Daniel Pelton transformed Holocaust tattoos into orchestral jazz. This is what it sounds like

Daniel Pelton hadn't felt much of a musical connection to his Jewish heritage before Oct. 7. But after reality changed for Jews around the world—including his hometown of Calgary—Pelton decided to learn more about both the Holocaust and its artistic representations. He read The Tattooist of Auschwitz, which inspired him to adapt the tattoo numbers used in the book—34902-32407—into musical notes, using their 12-tone counterparts.

The result evolved into a 11-minute epic, which Pelton supplemented with two other tracks to create a new trio of songs, released on Jan. 27 for the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. To record the three works, Pelton teamed up with Calgary's National Music Centre and successfully applied for a grant to record with the "Violins of Hope", authentic violins once owned by Holocaust victims and survivors.

Hear all the three works and learn how he embarked on this journey on this week's episode of Culturally Jewish, The CJN's podcast spotlighting Canadian Jewish artists.

Credits

• Hosts: Ilana Zackon and David Sklar
• Producer: Michael Fraiman
• Music: Sarah Segal-Lazar

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