“Gertrud’s Lament” is a song written to honour the life and voice of Gertrud Kolmar, a German-Jewish poet whose brilliance was silenced during the Holocaust. I was deeply moved by her poetry—so rich in inner life, sensitivity, and sorrow—and felt compelled to translate that emotional world into music. In writing this piece, I tried to imagine her solitude, her defiance, and the ache of being unheard in a world that turned against her. The lyrics reflect her longing, her love for language, and the pain she endured before her deportation to Auschwitz in 1943. Through melody and atmosphere, I wanted to create a space where her spirit could be felt—where her lament becomes ours, and her silence is finally broken.
