Guernica

The 1937 Spanish Civil War saw the bombing of the town of Guernica by combined German and Italian air forces, at the behest of the Spanish government. This was one of the first air raids on a defenseless civilian population, and the resulting devastation was so horrible that artists of all stripes sought to express their outrage through their crafts. Chief among these was the painting Guernica by Pablo Picasso, which, in turn, inspired the ten-part poem of the same name by author Carlos de Oliveira. Sharaf now brings this text to a new setting for voice and piano, with either cello or guitar, dedicated to the Ensemble for These Times. The music reflects the utter despair of theevent, yet even then, humanity will find glimpses of hope for a return to better times. English translation of the text by Alexis Levitin.