPoetry as resistance, memory and spiritual continuity.
- PoetMoyshe TeyfFarewell, exile and historical shadow.
- PoetReyzl ZhikhlinskiMiracle, inwardness and light after devastation.
These poets are not decorative sources but the spiritual architecture of the work. Their words become shards, and the symphony gathers those shards into a vessel that can still hold light.
Symphonic World
Vessels of Light was inspired by the heroism of Chiune Sugihara and the thousands of Jewish lives saved through his decisions and actions during World War II. Auerbach created the music, libretto and artistic concept as a multilayered act of remembrance.
The symphony weaves together Yiddish poetry, the Japanese art of Kintsugi, the mystical idea of Shevirat ha-Kelim — the breaking of the vessels — and the silent words of Psalm 121. Brokenness is not hidden: it becomes the place where light is gathered.
The solo cello is not treated as a concerto protagonist, but as the unifying thread that binds the voices, poems, whispers and silences together. In the interludes, male and female whisperers surround the sung movements with fragments, shadows and unsung lines, creating additional layers of memory.
At the center of the work is the belief that words and music can carry what history tries to destroy. Books can burn, vessels can break, but the song, the spirit, the legacy — the light — remain.
- Kintsugi Broken fragments repaired with gold become more precious because their history remains visible.
- Shevirat ha-Kelim The mystical breaking of the vessels becomes a metaphysical image for rupture, repair and light.
- Psalm 121 A psalm of protection and passage appears silently, as an inner text and sculptural presence.
Publisher and Materials
Published by Boosey & Hawkes / Sikorski. Score and rental materials are available through Zinfonia. For extensive background, libretto, artistic statement, references and project materials, visit the in-depth project site.