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Leon Levitch's Song of Dreams: the testimony of a survivor

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LEON LEVITCH’S
SONG OF DREAMS:

THE TESTIMONY OF A SURVIVOR

By Shou-Ping Liu

A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE THORNTON SCHOOL OF MUSIC
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF MUSICAL ARTS
(CHORAL MUSIC)

December 2020
ii

For My Family

iii
Acknowledgments

The journey of writing this dissertation lasted three years since I finished my coursework
at University of Southern California. This research has spanned my teaching position in Union
College and my post-graduate studies in orchestral conducting at Hanns Eisler Hochschule für
Musik in Berlin. I could not have reached to this point without the guidance from my mentors
from all these institutions: Dr. Jo-Michael Scheibe, Dr. Cristian Grases, Dr. Nick Strimple, Dr.
Tram Sparks, Ms. Mary Scheibe, Mr. Larry Livingston, Dr. Hilary Tann, Dr. Jennifer Matsue,
Herr Christian Ehwald, and Herr Hans-Dieter Baum.
I will forever associate this cherished topic with Nick Strimple, my professor in Los
Angeles who first introduced me to the music of Leon Levitch. I am also grateful to Bret Werb,
the chief musicologist and music collection curator at the United States Holocaust Memorial
Museum. As a life-long friend and supporter of the composer, Mr. Werb provided me with the
scores, recordings, letters, and other materials from the Levitch Archive that he had compiled
over the years. Finally, I could not have finished the dissertation without the enormous help of
Greg Donovetsky, Professor of Oboe at California State University Long Beach. As the son-in-
law of the composer, Mr. Donovetsky supplied unpublished scores and personal memories of
him to which nobody else had access.
My gratitude to these mentors goes beyond words, but without my family’s support, I
would not have been able to complete my musical education on three continents. I would like to
give special thanks to my parents, grandparents, sisters, and my husband, Sam.

iv
Table of Contents

Dedication ........................................................................................................................... ii
Acknowledgments .............................................................................................................. iii
Table of Contents ............................................................................................................... iv
List of Examples ............................................................................................................... vii
List of Figures ......................................................................................................................x
List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... xi
Abstract ............................................................................................................................. xii
Introduction ..........................................................................................................................1
Part I Biographical Sketch
Chapter I A Childhood in Hiding ................................................................................4

Musical Household ......................................................................................5
Professional Aspirations ..............................................................................8
The Rise of the Nazis ...................................................................................9
To the Italians ............................................................................................11
Transport to Ferramonti .............................................................................15
Living Conditions in the Camp ..................................................................16
Piano at Ferramonti
Chorus at Ferramonti
Beginning to Compose
Liberation at Ferramonti ............................................................................22

Chapter II A New Life in the United States ................................................................25

Arrival at Fort Ontario ...............................................................................26
Musical Activities in Fort Ontario .............................................................29
Leaving Fort Ontario ..................................................................................33
Southern California ....................................................................................34
Eric Zeisl
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco
Roy Harris

Chapter III Life as a Composer and Piano Technician .................................................45

v
Part II Score Analysis

Chapter IV Song of Dreams – A Stand-Alone Cantata? ...............................................52

Five Poems by Josif Levitch ......................................................................55

Chapter V Musical Language in Song of Dreams .......................................................58
Text and Form ............................................................................................58
Harmonic Text Painting and Compositional Style ....................................63
Melodic Collages .......................................................................................74
Sections I and VI
Sections II and V
Frequent Use of Melodic Sequences ..........................................................81

Chapter VI Instrumentation and Vocal Writing ...........................................................84

Orchestration ..............................................................................................84
Comparison of Trumpet Writing ...............................................................86
The Odd Combination of Trombones and Tuba ........................................91
Harp and Piano ...........................................................................................93
Vocal Writing for the Soloists ...................................................................99
Vocal Writing for the Chorus ..................................................................103
The First Role of the Choir: Harmonic Strengthening
The Second Role of the Choir: Melodic Doubling
The Third Role of the Choir: An Independent Voice
A Manageable Challenge .........................................................................114

Chapter XI Remaining Scores Related to the Requiem ..............................................117

The Mystery of the Cello Cadenza ..........................................................124

Chapter XII Conclusion ...............................................................................................129

Bibliography ....................................................................................................................134
Appendix ..........................................................................................................................143
Appendix A: Pesma Snova (“Song of Dreams)
Appendix B: Pesma (“Psalm”)
Appendix C: Jeverejin (“The Jew”)
Appendix D: Purim
Appendix E: Advertisement for Premiere of The Golden Cage, Oswego
Palladium
Appendix F: Partial Text from the Operetta The Golden Cage
Appendix G: “Hatikva,” from Jüdische Lieder
Appendix H: Title Page of the Song of Dreams
vi
Appendix I: Original documents of Leon Levitch’s translations of Josif
Levitch’s poetry
Appendix J: Edward Levitch, Spring
Appendix K: Leon Levitch’s Known Compositions
vii
List of Examples

Example 5.1 Sudden tempo change in mm. 107-114 62
Example 5.2 Open fourth and fifth intervals in slow passage (mm. 9-12) 66
Example 5.3 Open fourth and fifth intervals in fast passage (mm. 95-97) 66
Example 5.4 Stacked fourths and fifths in harp opening (mm. 1-3) 66
Example 5.5 Frequent modulations in opening of Song of Dreams (mm. 9-16) 68
Example 5.6 Use of 7
th
and 9
th
harmonies (mm. 60-63) 71
Example 5.7 Richard Wagner, Tristan und Isolde, piano reduction (mm. 1-2) 72
Example 5.8 Song of Dreams, mm. 139-140 72
Example 5.9 Chromatic descending line hidden in mm. 136-141 72
Example 5.10 Linear motion (not modulation) in Puccini’s La Bohème, 73
Act III, Reh. No. 18
Example 5.11 Opening melody (mm. 1-4) 76
Example 5.12 Continuation of main melody and other motives (mm. 33-35) 77
Example 5.13 Tenor solo in Section IV (mm. 147-150) 78
Example 5.14 mm. 174-176 (almost identical with mm. 33-35) 79
Example 5.15 Further development of secondary cello figure (mm. 118-122) 80
Example 5.16 Melodic comparison between Stanza II (mm. 48-54) and 81
Stanza V (mm. 130-135)
Example 5.17 Stanza II: mm. 60-65 82
Example 5.18 Stanza II: mm. 136-144 82
Example 5.19 Theme sung by soprano soloist (mm. 16-17) 83
Example 5.20 mm. 76-77 sung by tenor soloist 83
Example 5.21 mm. 83-86 sung by soprano soloist 83
viii
Example 6.1 Arnold Schoenberg, A Survivor from Warsaw, m. 1 and m. 32 88
Example 6.2 A Survivor from Warsaw, mm. 44-45 88
Example 6.3 A Survivor from Warsaw, mm. 34-37 89
Example 6.4 Con sordino trumpet writing in Song of Dreams (mm. 64-65) 90
Example 6.5 Comparison of the doubling technique in the Song of Dreams 91-92
Example 6.6 Instrumental doubling of tenor and bass 95-96
(mm. 102-106 and mm. 136-138)
Example 6.7 The use of harp in Song of Dreams 98-99
(mm. 123-124, mm. 111-114)
Example 6.8 Percussive chords in the piano and strings tremolos (mm. 58-59) 100
Example 6.9 Soprano solo in slow tempo (mm. 9-12) 102
Example 6.10 Soprano solo in fast tempo (mm. 97-98) 102
Example 6.11 Soprano solo (mm. 114-117) 103
Example 6.12 mm. 151-160 103
Example 6.13 mm. 131-135 105
Example 6.14 End of Stanza III (mm. 89-94) 107
Example 6.15 Comparison between string and wind doubling with choir 108-9
(mm. 95-97, and mm. 130-131)
Example 6.16 Melodic interaction between parts (mm. 166-170) 111
Example 6.17 Points of imitation in mm. 66-68 112
Example 6.18 First segment (mm. 136-138) 112
Example 6.19 Second segment (mm. 139-141) 113
Example 6.20 First segment harmonization (mm. 136-138) 113
Example 6.21 Second segment harmonization (mm. 139-141) 114
Example 6.22 Third segment (mm. 142-143) 114
ix
Example 6.23 Third segment harmonization 115
Example 7.1 Fragment of Psalm movement 118
Example 7.2 Psalm movement fragment, text enlarged for 119
purpose of clarity (mm. 153-162)
Example 7.3 Old Mosaic score of Psalm movement 122
Example 7.4 Possible Instrumentation for Psalm movement 123
Example 7.5 First five-note motif of cello cadenza 127
Example 7.6 Beginning of the cello cadenza (mm. 1-4) 127
Example 7.7 Second cello cadenza (mm. 156-159) 128
Example 7.8 Psalm movement, m. 6 128

x
List of Figures

Figure 1.1 Quaderno Musica Canto 21
Figure 1.2 Composition sketch for violin and piano 21
Figure 1.3 Table of circle of fifths and shopping list 22
Figure 2.1 First wave of arrivals at Fort Ontario 26
Figure 2.2 Charles Abeles and his orchestra at Fort Ontario 30
Figure 4.1 Program for the Sixth Annual Interfaith Concert of Remembrance 54
Figure 4.2 Title Page of Leon Levitch’s translation of “Five Poems 57
by Joseph Levitch”
Figure 8.1 Levitch conducting at Fort Ontario camp, Oswego, New York 132

xi
List of Tables

Table 5.1 Structure of tempo markings in Song of Dreams 61
Table 6.1 Schoenberg’s A Survivor from Warsaw and 87
Levitch’s Song of Dreams
Table 6.2 Instrumentation comparison 93
Table 7.1 Instrumentation comparison between Song of Dreams and Psalm 124

xii
Abstract

The Serbian-American composer Leon Levitch (1927-2014) was a Holocaust survivor
who was imprisoned in the internment camps in Italy. After coming to the United States, he
became a well-respected composer and piano technician in the Los Angeles area. As a composer,
he was mostly remembered for his chamber music output. Unfortunately, his choral music has
rarely been performed or discussed, although choral music was a medium close to the composer
throughout his whole life. Set to the poetry that his father wrote during the war, Requiem Patris
was one of two compositions in which Leon directly reflected on his experience as a Holocaust
survivor. It was originally conceived as a multi-movement work, although only one complete
movement, Song of Dreams, has been found, and is published by Carl Fischer Music as a stand-
alone cantata.
To the author’s knowledge, this is the first time that research has been devoted solely to
the life and work of Leon Levitch. There are few resources available to researchers of his music.
This dissertation is almost exclusively based on the primary sources available in the Leon
Levitch archive in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum,
1
the autobiography of his
brother Edward Levitch, From Beginning to Beginning, and some material in the possession of
his son-in-law, Greg Donovetsky. Part I is devoted to a biography of Leon and includes his
Holocaust years and his musical studies. Part II involves a detailed theoretical analysis of the
Song of Dreams. Much effort has been spent on locating any remaining movements associated
with the Requiem Patris. To date, the author was able to discover one more movement that was
almost completed by Leon. The hope of this dissertation is that further knowledge of the
Requiem Patris will be found by locating possible remaining sketches for other movements.

1
From this point on, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum will be referred to as the “Holocaust Museum.”
1
Introduction

The Serbian-American composer Leon Levitch (1927-2014) was a Holocaust survivor
imprisoned in the internment camps in Italy. After coming to the United States in 1944, he
became a well-respected composer and piano technician in the Los Angeles area. As a composer,
he was primarily known for his chamber music. Unfortunately, his choral music has rarely been
performed or studied, although choral music was a medium close to the composer during his life
time. Set to the poetry that his father wrote during the war, Requiem Patris was one of two
compositions in which Leon directly reflected on his experience as a Holocaust survivor. It was
originally conceived as a multi-movement work. However, only one complete movement, Song
of Dreams, has been found, and was published by Carl Fischer Music as a stand-alone cantata.
This dissertation is structured in two parts. Part I is devoted to a biography of Leon that
includes his Holocaust years and his musical studies. To the author’s knowledge, this is the first
research that has been devoted solely to the life and work of Leon Levitch. There are few
resources available to researchers on his music. Information has been collected from the
autobiography of his brother Edward Levitch (b. 1924), From Beginning to Beginning, which is
published and available for purchase.
1
Most information, however, has been found in the primary
sources located in the Leon Levitch Archive in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
2

The central source in this archive is his interview with Thomas Bertonneau, which took place at
the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1984. It was transcribed into a book, A
Twentieth Century Romantic Temperament: L’artiste doit aimer, which is available only at the

1
Edward J. Levitch, From Beginning to Beginning: An Autobiography (Berkley: Mad Dog Publishing, 1997).
2
From this point on, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum will be referred to as the “Holocaust Museum.”
2
Holocaust Museum and the UCLA Center for Oral History Research.
3
Both of these copies are
not available for public circulation but only for in-person viewing.
Part II of this dissertation involves a detailed theoretical analysis of the Song of Dreams.
There are some loose manuscripts associated with possible other movements of the Requiem
Patris in the Leon Levitch Archive. Effort by the author has been made to locate any remaining
movements that are associated with the Requiem Patris. Bret Werb, the chief musicologist and
music collection curator at the Holocaust Museum, provided valuable letters, recordings, and
scores. This research gradually led to a discovery of a nearly-finished movement of Requiem
Patris. Through several correspondences, Leon’s son-in-law, Greg Donovetsky, was able to
recall the existence of an invaluable unpublished score and provide a copy to this author. The
condition of the document needs further work to reconstruct it to its original state, but it is
foreseeable that a performance could be put together based on the material that was discovered.
The hope of this dissertation is that these two movements can be assembled for a concert, and
that through continued research, further movements might even be discovered.

3
Thomas Bertonneau, A Twentieth Century Romantic Temperament: L’artiste doit aimer (Los Angeles, CA:
University of California, Los Angeles, 1984).
3

Part I
Biographical Sketch

4
Chapter I: A Childhood in Hiding

“Music is made out of memories, out of memories of memories, out of life, out of death, out of
love, out of hatred, out of pain, out of joy.” - Ernest Toch
4

Leon remembered these words from one of the many lectures by Toch in California of
which he could not recall the time or place. It was nevertheless a vivid sentiment that resonated
with Leon with regard both to his life and his music.
Both Leon and his older brother Edward confirmed in their interviews that they had a
difficult childhood in Serbia even before the Nazis invaded in their country. Josif Levitch (1897-
1964) was sent to Switzerland for higher education which was unusual in Serbia at the time.
Upon his return, he opened a pharmacy shop, and the customers all addressed Josif as “Doctor.”
5

He met his future wife Fortuné, who was of Greek origin, at a social occasion. Fortuné Jacoel
(1900-1991) received her education in a Catholic French school. According to Edward, the sheer
fact that Josif could speak French was enough for Fortuné to be engaged to him despite the
severe personality differences between the two. Edward stated, “The national stress coupled with
great personal differences between our parents must have affected our entire family. It is a small
wonder that we did not turn into total misfits or dysfunctional products of a dysfunctional
family.”
6
Indeed, the couple had made some decisions that separated the Levitch children from
other children. First and foremost, they decided that their household language would be French,
leaving the children to pick up Serbian through their environment. Fortuné would arrange for the

4
Thomas Bertonneau, A Twentieth Century Romantic Temperament: L’artiste doit aimer (Los Angeles, CA:
University of California, Los Angeles, 1984), 51.
5
Edward J. Levitch, From Beginning to Beginning: An Autobiography (Berkley: Mad Dog Publishing, 1997), 7.
6
Ibid., 5.
5
children to meet regularly with French children of “a higher class.”
7
Proud to be of a Greek
background, she always preferred “western culture” for her children. Her concept of “western
culture” may have come from her French educational background, which eastern Europeans
often looked upon as a symbol of “culture and learning.”
8
While Fortuné was pushing her
children to learn French, her husband was busy studying German and reading in German.
9

Occasionally, if the couple wanted to hide things from the children, their common language
would switch to Ladino. It appears also that the Levitches had a comfortable life in Belgrade,
enjoying a two-bedroom apartment with a gazebo in the garden. The Levitch children grew up in
a comfortable, yet culturally confused, household before they were forced to escape.

Musical Household

It is evident from all the interviews that both Edward and Leon had a difficult
relationship with their father. Edward mentioned many times that he was always the ijo malo
(“bad son”) no matter what he did.
10
For Leon, the conflicts tended to arise over his father’s
disdain toward his musical endeavors. His opposition to a musical career for his son might have
been a projection of his own complex relationship with the arts. Josif prided himself on being a
poet. In fact, Requiem Patris, the subject of this research, is Leon’s musical setting of his father’s
poetry. While talking with Thomas Bertonneau, Leon recalled that Fortuné acquired an upright
piano when she worked for the British Army that was stationed in Greece.
11
Josif evidently

7
Edward Levitch, From Beginning to Beginning, 5.
8
Ibid., 3.
9
Leon Levitch and Edward Levitch, interviewed by Paul Lewis, August 6, 1994, United States Holocaust Memorial
Museum, Washington, D.C.
10
Edward Levitch, From Beginning to Beginning, 5.
11
Thomas Bertonneau, A Twentieth Century Romantic Temperament, 49.
6
taught himself to play both the piano and the violin. He may have felt a natural inclination
toward Beethoven and Tchaikovsky. The first ballet performance that he brought Leon to was
Swan Lake. Josif would often practice Tchaikovsky’s Seasons. His piano technique was good
enough to command some of the easier piano sonatas by Beethoven. Leon remembered that there
was always a volume of Beethoven sonatas lying on the piano at home.
Music seems to have had a special place even in Leon’s extended family. One of his
aunts owned a Victrola Record Turntable and had many records of Beethoven’s orchestral works
as well as the great Italian singer, Enrico Caruso (1873-1921). It was no wonder that Leon would
be drawn to music. He had some informal piano lessons at the age of seven, and some more
serious private lessons when he turned ten. From the beginning, Josif was resentful that he took
piano lessons, which only continued because of Fortuné’s support.
Aside from piano, choral music would be the other genre that was a major part of Leon’s
life. Particularly in Serbia, choral music had enjoyed a rich past. The history of Serbian culture
reached a zenith in 1830, when the Ottoman empire granted Serbia the status of an autonomous
state within the empire.
12
During the following decades, many opera companies, orchestras, and
singing societies were established in the hope of building a Serbian culture.
13
This musical
flowering paved the way for the most important Serbian composer, Steven Stojanović Mokranjac
(1856-1914), whose choral works have brought Serbian choral music to international attention.
Especially after World War I, professional choirs such as The First Belgrade Singing Society,
Obilić, and Stanković were introducing major works by Palestrina and Verdi to the public.
14
At

12
John R. Lampe, Thomas M. Poulsen, and John B. Allcock, “Serbia,” Encyclopedia Britannica, Accessed June 22,
2020, https://www.britannica.com/place/Serbia.
13
Belonis Yannis, Biljana Milanović, Melita Milin, Nick Poulakis, Katy Romanou, Katarina Tomašević, Serbian
and Greek Art Music-A Patch to Western Music History (Bristol, UK: Intellect Books, 2009), 18.
14
Ibid., 42.
7
the end of the war, two music schools named after the two great Serbian composers, Steven
Steven Stojanović Mokranjac and Kornelije Stankovic (1831-1865), were established at the
elementary and secondary level. The schools aspired to base their curricula on a European
model.
15

While the concert halls and some educational institutions were absorbing west-European
influences, the rest of the country took time to catch up, largely because international performers
did not have time to focus on rebuilding the educational system.
16
The public school that Leon
attended remained rooted in the rich tradition of Serbian folklore and choral singing. Leon
remembered that his musical activities were centered on Serbian folk music with some exposure
to Western choral works. His music curriculum included no systematic teaching such as music
theory or even note-reading. All the music sung in the choir was taught by rote.
17

Leon’s other area of exposure to choral singing came from the synagogue. His family
belonged to one of the Orthodox synagogues in Belgrade. This was not because of their religious
affiliation, so much as the fact that the non-Orthodox branches within Judaism had not reached
Serbia by that time.
18
Through the synagogue, Leon was immersed in the art of Biblical
cantillation. He recalled that his childhood was full of memories of group singing in some
form.
19
This might have contributed to his affinity for joining choirs in the internment camps
where he was later imprisoned, and it informed his choral writing as a composer. He would go
on to assemble choirs and either sing in or direct them, most notably in the internment camp in
Oswego, New York and at the Aspen Music Festival.
20

15
Ibid., 45.
16
Ibid., 45.
17
Thomas Bertonneau, A Twentieth Century Romantic Temperament, 51.
18
Albala David, “A Serbian Jewish Captain,” The American Jewish Chronicle Vol. 3, No. 24 (1917), 702.
19
Thomas Bertonneau, A Twentieth Century Romantic Temperament, 51.
20
Ibid., 96.
8
Professional Aspirations

Like so many other composers, Leon recalls that his professional aspirations stemmed
from the influence of Beethoven. Perhaps through his father’s attempt to play simpler Beethoven
sonatas, or through the records of Beethoven symphonies that were often played on his aunt’s
Victrola, he traces his childhood memories of wanting to become a composer back to this iconic
German master. Even though he would be sneered at by Josif when he tried to practice the piano,
he simply could not resist learning more about Beethoven’s biography and music. Leon recalled,
“For some reason...and this may sound absolutely preposterous...but out of nowhere I began to
identify with this individual. I mean, absolutely in a very, very deep sense. It was just no
question that I would want to be a composer."
21
He found through reading biographies that
Beethoven was a towering pianist. The young Leon concluded that in order to become a good
composer, one needed to acquire piano proficiency. No matter how much he was going against
his father, he endeavored to practice the piano diligently, even though his piano lessons were
very sporadic because of Josif’s resentment.
In a young child’s mind, Leon must have wondered how his admiration for Beethoven
could translate into his own compositional path. Beethoven was such a giant to him that he not
only wanted to be a composer, but a composer of Western music. There were several major
Yugoslavian composers such as Stanislav Binički (1872-1942) and Petar Krstic (1877-1957)
active in the 1930’s, whose works were inspired by folklore. Leon was never drawn to the
thought of becoming a musical nationalist. In his studies and compositions, he insisted on
pursuing the broader European tradition. The inspiration of Beethoven early in his childhood set
him in a certain direction in his musical pursuits. The musicians with whom Leon would study in

21
Ibid., 52.
9
the internment camps, and even after the liberation, all reflected this direction that he had set for
himself.

