Milos Raickovich - Birdsong

  
 Birdsong is a celebration of life. The text comes from a collection of poems written by children who, while incarcerated in the Terezin Concentration Camp in Czechoslovakia during the Second World War, wrote of their experiences and their dreams. In Birdsong the young author writes of the beauty of the world rather than of the horrors and destruction of the then present circumstances. The text's positive and uplifting message is all the more striking when placed against the backdrop of war and the loss of personal freedom.



The melody, harmonies and rhythms in Birdsong are intended to support the optimistic nature of the text. The melody is simple and clear; the harmonies slightly darker with jazz overtones; the rhythms gentle but suggesting dance and celebration.