It has been about ten years since the first time I watched Schindler’s List in class, and although it made a big impression on me at the time, I haven’t seen the whole movie again before this evening.

I didn’t remember the whole story, but a few things stuck with me. The girl in the red coat (of course), the mother and child that faced separation so many times but managed to stay together, the boy hiding in the latrine, the hot day when Schindler talked the SS-soldiers into using the water hose on the train carriages.

The main reason for watching this movie again was as a “preparation” to our upcoming project in the windband. We’re having another movie and musical themed series of concerts in March, as a follow-up to our huge success in 2015. We will be playing the theme from Schindler’s List, as shared below with a solo violinist.
My goal is to try to watch most of the movies/musicals we’ll play songs from, just because I would like to know the stories, the mood and setting where the song or theme is used and the story behind the lyrics if there are any. It makes performing the themes even more special.

Earlier today, this theme was “just” a beautiful piece of music. Now, it means so much more after seeing it in the setting it was written for. And the movie is so heartbreaking, terrifying and then emotional at the same time, something which I can clearly feel when listening to the theme now, and I can’t wait till we get it together and will start practising with the soloist.

Now I’m going to listen to the rest of the wonderful soundtrack. John Williams never disappoints ❤