The Rise of the Nazis

Although Leon had determined to pursue a musical path from a young age, his growth as
a musician was completely interrupted because of the rise of the Nazi regime. When Europe was
already in the midst of World War II, the Yugoslavian prime minister Dragiša Cevetkovic (1893-
1969) signed the Tripartite Pact with the Axis Powers on March 27, 1941.
22
Two days after signing
the agreement, a coup d’état under the leadership of Dušan Simović overthrew the government in
the hope of overturning this agreement.
23
Edward Levitch, as a young sixteen-year-old, joined the
youth demonstration supporting the Yugoslav coup d'état, waved the Yugoslav flag, and chanted
anti-Nazi songs on a public plaza in Belgrade. Josif, however, had a feeling that Hitler would not
let the anti-Nazi movement continue in Belgrade.
The first escape of the Levitch family began. Josif decided to bring his family to hide in a
hotel in Vrnjacka Banja, and he later returned to Belgrade.
24
Josif’s uneasy feeling toward the
Germans turned out to be prophetic. Beginning on April 6, 1941, Hitler bombed Belgrade
continually for three days and killed at least 30,000 people. Josif drove his Willys 77, miraculously
came back to his family in the hotel, and moved the entire family south to Vrnacka Banja. In his
autobiography, Edward included three maps to show that the Levitch family had moved more than

22
Jozo Tomasevich, War and Revolution in Yugoslavia, 1941-1945: Occupation and Collaboration. (Stanford, CA:
Stanford University Press, 2001), 46-47.
23
David A. T. Stafford, “Soe and British Involvement in the Belgrade Coup d’État of March 1941,” Slavic Review,
Vol. 36, No. 3 (Cambridge, UK, Cambridge University Press, 1977), 417.
24
Edward J. Levitch. From Beginning to Beginning, 10.
10
twenty-one times during this period of hiding. The education for all of the children was constantly
interrupted. It is important to point out that during these trips, Edward was only seventeen, Leon
fourteen, and Manon ten.
25

By the fall of 1941, while hiding in a small village in Krsanje, the family began to wonder
if it would be time for them to return to Belgrade. They had left some family members behind, and
they considered further that the conditions might have become more stable. Upon their return, Josif
was furious to find out that the Germans had completely occupied Belgrade, and he wanted to
leave right away. Fortuné sharply disagreed, insisting it would be better for the family to live under
the “normalization of living conditions under German occupation.”
26
Josif left the family in
Belgrade and went into hiding in Arangelovac, south of Belgrade. The rest of the Levitches tried
to oblige to the new laws, including the requirement to wear the Star of David. It took Fortuné a
while to realize that the Nazis’ true intention was to destroy the Jews.
She then took the children to look for Josif in Arangelovac. The protector of Josif, a
mortician who worked from home, gladly received the rest of the Levitch family. Edward began
to help him with his business, learning carpentry in the process. Not too long after the family
arrived, the Nazis got the word that there might be Jews hiding in the mortician’s home. The Nazis
quickly came to search for the family. It was a miracle, according to Edward and Leon, that they
were hidden in the attic and the soldiers did not find them.
27
After this experience, Fortuné
determined that the family should go as far south to the Italian-occupied territory as possible.
28

She returned to Belgrade disguised as a Muslim in a black robe with a black veil, presumably in

25
Ibid., x-xv.
26
Ibid.,19.
27
Leon and Edward Levitch, interview by Jeff and Toby Herr, Oral History Interview with Edward Levitch & Leon
Levitch, Safe Haven, Inc., August 6, 1994. https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn512726.
28
Ibid., 22.
11
order to hide her Jewish origin. Through the help of an interpreter, she convinced the German
officer to allow her to return to Greece to be with her family. She was able to receive some
documents authorizing her to take her family back to Salonica (present-day Thessaloniki).
29
This
would be the very last time that any member of the Levitch family traveled back to Belgrade until
years after the war ended.

To the Italians

Despite Hitler’s repeated demands, the Italians generally avoided murdering the Jews. The
top Nazi officer, Joseph Goebbels, even wrote a complaint in his diary: “The Italians are extremely
lax in their treatment of Jews. They protect Italian Jews both in Tunis and in occupied France and
won’t permit their being drafted for work or compelled to wear the Star of David.”
30
The Italians
mostly refused to transfer their prisoners to Auschwitz. Even when they were sending the Jews to
the internment camps in Italy, they exempted the Jews who were ill or over seventy years of age.
31

Even though these records were not known at the time, the Levitches somehow seemed to sense
that they would be safer in Italian territory. As the forthcoming narrative will show, even though
they changed their minds at times, the ultimate goal in their escape was to reach Italian-occupied
territory as soon as possible.
After obtaining the papers, the Levitch family traveled again and hid themselves in
Mladenovac, Tito Užice, and Scopje before reaching Italian-occupied Tirana. The Albanian capital

29
Ibid., 23.
30
See Chapter 28 in Martin Gilbert, The Second World War: A Complete History (New York, NY: RosettaBooks
LLC, 2014).
31
Shira Klein, Italy’s Jews from Emancipation to Fascism (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2018),
117.
12
immediately struck them in that the presence of police guards – and the state government as a
whole – was not as threatening. It was the first time since their escape that Josif and Fortuné were
afforded a brief respite to consider which destination might be the safest. Fortuné had originally
received the travel documents with the plan of taking the family to Salonica. By chance, she had
heard that some of their relatives were interned on the island of Korčula, a territory that was
controlled by the Italian government.
32
They were able to manually alter the destination on the
travel papers and sail to Korčula on a small boat.
Both Edward and Leon admitted that their recollection of Korčula was vague.
33
Even
though they did find their relatives, the alteration of the travel papers was soon discovered by the
Arma dei Carabinieri,
34
an Italian police force that still exists today but was appropriated by Benito
Mussolini (1883-1945) to secure his power.
35
The police handcuffed the adults and sent the entire
family to Split, a city in Italian-occupied Yugoslavia (now in present-day Croatia). Split, along
with Dubrovnik, Sušak, and Mostar, became frequent transit cities for Jewish refugees.
36
In fact,
these Italian-occupied cities became a haven for Jews after the outbreak of World War II.
Josif explained to the local police that they had been persecuted by the Nazis and pleaded
with them to let his family stay in the Italian-controlled cities. The officials agreed and removed
their handcuffs. The family were able to move freely within Split until they were transferred to the
internment camp in San Vincenzo de la Fonte, a town in the northwest part of Italy (now Saint-
Vincent, Aosta Valley). This was the first official internment camp where the Levitch family was

32
Edward J. Levitch, From Beginning to Beginning, 28.
33
Ibid., 28.
34
Geoffrey P. Megargee, ed., Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933-1945 (United States Holocaust Memorial
Museum, 2018), 423.
35
Katrin Paehler, The Third Reich’s Intelligence Services: The Career of Walter Schellenberg (Cambridge, UK:
Cambridge University Press, 2017), 202.
36
Philip J. Cohen, Serbia's Secret War: Propaganda and the Deceit of History (College Station, TX: Texas A&M
University Press, 1996), 91-92.
13
kept since their escape. Confine Libero (“Free Confinement”), reminiscent of the German slogan
Arbeit macht frei (“Work sets you free”), was the name coined by the Fascists for the internment
camps all over Italy. Depending on the Carabinieri, weather, and the living conditions of each
camp, the inmates in different camps experienced various degrees of hardship. For instance, the
inmates who were kept in the Confine Libero in Picinisco reportedly had a much harder time than
those in San Vicenzo.
37

In the case of the Levitch family, they had much more positive memories in their first
camp. San Vicenzo had granted them many liberties. First, the Italian government provided them
with 800 lire per month.
38
The adults had to report to the Cabinieri once a day, but the rest of the
time they were free to do as they wished as long as they stayed within the camp. Their experience
here was similar to the one in Split.
In his autobiography, From Beginning to Beginning, Edward Levitch frequently sang his
praises toward the Italians. He was full of praise toward the Italian people in Split, San Vicenzo,
and later in Ferramonti. “Strangely, the entire world was aflame and yet here in Italy people were
standing up to the tyranny of Nazi Germany’s treatment of the Jews.”
39
He called his experience
in Italy a “haven” in comparison to what came before, including his friendly exchanges with the
locals, tolerable weather, and the room to dream.
40
Edward took after his father in writing several
poems during his time in Italy. The following stanza reflects some of the optimism that was
allowed for the young mind of Edward:

The consolation is real and proper.
The moment of happiness is dawning on people,

37
Mary Contini, Dear Olivia: An Italian Journey of Love and Courage (Edinburgh: Canongate Books Ltd, 2006),
408.
38
Edward J. Levitch, From Beginning to Beginning, 32.
39
Ibid., 33.
40
Ibid., 35.
14
The end of the war is clearly on the horizon,
After a long winter, the spring arrives.
41

This final stanza from his poem Spring was written in Ferramonti in 1943 (See Appendix J for the
full poem). While the rest of continental Europe was at its height of violence and persecution, this
poem gives the contrasting impression of a young man filled with hope that the end of the war was
about to come.
It is not clear if Leon shared his brother’s optimism and positive view of the Italians, but it
is certain that his formal musical training began in the internment camps. His father had always
prided himself in being a poet, and was active in writing even before the war. All the poems that
Leon had originally intended to incorporate into the Requiem Patris were written by his father.
Out of all of these poems, Leon only ended up completing the setting of Song of Dreams. It is
meaningful that all the other poems in this collection are full of darkness, fear, and anger (See
Appendix A-D for Josif’s poems). Only Song of Dreams stands out for its tranquil tone. It is
symbolic that the poem Song of Dreams was composed during their confinement in San Vicenzo.
After escaping and living in hiding for over a year, the Levitch family must have felt that they
could finally breathe a little after arriving in San Vicenzo.

41
Ibid., 47.
15
Transport to Ferramonti

Since the Confine Libero in San Vicenzo was only meant to be a transit point, in early 1942
the Levitch family found themselves shipped on a train to Ferramonti di Tarsia.
42
Tarsia is a town
situated on the outskirts of Cosenza, a city in the southern region of Calabria. Mussolini had begun
the call for the construction of the Ferramonti camp on June 4, 1940.
43
By September of the same
year, fifteen other camps had already been established, of which Ferramonti was the largest. In
Ferramonti, roughly 2000 inmates lived in ninety-two barracks. Roughly seventy percent of the
prisoners were Jewish, and the majority of them were affluent German Jews who were fortunate
enough to get out of Germany right after the Nuremburg Laws were passed.
44
The other Jews were
from the Czech lands, Poland, Hungary, and Yugoslavia.
45
Italian Jews were rarely deported to
these camps, unless they were blatantly expressing anti-fascist ideas. In the Ferramonti camp, both
Italian and German were the predominant languages. When Jewish inmates created self-governing
groups at the camp,
46
the Jews who were proficient in both German and Italian were likely to be
chosen for administrative leadership positions.
47
By the time they were in Ferramonti, the two
brothers grew proficient in both conversational Italian and German.
Many Jewish refugees received help from Delegazione Assistenza Emigranti Ebrei
(“Delegation for the Assistance of Jewish Emigrants”), otherwise known as DELASEM.
48
Dante

42
Susan Zuccotti, The Italians and the Holocaust: Persecution, Rescue, and Survival (Lincoln, NB: University of
Nebraska Press, 1987), 52.
43
Geoffrey P. Megargee, Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933-1945, 424.
44
Italy and the Holocaust Foundation, “The Life in Ferramonti,” Accessed August 2, 2019,
http://www.italyandtheholocaust.org/places-life-in-Life-In-Ferramonti-2.aspx.
45
Zuccotti, The Italians and the Holocaust, 53.
46
“The Life in Ferramonti,” Italy and the Holocaust Foundation, accessed August 2, 2019,
http://www.italyandtheholocaust.org/places-life-in-Life-In-Ferramonti-2.aspx.
47
Geoffrey P. Megargee, Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933-1945, 425.
48
“Refugees and Rescuers in Fascist and Post War Italy (1933-1946),” United States Holocaust Memorial Museum,
Accessed August 10, 2018, https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn49247.
16
Almansi (1877-1949), an Italian Jew who was a member of the Fascist party, single-handedly
convinced the officials that an organization for the relief work for Jewish refugees was in the
country’s best interest. DELASEM was permitted to be established in 1939 and the relief work
was active until 1947.
49
During the war, the organization was able to collect large sums of money
from abroad and direct the funds toward the Italian and non-Italian Jews in Italy. In Ferramonti,
DELASEM helped to establish a soup kitchen, a school for the children, and even a synagogue.
DELASEM also provided food, medicine and clothing to the inmates.
50
They even tried to attend
to individual needs, such as shipping musical scores and staff paper to Leon when he wanted to
further his training in the camp.

Living Conditions in the Camp

“I always said the Italians will take life, liberty, and property from anyone who is an enemy,
but not music. So this was the one light for me and for many others in that whole dark night
of the Holocaust.” – Leon Levitch
51

In contrast to Edward's adulation for the Italians, Leon was not as positive toward his
experience in Ferramonti. In his interviews, he repeatedly mentioned the scarcity of food.
Chickpeas were considered a delicacy. The only way to get oil was through what he called the
“black market.” He remembered that once in a long while, when the family received some milk,
they would reserve it for his younger sister Manon. The food provided was barely enough to sustain
their survival.

49
Zuccotti, The Italians and the Holocaust, 65.
50
Ibid., 65.
51
Bertonneau, A Twentieth Century Romantic Temperament, 24.
17
Leon vividly remembered the infestation of their sleeping quarters due to bed bugs.
However, the most challenging part was the malaria. Ferramonti happened to be a city that was
heavily affected by malaria.
52
Fortunately, the local officials supplied quinine to the inmates,
which mostly stopped the spread of the disease.

Piano at Ferramonti

The conditions in the camp were not ideal, but the living situation was stable enough that
it gave Leon a foundation to return to his musical aspirations. DELASEM managed to bring in a
grand piano which Leon described as "prehistoric and broken down.” This only piano at the camp
at least provided the professional musicians with a platform to practice and perform. There were
many excellent musicians in the camp. For example, Leon recalled the first time he heard a
professional pianist practicing J.S. Bach’s English Suite No. 3.
53
He referred to her as
“Steinbrecher,” possibly a reference to pianist Ellen Steinbrecher mentioned in the database of
Ebrei stranieri internati in Italia durante il period bellico (“Foreign Jews Interned in Italy During
the Time of War”.)
54
He was completely stunned by the harmony and counterpoint brought out in
this performance.
55
His memory of her performance was so vivid that he immediately studied this
suite once the war ended.
A certain “Mr. Strauss,” whose first name Leon could not recall, was a lawyer and an
accomplished pianist. “Mr. Strauss” became his only piano teacher in Ferramonti. Finding a time

52
Ibid., 25.
53
Ibid., 38.
54
Anna Pizzuti, Ebrei stranieri internati in Italia durante il period bellico, Accessed July 12, 2020,
http://www.annapizzuti.it/database/ricerca.php?a=show&sid=4332.
55
Thomas Bertonneau, A Twentieth Century Romantic Temperament, 41.
18
to practice the piano became his struggle throughout his entire time in the camp. There was only
one piano in the camp. Leon always had to wait for the most undesirable practice time since the
priority was given to more advanced pianists. As a result, he would rise up early to practice.
Sometimes when it was unbearably cold in the morning, his supportive mother would bring a
brazier to warm up his hands before his practicing. “The piano was the light, the one light that
drew us and that helped. Making music, of course, helped us to keep up some kind of a morale.”
56

If piano playing brought a sense of morale to Leon, piano tuning provided a kind of order
in the midst of all the chaos. Leon began to learn piano tuning with “Mr. Sternberg,”
57
who had
also lived part of his life in Yugoslavia. It is not clear why Leon decided to acquire this trade. One
might suppose that prisoners in these conditions tended to crave a sense of order and rationality,
which he could find through this activity. In any case, he soon acquired the skill of piano tuning
and assisted Sternberg with tuning the piano. Just as his brother Edward had learned the trade of
carpentry during his escape and later started a successful business in California, Leon eventually
became a well-known piano technician in Los Angeles. In fact, his job as a piano tuner for the
University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) and other clients became the means for his
livelihood in the United States. This profession also provided the support for his career as a
composer.

Chorus at Ferramonti

Leon earnestly sought every opportunity to be involved in the musical activities in the
Ferramonti camp. He found that there was a professional choir directed by the Croatian

56
Ibid., 41.
57
Mr. Sternberg’s first name is not listed in any historical records.
19
musician, Lav Mirski (1893-1968).
58
Leon held great admiration for Mirski as he described to
Bertonneau: “We had a wonderful choral conductor who looked like Beethoven. Absolutely
looked like Beethoven. His name was Lav Myrsky…and he organized a chorus. It was just
marvelous, we just loved it.”
59
Before being transported to Ferramonti, Mirski was the founder
and the music director of Osijek Philharmonic in Croatia.
60
He was also active as a professional
cellist in Vienna prior to the war. Bret Werb,
61
the music collection curator at the United States
Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM), told this author that Leon might have assisted the
choir in Ferramonti. However, the extent of his directing responsibilities is still not clear.
In any case, this experience with choir played a formative role for him. The choir would
regularly put on concerts at the camp. Leon was influenced by the work of the choir to such an
extent that, when he came to the United States, he wanted to emulate their achievement. At the
internment camp in Oswego, New York, he went on to assemble his own choir with official
performances. Most likely, the seed was planted in Ferramonti.
He mentioned in his interview with Bertonneau that there were many different “social
groups” in Ferramonti, which provided people with numerous options for activities. The most
popular group in the camp was a Zionist youth group.
62
Leon did not take part in this Zionist
group, because he was only driven to participate in activities related to music. His regret about
beginning his musical studies at a relatively late age and failing to reach his full potential runs

58
“Lav Mirski,” Campo di Concentramento, accessed August 6, 2019, https://www.campodiferramonti.it/la-vita-
nel-campo/lav-mirski/.
59
Bertonneau, A Twentieth Century Romantic Temperament, 29.
60
Tamara Jurkić Sviben, “Musicians of Jewish Origin in Northern Croatia 1815-1941” (PhD diss., University of
Zagreb, 2016), 122.
61
USC Shoah Foundation, “Behind the Music: Bret Werb and Shoah Songs,” Accessed May 25, 2020.
https://sfi.usc.edu/news/2015/09/10003-behind-music-bret-werb-and-shoah-songs.
62
Bertonneau, A Twentieth Century Romantic Temperament, 37.
20
like a leitmotif throughout his interviews. If there was any spare time, Leon always preferred to
practice the piano, sing in the choir, and pursue his ultimate dream – composition.

Beginning to Compose

The dream of becoming a composer had never left him since Leon had made the firm
resolution as a child. He sought any possible means to pursue his goal. DELASEM managed to
secure musical scores. Leon received Clementi sonatas and Mozart sonatas, an album of easy
piano music, and a Beethoven sonata. It was hard for him to find staff paper. Leon remembered
that he had to contact DELASEM in order to receive a small Italian notebook called quaderno
per musica (“notebook for music”), which he used for his harmony exercises (See Figures 1.1
and 1.2).
63

Leon managed to study with a few musicians who were willing to help him in his path of
becoming a composer. His most significant composition teacher in this period was Isak Thaler
(1902-?), who primarily focused on four-part writing with Leon. Thaler was very active in the
musical activities in the Ferramonti camp. He often performed concerts at the camp, along with
Lav Mirski, Sigbert Steinfeld, trumpeter Oscar Klein, singer Paolo Gorin, and pianist Kurt
Sonnefeld. The inmates called these events Bunter Abend (“colorful evening”).
64

After the war, Leon brought his quaderno per musica to the United States, where it can
now be found in the Holocaust Museum archive. This notebook was used for harmony exercises
and some early compositions. All the manuscripts in this quaderno per musica are fragmentary.

63
Ibid., 40.
64
Armida Locatelli, an heiress of Sonnefeld, recently donated the original scores and arrangements from these
concerts to Milan Conservatory. See Viviana Kasam, “Cosa ci insegna Ferramonti,” Pagine Ebraiche, accessed
August 7, 2019, https://www.memoriainscena.it/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/ferramonti-PE.pdf.
21
It contains not even one complete composition. There is one page that has Leon’s diagram of a
circle of fifths. On the top corner of the same page, there is a short grocery list with itemized
prices (See Figure 1.2). This document suggests how Leon was struggling to study some basic
principles of composition while under the daily life pressures of the camp. However, his gift for

Figure 1.1 Quaderno Musica Canto (Courtesy of Leon Levitch Archive at the United States
Holocaust Memorial Museum)

Figure 1.2 Table of circle of fifths and shopping list (Courtesy of Leon Levitch Archive at
the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)

22
Figure 1.3 Composition sketch for violin and piano (Courtesy of Leon Levitch Archive at the
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)

melody and harmony are already displayed in these early manuscripts. His gift of melody can be
especially seen in his sketch for violin and piano (See Figure 1.3), which is the longest sketch
one can find in this notebook. The tuneful violin melody has a free and improvisatory flavor.

