Honoring History: 'Violins of Hope' from The Daniel Pelton Collective to be Released on Auschwitz Liberation 80th Anniversary (Jan. 27)
THE DANIEL PELTON COLLECTIVE
TO RELEASE
VIOLINS OF HOPE
— A MOVING TRIO OF COMPOSITIONS —
ON JANUARY 27, 2025
IN COLLABORATION WITH
CALGARY’S NATIONAL MUSIC CENTRE FOR THE
80TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE AUSCHWITZ LIBERATION
RECORDED USING “VIOLINS OF HOPE” INSTRUMENTS
Above: ‘Violins of Hope’ Artwork
Credit: Elena Bushan, painted live during rehearsal
NASHVILLE, TN (December 11, 2024) — Eighty years ago, on January 27, 1945, the survivors of Auschwitz-Birkenau stepped out of their living nightmare for the first time, marking the camp’s liberation and a turning point in the Holocaust’s tragic history. To honor this anniversary, The Daniel Pelton Collective, in collaboration with Calgary’s National Music Centre, will release Violins of Hope on January 27, 2025. This powerful collection of three compositions captures the profound experiences of the Holocaust, serving as a poignant reminder of the atrocities committed and a call to ensure they are never forgotten.
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Created and conceived by award-winning saxophonist and composer Daniel Pelton, Violins of Hope serves as a stark reminder of the experiences of the Jewish people and other victims of the Holocaust. The Daniel Pelton Collective recorded the project using instruments from the “Violins of Hope” collection brought to the National Music Centre by Amnon and Avshalom Weinstein — historical violins that once belonged to Holocaust survivors, were discovered in concentration camps, or were left behind by those who could no longer carry them.
“Working with these instruments was incredibly humbling,” Daniel shares. “Most of the collection have incredibly detailed histories attached to them which were fascinating from a historical perspective, but also heavy emotionally. It could be very hard to keep your head up when confronted with the horror these instruments had witnessed. But it was also incredibly motivating to be a part of their stories and to hopefully contribute to the vision of the collection, and maybe make their previous owners proud.”
Above: Daniel Pelton
Credit: Chris Santos
Opening the collection is “Klezmer Dances II,” a string quartet that takes its inspiration from Shostakovich’s String Quartet No. 8 in C# Minor, a somber response to the firebombing of Dresden during World War II. Pelton’s composition captures the intensity and drama of war, then contrasts it with the joy and vitality of Jewish Klezmer folk music. Traditionally played at celebratory events like weddings, the use of Klezmer motifs serves as a tribute to the humanity of the instruments’ original owners, honoring their lives and legacies beyond the suffering they endured.
Inspired by Heather Morris’s The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Daniel Pelton felt a profound connection to his Jewish heritage and a calling to honor those who came before him. Moved by the story of real-life victims Lale Sokolov and Gita Furman, he transformed their concentration camp tattoo numbers into musical pitches using their 12-tone counterparts on an A-minor blues scale. This process gave rise to the centerpiece of the project, “34902-32407,” where the numbers became hauntingly evocative progressions: Eb-E-A-C-D and Eb-D-E-C-G. By finding layers of meaning within the numbers, Pelton uncovered a thread of beauty within the unimaginable horrors those tattoos represent.
“Given the profound relationship between the real-life characters in the novel, the musical relationship of their tattoos seemed too profound to ignore,” Daniel explains. “The purpose of this piece is to find expression in these numbers/musical motives; an attempt to reclaim the humanity of those who bore the tattoos. The Nazis gave their prisoners these tattoos to dehumanize them, reducing them to a series of easily discarded numbers. I hope to show that even these numbers have a range of emotions and expressions; good and bad, beautiful and chaotic, fun and frightening — nobody can be reduced to one thing.”
“34902-32407” spans 11-minutes of genre-blending exploration, delving deeply into the emotional spectrum and the complexities of the human condition. Pelton built the piece around six notes derived from his tattoo-inspired translation, pushing the boundaries of how far those notes could carry the narrative. Trumpeter Jon Day takes a standout solo, breaking free from the six-note pitch set to embody the sense of liberation that defined the Jazz movement of the 20th century, a powerful metaphor for freedom and resilience.
“I imagine Dizzy Gillepsie performing in America while the Nazis punished people for listening to his records. Or Coco Schumann, who was forced to play swing music for his Nazi captors in the Theresienstadt camp,” Daniel says. The solo has a melancholic echo, a yearning for something more, and a hope that peace will come.
To conclude the collection, Daniel reimagines Oscar Peterson’s “Hymn to Freedom” as a tribute to the hope and resilience within the Jewish story, highlighting the light that endures amidst the shadow of its past. “To me it represents the literal freedom of the survivors once the camps were liberated, as well as the more figurative freedoms in regards to jazz and improvisation,” Daniel explains. The composition opens with strings performing the hopeful hymn, gradually evolving into a New Orleans dixie-style group solo that captures the wild energy and exuberance of newfound freedom. It serves as a moment for the instruments to experience light, despite the weight of their history.
VIOLINS OF HOPE TRACKLISTING
“Klezmer Dances II”
“34902-32407”
“Hymn to Freedom”
“I want listeners to imagine the joy of getting your freedom back after it was taken from you, and the duty we have to enjoy ours, and do everything we can to maintain it,” he goes on. “I hope that the instruments enjoyed their time being played in this piece that only acknowledges the light and leaves the darkness behind.”
Above: Members of The Daniel Pelton Collective play instruments from the ‘Violins of Hope” collection
Credit: Mirabelle Jien
As time passes, memories begin to fade, and the stories of survivors become less heard. It’s all too easy to forget or downplay what happened, but the persistent rise of antisemitism proves that history’s lessons are often ignored. The instruments in the “Violins of Hope” collection offer a tangible link to the past, serving as a powerful reminder of the devastating consequences when hate prevails.
Daniel concludes: “Releasing this album on the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz is not only a tribute to the victims of the most horrific genocide in history, but also a powerful reminder. We say ‘never forget’ not only to honor the dead, but to warn the living. Eighty years is not a long time. We are not at all different from the people in Germany who became Nazis, or the people who suffered under them. Not repeating their actions is a choice we have to make actively and repeatedly, otherwise we aren’t counting away from the last horrors, but toward the next ones.”
Above: Daniel Pelton
Credit: Gbohunmi
ABOUT DANIEL PELTON:
Daniel Pelton, an award-winning saxophonist and composer, was born in Tokyo and raised in Calgary, Alberta. A graduate of the University of Calgary, he draws inspiration from Frank Zappa, blending boundary-pushing creativity with audience connection. His innovative projects include the Composer in Residence role at the Calgary Public Library, participation in the Violins of Hope residency, and leading the University of Calgary Jazz Orchestra.
Recognized across genres, Daniel’s work has earned international accolades, including 2nd Prize in the Caneres International Music Competition and a Best Independent Canadian Music Video award. His debut album, The Gold Coin Sessions, was recorded during the pandemic, financed by selling a family heirloom. Through determination and collaboration, Daniel Pelton continues to redefine modern music with meaningful, genre-defying artistry.