The Seventh Cross
It is a choral symphony, subtitled "Den Helden und Märtyrern des deutschen Antifaschismus gewidmet" ("Dedicated to the heroes and martyrs of German anti-fascism"). The text, written by the poet Hans-Ulrich Treichel, is based on the 1942 novel "Das siebte Kreuz" ("The Seventh Cross") by Anna Seghers, in which seven prisoners attempt to escape the Westhofen concentration camp, only one of them surviving. According to the composer, the symphony deals with themes that have preoccupied him since he was conscripted to the German Army as a young man during World War II. His earlier Requiem is in many ways a precursor to this work.