Publications Index | Encyclopedia of Trotskyism | Marxists’s Internet Archive
Socialist Review Index (1993–1996) | Socialist Review 183 Contents
From Socialist Review, No. 183, February 1995.
Copyright © Socialist Review.
Copied with thanks from the Socialist Review Archive.
Marked up by Einde O’Callaghan for ETOL.
Kaddish
Towering Inferno
Towering Inferno’s Kaddish takes its name from the Jewish prayer for the dead, around which it is constructed. It is a unique and breathtaking concept, both as a recording and as a live multimedia performance. The myth continues that the Holocaust was a medieval catastrophe totally unconnected with 20th century capitalism. This work reveals the modern nature of Nazi ideology and the industrial nature of their genocide.
East European folk music and the sound of the shofar (ram’s horn) are interwoven with rock guitar and powerful industrial noise to create a defiant declaration of the resistance and dynamism of Jewish culture in the wake of the Holocaust.
Kaddish is not a call to arms. It is a painful, exhilarating and enraging contemplation of a subject generally accepted as so sacred that it has to be treated with careful reverence. Despite its many important religious references – Hitler’s speech is responded to by Jews praying in a synagogue – it is not essentially a religious work.
For some, the first London performance of Kaddish will be horrifyingly controversial. It is accompanied by banks of still and moving pictures, juxtaposed to create seemingly incongruous images which call into question the view of the Holocaust as a terrible but temporary aberration. There is, however, nothing in Towering Inferno’s terrifying but strangely uplifting performance which calls their motivations into question. Kaddish is a radical departure from both the way in which the Holocaust is considered artistically and the way in which music relates to the greatest of human tragedies.
Following the London show, Kaddish goes to Europe for the commemorations of the 50th anniversary of the end of the Holocaust. At the Berlin commemorative festival in May, Towering Inferno will present the work in what was the Jewish ghetto. The performance is also set to appear in a German documentary.
With a major record deal recently signed and a feature film in the pipeline, the rare and astonishing power of Kaddish is set to reach a greater audience than ever before. If you get the chance, however, the atmosphere of the live performance is unforgettable.
Kaddish is at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, on 4 February. The CD is re-released on Island Records in May. The film is due out in 1996
Socialist Review Index | ETOL Main Page
Last updated: 29 November 2017