"As if a constant beam of light passes between them"
For his new work Seven Years and Three Weeks, composer and saxophonist Peter Vigh drew inspiration from the poignant life story of Leo and Bella Adler — a Jewish couple who managed to escape the Holocaust with the help of Jan Zwartendijk. The piece, written for chamber choir and saxophone quartet, forms the musical heart of the performance The Just, a collaboration between Cappella Amsterdam, chief conductor Daniel Reuss, the Berlage Saxophone Quartet, and author Jan Brokken.
“What struck me most about Leo and Bella’s story was the spiritual connection they shared — with each other and with their faith,” says Vigh. “Their unconditional trust in life and in being reunited has something mysterious about it. It’s deeply inspiring.”
In addition to their spiritual bond, their journey through life and across continents offered Vigh ample room for musical imagination. He incorporated quotations from Jewish prayers, geographical references, and a blend of realistic scenes and more dreamlike layers. At the heart of the composition, however, lies the love between Leo and Bella: an unbreakable bond that kept them apart for seven years and three weeks, but never tore them apart.
“I tried to weave that meta-level through the entire piece as a kind of shimmering sound,” Vigh explains. “As if a constant beam of light passes between them.”
From detail to sound
Vigh approaches composing as a process of internalizing and translating. “I let the story sink in. I circled back and held on to many small details that stood out to me. Those details are precisely what you can magnify through music.” For instance, the opening of the piece features a fragment of the wedding song Leo and Bella once sang; Bella’s time in a Russian labor camp is accompanied by Ha Lachma Anya, from the Jewish Passover tradition; and a menacing SS voice even makes an appearance.
The choir takes on multiple roles: “At one point it sings the names of places where Leo and/or Bella are. At another, the men literally become Leo and the women become Bella,” Vigh says. “It was important to me that the choir, in a sense, transforms into the story.”
Between voices and saxophones
The collaboration between choir and saxophone quartet is no coincidence. “A saxophone quartet and a chamber choir have a lot in common: homogeneity and transparency. That’s inspiring.” In Seven Years and Three Weeks, the two sound worlds often flow into each other, though moments of sharp contrast also occur.
As he performs in the piece himself, Vigh was able to test ideas during rehearsals. “Being able to answer all the questions and demonstrate things on the spot really helps the final result,” he says. “Is it different when I’m not performing? I don’t think so, but it definitely makes the process more direct.”
Music as memory
Seven Years and Three Weeks is not a historical reconstruction, but an evocation of love, hope, and remembrance. “I noticed that at a certain point I became a bit cautious,” Vigh admits. “Because you feel that these fragile stories, laden with pain, need to be treated with care and compassion. But that caution eventually shifted. I tried to express all the intense emotions — powerlessness, despair, joy — and to truly feel them myself. The voices are the ideal instrument for that.”
While the first half of The Just focuses on Jan Zwartendijk and his extraordinary act of moral courage, Vigh’s music gives space to what that act meant for the people he helped. “The text of The Fruit of Silence ties in beautifully with Zwartendijk’s dignity. In my oratorio, I was then able to give voice to an entire life story. Where the first half zooms in on a moment of action, my music takes us on a journey through a whole life.”