Liberation at Ferramonti

In 1943, the British army announced liberation for Ferramonti. By this time, the
Levitches had only been in the camp for about a year. According to Edward, it felt strange that
the war was over for Ferramonti but not the rest of the world.
65
Since there was no immediate
plan for relocating these prisoners, they were allowed to travel freely, even outside of the camp.
Edward went to work in Reggio Calabria and later Taranto, while the rest of the family stayed at

65
Edward J. Levitch, From Beginning to Beginning, 38.
23
the camp. Josif traveled to several cities in Italy seeking business, often with Leon accompanying
him. Lecce happened to be one of the cities that they visited.
66
In early 1944, Leon was able to
register and begin taking lessons at Conservatorio di Musica “Tito Schipa” Lecce.
67
Although
Leon could not recall the exact month of his study, he was ecstatic over this opportunity for real
conservatory training. He studied piano with Gennaro Sannino (dates not available)
68
and
composition with Giovanni Spezzaferri (1888-1963).
69

About two months into his studies, the possibility of transferring to the United States was
announced. Fortuné reported to the officials that she had a brother living in the United States. It
turned out that her brother Jacques Jacoel had settled in Buffalo, New York around the time of
World War I.
70
The Levitches were quickly approved, although none of them had any idea what
was ahead of them in the United States.
Not everyone in the family was excited about their new home. Particularly for Leon, he
would have done anything to stay in Italy for his conservatory training:

I did not want to leave Lecce. I never cried in all my life more than I did when my father
dragged me out of the conservatory, telling me that we are going to America. It was one
of the most devastating times. It was a different kind of trauma. It wasn’t the trauma of
seeing your native town go up in flames. It was an altogether different kind of trauma.
The other was subhuman trauma, or superhuman, or whatever you want to call it. This
was a human trauma, but very painful.
71

Leon was seventeen years old at the time and already frustrated with his sporadic musical
training up to that point. By any traditional standard of classical training, he was hopelessly

66
Bertonneau, A Twentieth Century Romantic Temperament, 41.
67
Ibid., 42.
68
“Docenti del Conservatorio di musica,” Conservatorio di Music “Tito Schipa” Lecce, accessed August 2, 2019,
http://www.conservatoriolecce.it/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=196&catid=24&Itemid=115.
69
Giovanni Spezzaferri, Piano Works, Simone Pozzini, Stradivarius Records STR 33821, CD, 2008.
70
Edward J. Levitch. From Beginning to Beginning, 42.
71
Bertonneau, A Twentieth Century Romantic Temperament, 42-43.
24
behind in his development. He had been through many cities for hiding and internment, but they
were at least on the same continent. He finally had renowned teachers at a conservatory who
were willing to accept him. His composition teacher, Giovanni Spezzaferri, had several
recordings released, while Gennaro Sannino was very active as a concert pianist. Leon could not
imagine giving up all of this superb training that was readily available for him. To give it up in
order to go to yet another internment camp in a new country, in which no musical training was
guaranteed, was unbearable for him. Little did he know that the next chapter of his life would
yield the most formidable training which would finally enable him to find his own compositional
voice.
25
Chapter II: A New Life in the United States

In Europe, the term “concentration camp” is used loosely to encompass death camps,
labor camps, internment camps, and transit camps. As such, the term evokes an especially
sensitive and negative reaction, even in the United States. From 1933 to 1945, the Third Reich
established approximately 44,000 camps and ghettos throughout its empire.
1

America is also known for having internment camps. They are mostly thought of as
Japanese internment camps, but in actuality they housed a variety of groups of people for
different causes.
2
Article upon article asks if the Japanese internment camps should instead be
called “concentration camps,”
3
since their function was to “detain” and “incarcerate” people
because of their nationality.
4
It is perplexing that the Japanese camps, which were specifically
intended to target and imprison people for racial reasons, would be placed in the same category
with other refugee camps, which were built to protect and support victims. One example of such
a refugee camp was Fort Ontario camp, a camp that housed roughly a thousand Jews from 1944
to the end of the war.
5

Arrival at Fort Ontario

On June 8, 1944, President Roosevelt announced the news that the United States would
grant temporary shelter to some prisoners of war who were interned in Italy. The tasks involved

1
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, “Nazi Camps,” accessed August 10, 2019,
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/nazi-camps.
2
Meagan Flynn, “For Japanese Americans, the debate over what counts as a ‘concentration camp’ is familiar,” The
Washington Post, June 20, 2019.
3
Deborah Schiffrin, “Language and public memorial: ‘America’s concertation camps,’” Discourse & Society, Vol.
12, No. 4: 505-534, JSTOR (42888381).
4
Meagan Flynn, “For Japanese Americans, the debate over what counts as a ‘concentration camp’ is familiar,” The
Washington Post, June 20, 2019.
5
Claudia Rowe, “59 Years Ago, They Fled to and Internment Camp,” New York Times, July 21, 2003.
26
with this project were given to the War Relocation Authority
6
(sometimes referred to as the War
Relocation Board), the same organization that authorized the Japanese American Internment.
7

Figure 2.1 First wave of arrivals at Fort Ontario (August, 1944)

Second row from the left: Koki Levy, Edward Levitch, Leon Levitch, Alice Mandler, Rosa Moschev, Thea Weiss,
Paul Arnstein. (Photo credits: Branko Kaufman, courtesy of United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)

President Roosevelt established some criteria for relocation, including “the internees would live
under appropriate security restrictions for the duration of the war,” and most importantly, “the

6
“Fort Ontario refugees pose with their classmates on the steps of the public high school in Oswego, New York,”
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, accessed March 24, 2020,
https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/pa1033520.
7
United States War Relocation Authority, Token shipment: The story of America’s war refugee shelter
(Washington, DC: U.S. Gov’t Print Office, 1946), 4.
27
internees would return to their homeland at the end of the war.” The camp was located in Fort
Ontario, Oswego, where 982 internees were admitted. These 982 members were chosen based on
a selection process set up under both President Roosevelt’s command and WRA-supplemented
criteria. The main criteria included that the prisoners were supposed to be “those in the greatest
need,” those “for whom other havens of refuge are not immediately available,” and were to
exclude “families with healthy males of military age.”
8
They implemented the rule of excluding
“healthy males of military age” presumably to avoid spies sent from other countries in a time of
war. Nevertheless, the other criteria still seemed somewhat arbitrary. It is unclear how the
committee determined who qualified for “those in the greatest need,” or those who did not have
“other havens of refuge” where they could go. Still, the rules had been modified several times by
the committee, and one imagines they did the best they could to receive those in need.
Two months after the Levitch family heard the news, they were transferred to the United
States. In August of 1944, the Levitches arrived at Ellis Island. Leon mentioned how much he
hated the Statue of Liberty when he first saw it. He was angry that he was forced to leave the
conservatory in Lecce. Once again, his musical education was interrupted. This time, it was
because his mother decided that the urgency of leaving Europe superseded his need for a musical
education. His bad impression was exacerbated upon seeing the camp: “My first impression was
very negative, to see ourselves again behind barbed wires.”
9
The camp was officially referred to
as “Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter,” but to him, the Fort Ontario camp was simply
“another kind of concentration camp, only an American style.”
10
If this sentiment might seem
extreme, it only conveys Leon’s desperate frustration at that time.

8
Ibid., 9-10.
9
Bertonneau, A Twentieth Century Romantic Temperament, 63.
10
Ibid., 57.
28
Edward and Leon eventually realized that Fort Ontario was endeavoring as much as
possible to take care of them. The WRA established a supply system including food, housing
(military barracks remodeled into apartments), medical care, stipends for clothing, and other
necessities. For adults, the WRA would help them to look for jobs to earn wages. For children,
all of them were placed in regular classrooms outside the camp with the local students in
Oswego.
11
Coincidentally, the school system in Oswego was suffering from low enrollment
because of the low birthrate in the region. Allowing integration with the refugees helped them to
maintain their funding from the state.
12
Regardless of the motive for integration, all of the
internees appreciated their religious freedom as well as access to life outside the camp, before the
daily curfew. Edward and Leon repeatedly described the “fairy tale” and “American dream” of
life in Oswego,” in comparison to any place where they were before.
13
The food and living
conditions were even better than they were in Italy.
14
The authorities initially released
announcements in eight languages, although they quickly discovered that German and Italian
were the most common languages spoken in the camp.
15
Most of the official notices would be
issued in both languages. Many English classes were available to the adults at the camp. Fort
Ontario endeavored as much as possible to help the refugees go back to a normal life.

11
War Relocation Authority, 23-29.
12
Ibid., 30.
13
SUNY Oswego Penfield Library, “Interview with Safe Haven Refugee,” Transcript, Accessed July 15, 2019,
http://www.oswego.edu/library2/archives/oral_history_transcripts/safe_haven_oral_history_transcript_284.pdf.
14
Edward J. Levitch, From Beginning to Beginning, 59-61.
15
War Relocation Authority, 38.
29
Musical Activities in Fort Ontario

Edward was thrilled to continue his education. Leon, on the other hand, thought that
going back to school would take time away from his musical inclinations and was somewhat
resentful of it. “I only wanted to stay at the piano,” he admitted: “I was obsessed.”
16
He
nevertheless attended the public high school in Oswego because he had to obey the policy. His
music teacher, whom he remembered as “Mrs. Hill,” learned of his interest in composition and
gave him a theory book by Percy Goetschius for his study. In the camp, Leon took piano lessons
with Vera Levinson, a former piano student of the legendary pianist Alfred Cortot. He was
already seventeen years old, which in the eyes of most classical pianists was far too late to build
a solid foundation. He admitted he suffered greatly from his anxiety and anger of falling behind
because of the wars, and his concentration on practicing piano was very poor.
17

Just as Leon became discouraged, his reputation began to grow. First, he discovered that
in some barracks, there were some broken upright pianos. “I then proceeded to tune all the
pianos and to repair them as best as I knew how, with Scotch tape and spit and glue or whatever I
could find...string, twine.”
18
He asked the locals to get him a tuning hammer and a fork, and
word of his ability immediately spread in the surrounding area in upstate New York. Locals
would come to the camp to ask for special permission for Leon to come to their homes to tune
their instruments. Gradually more people treated him with high respect and even paid him for his

16
Bertonneau, A Twentieth Century Romantic Temperament, 58.
17
Ibid., 58.
18
Ibid., 58.
30
service.
19
He became so well-known that he was able to negotiate a private cabin with a piano
exclusively for himself.
Just as in Ferramonti, there were many accomplished musicians surrounding Leon. The
most famous musician was the Austrian composer Charles Abeles (1903-1987), who returned to
his home country after liberation. According to the research conducted by Dr. Marilynn Smiley
and the displayed documentation at Historic Fort Ontario, there was a chamber orchestra
directed by Charles Abeles with twelve members and nine choral groups.
20
Many chamber
series, orchestral concerts, and opera performances were presented at Fort Ontario, inside and
outside of the camp.

Figure 2.2 Charles Abeles and his orchestra at Fort Ontario (Courtesy of the United States
Holocaust Memorial Museum)

19
“Oral Histories: Emergency Refugee Shelter at Fort Ontario (Safe Haven),” SUNY Oswego, accessed August 10,
2019, https://www.oswego.edu/library/oral-histories-emergency-refugee-shelter-fort-ontario-safe-haven.
20
“Music and Musicians of the Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter,” Oswego County Today, accessed April
20, 2020, https://oswegocountytoday.com/music-and-musicians-of-the-fort-ontario-emergency-refugee-shelter-set-
jan 27/news/oswego.pqIblY.
31
Perhaps looking back to Ferramonti’s choral director Lav Mirski as his model, Leon
assembled and directed a youth choir at Fort Ontario.
21
Leon was proud to be able to form a full
choir of complete voice parts (SATB) with an audition-based selection process. This choir was a
great opportunity for him to practice four-part harmonization. He arranged folk songs and some
Zionist songs into SATB arrangements and taught them to the choir. There is an unpublished
music notebook, entitled Jüdische Lieder, containing his four-part arrangements for his youth
choir (See Appendix G). This collection shows that Leon was still learning how to write for the
voice. A common mistake of using the bass clef for the tenor part is consistently seen in this
collection.
Leon did not merely run a few rehearsals, but provided many choral concerts at the camp
for an audience. Edward recalled that his brother “conducted tirelessly” in choir concerts that
“brought entertainment and joy to the camp residents.”
22
Based on his comments, it seems that
Leon was respected as a musician to a certain degree. Conducting this choir was the first time
that Leon gained a platform both as a director and a composer. “I began to create my own
musical world in Oswego. It was sort of a basic training in everything that later on became not
only my livelihood, but also my life.”
23
Considering the Jüdische Lieder manuscript as an
example, this choir became his chance to hear his own music and refine his craft as a composer.
Because of his transformative experience with choirs stretching from his childhood all the way
through his many internment camps, Leon often turned to choir when he expressed his deepest
thoughts and sentiments. Whereas other composers might turn to songs or operas, Leon always

21
Bertonneau, A Twentieth Century Romantic Temperament, 58-59.
22
Edward J. Levitch, From Beginning to Beginning, 60.
23
“Interview with Safe Haven Refugee.” Penfield Library, SUNY Oswego online archives. Last modified 2005.
http://www.oswego.edu/library2/archives/oral_history_transcripts/safe_haven_oral_history_transcript_284.pdf.
32
preferred choir, and this relationship with choral music would last until the end of his life,
culminating in Song of Dreams.
Everyday life at the camp seemed to be going well, but the Levitches remembered all too
clearly that they had signed the document agreeing to return to their home country after the
war.
24
Some of the refugees had gradually become accustomed to their new life in the United
States. To many people, the idea of returning to Europe was truly disturbing. Everyone followed
the news carefully until, one day, their greatest fear became a reality. On April 12, 1945, the
news of the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt devastated the entire camp. They had no
idea what would happen once Harry Truman assumed the presidency.
The musicians at the camp began to put on a performance of a newly composed operetta,
The Golden Cage, composed by Charles Abeles to an English libretto written by German
sculptress Miriam Sommerburg (1900-1980). The plot centered on the plea for final liberation
from confinement. It was an ambitious work to be put together in a short amount of time. The
text to one of the arias with chorus fully expresses the disquiet of the inmates:

Behind the fence of Fort Ontario
We are sitting, awaiting the glorious day,
When our unchained feet may finally go
Over the most wonderful country’s war.

There is no food we are longing for.
No material need we are suffering,
But our hearts have never been cared for,
Are we are tremendously troubled.

Like a lion in the cage
We are losing health and mood;

24
Edward J. Levitch, From Beginning to Beginning, 53.
33
Like a bird, which after age
Finds its wings for nothing good.
25
(See Appendix G for the libretto that was preserved)

The musicians put on a preview of The Golden Cage for all the refugees before presenting it to
the public.
26
The first public performance given at the camp was advertised in the local
newspaper for January 11, 1945. The article indicates that only invited guests from Oswego were
allowed to attend the performance (See Appendix E). This information suggests that the refugees
were still very careful about whom they invited, perhaps because of the sensitivity of the topic.
The libretto stressed the constant anxiety felt by the refugees during their confinement. In the
storyline, they were eagerly awaiting the news about their future. The refugees vividly compared
themselves to “a monkey in the zoological garden,” waiting for their freedom. With the
devastating news of the death of Roosevelt, this performance fully demonstrates the anxiety the
inmates felt at that time.

Leaving Fort Ontario

The great news that President Truman changed the immigration laws to address the
refugees’ internment first arrived on December 22, 1945, a few days before the first public
performance of The Golden Cage. The statement on immigration specifically targeted at the
interned refugees at Fort Ontario camp:

It would be inhumane and wasteful to require these people to go all the way back to
Europe...I am therefore directing the Secretary of State and the Attorney General to adjust

25
“The Golden Cage,” Historic Fort Ontario, accessed August 15, 2019, https://historicfortontario.com/the-golden-
cage/.
26
“The Golden Cage, Operetta, Given at Fort Tonight,” Oswego Palladium (Oswego, NY), January 11, 1946.
34
the immigration status of the members of this group who may wish to remain here, in
strict accordance with existing laws and regulations.
27

It was unprecedented that the inmates had the opportunity to decide their future. The decision on
whether to stay in America was theirs alone. Several of them, such as the famous composer
Charles Abeles, decided to return to Austria immediately, but most refugees chose to stay in the
new continent. However, those who wished to stay had to follow the examination of the War
Relocation Authority and National Refugee Service (NRS), a private agency that pledged to
provide appropriate help for relocation.
28
Many newly freed refugees preferred to stay in the
New York area. Since the government wanted them to be incorporated into as many diverse
communities as possible, some of them were advised to move to the west.
The Levitches chose Los Angeles, because it was known to have a large Jewish
community that could provide the support for them to have a new beginning. After they
completed the process of naturalized citizenship, the family took a train across the country and
arrived in Los Angeles. Besides Manon, who later moved to Phoenix after her marriage, the rest
of the Levitch family stayed in the Los Angeles area for the rest of the lives.

Southern California

After their liberation from the Fort Ontario camp, the Levitch family settled in Reseda, a
city in the San Fernando Valley on the outskirts of Los Angeles. Josif passed the exam to
become a licensed pharmacist and opened his own shop. Edward continued his early passion for
carpentry and began to work for several small construction companies. His business became so

27
War Relocation Authority, 75.
28
Ibid., 78.
35
successful that he opened his own company Levco Builders, which is now the Levitch
Associates, Inc. in Berkeley. Manon got married four years after they settled in California and
moved to Arizona. For the most part, the Levitch family was able to find stability remarkably
fast on a new continent.
For the blossoming young composer, however, the real journey of his life had just begun.
In Southern California, he had finally found the haven where he could look for musical training.
While he was finishing his last few credits at Canoga Park High School, Leon obtained a student
card which enabled him to attend the performances of the Los Angeles Philharmonic once a
week. Through a family friend he was able to study with the renowned Polish pianist Jakob
Gimpel (1906-1989), who was also a Holocaust survivor.
29
This was a tremendous honor since
his piano skills were intermediate, at best.
While he was amazed at achieving this milestone, his father once again harshly dismissed
it: “Oh, well, you know, Gimpel is also a refugee, and he just wanted to make you feel good;
that's why he gave you a scholarship,” was his father’s response as he remembered it. “You are
too old now to become a concert pianist, and why don't you just forget about it. He just felt sorry
for you, that's why he did it.”
30
Leon had always had a difficult relationship with his father
because of music. Every time a famous teacher took Leon under his wing, his father’s reaction
would always be acerbic and discouraging. With regrets over losing time and his failure to meet
his father’s expectations, Leon spent his whole life doubting his ability as a composer.
This deep sense of loss was never assuaged even after his talent had been confirmed by
several important musical figures. Leon admitted that his piano studies progressed very slowly.
Gimpel was still willing to help him enter Los Angeles City College as a music major. He then

29
Bertonneau, A Twentieth Century Romantic Temperament, 70.
30
Ibid., 71
36
was able to study with the famous theorist Gerhard Albersheim (1902-1996). To keep up his
involvement with choral music, he joined the choir directed by Hugo Strelitzer (1896-1981)
31

where he sang Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem. It is meaningful that every time Leon was
discouraged in his musical development, a choir always restored his passion. Right after singing
the Requiem, he exclaimed, “Pianist or no pianist, this is my life: music! And that's it.”
32
This
reaction was similar to what he felt after joining the choirs in both Ferramonti and Fort Ontario.
Up to this point, most of his compositions were written in various camps without formal
or continuous guidance. These experiences inspired him to seek formal training with a
composition teacher. Many prominent musicians, most famously Erich Wolfgang Korngold
(1897-1967), received students from war-torn Europe with the understanding that they were held
back in their development because of the war.
33
Through the help of the Jewish community, a
music camp like the Brandeis Camp Institute
34
(renamed Brandeis-Bardin Institute after 1977)
was formed. Through Gimpel’s recommendation, Leon received a scholarship to enter this
institute, a definitive landmark for him to become a composer. He met the famous composer
Max Helfmann (1901-1963),
35
and he remembered singing his choral arrangements of Israeli
songs in his choir. It was also there that he met and studied with several significant musicians of
the twentieth century: Eric Zeisl (1905-1959), Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895-1968), Ernst
Toch (1887-1964), and Solomon Rosowsky (1878-1962).
36
In particular, Zeisl and Castelnuovo-
Tedesco were to become his life-long mentors.

31
Jonathan Kirsh, “Nazi threat lead to an L.A. Windfall,” Los Angeles Times, July 16, 2009,
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-jul-16-et-book16-story.html.
32
Bertonneau, A Twentieth Century Romantic Temperament, 73-74.
33
See story of Shony Alex Braun in Shony Braun and Emily Cavins, My Heart is a Violin (Bloomington, IN:
1stBooks, 2002), 92-135.
34
“Brandeis-Bardin Campus,” American Jewish University, accessed July 20, 2018,
https://www.aju.edu/about-aju/our-campuses/brandeis-bardin-campus.
35
Bertonneau, A Twentieth Century Romantic Temperament, 86.
36
Ibid., 77.
37
Eric Zeisl

In 1948, Leon was accepted into Eric Zeisl’s studio in the Brandeis Camp Institute. As
part of a small circle of students including Jerry Goldsmith (1929-2004), and Gershon Kingsley
(1922-2019), he was in a great environment to learn from Zeisl in private lessons and group
seminars.
37
Zeisl had a very strict approach to form and counterpoint, which were the focus of
his teaching.
38
All the students were expected to play their counterpoint exercises for one
another. "Work, work, fellows"! was the motto of his teaching, perhaps reminiscent of a figure
such as Paul Hindemith (1895-1963).
In the private lessons, he supervised Leon on his first complete composition, the Flute
Sonata, Op. 1. Leon did not expect that this piece would earn him first prize in the composer’s
category in Young Musicians in the Making, a contest sponsored by the Jewish Centers
Association. The competition was directed by Dr. Anneliese Landau (1903-1991),
39
a Holocaust
survivor who emigrated to the United States in 1939 and became music director of the Jewish
Centers Association in 1944.
40
Dr. Landau became an active supporter of Leon’s career and a
frequent dedicatee of his works. This first prize remained extremely meaningful to him, because
the winner of the instrumentalist category was the legendary violinist Arnold Steinhardt (b.
1937). The competition culminated in a final concert in which both of them were programmed,
an honor for the young Leon.
41

37
Ibid., 79.
38
Ibid., 82.
39
Lily E. Hirsh, Anneliese Landau’s Life in Music: Nazi Germany to Émigré California. (Rochester, NY: University
of Rochester Press, 2009), x.
40
Ibid., 160.
41
Bertonneau, A Twentieth Century Romantic Temperament, 81.
38
Ultimately, this first prize did more than just give him confidence; it also included a full
scholarship to study with Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco. Zeisl certainly had been a wonderful
mentor who brought him to a higher level of sophistication in a short time. Nevertheless, Leon
felt that he would benefit from a fresh perspective from Castelnuovo-Tedesco. Leon describes
his time with Zeisl as follows:

He was fascinating, colorful, warm, really a wonderful individual. A bit too possessive of
his students, that's why finally I had to break with him, which he was terribly hurt about.
But later on, of course, it was all patched up, and we remained very, very good friends to
the end of his life.
42

He was able to eventually reconcile with Zeisl, partially because Castelnuovo-Tedesco and Zeisl
were themselves good friends with mutual respect for the other’s craft. In many articles devoted
to Zeisl, Leon Levitch is mentioned as one of his pupils.
43

Leon never went back to study with Zeisl, but he frequently found that the understanding
of musical form that he gained from him was in the back of his mind when he composed.
44
Zeisl
was the teacher who helped him progress from merely having good musical ideas to developing
them into satisfying structures.
45
Leon felt that he was eternally indebted to Zeisl: “I love Zeisl; I
mean he [Zeisl] was literally my first formal musical father, so to speak.”
46

42
Ibid., 79.
43
“Gertrud Zeisl’s Oral History,” Eric Zeisl: Austrian-American Composer, Accessed May 2, 2020.
http://www.zeisl.com/archive/gertrud-zeisls-oral-history.htm.
44
Bertonneau, A Twentieth Century Romantic Temperament, 83.
45
Ibid., 88.

