Songs That Matter #3
Against the backdrop of war torn Sarajevo in 1992, this stirring song took on new meaning. A mortar killed 22 people waiting in line at a marketplace in that city during the siege of Sarajevo.
In response, Vedran Smailovic emerged for 22 days straight to play Albinoni’s Adagio in G Minor on his cello, sitting in the rubble. As Robert Fulghum noted,”Smailović caught the imagination of people around the world simply by playing his cello in protest in a dangerous and terrible place. Such unimaginable courage – to bring music to bear as a shield against man’s inhumanity to man.”
As a member of the Sarajevo Opera, he was well prepared to play this exquisite piece at a high level.
As a brave human being, he took this music to a whole new level of influence.
Click here to listen in on a short version by Yo Yo Ma.
Worth Repeating
War is what happens when language fails.
-Margaret Atwood
