Music of Remembrance: Art From Ashes (on-demand until 1/31/2021)
$30
László Weiner — Serenade for String Trio
Dick Kattenburg — Pièce pour flûte et piano
Erwin Schulhoff — Violin Sonata No. 2, WV 91
Pál Hermann — String Trio
Hans Krása — Theme and Variations for string quartet
David Beigelman – Sand Glows Off The Sun
Laura DeLuca, clarinet
Hans Krása – Theme and Variations for string quartet
Mikhail Shmidt, violin
Natasha Bazhanov, violin
Susan Gulkis Assadi, viola
Sarah Rommel, cello
Dick Kattenburg – Pièce pour flûte et piano
Julin Cheung, flute
Jessica Choe, piano
László Weiner – Serenade for String Trio
Mikhail Shmidt, violin
Susan Gulkis Assadi, viola
Sarah Rommel, cello
Erwin Schulhoff – Violin Sonata No. 2
Mikhail Shmidt, violin
Jessica Choe, piano
Pál Hermann – String Trio
Mikhail Shmidt, violin
Susan Gulkis Assadi, viola
Sarah Rommel, cello
On January 27, 1945 the Auschwitz concentration camp was liberated by the Soviet Army. Continuing its annual tradition, Music of Remembrance honors this anniversary with its Art From Ashes concert marking International Holocaust Remembrance Day.
The program showcases works by murdered composers from across Nazi-controlled Europe: David Beigelman was born to a musical family in Lodz, Poland, and grew up to be an accomplished violinist, conductor and composer. He was active in the Yiddish stage at an early age and became director of the Lodz Yiddish Theater in 1912 at the age of 25. Beigelman was deported to Auschwitz in 1944 and perished there the following year. Hans Krása is probably best known as the composer of Brundibar, the inspiring children’s opera that was performed 55 times in the Terezin camp by casts of child prisoners. Before the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1939, Krása was an important member of the artistic community that gave rise to Prague’s distinctive cultural life. He was deported to Terezín in August 1942 and imprisoned there for 26 months before being sent to his death in Auschwitz. Dick Kattenburg barely had a chance to experience life as an adult before the German occupation of Amsterdam shattered the world he knew. Kattenburg spent the war years in hiding until his betrayal and arrest. He was deported to the Westerbork transit camp and then Auschwitz, where he was murdered on arrival. László Weiner was a composition student of Zoltan Kodaly, and studied piano and conducting at the Budapest Academy of Music. One of Hungary’s Jewish musical stars, he was deported in 1943 to the Lukov forced labor camp in Slovakia and murdered there the following year. Like Weiner, Paul Hermann was a brilliant product of Budapest’s Franz Liszt’s Music Academy – a virtuouso cellist and composer. He sought refuge in the Netherlands from Hungary’s fascist policies. When the Nazis invaded, he fled to France but was deported from Toulouse to the internment camp at Drancy. Placed on a transport to the East, he was not heard of again. Erwin Schulhoff was an audaciously original voice whose fascinating career was brought to an abrupt end in a Nazi labor camp.
These concert works of stunning beauty by murdered composers from Holland to Hungary remind us of the potential that was lost to the world. The musical treasures remain as a testament to inspiring courage and resilience in a time of unfathomable horrors. They tell stories that resonate today as strongly as ever.
Featuring MOR’s stellar instrumental ensemble drawn from the Seattle Symphony Orchestra. The program introduces the amazing flautist Julin Cheung, MOR’s 2020 recipient of the David Tonkonogui Memorial Award for Young Artists.
The broadcast will begin January 24 at 5pm Pacific. Available until January 31.
Link to donate: https://www.musicofremembrance.org/support