46
Ibid., 84.
39
Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco

In 1952, Leon commenced his studies with the Italian Jewish composer Mario
Castelnuovo-Tedesco, who came to the United States in 1939 from Italy right before the
outbreak of the war.
47
Among all of his mentors, he felt the closest to Castelnuovo-Tedesco as a
teacher and friend. Based on his past experiences, he always had a soft spot for Italians. Leon
addressed him as “Mario,” and their lessons were in Italian. Furthermore, Castelnuovo-Tedesco
had a special power to assuage his sense of insecurity and loss. For example, Leon was
intimidated by his inability to compose without the aid of the piano, whereas other composers
could write from direct inspiration. Castelnuovo-Tedesco assured him that there was nothing
superior either way since Stravinsky always composed from the piano.
48
Upon hearing of his
death, Leon composed perhaps his most well-known work, Ricordi di Mario for oboe and piano,
in remembrance of this great musical figure.
Castelnuovo-Tedesco taught with an organized pedagogical approach. He mostly focused
on solidifying the fundamental areas of compositional craft. He covered counterpoint,
orchestration, harmony, and even matters as detailed as making the notation consistent and clear.
He pointed out that Leon was often sloppy in his notation. For example, Leon favored quick
tonal shifts but forgot to put in the accidentals.
49
His assignments typically involved
orchestrating well-known character pieces for piano such as Schumann’s Kinderszenen. An
advocate for the neo-classical school, Castelnuovo-Tedesco discovered a lack in Leon’s

47
James Westby, “Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco,” Oxford Music Online, accessed April 27, 2020,
https://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-
9781561592630-e-0000005128?rskey=kJZuWD.
48
Bertonneau, A Twentieth Century Romantic Temperament, 91.
49
Ibid., 94.
40
foundation in counterpoint. He made him focus heavily on the study of Bach’s Inventions.
Castelnuovo-Tedesco even gave him a gift of a personal notebook of his own writing of canons,
with the words “To Leon” on the cover.
In spite of this thorough training in basic compositional technique, counterpoint in the
true sense of the term was never fully realized in Leon’s work. Instead, he favored brief points of
imitation based on repeated thematic material. This feature can especially be found in the
chamber works that he composed under Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s tutelage. In the first movement
of his Trio for Flute, Clarinet, and Piano, Op. 2, points of imitation can be heard in the
development section, where the principal theme is broken down into fragments and passed
among the instruments.
50
His Violin Sonata, Op. 6, brings the independent interaction of the
instruments a step further. While it might initially seem as if the piano is accompanying the
violin, the linear writing style allows the two instruments to answer one another in surprising
ways. Often, one instrument will slide into another key before the other’s melody is over. This
moderate use of counterpoint faithfully reflects this workmanship that Castelnuovo-Tedesco
imparted into him.
In his chamber music output, Leon favored a three-movement formal scheme for most of
his works. The general plan for his three-movement works is as follows: the moderately fast first
movement stresses vibrant rhythmic energy with short fragments of lyricism; the slow
movement, often marked andante, provides a soaring, song-like texture in which one instrument
plays a melody and the others provide harmonic support; and the finale usually follows a rondo
form with a rhapsodic sectional nature, resuming the vitality of the first movement with edgy
harmonies and quick tonal shifts. The Quartet for Flute, Viola, Cello, and Piano, Op. 3, also

50
Leon Levitch, Trio for Flute, Clarinet and Piano; Quartet for Flute, Viola, Cello and Piano, Sheridon Stokes,
Gary Gray, Sven Reher, Jeffrey Solow and Irma Vallecillo-Gray, Orion Master Recordings, ORS 7288, CD, 1978.
41
written under Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s guidance, serves as an example. Melodic interaction
between the players becomes the vehicle for stirring sequences in the outer movements and
poignant melodies in the slow movement.
51
Leon’s later works such as the Viola Sonata, Op. 11,
and String Quartet, Op. 13 also bear these traits that he learned from Castelnuovo-Tedesco. His
ability to command the neo-classical forms and style reached its pinnacle during this time.
52

Castelnuovo-Tedesco helped him to get into several prestigious music festivals including
Music Academy of the West in 1953 and Aspen School of Music in 1957.
53
Leon finished his
first cantata, Of Plants and Humans, in 1957 in the hope that it could be performed at Aspen
Summer Festival. Leon assembled his own choir and began to rehearse the work, but the
performance was cancelled.
54
It was premiered in 1961 by the San Fernando Valley Symphony
Orchestra, Gregg Smith Singers, and soloists Marni Nixon and Richard Robinson.
Under Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Leon had, in a sense, already composed for chamber
orchestra when he wrote the Suite for Flute, Harp, and String Orchestra, Op. 7. Yet this
charming work did not include winds aside from the solo flute. Leon described Of Plants and
Humans as “my first larger-scale work,” and it certainly was the largest work he had written up
to that point. It is scored for a chamber orchestra of winds and strings combined with mixed
chorus, soprano, and tenor soloists.
55
What is special about this cantata is that the English text is
completely written by the composer himself. The synopsis is an “allegorical love song,” Leon
explained, “comparing the basic ingredient for human life, love, without which life does not
exist, and the basic ingredients of plant life, which are sunlight and water and moisture and so

51
Leon Levitch, Viola Sonata/ Sonata for Solo Violin/ Ricordo di Mario/ Violin Sonata, Milton Thomas, Gary
Tishkoff, Gregg Nestor and Lincoln Mayorga, Music and Arts, MACD4607, CD, 2011.
52
Giveon Cornfield. Note-Perfect: Thirty Years in Classical Music Recordings (Bloomington, IN: Xlibris
Publishing Company, 2013), Chapter 28, 1-2.
53
Bertonneau, A Twentieth Century Romantic Temperament, 95-97.
54
Ibid., 95-96.
55
Ibid., 143.
42
forth. And that is the whole measure of the text of the cantata.”
56
Since the cantata was written
during the time when he was studying with Castelnuovo-Tedesco, its orchestration is more
varied and sophisticated than Song of Dreams, even though it was written much earlier. Of
Plants and Humans represented a milestone for Leon as a composer by forming his foundation
for writing for large-scale forces.
Leon was twenty-five when he began to study with Castelnuovo-Tedesco, a relationship
that would last ten years. The lessons occurred weekly for the first two years and gradually
became more sporadic because of his increased work as a piano technician which was the source
of his income. Meanwhile, Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s health was gradually declining in his old age.
Still, this precious relationship encouraged Leon to keep composing. The aforementioned works
from this period of his study were some of the best music that he wrote and were recorded on
professional labels.

Roy Harris

One rarely finds a student who begins formal training at age eighteen but goes on to study
consecutively with three teachers with an international reputation. When Castelnuovo-Tedesco’s
health began to decline rapidly, Leon received a phone call from Dr. Landau. She informed him
that there was another scholarship available for him to study with Roy Harris,
57
who was
teaching at the University of Judaism (now American Jewish University). Leon took her up on
her offer and began to study with Roy Harris toward the end of 1962.
58

56
Ibid., 140-145.
57
Ibid., 169.
58
Ibid., 168.
43
One major didactic trait that separated Harris from his other teachers was that he pushed
Leon to write on a larger scale. Before this point, Leon had only written solo or chamber music,
with the exception of two works for chamber orchestra. Without Harris’ insistence, he likely
would have never advanced to writing music with a full symphonic scope. Another trait of
Harris’ teaching was his insistence that Leon simplify his rhythmic ideas. There was a time when
Leon was interested in exploring mixed meter. He changed his approach when Harris made him
rewrite the entire first movement of his Violin Concerto into common time. Harris told him:
“That is a twentieth-century gimmick, and this all can be written in four-four.”
59
This comment
must have made an impression on Leon, as he tended to avoid successive mixed meter after that
point.
The first work that Harris told him to write was an unaccompanied Violin Sonata (no
opus number), which he later dedicated to Manuel Compinsky (1901-1989), a well-respected
violinist and composer who moved to California after the war. This was a difficult task for Leon
because he was always inclined to write instrumental sonatas with piano accompaniment. Harris,
known for his gift for long spun-out melody,
60
presumably felt that Leon needed to expand his
musical language by writing linear melodies without having to rely on harmonic support. He
would ask Leon to come up with a melody and then transform the melody into various modes.
Leon recalled he was especially gifted in teaching his students to “develop a certain facility for
melodic invention.”
61
At this time Leon matured in his craft for creating melodies, which became
a signature for the rest of his compositions.

59
Bertonneau, A Twentieth Century Romantic Temperament, 104.
60
Dan Stehman, “Roy Harris,” Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. Oxford University Press, accessed June
23, 2020. https://www-oxfordmusiconline-
com.proxy.missouristate.edu/grovemusic/view/10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.001.0001/omo-9781561592630-e-
1002256806?rskey=HsJ2af.
61
Bertonneau, A Twentieth Century Romantic Temperament, 167.
44
In 1964, the death of his father left him devastated in spite of their troubled relationship.
He told Roy Harris that he had to quit his studies due to this tremendous emotional loss. Harris
gave him some time off but insisted on teaching him by accepting him into the University of
California, Los Angeles (UCLA).
62
Leon’s studies at UCLA progressed slowly due to his
emotional turmoil, sickness, and the need to make a living. He did not begin to write his
Symphony No. 1 (no opus number) until he was hospitalized in 1967 after a nearly fatal car
accident. Leon again was discouraged by this accident and wished to drop out of school. Harris
went to great lengths to secure his enrollment. In order to ensure the continuity of his studies,
Harris even drove from the Pacific Palisades to Leon’s house in Pacoima every week in order to
teach him.
Harris continued to push Leon to compose for large-scale forces. Leon had been hesitant
to compose symphonic works because he had trouble hearing in his mind the “orchestration for a
full-fledged orchestra.”
63
Harris had a special way to open his ears to “hear” the orchestra. His
Symphony No. 1 was entirely sketched and composed during this time when Harris persistently
taught him during his confinement at home. This was the very first time that Leon attempted to
write a large-scale work for a full symphony orchestra. Even though Of Plants and Humans is
written for choir and chamber orchestra, its orchestration does not include brass. Leon confirmed
that Harris was the one who taught him how to write for the brass instruments.
64
Symphony No.
1, therefore, was a milestone for Leon because it enabled him to conquer his fear of writing a full
orchestra. The use of the full orchestra in this symphony (Table 6.2) also went on to inform the

62
Ibid., 170.
63
Ibid., 171.
64
Ibid., 171.
45
orchestration in all of Leon’s later orchestral works, including his second cantata, Song of
Dreams.

46
Chapter III: Life as a Composer and Piano Technician

It is rare that composers make their entire living solely from composition. Unless they
teach or perform for a living, they may need to have another job to support their vocation.
Charles Ives (1874-1954), one of the most important figures in American musical history, was
the founder of the modern insurance practice.
1
Philip Glass (b. 1937) was a plumber, mover, and
taxi driver until he was forty-two years old, when he could make a full living through composing
and performing.
2
Leon Levitch was no exception from this norm. To sustain his livelihood, Leon
used the piano tuning skills that he had acquired in various camps to earn a solid living in
Southern California.
His reputation as a piano technician was highly respected. He was still living in an era
when piano tuning was considered more of a service than a profession. Only at Michigan State
University in East Lansing was a Bachelor of Arts degree in piano technology offered.
3
Now the
field is recognized as specific university major known as Piano Technology. Leon can be
considered as one of the pioneers who caused people to recognize this profession and grant it a
new status. Both UCLA and California State University, Northridge invited him to teach courses
in piano tuning.
Leon endeavored to promote the piano technology profession in a collegiate setting,
because according to him, this profession had long been a part of Europe’s standard musical
education.
4
Not only was his tuning work recognized by academic institutions, but Leon was also

1
William Bolcom, “Of Ives, Music and Insurance,” New York Times, March 13, 1988, Accessed May 4, 2020,
https://www.nytimes.com/1988/03/13/arts/l-of-ives-music-and-insurance-084488.html.
2
Lola Fadulu, “I Expected to Have a Day Job for the Rest of My Life,” Atlantic, April 20, 2018, accessed May 4,
2020, https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2018/04/philip-glass-taxi-driver-composer/558278/.
3
Bertonneau, A Twentieth Century Romantic Temperament, 203.
4
Ibid., 205.

47
in high demand among the professionals in the Los Angeles area. Alan Rich (1924-2010) a
former music critic for the New York Times and LA Weekly,
5
recalled an incident about a concert
given by pianist Leo Smit (1921-1999)
6
at Leo Baeck Temple in Brentwood. There was an issue
with the piano right before the concert, and Smit called out: “Is Leon Levitch in the house?”
Leon was indeed there and fixed the piano quickly. Rich commented on the reputation of Leon’s
work: “Every city has its legendary piano wizard, about whom tales are told with laughter and
awe. Leon, who now lives in Pacoima, is that man for Los Angeles.”
7
It is no wonder that Leon
was one of the first in the nation to be invited to offer the piano technology classes at the
collegiate level.
Although Leon enjoyed an established reputation as a piano technician, he still wished
that he could be recognized primarily as a composer. “Well, to me, piano tuning has been in a
sense a symbolic thing. It was a way of continuing to serve music and to be able to survive at the
same time.”
8
While he was attached to the profession of piano tuning, it is clear that his lifelong
ambition was to “serve music” not just as a piano technician but as a composer. Leon was
fortunate to have seen his music promoted by three unwavering supporters, apart from his
teachers who had validated his musical talent. Aside from Dr. Anneliese Landau who was
discussed earlier, Eugenia Zuckerman (b. 1944) and Bret Werb have been tirelessly championing
his music.

5
Allan Kozinn, “Alan Rich, Los Angeles Music Critic, Dies at 85,” The New York Times, April 26, 2010.
6
Paul Griffiths, “Leo Smit, 78, Composer and Concert Pianist,” The New York Times, Dec. 27, 1999.
7
Alan Rich, “Levitch note,” So I’ve Heard, Accessed May 21, 2020. http://www.soiveheard.com/1991/06/levitch-
note/.
8
Bertonneau, A Twentieth Century Romantic Temperament, 220.
48
Eugenia Zuckerman wrote personal letters to encourage others to consider programming
Leon’s music.
9
For example, she sometimes wrote letters to defend his music such as the
following:

I am writing to you on behalf of my friend and colleague, Leon Levitch. He is
understandably devastated by the sudden decision to cancel the performance, promised
him (in writing!) more than three years ago of his “Song of Dreams”…Leon is a
wonderful composer whose work deserved to be heard, and I, too, am shocked by the
way he has been summarily dismissed, and told, simply, “Sorry.” Sorry is not acceptable.
Certainly there is room on the program for his “Song of Dreams.”
10

This letter was among several that document the support of Eugenia Zuckerman for his career. It
is not a small matter that Leon had an advocate of her stature. Bret Werb also served as the
mediator several times to find programming opportunities for his music. He was such a devoted
friend to Leon that the composer felt confident to send several demos of his latest compositions
to him.
11
Because of Ms. Zuckerman and Mr. Werb, he received some significant performance
highlights, particularly for his chamber music. Most of Leon’s professional recordings are
released by the Orion label, some of them performed by excellent musicians. One of the most
notable examples is the aforementioned Quartet, Op. 3, performed by Sheridon Stokes (flute),
Sven Reher (viola), Jeffrey Solow (cello), and Irma Vallecillo-Gray (piano).
12
The artistic and
technical excellence in this recording thoroughly brings out the sophistication and intricacy in his
writing.

9
Raymond Erickson, “The Busy Life of Eugenia Zukerman, Flutist-Author,” The New York Times, October 10,
1980.
10
Eugenia Zukerman to Jerry Jacobs, June 4, 1995.
11
Leon Levitch to Bret Werb, January 9, 1994.
12
Leon Levitch, Trio for Flute, Clarinet and Piano; Quartet for Flute, Viola, Cello and Piano, Sheridon Stokes,
Gary Gray, Sven Reher, Jeffrey Solow and Irma Vallecillo-Gray, Orion Master Recordings ORS 7288, CD, 1978.
49
His orchestral compositions, on the other hand, received much less recognition in
comparison to his chamber music works. Leon was somewhat of a latecomer in writing
symphonic music. It was not until he studied with Roy Harris that he attempted to write for a full
orchestra including a complete brass section. Leon always struggled to find professional
orchestras that would be willing to program his music. This is a common struggle among lesser
known composers in the United States because it is extremely expensive to hire any orchestra
that is willing to program new works. There are several incidences that suggest that Leon
donated money to organizations, secretly hoping that his works would be considered. One senses
this in his letter to Jerry Jacobs a couple years after the premiere of Song of Dreams:

I was delighted to see the return of Yaakov Bergman to the podium of the ICOR
(Interfaith Committee of Remembrance). Since the program is only “partial” I dare to
fantasize that there may yet be room for another world premiere of a work of mine, this
time the “Psalm” movement of my “Requiem Patris.”…I am enclosing a contribution of
$50.00 in support of ICOR,…I wish to reassure you that I will NOT PRESSURE YOU to
place on this, or any other ICOR program, any piece of mine.
13

One can sense Leon’s desperation in promoting his orchestral music. Even though his Song of
Dreams had been performed by the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra already, the prospect that
they could premiere another work of his must have been all the more tantalizing. There was
never a response from Jacobs to this request.
Aside from his one performance with the Brooklyn Philharmonic Orchestra with no
extant professional recording, the only other symphony that was recorded during Leon’s lifetime
was his Symphony No. 2, Op. 18, “Taos.” It was performed by the American Youth Orchestra
conducted by the renowned Mehli Mehta (1908-2002), the father of Zubin Mehta. The American

13
Leon Levitch to Jerry Jacobs, June 12, 1998.
50
Youth Orchestra was created by Mehta in 1964. Since then, it has enjoyed a top reputation as an
orchestra of young musicians performing classical repertoire.
14
It was certainly an honor for
Leon to be included in any program conducted by Mehta. Unfortunately, the review of his
Symphony No. 2 was lukewarm, at best:

Leon Levitch’s easily digestible Symphony No. 2, the only purely orchestral installment,
might make an effective accompaniment to some panoramic movie scenes, but has little
depth for a symphony. But under Mehta’s baton, the young musicians gave this an
enthusiastic and highly poetic performance.
15

Music critic Terry Mcquilkin wrote his review after attending this concert. Still, Mehta must
have liked Leon’s symphony enough to produce a professional recording after the concert.
16

At any rate, it is ironic that Mcquilkin would liken Leon’s musical style to film music.
While many other Holocaust survivors made a living writing film music in Los Angeles, Leon
spent his whole life avoiding any Hollywood influence:

I might have had sort of aversion towards commercial music, but somehow I never
became identified with film music. And yet another irony, many times when people heard
some of my music they said, “oh, have you made any movie scores?” And I always
would consider that as a terrible insult.
17

Perhaps it was the time and place that the composers were in; many of Leon’s friends in the
composing circle involved themselves with the film music industry. Most notable was Jerry
Goldsmith (1951-2004), who established his lasting fame as the composer for Star Trek. Like

14
“About AYS,” American Youth Symphony, accessed June 1, 2020,
https://aysymphony.org/about-ays/.
15
Mcquilkin, Terry, “Music Review: Two Soloists with Youth Symphony,” Los Angeles Times, March 4, 1986,
Accessed June 1, 2020, https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-03-04-ca-15306-story.html.
16
Leon Levitch, Orchestral Work, American Youth Symphony and UCLA Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Mehli
Mehta, Cambria Master Recordings, CAMCD-1123, CD, 2000.
17
Bertonneau, A Twentieth Century Romantic Temperament, 24.
51
Leon, he also studied with Zeisl around the same time. Even though Leon resisted the film music
industry, he sometimes wondered if he should have considered taking this route to earn a living.
At least he could have claimed to “make my living from writing music,” a lifelong yearning that
he had since childhood.
18

The only professional recording of Leon’s symphonic music is his Symphony No. 2 with
Mehli Mehta, along with a couple of smaller-scale orchestral works.
19
There is no other
professional recording of Leon’s orchestral music. Leon is most recognized for his chamber
music output, but his ambition of being recognized as a composer of large-scale works remained
with him until the end of his life. The cantata Song of Dreams therefore marks the pinnacle of his
compositional career. As discussed in Part II, the Song of Dreams, along with at least one other
movement that he wanted to add, was to become the largest choral-orchestral work that Leon
ever composed.
Leon Levitch passed away on November 26, 2014 in Pacoima, California. He is survived
by his only daughter, Tula Giannini Levitch and his son-in-law, Greg Donovetsky.

18
Ibid., 102.
19
Leon Levitch, Orchestral Work, American Youth Symphony and UCLA Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Mehli
Mehta, Cambria Master Recordings, CAMCD-1123, CD, 2000.

52

Part II
Score Analysis

53
Chapter IV: Song of Dreams – A Stand-Alone Cantata?

In his textbook Choral Music in the 20
th
Century, Nick Strimple (b. 1946) refers to the
Song of Dreams as a “cantata” for soprano, tenor, mixed chorus, and orchestra.
1
Strimple might
have arrived at this designation based on his own acquaintance with the composer or his
knowledge of the premiere. The first and only official performance of this work took place
during the “Sixth Interfaith Concert of Remembrance, Commemorating the 50
th
Anniversary of
the End of World War II” at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City (See Figure
4.1). It was held on October 7, 1995 with multiple performing forces including the Brooklyn
Philharmonic Orchestra under Yaakov Bergman and Canticum Novum Singers led by Harold
Rosenbaum.
While the above sources categorized the Song of Dreams as a complete cantata, the
remaining copy of the full score, located in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum,
includes the subtitle “a movement from Requiem Patris” (See Appendix H). This subtitle
suggests that Levitch
2
, at least initially, conceived the Song of Dreams as part of a larger work.
An accompanying letter in the archive confirms that he initially intended to include more of his
father’s poetry in this Requiem Patris, or as he sometimes called it, his “Secular Requiem.”
3
As
he wrote to Bret Werb, “I am enclosing…the three out of five poems written by my late father,
which I am using for the Secular Requiem I am writing for the ‘Concerts of Remembrance,’
which if I complete in time, and if it meets with Jerry Jacob’s approval will be premiered in May

1
Nick Strimple, Choral Music in the 20
th
Century (Milwaukee: Amadeus Press, LLC, 2005), 252.
2
From this point forward, Leon Levitch will be referred to as “Levitch.”
3
Leon Levitch. Leon Levitch to Bret Werb, June 18, 1993. Leon Levitch Archive, United States Memorial
Holocaust Museum.
54
of 1994.”
4
One wonders if Levitch had originally intended to use all five of his father’s poems
and later changed his plan to include only three of the poems. As this

Figure 4.1 Program for the Sixth Annual Interfaith Concert of Remembrance (Courtesy of
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)

4
Ibid.
55
dissertation will unfold, evidence will be presented that shows Levitch was pressured by the
Interfaith Committee of Remembrance to alter several aspects of his composition.
5

In any event, as Strimple’s designation suggests, Levitch eventually decided to publish
Song of Dreams as a stand-alone cantata of roughly ten minutes in duration. Yet in another letter
to the Interfaith Committee, Levitch hinted that there still could be more to come: “Since the
program is only ‘partial’ I dare to fantasize that there may yet be room for another world
premiere of a work of mine, this time the ‘Psalm’ movement of my ‘Requiem Patris.’”
6
It seems
that even after deciding to publish Song of Dreams as a complete work, Levitch still hoped to
add further movements as he finished them. Either way, the evidence leaves little doubt that his
original intention was far more ambitious than the product that resulted.
It is difficult to reach any definite conclusion about how many movements Levitch
intended to write, especially because his manuscripts and other archives are mostly not available
to the public. Some of his works can be located at University of California in Los Angeles
(UCLA), because of his long relationship with their music department. A small portion of his
scores and letters were archived at the Holocaust Museum. In both archives, only Song of
Dreams can be found. Furthermore, as this dissertation will later explore, many of his
manuscripts were passed on to a descendant, Greg Donovetsky. The author has located one more
movement of the Requiem Patris in an effort to answer the following questions: 1) How many
movements did Levitch plan to write for the Requiem Patris? 2) Where does the Song of Dreams
fit into the large-scale work? 3) How did he arrive at his choice of orchestration? 4) What did the

5
From this point on, the Interfaith Committee of Remembrance will be referred to as the “Interfaith Committee.”
6
Leon Levitch. Leon Levitch to Jerry Jacobs, June 12, 1998. Letter. Leon Levitch Archive, United States Memorial
Holocaust Museum.
56
movement originally look like before the Interfaith Committee pressured him to alter his
composition?
It is important to look into these questions because they will help to explain some of the
inconsistencies in the score. Not only did he abandon his original conception of a multi-
movement work, but he even changed the Song of Dreams to match the many demands of the
committee and performers (See discussion in Chapter VI). As a late work, the Song of Dreams is
one of the few works that he wrote without any guidance from his composition teachers. It is also
one of the only two compositions in which Levitch directly attempts to reflect on his experiences
in the Holocaust. The other such composition, the Second String Quartet (written in 1980),
7
has
already had its professional premiere and received a fully positive reception as a Holocaust
memorial work by The Washington Post.
8
If the Song of Dreams could be partially restored to its
original conception as the Requiem Patris, it would yield the greatest insights into the inspiration
behind what was perhaps his culminating creative achievement.

