Flautist Sally Walker on the Importance of Hope in Music

Abstract

As Tamburini wrote, Babi Yar is still relevant today. What has been learned? There is still so much persecution and oppression many decades later. Still, we can honour those who were slain by never forgetting. To again quote Yevtushenko's poem 'No fibre of my body will forget this.' But we can hope. The fifth movement of Shostakovich's symphony opens and closes in a major key, offering some hope. I am reminded about the exit of the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem, where the exit opens out into a forest of trees, representing new life. "Night and Now" is, simply put, a journey from darkness to light. From despair to hope. We all need hope. Show more