A fitting tribute to our soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice

[John Ziebron]

SILENZIO'...BEAUTIFUL AND HAUNTING

About six miles from Maastricht, in the Netherlands, lie buried 8,301 American soldiers who died in "Operation Market Garden" in the battles to liberate Holland in the fall/winter of 1944. Every one of the men buried in the cemetery, as well as those in the Canadian and British military cemeteries, has been adopted by a Dutch family who mind the grave, decorate it, and keep alive the memory of the soldier they have adopted. It is even the custom to keep a portrait of "their" soldier in a place of honour in their home.


Annually, on "Liberation Day," memorial services are held for "the men who died to liberate Holland." The day concludes with a concert. The final piece is always "Il Silenzio," a memorial piece commissioned by the Dutch and first played in 1965 on the 20th anniversary of Holland's liberation. It has been the concluding piece of the memorial concert ever since.


This year the soloist was a 13-year-old Dutch girl, Melissa Venema, backed by André Rieu and his orchestra (the Royal Orchestra of the Netherlands). This beautiful concert piece is based upon the original version of taps and was composed by Italian composer Nino Rossi.

Wait until the last note is reached ..


http://www.flixxy.com/trumpet-solo-melissa-venema.htm

[Keith Westfall]

Thank you for that!!! Simply amazing....

[Frederick Skelly]

I've read about their custom of adopting fallen soldiers previously, and think it's very kind. I didnt know about the concert. That was very touching. It was so very appropriate that the solo was played by a child (at least that time). There are layers of meaning in that alone.

Thanks for sharing this.
Fred

[Mel Fulks]

Yes, well done. I didn’t here the broken note at the end. But I might have a non-sterling hear . There is a story about the bugler being
emotional over the occasion of the first playing. It good…but I have forgotten all of it. I think most buglers today affect the broken note