Five Poems by Josif Levitch

In the musical archive at the Holocaust Museum, one can find the evidence of five
original poems written in Serbo-Croatian by Josif Levitch that have all been translated by the
composer (See Figure 4.2). The order is as follows: The Jew (written in Belgrade, 1940), Purim
(Belgrade, 1940), and Psalm (Ferramonti, 1943), with two texts missing in this document. Mr.
Werb located the text for the Song of Dreams (San Vincenzo de la Fonte, 1942) in a separate

7
Leon Levitch. Leon Levitch to Steven Honigsberg, March 13, 1996. Letter. Leon Levitch Archive, United States
Memorial Holocaust Museum.
8
Mark Carrington, “Holocaust Memorial Chamber Series,” The Washington Post, March 27, 1996.
57
document in the Holocaust archive, although the other missing poem has still not been found
(See Appendix I). In any case, the effort that Levitch spent on translating all five poems suggests
that he may have hoped to set them all to music in his Requiem.
9
While one cannot be certain of
his thought process, such detective work is important in order to determine his original intention
behind the Requiem Patris.

Figure 4.2 Title Page of Leon Levitch’s translation of “Five Poems by Joseph Levitch”
(Courtesy of United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)

9
For complete text and translations of all the poems, see Appendix A-D.
58
Even though all five poems were written by his father during the Holocaust, it is
interesting that only two of them, Songs of Dreams and Psalm, were written in the two Italian
internment camps. Perhaps it is not an accident that, according to what can be found, Levitch
only set (or finished setting) the two texts that were related to Italy. Italy was the place where he
began his first serious compositional training and where his family had the most positive
memories. His preference for the poems related to Italy is further confirmed after the discovery
of the Psalm movement. The fragmented scores associated with the Psalm movement will be
discussed at the end of Part II. Even though Levitch was never able to completely finish this
movement, the existence of the fragments brings this research closer to a fuller picture of what
the Requiem Patris could have been.

59
Chapter V: Musical Language in Song of Dreams

Text and Form

Vocal music, unlike instrumental music, requires the composer to incorporate the
meaning of the text into the creative process. Every composer has his or her own compositional
approach when working with text. Some prefer to conceive their melodies first and adjust the
text accordingly. Others use the text as the center, carefully composing their music in order to
highlight the expression and the meaning of the text. Levitch definitely follows the latter model
in his creation of the Song of Dreams. Aside from the common device of text-painting
pervasively seen in this cantata, Levitch uses the text as the skeleton to organize this entire work.
Unlike Alexander Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances, for instance, which can be performed with or
without the choir, this cantata of Levitch’s would not work as a purely orchestral suite. Readers
might find that the poetry is such an integral component that the music loses its meaning without
it. In order to further demonstrate the importance of the text in the Song of Dreams, it is helpful
to examine the relationship of the text to the form, phrasing, harmonic shifts, and cadential points
in various sections.
The Song of Dreams is a through-composed work which could be further divided into six
sections. In the score, Levitch carefully labels these sections as Stanzas I through VI. In the
original poem stored in the Holocaust Museum Archive, the text is seemingly organized into
60
seven stanzas.
1
In the Song of Dreams, however, it makes perfect sense that Levitch combines
the following two parts and works them into the third section of the Cantata.

Stanza III

Sanjajte o zemliji
Gde se ne skr na vi cvetak du ševaše
Sloboda ličnosti
Sanjajte o zemliji
Gde se ne krvari ludo!

Sanjajte o zemliji
Tihe radosti
Da bi zemlja snova oaza vam bia
Da bi vam se duša u njoj osve zila
Dream yea of a country where one does not
foul the flower of your soul, the freedom of
person.
Dream yea of a country
where one does not shed blood in vain.

Dream yea of a country of quiet joyfulness
So that the country of your dreams may be
your oasis
So that your soul may therein be refreshed

By combining these two stanzas of poetry into one musical section, Levitch is able to turn a
seven-stanza poem into a six-part musical structure. It is not difficult to link these two small
segments in the poem together as one section, especially as both begin with the phrase Sanjajte o
zemliji (“Dream yea of a country”). Sanjajte o zemliji is in fact a central motif of the poem,
appearing in Stanzas I, III, and VI. The music in these sections tends to be flowing and
contemplative. The organization for the tempo changes reflects the six-part musical structure:

1
See Appendix I. The collection of four poems, bound under the title “Five Poems from Requiem Patri,” can be
found in the Holocaust Museum Archive. Both the Serbian and English were written in Leon Levitch’s own hand,
and his exact writing has been duplicated here without any changes.

61
Table 5.1 Structure of tempo markings in Song of Dreams

Section Tempo Length Total Measures
Stanza I Moderato mm. 1-42 42 measures
Stanza II Agitato mm. 43-73 31 measures
Stanza III Moderato mm. 74-94 21 measures
Stanza IV Allegro (slower tempo at m. 111) mm. 95-129 35 measures
Stanza V Allegro mm. 130-146 17 measures
Stanza VI No tempo marking mm. 147- 185 38 measures

Even though there is no tempo indication in Stanza VI, it is understood that it would take the
same tempo as Stanza I. The thematic material in Stanza I appears again in Stanza VI to create a
sense of a return or recapitulation. In this case, the yearning for a dream that has not been
realized returns, suggesting that the yearning will last perpetually.
The sections that emphasize Sanjajte o zemliji are all in a slower tempo. This shows that
“Dream yea of a country” is a recurring motif that links the tempos of the moderato sections and
ties the work together as a whole. The agitato and the two allegro sections, in contrast, present
the dark emotions highlighting the words such as zala (“evils”), gnuša (“noxious”), okovi
(“fetters”), and kandje (“claws”). Stanza IV stands out in that a tempo change might be validated
by the music even though there is no indication in the score as such. In the only existing
recording of the premiere, the tempo suddenly becomes almost twice as slow in m. 111,
beginning with the arpeggiating figures in the harp (See Example 5.1):
62
Example 5.1 Sudden tempo change in mm. 107-114

One wonders if this tempo change was suggested by Levitch or by the conductor, but it is
musically convincing because of the change of tone and instrumentation. This change of tone
would have been abrupt if it were not for the two transitional measures from mm. 109-110 which
63
serve to ease the tension built up from the beginning of this section. This tempo change serves to
reflect the emotional transition in Stanza IV from “Liberate your soul of all human fetters, and of
crude reality” (Vaš duh Oslobodi svih ljud skih okova! I stvarnosti grube!) to “Let it be well
hidden in your heart, a corner of dreams” (Nek je dobro skriven u srcu vašem je dan Kutak
snova). This tempo shift serves as an example of the way Levitch generates his musical ideas to
bring out the meaning and the structure of the text.
When writing for large-scale forces, composers often carefully plan and notate the kind
of tempo changes that would otherwise be left for performers’ intuition in solo and chamber
music. One may recall that Levitch was largely known for his chamber music, a medium where
tempo changes and rubato can be handled with flexibility among the individual players.
With a smaller number of players, the slightest nuances of tempo changes can be easier to
communicate than an orchestral setting allows. If Levitch was accustomed to a constantly
alternating tempo scheme, it is no surprise that the large-scale forces required in Song of Dreams
would have made these tempo changes more difficult to execute.
The tempo change in Stanza IV makes the outline of the tempo organization slightly
different from what is presented in the score. The tempos in Song of Dreams, as indicated above
(Table 5.1), may be interpreted as an alternation between slow and fast tempos between sections.
This is a compositional trait that Levitch tends to use in his compositions to organize his
movements and sections, whether it is solo, chamber, or orchestral repertoire.
1

This organization should work perfectly for the text of Song of Dreams, because the
poem itself also presents a contrast of agitated and calm moods between stanzas. Yet this tempo
scheme introduces problems that do not surface in any of his other works, perhaps because of the

1
See Levitch’s Solo Violin Sonata, Trio for Flute, Clarinet and Piano, Op. 2, and Symphony No. 2, “Taos.”
64
unique one-movement structure of this cantata. It especially presents a problem in Stanza VI,
which embodies a return to the thematic material from the opening. It must have been difficult
for Levitch to create a smooth transition from the Allegro in Stanza V to the closing section,
especially considering that Stanza V only consists of seventeen measures. Perhaps Levitch did
not want to be predictable by repeating his successful idea from Stanza IV of an instant dramatic
change of tone. Instead, in the last eight measures of Stanza V (mm. 139-146), he builds in a
ritardando by changing the meter from 4/4 to 6/4, which fosters the illusion of a slow triple
meter. He also lengthens the predominant note values from eighth notes to quarter notes or half
notes. Nevertheless, this tempo change feels abrupt, especially when a large number of musicians
need to navigate it at the same time.

Harmonic Text Painting and Compositional Style

It is difficult to define Levitch’s unique harmonic language, but one thing is for certain:
he would have been seen as an outcast in the American compositional scene after World War II
had he tried to be a part of it. Levitch publicly decried the avant-garde movement, even the
beginning of the avant-garde in the early part of the century. He respected Schoenberg not for
Pierrot Lunaire, but for his extension of the nineteenth century musical language in Verklärte
Nacht.
2
In his interview with Bertonneau, he made telling remarks about his view of atonality:

To me that music is antihuman. To me that music fits the fascist aberration most
perfectly, and the thing that I always keep wondering about is what if Schoenberg would
have not been Jewish? I think that Hitler would have embraced him in open arms, and it
would have become the official music of the Fascist party.
3

2
Bertonneau, A Twentieth Century Romantic Temperament, 98.
3
Ibid., 99.
65
On the surface, Levitch may seem to be extreme in his view of atonality. The deeper meaning of
this statement lies in the word “antihuman.” Based on the context of his other statements, what
he means by “antihuman” is that composers are not expressing human emotion in their music.
Based on the connection he draws with Fascism, he appears to believe that atonality does not
afford the room to express any human emotion, which may lead to “antihuman” attitudes and
behavior. In the interview, he goes on to quote Zeisl’s description of atonal music as
“entwürtzelt” (literally “uprooted”).
4
Levitch emphasizes that music should have some kind of
tonal rootedness even if it is masked underneath a seemingly unrelated harmonic structure.
It is easy to criticize Levitch’s attachment to tonality as old-fashioned and conservative.
Yet his music reveals some influence of a more progressive harmonic language. Even with
passages that appear atonal, however, one can find a connection to a tonal foundation (See
Example 5.8). Levitch especially loves to employ unresolved tritones and brief passages of
chromaticism, usually when the text describes the brutality of the Nazi regime. These passages,
however, usually do not last long before the tonal foundation returns.
In the same interview, Levitch agreed with Bertonneau that his music possesses a certain
flavor of the “American sound,” because his writing for brass instruments often has open fourth
or fifth intervals.
5
Throughout the Song of Dreams, the use of open fourth and fifth intervals is so
pervasive that it is always noticeable even in a fast tempo. The cello and bass accompaniment in
the first and final sections, with their broken chords and fast arpeggiated figures, may serve as
perfect examples of what Bertonneau describes as the “American sound”:

4
Ibid., 98.
5
Ibid., 173.
66
Example 5.2 Open fourth and fifth intervals in slow passage (mm. 9-12)

Example 5.3 Open fourth and fifth intervals in fast passage (mm. 95-97)

The unique feature of fourth and fifth intervals is that they are essentially the same interval in
inversion. In passages like these, it is clear that this quartal-quintal idea becomes both the main
melodic cell and the overriding basis for harmonic language. In fact, the opening arpeggiated
chords in the harp already embark on this tonal color:

Example 5.4 Stacked fourths and fifths in harp opening (mm. 1-3)

Levitch agreed that his compositional style may have been unconsciously influenced by Aaron
Copland (1900-1990) and Samuel Barber (1910-1981), but he was even more sure about being
67
influenced by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958),
6
even though he did not further explain
what he meant. In any case, Levitch often mentioned during the interview that he never
consciously intended to borrow from another composer’s style. If his music recalls any particular
composer, it would have happened on a subconscious level.
Levitch had already found his harmonic language during the time he studied with Zeisl.
He said that as early as his studies with Eric Zeisl, he already found his own language after
composing his Flute Sonata, Op. 1 in the early 1950’s: “I think I would say with Zeisl I began to
develop my own language, so to speak. After the Flute Sonata, I believe that there is a Levitch
face that is unmistakable.”
7
Levitch did not mention the exact year of this piece, but he
recognized that it won him the composition contest in 1952 and marked a new phase in his
career. Indeed, even in the later compositions which are on a larger scale, one can always hear
the “Levitch sound” particularly in his use of harmony.
Just as his treatment of form follows the text, his harmonic approach also seems to be
dictated by the demands of the text. Like many late-nineteenth century composers, Levitch freely
shifts between major and minor modes to achieve text-painting without concern for the syntax of
functional tonality (See Example 5.5). For example, the Song of Dreams begins with E-flat
minor when the soprano soloist sings Sanjaj te o zemlji gde čovek ne vla da čo ve kom (“Dream
yea of a country, where man does not rule over another”). The passage moves through C minor,
G minor, and A-flat Major until it reaches a full arrival on C Major on the words gde životna
radost svakog oba sjava (“where the joy of living illuminates everyone”). The following analysis
of the first four pages, which does not take the frequent non-chord tones into consideration,
reveals the difficulty of subjecting Levitch to tonal analysis:

6
Ibid., 173.
7
Ibid., 108.
68
Example 5.5 Frequent modulations in opening of Song of Dreams (mm. 1-16)

e
b
B
b
A
b
D

e
b
minor: i ________ V IV
69

70

At times, it is possible to analyze the passages according to a traditional harmonic progression,
especially in the firm arrival points. Yet, between those points, most passages do not adhere to
functional tonality, making them difficult to analyze from a tonal perspective. This kind of free
mode mixture happens frequently in the Song of Dreams. One cannot predict where the tonality
will shift to next, but one can count on the text to be the agent behind the harmonic painting.
To further complicate Levitch’s use of tonal language, his tendency to add 7
th
’s or 9
th
’s to
the harmonies almost seems impulsive. Some might describe the sound of added 7
th
’s or 9
th
’s as
jazzy. In the following example in Stanza II (See Example 5.6), where the strings play tremolos
doubled by the piano, the sequence of added 7
th
’s and 9
th
’s is easily recognizable:
71
Example 5.6 Use of 7
th
and 9
th
harmonies (mm. 60-63)

Whereas these harmonies in this case can come across as jazzy, the same harmonies in other
contexts can recall the harmonic language of Debussy or Ravel, but somehow seem less modern
than these two masters. Perhaps it is his attachment to the late nineteenth-century musical
language that still separates Levitch from his contemporaries. He frequently made comments like
the following: “You know, most of the twentieth-century establishment has always made fun of
my music and called me the last living nineteenth-century composer, but I consider that a very
left-handed compliment.”
8

The expression “the last living nineteenth-century composer” definitely could be
supported by a specific choral passage that conveys the harmonies of Puccini and Wagner.
Whether it is intentional, the series of quartal harmonies mixed with tritones results in the
appearance of the famous “Tristan chord,” which consists of an augmented 4
th
, 6
th
, and 9
th
(See
Example 5.7). Levitch wrote the “Tristan chord” even in its original register, but disguised by the
enharmonically respelled notes (See Example 5.8):

8
Bertonneau, A Twentieth Century Romantic Temperament, 101.
72
Example 5.7 Richard Wagner, Tristan und Isolde, piano reduction (mm. 1-2)

Example 5.8 Song of Dreams, mm. 139-140

It is not clear if the appearance of the “Tristan chord” is consciously intended on Levitch’s part,
or if he just stumbled upon it through his use of quartal harmonies. In any case, the nineteenth
century musical language is apparent here.
What makes this passage stand out as reminiscent of the past is the harmonization of the
hidden chromatic melody sung by the sopranos:

Example 5.9 Chromatic descending line hidden in mm. 136-141

73
The brilliance in harmonizing this melody in fourths will be discussed in detail in the analysis of
his choral writing, but the same technique of linear harmonization of chromaticism can be found
in Puccini’s operas such as La Bohème:

Example 5.10 Linear motion (not modulation) in Puccini’s La Bohème, Act III, Reh. No. 18

74
Levitch falls into the category of late-nineteenth century composers in that, regardless of how
chromatic a passage might be, there is a tonal rootedness that the music keeps coming back to,
even if it modulates frequently. In other words, what seems like frequent modulation in this
passage turns out to be linear motion, not modulation.
After World War II, many composers drastically changed their compositional language.
Some chose to join the avant-garde movement in which the nineteenth century musical sentiment
was seen as out of touch with contemporary life. Other outstanding Jewish composers such as
Kurt Weill (1900-1050), Erich Korngold, and Hanns Eisler (1896-1962), who came to the United
States because of the Nazi regime, went to the other extreme to focus on film or popular music.
Not falling into either of these camps, Levitch definitely felt like an outcast. He spent his whole
life resisting the two ends of the spectrum by holding onto his own tonal language. His
friendships with superstar film composers such as Ernest Gold and Jerry Goldsmith did not even
persuade Levitch to compose for the film industry:

I might have had some sort of aversion towards commercial music, but somehow I never
became identified with film music. And yet another irony, many times when people heard
some of my music they said, "Oh, have you made any movie scores? And I always would
consider that as a terrible insult. I don't anymore. But, and also ironically, if I had, maybe
I would have had more time to do some serious composing, because I would be actually
practicing my craft. This is something that I regret, that I do not actually make my living
from writing music.
9

This irony that Levitch talked about in his interview proves that his persistence on searching for
his own compositional path may have hurt him as a composer in the later part of the twentieth
century. Even though his harmonic language might seem too safe to avant-garde composers and

9
Bertonneau, A Twentieth Century Romantic Temperament, 102.
75
too biting for the film industry, it is his sincere, thoughtful approach to harmony and melody that
distinguishes him from his contemporaries. In the Song of Dreams, there is no gimmick to appeal
to listeners or critics, but a genuine expression of his story.

Melodic Collages

Levitch is a lyricist first and foremost. Throughout his music, one can sense his ability to
generate melody. His melodic writing is song-like and memorable, even in his purely
instrumental works. This signature trait is reminiscent of a musical figure such as Giacomo
Puccini (1858-1924). According to opera scholar William Ashbrook (1867-1940), “The
predominance of melody for Puccini is beyond question. As a true Italian, his is primarily vocal
melody. It is difficult to think of any prominent theme in the score that is not at some point
sung.”
10
A melodist at heart, Puccini rarely wrote music that did not include the voice. The few
instrumental works that he did write, such as Crisantemi, SC 65, are brief and have a song-like
quality. Even though Levitch did not write operas, he invites comparison with Puccini in that he
could not help but conceive of all music vocally, including instrumental music. Although it has
never been attempted, any of his instrumental slow movements could probably be turned into
accompanied vocal works.
The Song of Dreams has a dual nature of a through-composed and sectional work.
The structure of the melodic materials in the Song of Dreams is sophisticated, imaginative and
somewhat hidden. Upon the first listen or two, it is difficult to see how all the sections are
connected. The only obvious melodic connection in the Song of Dream is the return of the

10
William Ashbrook, The Operas of Puccini (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1985), 56.
76
opening theme in the last section of the cantata. Otherwise, the different sections of the cantata
may come across as disparately organized. However, if one persists to listen on a deeper level,
hidden thematic relationships emerge.
In the Song of Dreams, Levitch introduces a main theme in the beginning of each section.
All of the new themes are first introduced by the soloists or chorus. Because of these new
themes, one can be easily tricked to miss some of the subliminal musical elements that tightly
connect different sections. A comparison between the slow sections of I and VI, as well as the
somewhat related sections of II and V, will reveal his organization of the melodic material.

Sections I and VI

There are three essential melodic elements that characterize Section I: The main melody
sung by the soprano soloist (See Example 5.11), a three-note motif in the violins (See Example
5.12), and a climbing melodic gesture in the cellos (See Example 5.12).

