At the heart of this album is a musical triptych inspired by a letter written by Vilma Grunwald saying goodbye to her husband just moments before she and her son John were killed in the Auschwitz gas chamber.

It is a story of absolute sadness, yet it speaks to us of the human capacity for love, it speaks of courage, trust and confidence as told by a woman facing her death in the Holocaust. Vilma shines a light on the very core of what it means to accept circumstance without losing the belief in life’s beauty or hope in its goodness — trusting wholeheartedly that love carries us through and beyond the end.

When Marion von Tilzer became aware of Vilma’s moving letter, she immediately felt inspired to set it to music. The composition has three movements: Out of the Dark, The Letter of Vilma Grunwald, and Hajej, můj andílku, an arrangement of a traditional Czech lullaby. Through this music, the voice of Vilma Grunwald resonates once again. Around the triptych, which forms the core of the album, Marion created five more compositions. All eight pieces are related to the contrast between dark and light, which in the last piece Into Eternity dissolves into shimmering sounds of bells and piano.

Sharon Levinson