Italian pianist and composer Francesco Lotoro has been on a lifelong quest to find the music
written by the inmates of concentration camps during the Second World War. Lost Music of the
Holocaust movingly pieces together the human stories of those whose only solace during their
imprisonment was their music. These incredible stories bear witness to the most devastating
experiences in twentieth-century history - but here music was a lifeline that had to be hidden
with ingenuity and so sheet music was sewn into the lining of coats instruments were taken
apart and hidden in suitcases scores written on food wrappings and prison walls. Lotoro has
painstakingly salvaged and performed symphonies operas and songs written by the incarcerated
musicians many of whom died in the camps not expecting their music could ever be known or
heard by the world. He has travelled the globe to meet with the families of those who lost
their lives as well as survivors themselves. This compelling book takes readers on a journey
into some extraordinary lives and music shining a light on a unique beauty that somehow
prevailed against all odds.