Example 5.11 Opening melody (mm. 1-4)

77
Example 5.12 Continuation of main melody and motives in the violin and cello (mm. 33-35)

A clear quotation of Section I does not appear until the second half of Section VI, which happens
around m. 166. However, the soprano melody in mm. 34-35 has been paraphrased in the tenor
solo in Section IV, where the cello accompaniment also returns:

78
Example 5.13 Tenor solo in Section IV (mm. 147-150)

The metamorphosis of the same melody in mm. 34-35 (Soprano) and mm. 147-148 (Tenor) is so
subtle that is almost impossible to detect by a casual listen. However, once all three essential
melodic elements are present in Section VI, the recollection of the opening melody is fully
awakened, forming a sense of a relationship between the beginning and the end of the journey:

79
Example 5.14 mm. 174-176 (almost identical with mm. 33-35)

The comparison shows that Levitch favors repeating the secondary melodic elements in
different sections instead of blatantly quoting the main melody. The melodic accompaniment in
the cello had actually appeared previously with further development. For example, the cello
figures shown above were changed to pizzicato in the entire second half of Section IV, where the
quarter-note value turned to a dance-like texture of eighth notes and triplets:

80
Example 5.15 Further development of secondary cello figure (mm. 118-122)

By reworking and changing the character of the secondary melodic elements such as this one,
each section retains its freshness while preserving a sense of unity.

Sections II and V

Even though Section V is not a full recapitulation of Section II, melodic relationships can
still be observed between them, although much less obvious than the preceding comparison.
Aside from the beginning six measures of glissandos in Section II, all the melodic materials are
almost identical. Levitch enhances the differences between the two sections by changing the
vocal forces from soloists to choir. He also varies the accompaniment from the agitated string
tremolos in Section II to a wind doubling in Section V. Even though the winds are simply
doubling the voices, their deliberately abrupt tone produces added intensity. Based on the
following chart, the melodies prove to be related, even though the textural changes obscure the
similarity to the ear:
81
Example 5.16 Melodic comparison between Stanzas II (mm. 48-54) and V (mm. 130-135)

It is striking that the melodic contours in both melodies are almost identical with minor
intervallic differences. When Levitch shifts the accent from the second note of the melody (mm.
48-54 in Example 5.16) to the first note (mm. 130-135 in Example 5.16), it suddenly sounds like
two completely different melodies. By varying the meters and shifting the downbeat within a fast
tempo, Levitch masks the similarities between the two melodies.
Levitch’s decision of connecting the two sections is dictated by the text. In Stanza II
(mm. 48-54), the text is “Because of this earth, on which your soul fell is unlucky.” The meaning
is related to the text in Stanza V: “Because when the invisible claws plunge, Human awful claws
and oppress your brain.” These two passages portray a helpless outcry represented by images of
falling and collapse. Levitch sets the music by stressing the words “fell” and “plunge” in the two
passages by the descending motion of the same melody. This confirms the reason that Levitch
transforms the same melody and uses it to bridge the two sections.
The connection between the two sections can be further confirmed by another melodic
relationship. The lush chromaticism supported by quartal harmonies in mm. 136-143 of Stanza V
was already discussed in the previous section. Because of its nod to the musical language of the
late-nineteenth century, this choral passage immediately stands out to the listener. However, this
chromatic melody had already been introduced earlier. A melody coming from the second half of
82
Stanza II closely resembles the melodic material in Stanza V (See Examples 5.17 and 5.18). This
comparison demonstrates the melodic resemblance of the two melodies. It is fair to consider mm.
136-144 as a further melodic development of mm. 60-65.
On the surface, the relationship between in Stanzas I and VI seems to be stronger,
especially as the second half of the latter is basically a paraphrase of the material from the
former. In regards to the compositional technique, however, the connection between Stanzas II
and V may even be stronger and more sophisticated. The melodic connections in the Song of
Dreams create an illusion of an arch structure even if Levitch does not take the arch structure to
its conclusion.

Example 5.17 Stanza II: mm. 60-65

Example 5.18 Stanza V: mm. 136-144

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Frequent Use of Melodic Sequences

The Song of Dreams has a sectional structure with several themes introduced in each
section. However, there is one particular theme that keeps coming back at various unexpected
moments. One could even argue that Levitch intends to use this theme to hold together the entire
cantata, although this theme is disguised so well that it is sometimes hard to recognize. This
theme is first heard when the tenor soloist sings with the soprano soloist at mm. 16 and 17:

Example 5.19 Theme sung by soprano soloist (mm. 16-17)

The sudden leap of a fourth at the ¾ measure is the signature of this memorable theme. Besides
this leap, the rest of the melody seems to linger around the same stepwise intervals, as if Levitch
intends to create a motionless melody. After this theme is introduced, there are several variations
with minor changes of interval and rhythmic displacement. Below are a couple of examples of
the treatment of this theme:

Example 5.20 mm. 76-77 sung by tenor soloist

Example 5.21 mm. 83-86 sung by soprano soloist

84
The thematic transformation in mm. 83-86 is less obvious because the leap does not
happen on the downbeat. The technique of disguising a theme by shifting the downbeat seems to
be favored by Levitch. Even though this theme appears many times in this cantata, its effect is
not repetitive, simply because of its multi-faceted appearances. This transformation reaches its
pinnacle in the “Wagnerian” passage that has been discussed several times, at which point he
repeats the theme in a sequential manner three times in a row (mm. 136-144). It could be that
Levitch intentionally used this theme to weave the composition together or that the process
occurred without his conscious awareness. Either way, this theme holds a special meaning for
Levitch. Since it is the only theme that is recurring in the cantata, one may wonder if it represents
the recurring phrase in the poetry, Sanjajte o zemlji (“Dream yea of a country”). Perhaps it is the
belief “Dream yea of a country” that kept the Levitch family alive during the most difficult time
of escaping Nazi persecution.

85
Chapter VI: Instrumentation and Vocal Writing

Orchestration

The orchestration that Levitch favors in both his orchestral and choral works falls outside
of the standard call for orchestral musicians. It is not like the ostentatious late-nineteenth century
romantic orchestra that Strauss or Mahler call for; it is also not like the standard classical
symphony. Instead, the Symphony No. 1, Symphony No. 2, and the two cantatas all are written
with a somewhat unusual instrumentation (Table 6.2). In particular, the Song of Dreams consists
of 2 flutes, with the second flute sometimes playing the piccolo, 2 oboes, 2 clarinets, and 2
bassoons in the wind section; 4 horns, 3 trumpets, 2 trombones, and tuba in the brass; celeste,
xylophone, timpani, suspended cymbal, and triangle in the percussion; and harp, piano, and
strings.
The most glaring part of his orchestration happens to be in the brass section with the 3
trumpets, 2 trombones, and tuba. In the orchestral world, especially in the United States, hiring
one more musician immediately increases the budget for each concert. When composers are
commissioned by an orchestra, they are usually told to choose an orchestral model that is
standard for one era, in order that concert series can easily program their music along with other
composers.
1
In Levitch’s case, it is curious that he does not adhere to a model for any particular
kind of orchestra. It is particularly noteworthy that he writes for three trumpets even though there
are only two short segments of the work that really need three trumpets: mm. 78-83 and 130-138.

1
Iván Fischer (Music Director of Budapest Festival Orchestra), interview with Kirill Gerstein, July 8, 2020, Hanns
Eisler Hochschule für Musik Berlin Archive.
86
A similar problem also occurs in the use of celeste. In the entire cantata, the celeste is
only used in the opening six chords between mm. 2 and 3. Since the celeste requires rental and
hauling costs, a composer would usually take fuller advantage of the instrument throughout the
work or rewrite those simple chords for the piano. Of course, a composer’s vision should not be
limited by such considerations. Yet, at least in the United States, this practical aspect is still very
relevant, as illustrated by the communication between Levitch and Jerry Jacobs, the chairman of
the Interfaith Committee of Remembrance:

As I mentioned to you a number of times, we are taking the instrumentation for
Schoenberg’s “Survivor” as the center of the concert. The instrumentation for your “Song
of Dreams” is larger and is asking for one extra flute, and English Horn, Bass Clarinet
and a contrabassoon, and for obvious financial reasons we cannot afford four extra
players. Please advise by fax how you want us to handle that.
2

This statement echoes the typical challenges faced by composers writing orchestral music. It is
obvious that if Levitch were not willing to reconsider his instrumentation, Song of Dreams would
have been cut from the orchestral program. The full orchestral score published by Carl Fischer
demonstrates that he yielded to the committee’s request. There is no trace of the English horn,
bass clarinet, and contrabassoon. He only uses two flutes with the second flute playing the
piccolo parts.
Jacobs’ letter also sheds some light on the issue of the three trumpets, since three
trumpets were also called for in the unusual orchestration of Schoenberg’s A Survivor from
Warsaw. The following chart records the similarities of instrumentation between the two works:

2
Jerry Jacobs. Jerry Jacobs to Leon Levitch, June 22, 1995. Letter. Leon Levitch Archive, United States Memorial
Holocaust Museum.

87
Table 6.1 Schoenberg’s A Survivor from Warsaw and Levitch’s Song of Dreams

A Survivor from Warsaw Song of Dreams
Woodwinds 2 piccolos
2 flutes 2 flutes (Flute II = piccolo)
2 oboes 2 oboes
2 clarinets 2 clarinets
2 bassoons 2 bassoons
Brass 4 horns 4 horns
3 trumpets 3 trumpets
3 trombones 2 trombones
1 tuba 1 tuba
Strings violins violins
violas violas
cellos cellos
basses basses
Others
harp, big trumpet, military
trumpet, percussion
harp, piano, celeste,
percussion

This chart explains the similarities between the instrumentation of the two works. It is also
striking that the length of the two cantatas is identical, each a little under ten minutes. Jacobs’
letter even triggers the suspicion that Levitch may have been asked to compose with the
restriction of the length in order for his Song of Dreams to be considered for this concert. It also
makes one wonder if Levitch thought that if he submitted the Song of Dreams as a stand-alone
cantata rather than “a movement from a Requiem,” there would be a greater chance that his work
would appeal to committee members.

Comparison of Trumpet Writing

Even though the combination of three trumpets is not frequently used in standard
orchestral repertoire, the trumpet writing in A Survivor from Warsaw creates many layers of
88
sonority. Schoenberg sometimes uses the three trumpets to form the harmony. However, he also
alternates between trumpet solo, duet and trio at different passages, often corresponding to the
text. For example, the first trumpet player is asked to play the short but significant motif shown
in the example below, right at the beginning of the work, to mimic a haunting military call:

Example 6.1 Arnold Schoenberg, A Survivor from Warsaw, m. 1 and m. 32

This motif frequently reappears throughout the work. Another device he favors is for two
trumpets to play dissonant intervals in a forte dynamic but in the specific color of con sordino.
This device paints a mood of panic that is unmistakable:

Example 6.2 A Survivor from Warsaw, mm. 44-45

89
Aside from the climax at m. 80, the only time that the three trumpets play together happens in
mm. 35-37. It is clear in the following figure how Schoenberg carefully plans the combination
with the trumpets and his dynamic pacing:

Example 6.3 A Survivor from Warsaw, mm. 34-37

The above figure also demonstrates the technical difficulty for the trumpet players in that the
tessitura is often very high, yet called for in quiet passages. By carefully planning the use of
three trumpets with the additional markings such as con sordino or senza sordino, Schoenberg
justifies his own artistic intention of needing three trumpets for a specific musical texture and
sonority.
Levitch never mentioned that he looked to A Survivor in Warsaw as a model, but he also
calls for con sordino trumpet writing in a loud dynamic and high register in Song of Dreams:

90
Example 6.4 Con sordino trumpet writing in Song of Dreams (mm. 64-65)

This eerie trumpet sound proves to be an effective device to highlight the conflict between
persecutors and victims. It is instructive to compare the two composers in their use of the
instrument. Schoenberg does not restrict the trumpets to the loud tutti sections, but uses them
freely and somewhat unexpectedly throughout the work to emphasize the irony of this human
tragedy. Contrastingly, Levitch reserves his trumpet writing mostly for the climactic sections,
particularly Stanzas II and IV, perhaps out of concern for the balance between orchestra and
chorus. It is possible, or even probable, that Levitch studied or was aware of Survivor from
Warsaw, and that the letter from Jacobs motivated him to especially study its orchestration.
Throughout the Song of Dreams, the three trumpets play together, mainly bearing the
function of doubling the chorus. Especially in the fast sections, the trumpets tend to double the
melodic lines whether they occur with the chorus or the upper strings (See Example 6.5). Taking
a closer look at Levitch’s doubling technique, it is apparent that he favors using the three
trumpets to double the soloists as well as the treble sections of the chorus. The tenor and bass
sections are supported by trombones and tuba. This evidence further supports Levitch’s intention
of writing for three trumpets mainly to fill in these harmonies instead of striving for a particular
color.

91
Example 6.5 Comparison of the doubling technique in the Song of Dreams (mm. 99-100 and
mm. 105-106)

mm. 99-100

92
mm. 105-106

The Odd Combination of Trombones and Tuba

If one assumes that Levitch’s use of three trumpets was due to programming needs, the
combination of two trombones and one tuba in the low-brass section appears to challenge this
assumption. Schoenberg had indeed adhered to the tradition of three trombones – two tenor
93
trombones and one bass trombone – an Austrian tradition that can be dated back to the
seventeenth century.
3
Like the combination of four horns, the overtones generated by three
trombones are considered ideal for harmonic purposes.
4
It was common in nineteenth century
symphonies for the bass trombone to double the tuba. Levitch only called for two trombones in
Song of Dreams, even though a third trombone presumably would have been available on the
program. Therefore, it is unclear why Levitch does not include the bass trombone in the Song of
Dreams, especially as three or more trombones are used in his other symphonic works.

Table 6.2 Instrumentation comparison
Symphony No. 1 Symphony No. 2
Song of Dreams (Original
Version)
1 piccolo 1 piccolo 1 piccolo
3 flutes 3 flutes 3 flutes
2 oboes 2 oboes 2 oboes
1 English horn 1 English horn 1 English horn
2 clarinets 2 clarinets 2 clarinets
1 bass clarinet 1 bass clarinet 1 bass clarinet
2 bassoons 2 bassoons 2 bassoons
1 contrabassoon 1 contrabassoon
4 horns 4 horns 4 horns
3 trumpets 3 trumpets 3 trumpets
3 trombones 4 trombones 2 trombones
1 tuba 1 tuba 1 tuba
percussion percussion percussion
violins violins violins
violas violas violas
cellos cellos cellos
basses basses basses
harp, celeste harp, celeste harp, celeste, piano

3
Trevor Herbert, The Trombone (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2006), 151.
4
Ibid., 151.
94
Overall, the trumpets, trombones and tuba are found most often in Sections IV and V,
which are characterized by fast tempos and a loud dynamic. On the other hand, the use of the
tuba in the slow, lyrical sections immediately becomes noticeable. In Section I, the tuba doubles
with the second bassoon and double-bass from mm. 28-35, and this doubling happens again at
mm. 139-142 towards the end of Section V. It is likely that Levitch intends to highlight the
unique low timbre of the tuba in this cantata. Like his idea of using three trumpets to double the
soprano and alto sections with occasional divisi, the function of the two trombones and tuba is to
double the tenor and bass in the chorus (See Example 6.6). These figures serve as examples that
Levitch favors using the brass instruments to support the choir. This doubling technique can
happen in almost every combination between the trumpets, trombones, and tuba depending on
the color that Levitch is looking for. When the poetry becomes anxious or agitated, trumpet
doublings tend to dominate (See Example 6.6). Levitch rarely writes independent melodic lines
for these instruments but relies on them to fill out the harmonies, particularly when they are
dissonant. The brass instruments tend to be called upon in the full orchestral passages and tacet
in the more reflective sections.

Harp and Piano

The harp and piano play a central role in the orchestration for the cantata. The two rarely
appear together. The harp is employed for slow, heartfelt passages in Sections I and VI, as well
as transitional passages such as the bridge between Sections IV and V (mm. 111-129). It is
apparent throughout his output that Levitch is drawn to the sound of the harp. It is an instrument
that is featured in all of his symphonies and cantatas (Table 6.2). His use of harp interweaving
95
Example 6.6 Instrumental doubling of tenor and bass (mm. 102-106 and mm. 136-138)

mm. 102-106

96
mm. 136-138

97
with strings becomes the personal signature of his orchestral sound. In the Song of Dreams, the
solo harp opens the entire Cantata (See Example 5.4), creating an opulent setting for the text
Sanjajte o zemlji (“Dream yea of a country”). Similar arpeggiated figures in the harp recur
throughout the Cantata to remind the listener again and again of this text, which is also the
central motif in Josif Levitch’s poem.
The harp is often used to double the cello pizzicato. The blending of the two is so
intertwined that one sometimes cannot distinguish one sound from the other. Levitch even writes
arpeggios for the harp with strings accompanying it:
98
Example 6.7 The use of harp in Song of Dreams (mm. 123-124, mm. 111-114)

mm. 123-124

99
mm. 111-114

These passages are significant in that Levitch treats the harp either as a member of the string
family (mm. 123-124) or as a solo instrument (mm. 111-114). It would have been sufficient to
only use the cello in the first example, but the harp certainly adds a lushness to the sound of this
passage.
If the harp is treated mainly as a member of the string family, then the piano is treated as
a part of the percussion section. This feature is predominantly seen in Stanza II when the strings
are in fast tremolos:

100
Example 6.8 Percussive chords in the piano and strings tremolos (mm. 58-59)

The notes in the piano are almost identical with the entire string section. The fast, relentless
block chords add an extra layer of intensity to the section. This repeated motion in the piano
writing reminds the listener of the famous Schubert song, Erlkönig. Based on Goethe’s ballad,
Schubert’s relentless octaves and chords tell the terrifying story of the Erl-King who soothingly
draws a child to his death. Similarly, Levitch seems to employ fast, incessant chords in the piano
part to hint at perhaps an even more terrifying scene – the scene of Nazi officers threatening
victims with imprisonment and death.

Vocal Writing for the Soloists

Although Song of Dreams is only ten minutes in duration, the vocal writing is certainly
taxing. Levitch loves to write long and sustained melodies for the soloists in the slow sections.
The melodies are tuneful and memorable. However, the tessitura often sits in the high register for
an extended period of time. These high demands are even more evident in the soprano solo. Only
101
a soprano of exceptional operatic training would be able to sing it well. Among composers of our
time, the concern for vocal health both in the solo and choral realms has become especially
widespread:

A number of medical authorities have indicated that singing at too high a pitch level may
contribute to certain vocal disorders. Dr. F. S. Brodnitz relates singing at too high a pitch
level to the development of vocal nodules, …Extensive singing in the upper limits of
your voice is somewhat like driving at top speed all the time.
5

This perspective is now shared by the prominent vocal and choral programs throughout the
United States. Jo-Michael Scheibe (b. 1950) at University of Southern California and Lynne
Gackle (b. 1955) at Baylor University, for example, emphasize the importance of choosing
repertoire that is appropriate to the tessitura and agility of each choir or ensemble.
6
It must be
remembered, though, that this concept of healthy singing was in its nascent stage when Levitch
wrote Song of Dreams. His writing for the soprano soloist definitely breaks several of the current
vocal pedagogy rules. Quite often, the soprano is asked to sing between a high F and A for an
extended period of time in a slow tempo (See Example 6.9). Furthermore, the soprano part often
moves back and forth between the extreme high and low registers.

5
James C. Mckinney, Vocal Faults: A manual for teachers of singing & for choir directors (Long Grove, IL:
Waveland Press, Inc., 2005), 118.
6
See Chapter 4 in Lynne Gackle, Finding Ophelia’s Voice, Opening Ophelia’s Heart: Nurturing the Adolescent
Female Voice: An Exploration of the Physiological, Psychological, and Musical Developments of the Female
Students (Dayton, OH: Heritage Music Press, 2011).
102
Example 6.9 Soprano solo in slow tempo (mm. 9-12)

Soprano solo in slow tempo (mm. 33-36)

Example 6.10 Soprano solo in fast tempo with large leaps (mm. 97-98)

Even for an experienced singer, it is difficult to negotiate this transition between registers and
still produce a good sound quality. In addition, frequent changes of tempo between sections also
adds to the vocal challenges.
These concerns might suggest that when composing, Levitch did not take these potential
vocal difficulties into consideration. If they were asked to sing his music, some current singers
might protest that Levitch does not care for the singers’ vocal health. These doubts are supported
by the recording of the premiere. Apparently, the soprano soloist Juliana James-Yaffe (dates not
found) requested to move the melody at mm. 114-115 an octave higher.

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Example 6.11 Soprano solo (mm. 114-117)

The original writing in this passage can surely be sung by any soprano, but the low range does
not bring out the best timber in the soprano voice. A similar concern also applies to the tenor
solo, although to a lesser degree simply because the tenor sings much less than the soprano in
this composition. There are some wonderful melodies that bring out the best quality of a lyric
tenor voice, yet some passages would be heard better if sung by a baritone:

Example 6.12 mm. 151-160

The problem of low-register singing for the tenor must have similarly been addressed by the
soloist, John Koch (dates not found), who sang this melody an octave higher during the premiere
(mm. 155-158). Since the quality of the recording is extremely low, there were probably other
parts where Koch made similar requests. Since Levitch attended the concert, it is probable that
104
the performers asked for his permission to make these changes and received his approval.
However, these alterations were not addressed in Levitch’s published full score after the concert.

Vocal Writing for the Chorus

Similar concerns regarding the vocal range are also an issue for the choir at times. On a
practical level, the problem is not as urgent as the difficulties for the soloists, because having
more singers can hide the awkwardness in the vocal writing. In the analysis of his orchestral
writing, it was mentioned that Levitch tends to compose for a fixed format of instrumentation
and choral parts. For both of his cantatas, Of Plants and Humans and Song of Dreams, the vocal
forces always consist of soprano and tenor soloists supported by SATB choir with occasional
divisi. As a result, Levitch insisted on fitting his writing into the mold of SATB, even though his
writing was not four-part writing in the traditional sense. Many times, it seems that a
combination of ATB or SAB in different sections would have been sufficient. In order to
maintain the format of four-part choral writing, he often ends up writing long passages in unison
with the result that the soprano and tenor sing in a very low register. Some strange and
uncomfortable register shifts occur suddenly.

105
Example 6.13 mm. 131-135

The two leaps in the soprano and tenor are awkward because the interval is a tritone on top of an
octave. These awkward leaps would be easily avoided if the sopranos and tenors were asked to
sing an octave higher on beat four. One wonders if Levitch composed this cantata in haste to
meet a certain deadline, or if he was accustomed to the choral practice of the performers
redistributing the voices whenever necessary.
From the same letter sent by Jerry Jacobs, the choral director Harold Rosenbaum (b.
1950) had much frustration because of the choral notation:

We find a[n] enormous amount of problems with the piano/vocal score and also the
choral score which you sent to us. Both were written “very sloppily to a point that the
identity of very many notes have to be guessed.” …There are “too many inconsistencies
in both scores. There is a lack of coordination between vocal/piano and the other score.
Some of the choral writing which is in the orchestral score are not in the vocal/piano
score. Choral writing in the vocal/piano score do not specify what sections are singing
what notes.”
7

7
Jerry Jacobs to Leon Levitch, June 22, 1995.
106
Based on this letter, it is entirely possible that in the piano-vocal score, which is now lost, the
strange leaps were fixed, but in the full orchestral score, the notes were never revised. In the
choral field, it is completely normal for conductors to adjust some of these issues by changing
the register or even re-assigning the voices to different parts. Nevertheless, Levitch could have
been more clear, especially in addressing the discrepancies between the vocal and full orchestral
scores.

