When I was 15 years old, I had read the diary of Anne Frank for the first time. Later, I visited the Anne Frank Museum in Amsterdam. Her universal story stands for many people who lost their lives in the Holocaust. I can describe my motto for this suite with a quote from Anne Frank’s diary: “In spite of everything, I still believe people are good at heart”. That made a deep impression on me at the time.
With my music I try to reflect the emotion and thoughtfulness that defy words in view of the fate of Anne Frank and her millions of fellow sufferers. My family was deeply affected by the Second World War and the Holocaust. That is why I also see my Anne Frank Suite as a personal memorial diary as well as a warning in the face of the senselessness of war.
Leon Gurvitch
