Program notes: Symphony 2 “POLIN”
Sturdivant Adams

Movement 1

The piece starts as the story of the Polish Jews starts, surrounded by the magic of pure nature. Through this lens, the mythical descent from the heavens of a slip of paper urging Jews to find a home in Polania is interpreted through a prolonged descent from the orchestra. As the instruments descend in an overlapping manner, each plays a fragmented version of the central Polin melody. The speed picks up, and the early, intricate development of Jewish life and its rich culture in Poland is explored.

The violins play the Polin melody, over swirling textures in the wind and brass. Variations are explored, and a motif is introduced in the strings that reaches upwards, emphasizing the centrality of faith in Polish Jewish life. As the piece progresses, darkening, these two melodies are increasingly shrouded. The climax is reached as the orchestra erupts, an allusion to terrible violence interrupting Polish Jewish life. The music fades, and three solo violins seek a path upwards through the darkness, ascending the characteristic mode of the piece. There is a pulse, a glow, signaling continuation – life.

Movement 2

The second movement begins with a musical image of a thriving Jewish shtetl. As the movement progresses, the textures become more dense, morphing rhythmically as we hear the introduction of the machine-like drive of the Industrial Revolution, and a new “industrial” motif is heard. Shadows of the great factories of this era as well as the hard workers employed amongst them are heard.

After a zig-zagging solo violin feature, a cantando string passage exploring the “industrial” motif emerges, evoking a kind of harmony in the chaos of rapidly evolving, successful modern life in Poland. As the passage grows in intensity, the darkness familiar from the first movement creeps through, met now with an intensity of spirit - of solidarity and hope. A murmur of the opening material returns, accompanied by something darker and foreign, hurdling forwards towards the unknown.

Movement 3

The last movement opens in the anguished chapter of the Holocaust. A slow, despairing melody is heard in the strings, repeated over and over as more voices join in. Individual instrumental voices are heard, echoing whispers of both this melody and the Polin melody from movement 1 as the music grows quieter.

Suddenly, the full orchestra erupts in violence, crying out a mantra built from pieces of the movement 3 melody. This is punctuated by a violent 4-note percussive motif which has been growing in different forms throughout the movement up to this point. The orchestra slowly fades to almost nothing. Only the faint, uneven percussive heartbeats can be heard for a time.

During this, eight very slow and quiet strikes of a gong can be heard; the number 8 is significant in the Jewish tradition - it may be seen as a sign of new beginnings and the world to come. Fragments of the 3^rd movement melody return cautiously in the strings, leading to a mournful, hymnal passage. The 1^st movement Polin melody returns a final time. In the final moments, two violins reach upwards again. Joined by the rest of the violins, they find delicate unity, rising together in one final, gentle utterance of the "faith" motif.