The First Role of the Choir: Harmonic Strengthening

The four-part choir rarely functions as its own entity in the cantata. Its main role is to
support the two soloists who possess virtually all the main melodies. The only times that the
choir sings independently are in mm. 66-71, 78-79, and 136-143, which add up to sixteen
measures altogether. Even though the choir does not have a central role, Levitch has many
creative ways to have the choir interact with the soloists. The first kind is more conventional.
The choir reinforces the melodic material sung by the two soloists by doubling or providing the
harmony underneath. This compositional trait usually happens toward the end of each section.
For example, in Stanza III, the choir enters to highlight the text “so that your soul may be
refreshed,” and also to build the sense of closure for the section:

107
Example 6.14 End of Stanza III (mm. 89-94)

From the standpoint of harmonic analysis, the function of the choir is to drive the harmonic
progression from E Major to C# Major. Levitch frequently uses the choir to underscore the
harmonic progression towards the end of each section. This technique can be seen in Stanzas II,
III, and VI. Whether each section ends with a grandiose conclusion or a quiet ending, the choral
writing has the function of affirming and emphasizing the message expressed in each stanza of
the poem.

The Second Role of the Choir: Melodic Doubling

The second role of the choir is to intensify the musical climax within the sections by
doubling the soloists. This compositional trait tends to happen in sections with a faster tempo.
During these tutti vocal sections, Levitch also asks the entire string or wind sections to double
the vocal forces.
108
Example 6.15 Comparison between string and wind doubling with choir (mm. 95-97, and
mm. 130-131)

mm. 95-97, Choir unison doubled by strings

109
mm. 130-131, Choir unison doubled by winds

110
Unison choral singing is very effective especially at climactic moments with an orchestra. It is a
compositional device that might seem primitive but it is actually used in large choral works. For
example, in Orff’s Carmina Burana, many portions or even movements are sung in unison while
accompanied by a full orchestra.
8
The orchestral color, especially from the percussion section, is
so dominating that one can barely notice that the large choir is only singing in unison most of the
time. Similarly, Levitch has the winds and brass provide the harmonic support while asking all
the vocal forces to sing in unison (mm. 130-131). The choir therefore is able to project over a
thick passage in the orchestra with an impressive impact. These tutti passages tend to have
dissonant harmonies and large successive leaps in the melody to stress the meaning of the text.
After redistributing the voices in just a couple of places, Levitch’s pragmatic choral writing
makes these difficult leaps manageable, and the result of these sections is very effective.

The Third Role for the Choir: An Independent Voice

The above-mentioned choral writing demonstrates the supportive role of the choir to the
soloists. Nevertheless, the most interesting choral writing takes place when the choir functions as
its own independent voice. It has been pointed out that Levitch was inclined to first compose the
vocal melodies and then distribute them to the two soloists. Occasionally, the entire choir will
also be treated as a third voice to interact with the two soloists:

8
See O Fortuna, Reh. 6, Veni Veni Venias, Reh. 128, and Tempus est locundum, Reh. 138 for effective examples of
unison writing in Carmina Burana.
111
Example 6.16 Melodic interaction between parts (mm. 166-170)

The entire melody is passed back and forth between the two soloists and the choir, which acts as
a third voice. This compositional device for the voices forms a wave-like sonority. With the help
of the orchestra, this rich and lush sound takes the listener back to the musical language of the
late-nineteenth century.
Like the rest of Levitch’s music, there is very little contrapuntal writing in the Song of
Dreams. The listener can however expect some points of imitation. In this cantata, no
counterpoint was used either in the vocal and instrumental parts. Therefore, when the choir
engages in points of imitation between the soprano and tenor parts (mm. 66-68), attention is
immediately drawn to the text gde nasil ja nova bedemi stoje ko bedmi stoje (“where new
oppressions stand as bulwarks”).

112
Example 6.17 Points of imitation in mm. 66-68

The staggered short motives in the choir emphasize the word “oppressions.” At this moment,
Levitch suddenly removes the string tremolo from the texture, drawing all the attention to the
choir for four measures. It is as if a group of people are crying out for help, abandoned by the
world. The abrupt isolation of the choir and change of orchestral texture are extremely effective
in bringing out the poetic declamation.
The only other place where the choir has an independent role occurs in mm. 136-143.
descending in a sequential manner. However, the length of each phrase is varied by the change of
meter. The first segment kad damari počnu brzo da vam biju (“When your pulse quickens”) is in
common time, but one can observe how Levitch shortens the note values to convey the meaning
of the text.

Example 6.18 First segment (mm. 136-138)

113
In a brilliant use of text painting, Levitch does exactly what the text says on the words “your
pulse quickens.”
The second segment, which has the same melody, introduces mixed-meter on the text kad
okovi ropstva poči nju da zveče (“When fetters of slavery begins to rattle”). The mixed-meter has
the effect of heightening the unsettling sound of the “rattling fetters.”

Example 6.19 Second segment (mm. 139-141)

The harmonization for the above two melodic segments in the sopranos (See Examples 6.18 and
6.19) stands out because of its series of quartal harmony, including tritones and perfect fourths.
Levitch uses the tritone to depict the dark meaning of the text:

Example 6.20 First Segment Harmonization (mm. 136-138)

In the second segment, the choir sings each chord constructed by either a perfect fourth interval
or a tritone. As a result, the famous “Tristan chord” emerges in this harmonization:
114
Example 6.21 Second Segment Harmonization (mm. 139-141)

It is this second segment that leads to the Tristan chord on the word okovi (“chains”), as
discussed earlier.
The third instance of this motivic segment falls on the phrase I zivot vam ceo ništavan
izgleda puta (“And all of life seems useless”):

Example 6.22 Third Segment (mm. 142-143)

In the second and third segments above (See Examples 6.19 and 6.22), the overall pulse is
obscured. The only anchor that the listener can hold on to is the distinct large leap in each motif
which Levitch treats with special attention. The high note of the motif always falls on the strong
downbeat despite all the meter changes. Directly after the series of quartal harmonies (See
Examples 6.20 and 6.21), the harmonization reaches a brief moment of stability:

115
Example 6.23 Third Segment Harmonization (mm. 142-144)

The downbeat of m. 142 helps the listener to grasp the sense of a d minor tonality for the first
time after this labyrinth-like tonal shift. The word “useless” is brought out by the sudden
dropping out of the upper three choir voices, leaving only the basses to sing with the soprano
soloist. The withdrawing of the majority of choir voices leaves a sense of giving up, and leads to
the final section, a mirror to the first section where the last sanjaj (“dream”) is heard for the last
time.

A Manageable Challenge

It has been pointed out previously that it is very likely that Levitch composed the vocal
parts first before adding the orchestration. The rise-and-fall of these melodies is often governed
by the meaning of the poetry. As a result, the suitability of the appropriate range and tessitura for
different voice types might not have been Levitch’s primary concern. There are only a few times
116
that the range is somewhat problematic particularly for the soloists in the Song of Dreams.
However, based on the recording in the premiere, it seems that Levitch was extremely flexible
and made changes to accommodate those requests. It is a common practice among composers to
make adjustments after the premiere. Sometimes, there are multiple versions of the same work
after composers’ revisions. One should not jump to conclusions by judging his vocal writing
because of these concerns.
Either way, Song of Dreams requires highly skilled soprano and tenor soloists. They need
to be able to be heard over the orchestra, frequently singing sustained long passages in a slow
tempo, and to adjust to the frequent tempo changes. In contrast, the choral writing is much more
approachable. There are some challenges involving large leaps and dissonances, but these
challenges are mitigated by the short length and unison singing in most these passages. The
frequent doubling and homophonic four-part writing work in any community choir’s favor. The
Serbo-Croatian language can be intimidating at first, but aside from the consonants č or ć, or
compound consonants Dž or Nj, everything else can easily be learned through transliteration. The
consonant č appears frequently in the Song of Dreams. It is easy to locate its International
Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) symbol as [t
͡ ʃ], a consonant that is similar to ch in “chocolate,” if not a
bit harsher than its English counterpart.
9
It would take very little time for a community choir to
adapt to the language in singing.
Perhaps anticipating some reservations from choral groups because of the language,
Levitch kept the amount of text for choir minimal. However, since he mostly asks the choir to
only sing at the climatic moments, it is extremely gratifying to sing these passages. The records
of his performances show that he was extremely flexible in accommodating requests from

9
The Serbian-Croatian word is čokolada, making this a perfect word to learn the sound.
117
performers. Therefore, he probably would have accepted for the work to be accompanied by a
piano reduction in a concert setting. A piano-vocal score was used for the choral preparation but
is impossible to locate now (See letter on p. 120).
10
The length of the work also makes it easy to
program in concerts. The Song of Dreams should be approachable both to professional and
community orchestra and choir groups.

10
Jerry Jacobs to Leon Levitch, June 22, 1995.
118
Chapter VII: Remaining Scores Related to the Requiem

Levitch’s official music publisher, Carl Fischer, has the choral-orchestral score and
complete parts of the Song of Dreams (Pesma Snova) listed as available for rental only. In the
Levitch archive at the Holocaust Museum, there is also a full score that was probably printed for
the Interfaith concert. It is certain that Levitch had intended to write more movements in addition
to Song of Dreams, but it is not certain what they would have looked like, making some detective
work necessary.
In this same archive, there is also a loose page of a two-line fragment of the cello cadenza
written under the title Psalm:

Example 7.1 Fragment of Psalm movement (mm. 1-9)

This document must be a hand-written manuscript or the copy of one. The hand-written note of
“Introduction by cello solo” suggests that this cadenza might have been taken from an earlier
cello work. The clear measure numbers (“3, 4, 5”) in this manuscript suggest that this cello
cadenza is the beginning of the Psalm movement.
119
The only other evidence of the Psalm movement in this archive is a couple pages of a
printed choral-orchestral score:

Example 7.2 Psalm movement fragment, text added for purpose of clarity (mm. 153-162)

120
These two documents demonstrate that the orchestration and the vocal forces are very similar to
the Song of Dreams. The text in the bass line also aligns with the last two stanzas of Josif
Levitch’s poem (See Appendix B for the complete poem):

Čudna bol nas sve podriva
Beskrvna su naša gladna tela
I sve što se s’nama zbiva
Pitamo se: Jel su Božja dela? [emphasis added]

Koprena Smrti beskrajne tuge
Obavi Zemlju. Zmlju I ljude
A dani bledi, noci preduge
Pesmu očaja srcima gude
A strange pain undermines us all
Anemic are our hungry bodies…
And all that is happening with us
We question ourselves “Are these God’s
deeds?” [emphasis added]

A veil of Death, infinite sorrow,
Envelopes the Earth, the Earth and the people,
The days are pale, the nights overlong
The song of despair they bow to our
hearts…….

One can find from the full score (See Example 7.2) above that the words Božja dela (“God’s
deeds”) and koprena (“a veil”) in the poetic excerpt correspond to the same words sung by the
choir. By comparing the text with the remaining fragments, one suspects that Levitch actually
finished, or at least almost finished, the writing of Psalm, which would have been the second
movement of Requiem Patris.
The letter from Jerry Jacobs also confirms that the Canticum Novum Singers attempted to
read through the Psalm movement, but found the score impossible to read:

We are aware that the piano score you wrote for the “Psalm” was not playable and many
hours had to be spent by your copyist, who eventually gave up and returned the score to
you for total editing. Please bear that in mind when you submit the choral and orchestral
score for “Song of Dreams.”
1

1
Jerry Jacobs to Leon Levitch, June 22, 1995.
121
The Psalm movement was never completed in time to be considered for the Interfaith concert.
Apparently, Levitch only submitted a piano-vocal score to the Interfaith Committee for review.
However, it was recently discovered that Levitch left a copy of a full score with his son-in-law,
Greg Donovetsky, a retired professor who assisted him in engraving all of his manuscripts. A
renowned oboist himself, Mr. Donovetsky played in several recordings of Levitch’s music,
including Ricordo di Mario for oboe and piano, which is Levitch’s most well-known
composition.
2
He vaguely remembers helping Levitch engrave the Psalm movement, but is not
sure if the movement was ever finished.
The research for the Psalm movement is further complicated by the state of the notated
score. Donovetsky was using the old Mosaic music writing program developed by the music
software company Mark of the Unicorn (MOTU) in 1984.
3
Almost forty years later, the score is
barely readable, and the text has not been inserted:

2
Greg Donovetsky, Greg Donovetsky Plays 20th Century Masterpieces for Oboe, Greg Donovetsky, Armen
Guzelimian and Leon Levitch, Orion Master Recordings ORS 82430, CD, 1982
3
Scott R. Wilkinson, Anatomy of a Home Studio: How Everything Really Works (Vallejo, CA: EM Books, 1997),
112.
122
Example 7.3 Old Mosaic score of Psalm movement

Several pages seem to be missing based on the compositional logic. This is especially true in the
cello cadenza which will be briefly analyzed later in this chapter. Aside from the missing text in
the choral parts, the instrumentation is not engraved anywhere in the score. As unclear as it is,
this existing score helps to confirm several suspicions about Song of Dreams and its original
place within a much longer Requiem Patris. For example, even though the instrumentation is
missing, some detective work with the clefs and range of each staff can yield the following
supposition:
123
Example 7.4 Possible instrumentation for Psalm movement

If this chart is correct, it yields a telling comparison between the two movements (Table 7.1).
This comparison demonstrates that Levitch had a very similar instrumentation in mind for both
movements before altering the Song of Dreams under the committee’s request. He definitely
wanted the timbre of bass clarinet and contrabassoon in his orchestration for both movements.
The two staves with treble clefs above the choir indicate that the two soloists would probably
have been soprano and tenor. The choir again plays more of a supporting role for the soloists. In
Psalm, there is evidence of harp as well as a staff that would either be for piano, celeste, or both.
124
Table 7.1 Instrumentation comparison between Song of Dreams and Psalm

Psalm Song of Dreams (Original)
1 piccolo 1 piccolo
3 flutes 3 flutes
2 oboes 2 oboes
1 English horn 1 English horn
2 clarinets 2 clarinets
1 bass clarinet 1 bass clarinet
2 bassoons 2 bassoons
1 contrabassoon 1 contrabassoon
4 horns 4 horns
3 trumpets 3 trumpets
2 trombones 2 trombones
1 tuba 1 tuba
percussion percussion
violins violins
violas violas
cellos cellos
basses basses
harp and piano
(or celeste) harp, celeste, piano

Even though these instruments are probably included in Psalm, they are not as central as they are
in the Song of Dreams. Based on the instrumentation and vocal writing, the connection between
the two movements is obvious. To return to Strimple’s designation of Song of Dreams as an
independent Cantata,
4
it seems likely that Levitch eventually made this decision because he was
unable to complete his original conception of a larger Requiem Patris. He might have also
considered, especially after being forced to change the instrumentation for the Interfaith concert,
that it was impractical that any larger work could ever be performed. Either way, a full

4
Strimple, Choral Music in the 20
th
Century, 252.
125
understanding of the original conception behind the work will greatly enhance one’s
interpretation of Song of Dreams.

The Mystery of the Cello Cadenza

In his interview with Bertonneau, Levitch mentioned that he originally began “a cello
piece that I started at the time of the assassination of Martin Luther King which I never
completed.” This unfinished cello work began with “a cadenza.” Levitch went on to say, “I don’t
know whether I will be able to use some of that material later on in the cantata, or what.”
5
Even
though one cannot know what this cadenza would have looked like, Levitch here expressed his
intention to turn this unfinished cello work into another cantata.
In 1969, Levitch attempted to write his second cantata, On Viewing the Coast of Africa,
but was never able to finish this project.
6
This seven-minute-long cantata was to be based on a
poem by Howard Thurman (1899-1981), a famous educator and poet whom Levitch admired:

The poem is the musings of a black voyager or traveler who is going to Africa, in this
case being Howard Thurman…thinking what must have been going through the minds
and hearts of his ancestors who traveled in the opposite direction in a slave ship. The
poem is unbelievably moving. I will never forget the first time I read it; I absolutely
broke down and cried. I then decided…that this is so gripping that it is compelling me to
express it in music, and I right away started the cantata.
7

It is intriguing that Levitch began a cello work after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.
in 1968 and a second cantata On Viewing the Coast of Africa one year later. Even though Levitch

5
Bertonneau, A Twentieth Century Romantic Temperament, 244-245.
6
Ibid., 244.
7
Ibid., 242-244.
126
eventually gave up on writing “political music” as he put it, there is no question that he was
inspired by the Civil Rights movement in America.
8
It seems very likely that the cello work
dedicated to Martin Luther King, Jr. would have turned into the second cantata set to the poetry
of Howard Thurman, which would have presumably featured a solo cello part.
Yet he did not complete either of these projects. Before finishing On Viewing the Coast
of Africa, Levitch already moved on to his Requiem Patris, perhaps because of the loss of his
father a few years earlier. It seems almost certain, then, that the cello cadenza in the beginning of
Psalm would have come from the material he had planned to work into the second cantata, which
in turn had started out as the unfinished cello work. It seems appropriate that he decided to
rework these “political” works into the Requiem Patris, because this process would represent a
turn from his concern for the Civil Rights movement back to his own life experience.
The same Holocaust Museum archive contains a short cello recording labeled “Psalm
cadenzas.” It is not clear who performed in this recording. The recording is also confusing
because it is not a continuous playing on one track. It sounds as if the cellist pasted different
cello fragments from the work together as a demo recording for the Psalm movement.
Furthermore, there are discrepancies between this recording and the Mosaic score. The
recording matches what is in the Mosaic score for the first nine measures. After that, the
recording takes off in a different direction before coming back to what was written on p. 2. One
explanation is that the Mosaic score has some missing pages. The other, more convincing
possibility is that these cello passages from the Psalm movement originated as an earlier work.
Levitch must have asked the cellist to record some parts of the earlier cello work, in the hope that
he could send it as a demo before the Psalm movement was finished.

8
Ibid., 245.
127
The first cello cadenza hand-written by Levitch serves as the opening of the Psalm
movement. These five notes form an important motif which recurs several times in these two
cadenzas (some of them are in the cello recording, but not in the Mosaic score):

Example 7.5 First five-note motif of cello cadenza (mm. 1-2)

Like much of Levitch’s music, the motif suggests painful yearning, especially in its sudden leaps
of a minor 7
th
and minor 6
th
. With a quick crescendo between G to E-flat the sorrowful tone is
also intensified. This five-note motif leads to a chromatic theme that evokes a “lamentoso”
character:

Example 7.6 Beginning of the cello cadenza (mm. 1-4)

This opening material can also be heard in the other cello cadenza that happens at the closure of
the movement:

128
Example 7.7 Second cello cadenza (mm. 156-159)

This passage matches the fragments of the full score that are kept in the Levitch archive in the
Holocaust Museum (See Example 7.2). Putting these two examples together, one can see that
this passage leads to the choir entrance on the last stanza of the poem. The music on this page
has a certain finality to it. It features the second cello cadenza leading to the entrance of the full
string orchestra, which in turn brings in the choir on the last stanza.
The musical material of this full string entrance also echoes the second half of the
opening cello cadenza:

Example 7.8 Psalm movement, m. 6

The double dotted rhythm, chromatically descending line, and major-second intervals solidify
the relationship between the opening and closing material. The return of the introductory
thematic material towards the closure of the movement is reminiscent of the structural plan in the
Song of Dreams.
129
Indeed, Levitch was very close to finishing the Psalm movement. The last page of the
Mosaic score, although without a clear double bar, presents a clear ending on an F Major chord
preceded by ascending harmonies in the strings. Even without the help of the text, the musical
passage contains enough evidence that the movement was finished with its full orchestration.
Any composer, as long as he or she lives, might choose to revise older compositions.
However, the discovery of the Mosaic score leaves no doubt that Levitch finished the
composition process of this movement, if not the final publication. Even though he was hoping
to complete the Requiem Patris, Levitch was pragmatic to compose both Song of Dreams and
Psalm in such a way that either could be performed as a separate work. If a composer or librettist
who understands Serbo-Croatian is willing to work the text into the full score, or if the piano-
vocal score mentioned by Jacobs is eventually found, this Psalm movement will receive its long-
deserved premiere along with Song of Dreams.

130
Conclusion

“From the beginning of our exodus till we arrived in Oswego the whole thing was one big long
protracted nightmare. We all became totally paranoid, but not without justification. But every
slightest noise or something when we were in hiding would send us into paroxisms of despair.
And so the scarring which this experience has created in our psyches, collectively and
individually, is indelible.” - Leon Levitch
1

From his sketch book in Ferramonti to one of his last compositions, Song of Dreams, the
life work of Leon Levitch certainly asks the common question, “What if his life had not been
interrupted by the Holocaust?”
2
It is impossible to assuage the wounds of this darkest chapter of
human history. It is equally painful to consider how much talent and possibility perished during
the Holocaust. In addition to facing traumatic memories and survivor’s guilt, many of the
Holocaust victims also spent countless hours lamenting the years wasted. In the case of Levitch,
one senses a deep anxiety and anger over undeveloped potential that he had to live with his entire
life. It is not surprising that Levitch’s father, having seen the uncertainty of the future during
wartime, would discourage his son from pursing music as a career. It is even more common for
parents to discourage their children from pursuing an art-related field today. Still, Josif’s pungent
remarks must have exacerbated the painful self-doubt that greatly impeded the development of
Levitch as a composer.
Ironically, Levitch did become a practical man in that he made his life’s mark as a piano
technician. His reputation as a piano technician in Southern California was so established that he
was able to teach several courses at the college level. One might consider him a pioneer, because
he taught classes long before the piano technician field was considered as a major. Still, never

1
Edward and Leon Levitch, Oral History Interview with Edward Levitch & Leon Levitch, directed by Jeff and Toby
Herr (Oswego: Safe Haven, Inc, August 6, 1994), https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/irn512726.
2
For further discussion of this topic, see Bernard Holland, “Does the Holocaust Make the Music Sound Sweeter?”,
The New York Times, April 20, 2003.
131
did one day pass that Levitch forgot his childhood dream of becoming a composer. The
recordings of Bach and Beethoven in his head kept reminding him of who he wanted to be. He
found every possible way to involve himself with classical musicians, regardless of the scornful
and dismissive remarks he would often receive. Even during his imprisonment, he was never
considered a serious musician, resulting in his lack of consistent training. However, those
musical sketchbooks with harmonic exercises and melodic explorations demonstrate a young
man’s eagerness of catching up on what he had lost. Between choosing to move and being
transferred, the Levitch family relocated more than twenty-one times during wartime.
Nevertheless, Levitch would immediately volunteer to participate in the musical activities
everywhere he went. Participating in choral groups, and directing the choir when circumstances
allowed, were the constants in Levitch’s rocky musical journey. Choir singing and directing
played an important role in his life during the war. It is no wonder Levitch never wrote songs,
but always wrote for choir, ranging from arrangements to large scale choral works with
orchestra.
Despite his terrible self-doubt as a composer, Levitch always found powerful support for
his musical talents. He was accepted to study with three musical giants – Eric Zeisl, Mario
Castelnuovo-Tedesco, and Roy Harris – all three of whom went to great lengths to validate him
as a composer. Without their support, Levitch could not have won several impressive
composition awards. His chamber music and orchestral works have been performed by Mehli
Mehta, Sheridon Stokes, Irma Vallecillo-Gray, and other acclaimed musicians. When making a
recording with Levitch of his Viola Sonata, Op. 11, the notable violist Zven Reher
3
(1912-

3
Los Angeles Times, “Sven Reher, 79; Violist Active in Southland,” accessed July 30, 2020,
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-02-12-mn-1369-story.html.
132
Figure 8.1 Levitch conducting at Fort Ontario camp, Oswego, New York (Courtesy of
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.)

