In Sleep The World Is Yours

Lori Laitman’s In Sleep The World Is Yours, is a song cycle based on the poetry of Selma Meerbaum-Eisinger (1924-1942). Eisinger, who died at 18 in a Nazi labor camp, was related to the famed poet Paul Celan.

This work premiered during MOR's Spring Concert: The Yellow Ticket on Monday, May 12, 2014 at 7:30 p.m. in Benaroya Hall's Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall.

Laitman offers the following remarks: "What I found inspiring about Selma’s poetry was that she was able to speak the truth in simple but clear poetic language. Behind the apparent simplicity of her words, however, was a depth of feeling and thought that, for me as a composer, was very exciting — because when setting a poem to music, I look for words that an audience can grasp aurally —but also for an underlying complexity that provides me with opportunities for creating dramatic music to illuminate the text. In this respect, Selma’s poems were perfect."