1991) expressed his admiration for the composer and willingness to record repeated takes: “I’m
making a record with an eminent composer, and as far as I’m concerned I’m going to do my best,
and if you feel this should be done again, we’ll do it. I’ve got all the time in the world.”
4
It is
hard to believe that, despite such an impressive roster of mentors and performers, Levitch still
needed to plead with organizations to have his music performed. It did not help that life pressure
required him to work feverishly as a piano technician after the war. Even when he presented his
works, often the scores were messy and incomplete if they were finished at all. By the time of his
death, Levitch was recognized, at best, as a superb piano technician and a regional composer.
Out of his limited compositional output, Levitch is most remembered for his chamber
music. Levitch never had luck finding people who were interested in his large orchestral or

4
Sven Reher, “We Must Go Further,” interviewed by Thomas Bertonneau, Music Oral History, University of
California Los Angeles, (1981): 447-448.

133
choral works. Letter upon letter bears witness to his struggle to promote his own compositions.
Thanks to Anneliese Landau, Eugenia Zuckermann, and his devoted friend Bret Werb, a few of
those works received at least a one-time read-through or public performance, including Song of
Dreams. However, the recording quality or the less-than-professional performing level greatly
impeded these works from gaining further interest in programming. When Levitch sent recording
samples of his compositions to someone, he often apologized for their quality.
5
These recordings
also make it very difficult for common audiences to appreciate Levitch’s compositional beauty
and complexity.
The Song of Dreams is especially the victim of poor recording quality. The concert was
not allowed to be recorded, and Levitch had to hide a primitive recording machine which he
called a “hidden microphone”
6
under his coat to discreetly record the performance. Indeed, one
must be grateful to this secret recording, because Song of Dreams, as part of an original Requiem
Patris, was to be the culmination of his life and work. It was the first time that Levitch was ready
to confront his experience in the Holocaust in musical form. It was also the first orchestral work
that Levitch wrote without supervision from any of his teachers. Compared to his other cantata,
Of Plants and Humans, which was written much earlier, under the guidance of Castelnuovo-
Tedesco, the Song of Dreams represents the pinnacle of his own musical language. Because of
the complicated demands from the Interfaith Committee and hastily prepared performance, the
Song of Dreams was never given its deserved evaluation from the public.
The world is gradually digging into the past and discovering the music that was
composed by victims of the Holocaust. Yet, the names of Viktor Ullmann (1898-1944) and

5
Leon Levitch. Leon Levitch to Bret Werb, January 9, 1994. Letter. Leon Levitch Archive, United States Memorial
Holocaust Museum.
6
Leon Levitch to Bret Werb, October 17, 1995.
134
Gideon Klein (1919-1945) are still relatively vague to the general public, let alone the regional
name of Leon Levitch. Perhaps now it is the time to extend this focus to unknown composers
who survived the Holocaust. We are not in a position to judge their artistic merit when the best
we can do is to imagine the effect that their music could have. It is up to serious performers,
especially professional orchestras and choirs, to take the initiative to program these works,
before their creators are completely forgotten.

135
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144
Appendix A: Pesma Snova (“Song of Dreams”)
7

Written in San Vincenzo della Fonte, Italy (1942)
Text: Josif Levitch
Translation: Leon Levitch
Original language: Serbo-Croatian

Stanza I

Sanjaj te o zemlji gde čovek ne vla da čo ve kom

Gde se cutanjem sve objašnjava gde životna radost
svakog oba sjava

I snovima vašim dajte maha krila
Da vam strasna bajka uteha Utehavam bila
uteha

Stanza II

Jer zemja lije ova na koju je duša vasa pa lajadna
puna raznih zala
Puna krvo loka zato va si gnuša

Nezgodna i tesna ta košnica mala
gde paklena dela prebrzo se ro je!
Gde nasilja nova ko bedemi stoje!

Stanza III

Sanjajte o zemliji
Gde se ne skr na vi cvetak du ševaše
Sloboda ličnosti
Sanjajte o zemliji
Gde se ne krvari ludo!

Sanjajte o zemliji
Tihe radosti
Da bi zemlja snova oaza vam bia
Da bi vam se duša u njoj osve zila

Stanza IV

Nek trenutak svaki u tom snu proživljen vaš
Vaš duh Oslobodi svih ljud skih okova!
I stvarnosti grube!
Nek je dobro skriven u srcu vašem je dan Kutak
snovagde se duh jedini sa beskrajnim i več nim gde se za
tre nutak posta je srećnim

7
This collection of four poems, bound under the title “Five Poems from Requiem Patri,” can be found in the
Holocaust Museum Archive. Both the Serbian and English were written in Leon Levitch’s own hand, and his exact
writing has been duplicated here without any changes. (See Appendix I for original copies.)
Stanza 1

Dream yea of a country where man doesn’t rule over
another.

Where all is explained by silence
Where the joy of living illuminates everyone

And give your dreams powerful wings
So that this passionate fairy tale becomes your
consolation.

Stanza II

Because of this Earth, on which your soul Fell, is
unlucky, full of a variety of evils
Full of blood-thirsty persons. That is why it makes you
noxious.

Uncomfortable and tight is this small beehive
Where hellish deeds multiply swiftly
Where new oppressions stand as bulwarks

Stanza III

Dream yea of a country where one does not foul the
flower of your soul, the freedom of person.
Dream yea of a country
where one does not shed blood in vain

Dream yea of a country of quite joyfulness
So that the country of your dreams may be your Oasis
So that your soul may therein be refreshed

Stanza IV

Let every moment lived through in that dream
Liberate your soul of all human fetters,
And of crude reality. Let it be well hidden
In your heart, a corner of dreams
Where the soul unites with the infinite and the eternal,
Where but for a moment one becomes blessed.
145
Stanza V

Jer kad nevidljive kandje se zariju
Ljudske strašne kandje i mozak vam gnje če kad damari
počnu brzo da vam biju
Kad okovi ropstva počinju da zveče i život vam ceo
ništavan izgleda puta nema
Kad se kad se nijud neda neda

Stanza VI

Tad Sanjajte zem lju
Gde čovek ne vlada čovekom
Gde se ću tanjem sve objaš njava
Sanjajte o zemlji
Nesebličnog rada
Gde životna radost svakog oba sjava
Tad snovima vašim
Da bi strasna bajka uteha
Uteha vam bi bila
Stanza V

Because, when invisible claws plunge
Human awful claws and oppress your brain,
When your pulse quickens,
When fetters of slavery begin to rattle,
And all of life seems useless…
When there is no road, and no place to go…

Stanza VI

Then, dream of a land where man does not rule another
Where all is explained with silence…
Dream up a country of unselfish labor
Where the joy of living lights up everyone…
Then, give your dreams mighty wings
Let the passionate fairy-tale be your consolation.

146
Appendix B: Pesma (“Psalm”)

Written in Ferramonti internment camp (ca. 1943)
Text: Josif Levitch
Translation: Leon Levitch
Original language: Serbo-Croatian

Koprena Smrti Beskrajne Tuge
Obavi Zemlju Zmlju i ljude
A dani bledi Noči preduge
Pesmu Očaja Srcima Gude

Neizbežna sutrašnjica cvili
Kao vetar studeni koske ledi
Svi se Dusi zala nad Zemljom svili
A život jedva kolko I dim vredi

Neizvesnost u korak sve prati
I pred svima provalije dubi
Zalud je nekog u pomoć grubi.

Strah! Taj Fantom ukop’o se svuda
Krvavim bičem svojim ganja do nemoći
Ljudska stada luda
Poglede koči, Tela zapanja

Dok lažni proroci prorokuju laži
Istina kao Svinga ćuti
I kad je okovom teškim kuju
Izgleda mirna, na zlo ne sluti

Čudna bol nas sve podriva
Beskrvna su naša gladna tela
I sve što se s’nama zbiva
Pitamo se: Jel su Božja dela?

Koprena Smrti beskrajne tuge
Obavi Zemlju. Zmlju I ljude
A dani bledi, noci preduge
Pesmu očaja srcima gude

A veil of death, infinite sorrow
Envelopes the Earth, the Earth and the people
The days are pale, the nights overlong
The song of despair they bow to our heart.

The inescapable “tomorrowness” squeals
Like a cold wind it freezes the bones
All the Ghosts of Evil hover over the Earth
And life is hardly worth the price of smoke

Uncertainty follows all in their footsteps
And digs abysses in front of everybody
It is useless to call someone for help
All men have become brutish and rough.

Fear! That Phantom is buried in everywhere
With its bloody whip it chases till exhaustion
Fear crazed human flocks
It freezes one’s glances and stiffens the bodies.

While false prophets prophesy lies,
Truth is silent like a Sphinx
Even when it is fettered with heavy irons
It seems peaceful, suspects no evil

A strange pain undermines us all
Anemic are our hungry bodies
And all that is happening with us
We question ourselves “Are these God’s deeds?”

A veil of Death, infinite sorrow,
Envelopes the Earth, the Earth and the people,
The days are pale, the nights overlong
The song of despair they bow to our hearts

147
Appendix C: Jeverejin (“The Jew”)

Written in Belgrade (1940)
Text: Josif Levitch
Translation: Leon Levitch
Original language: Serbo-Croatian

Svugde te ima ypo celom svetu
Možda mu ti trebaš kao hlebu kvas
Dok zlotvoru služiš uvek za osvetu
Svugde si ganjan ponižen ko pas

Malen si i bedan baš si šaka jada
Ti sumorno gacaš kroz blato I šljam
Šugava si ovca bożijega stada
Svugda si tudjinac, siroče si, sâm

Rodne grude nemaš, gde ti ded počiva
Nećds počinuti, ni ti, ni tvoj sin
Živ pesak osnovu kuće ti podriva
Od pada je drži još po koji kiln

Baš nema ni jednog jedinog stoleca
Kroz svako se lije tvoja bleda krv
Kroz svako strada slobode preteča,
Kroz svakogo ždere krvnik kao strv

U svom besu ludom, uštva zna da praska
Zna da stvara pustoš i da sje strah
Kočoperna luda, duša dušmanska
Sva je smrad I trulež, pepeo I prah

Kroz večnost, za tobom tera se hajka
Do poslednjeg daha, kao da si zver
Dok tebe zove tvoja zemlja majka
K’njoj te srce vuče, k’njoj ti duše smer

Samo jedan zavet, sto se prenosi
Od oca na sina kao sveti plam
Taj zavet Ziona sto sudbi prkosi
Taj će zavet sprati svu ljagu I sram
You are everywhere, in all the World.
Maybe you are needed as leaven to bread
While you serve the evil-doer everywhere for revenge.
Everywhere you are driven out, humiliated like a dog

You are small and miserable
A real handful of afflications
You somberly trudge through mud and through scum,
A mangy sheep of God’s flock, you are: everywhere a
strange, an orphan, … alone.

You have no native soil where your grandfather rests
Neither you, nor your son will rest there
Pure sand undermines the foundation of your house, A
nail here and there prevents it’s collapse

Really, there is not a single Century, that is skipped
Through each your pale blud is spilled
Through each suffers the forerunner of freedom,
Through each you are devoured by the murderer as
though you were a carrion.

In his mad rage the wretch know how to explode,
Knows how to create desolation and to plant fear
The strutting fool the soul of the enemy is made entirely
of Stench
Decay, ashes and dust

Through Eternity you are hunted
To the last breath as though you were a best,
While your Mother-Land beakons to you
Your heart pulls you toward Her,
She is your Soul’s direction.

Only one vow which is passed on from father to son as a
Sacred Flame,
That vow of Zion which spites all Fate,
That vow will cleanse all the stain and shame

148
Appendix D: Purim

Written in Belgrade (1940)
Text: Josif Levitch
Translation: Leon Levitch
Original language: Serbo-Croatian

Jest priča se davno je to bilo
Na dvoru Ahas Veroša cara
Preveliko čudo se je zbilo
Na tom dvoru kom ne bese para

Carica je plemenita bila
Ko Bogninja lepa, divnog stasa vitka
Ester nije nikad krila
Da je plod jevreskog klasa

Na tom je dvoru, dvorjanin jedan
Lukavi lisac živeo tada
Po imenu Aman, krvožedan
Žudeo je da carstvom zavlada

Da Jevreje, sve unisti zatre
Al ne uspe, baš zbog Mordahaja
Da zaveri sve tragove zatre
Te do kraja Aman detraja

Carica je pred svog cara stala
Izocju joj on istinu cita
Za Amana su spremna su vešala
Na njim svrisi mrznja nenasita

Jest priča se davno je to bilo
Al sad gde su oci Esterine
Njeno lice istinsko I milo
Da spas dadu Jevrejstvu sto gine?

Gde su sada Ahaš verso sultan
I premudri stari Mordohaj
Da stišaju mrznje strasan vulkan
Da ublaze beznadeznih vapaj?

U ludome dobu sadasnjice
Čovečanstvo traži izgubljeni raj
Za trenutak možda pokri lice
Spasitelj naš Adonaj Adonaj

Yes, they story goes: it was a long long time ago
At the Court of the Emperor Ahash-Verosh
An enormous Miracle happened
At that Court which had no qual

The Empress was noble
Beautiful like a goddess, of lovely stature
Slender, Esther never hid
That she was the fruit of Jewish stock.

On that Court, a cunning courtier lived then a fox
His name was Aman, bloddthrusty, he covented to rule
the Empire

He plotted to destroy and annihilate all the Jews
But he did not succeeded, to cover up all his tracks just
because of the wise Mordechkai, so Amman did not last
it out.

The Queen Esther stood before her Kind
He read the truth from her eyes
The Gallos are ready for Aman
Thereon ended insatiable hatred.

Yes, the story goes: “It is long, long ago…”
But now, where are Esther’s eyes?
Her face truthfull and charitable
To give salvation to the dying Jewery?

Where are now Ahash-Verosh sultan
And the very wise old Mordechkai?
To calm the horrible Volvano of hatred,
To soothe the wailing of the desperate ones?

In the crazy era of our time
Humanity is looking for a lost Paradise
May be that for but only a moment
He covered his face
Our Saviour: ADONOY, ADONOY!!

149
Appendix E: Advertisement for Premiere of The Golden Cage, Oswego Palladium

150
Appendix F: Partial Text from the Operetta The Golden Cage

Chorus

We are in a cage without reason,
We are in a cage, golden cage;
We're missing nothing but our freedom...

Aria

I feel myself a monkey
In the zoological garden;
Are we to be on display?
There nothing missing but the warden!
What are we – a sensation
For tedious people's pleasure?

Later, in another scene after 16 months at the Shelter, the refugees are still
“sitting behind the fence, looking longingly at the Statue (of liberty), singing sadly”:

Behind the fence of Fort Ontario
We are sitting, awaiting the glorious day,
When our unchained feet may finally go
Over the most wonderful country’s war.

There is no food we are longing for.
No material need we are suffering,
But our hearts have never been cared for,
Are we are tremendously troubled.

Like a lion in the cage
We are losing health and mood;
Like a bird, which after age
Finds its wings for nothing good.

A messenger arrives with news of President Truman’s reprieve, and the refugees laugh, dance,
and sing:
We send our thanks to Roosevelt
Who heard us beyond the stars,
Who sent an angel to the world
To free us from this farce.
We soon leave Fort Ontario
And try to find our hearth;
Too find our life, our work and move
At liberty on earth!
151
Appendix G: “Hatikva,” from Jüdische Lieder (from Leon Levitch Archive at the United
States Holocaust Memorial Museum).

152
Appendix H: Title Page of the Song of Dreams (from Leon Levitch Archive at the United
States Holocaust Memorial Museum).

153
Appendix I: Original documents of Leon Levitch’s translations of Josif Levitch’s poetry
(from Leon Levitch Archive at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum).

154

155

156

157

158

159

160
Appendix J: Edward Levitch, “Spring”
201

Written in Ferramonte, Italy (1943)

After a fitful night
A serene day dawns,
After a long winter
The spring arrives.

Mornings are fresh, the breeze tender,
And the morning dew opiates with its scent.
Far beyond the hill the sun is rising
While the nightingale trills its song.

Joy and happiness rule the world of the birds,
People in love are awash in merrymaking,
But sadness kills every cheerful thought.

They don’t know where their family is suffering,
Winter turns human souls into ice,
And a rare swallow, a harbinger of Spring,
Is worth an entire life for weary people.

In some, serenity begins to awaken,
The spring sun is smiling tenderly,
It bodes the end of the war’s tempest,
With a kind smile it soothes our misery.

The consolation is real and proper.
The moment of happiness is dawning on people.
The end of the war is clearly on the horizon.
After a long winter, the spring arrives.

201
Edward J. Levitch, From Beginning to Beginning: An Autobiography (Berkley: Mad Dog
Publishing, 1997), 47.
161
Appendix K: Leon Levitch’s Known Compositions

Flute Sonata, Op. 1 (1951)

I. Allegro ma non troppo
II. Andantino pastorale
III. Scherzo: Allegro

Little Suite for Piano, Op. 1/2 (1948)

I. Capricietto
II. Nocturne 1
III. Barcarola
IV. Nocturne 2
V. Song Without Words

Trio for flute, viola or B
b
clarinet and piano, Op. 2 (1952)

I. Allegro non troppo
II. Theme and variations: Andante

Quartet No. 1 for flute viola, cello and piano, Op. 3 (1953)

I. Allegro
II. Andante
III. Rondo: Allegro vivace

First Piano Sonata, Op. 4: To Jacob Gimpel (1953)

I. Poco allegro
II. Theme and Variations: Adagio
III. Rondo: Vivace

Quintet for Flute and Strings, Op. 5 (1954)

I. Allegro
II. Andante
III. Rondo: presto ma deciso

Violin Sonata, Op. 6 (date unknown)

I. Moderato ma deciso
II. Andante
III. Rondo: Vivace

162
Suite for Flute, Harp and String Orchestra, Op. 7 (1955)

I. Allegro
II. Aria
III. Danza
IV. Passacaglia

Cantata “Of Plants and Humans,” Op. 9 (1957)

Viola Sonata, Op. 11, “Dirge”

I. Moderato
II. Valse: Allegro
III. Andante

Fantasia for Oboe and Strings, Op. 12 to the memory of Alec Compinsky (c. 1961)

Sonata for Solo Violin (c. 1963)

I. Adagio
II. Leggiero
III. Allegro

String Quartet No. 1, Op. 13 (c. 1965)

I. Allegro
II. Andante, misterioso ed espressivo
III. Moderato, preciso e ben marcato

Ricordo di Mario for oboe and piano, Op. 16a (date unknown)
Solo guitar version available

Symphony No. 1 (published in 1967)

Second String Quartet: Op. 17, “Dorland” (1980)

Symphony No. 2, Op. 18, “The Taos”

Song for bass clarinet and small chamber orchestra, Op. 19 (1988)

Elegy for Strings, Op. 20 (1988)
Solo piano version available

Trio for flute, clarinet and piano (date unknown)

Song of Dreams (1993)

Abstract (if available)

Abstract The Serbian-American composer Leon Levitch (1927-2014) was a Holocaust survivor who was imprisoned in the internment camps in Italy. After coming to the United States, he became a well-respected composer and piano technician in the Los Angeles area. As a composer, he was mostly remembered for his chamber music output. Unfortunately, his choral music has rarely been performed or discussed, although choral music was a medium close to the composer throughout his whole life. Set to the poetry that his father wrote during the war, Requiem Patris was one of two compositions in which Leon directly reflected on his experience as a Holocaust survivor. It was originally conceived as a multi-movement work, although only one complete movement, Song of Dreams, has been found, and is published by Carl Fischer Music as a stand-alone cantata. ❧ To the author’s knowledge, this is the first time that research has been devoted solely to the life and work of Leon Levitch. There are few resources available to researchers of his music. This dissertation is almost exclusively based on the primary sources available in the Leon Levitch archive in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the autobiography of his brother Edward Levitch, From Beginning to Beginning, and some material in the possession of his son-in-law, Greg Donovetsky. Part I is devoted to a biography of Leon and includes his Holocaust years and his musical studies. Part II involves a detailed theoretical analysis of the Song of Dreams. Much effort has been spent on locating any remaining movements associated with the Requiem Patris. To date, the author was able to discover one more movement that was almost completed by Leon. The hope of this dissertation is that further knowledge of the Requiem Patris will be found by locating possible remaining sketches for other movements.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Liu, Shou-Ping (author)

Core Title Leon Levitch's Song of Dreams: the testimony of a survivor

School Thornton School of Music

Degree Doctor of Musical Arts

Degree Program Choral Music

Publication Date 11/15/2020

Defense Date 11/15/2020

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag Bret Werb,choir,choral,holocaust,Holocaust Memorial Museum,Joseph Levitch,Leon,Leon Levitch,Levitch,OAI-PMH Harvest,Orchestra,Serbia,Song of Dreams

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Sparks, Tram (committee chair), Grases, Cristian (committee member), Scheibe, Jo-Michael (committee member)

Creator Email shouping31@gmail.com,shoupinl@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c89-391823

Unique identifier UC11666282

Identifier etd-LiuShouPin-9127.pdf (filename),usctheses-c89-391823 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-LiuShouPin-9127.pdf

Dmrecord 391823

Document Type Dissertation

Rights Liu, Shou-Ping

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA