Orchestral Music

A Survivor from Warsaw

In ‘Survivor, Schoenberg presents the audience with a fictional representation of the Warsaw ghetto Uprising and uses musical and textual devices to depict the labours of traumatic memory.

Beethoven's 5th Symphony

The opening motif of Beethoven's 5th Symphony became a powerful symbol for the Allied forces. The rhythmic pattern corresponded in Morse code to the letter 'V' for Victory, which was an acknowledged symbol of the war effort.

The British Promenade Series and the Blitz

London’s summer ‘Promenade’ concerts were a popular pastime for the British people. It was conductor Sir Henry Wood who became the name most associated with the Proms.

Wartime Opera in Britain

At the outbreak of war, the Royal Opera House was taken over as a dance hall. Sadler’s Wells was able to continue its activities with seven productions in the first year after war had been declared

Classical Singers and the Holocaust

Several distinguished singers of the early 20th century died in cattle trucks or gas chambers. These included the coloratura soprano Grete Forst, the Wagnerian mezzos Ottilie Metzger-Lettermann and Magda Spiegel, the baritone Richard Breitenfeld, the operetta star Louis Treumann, and the great cantor Gershon Sirota.

A Survivor from Warsaw

In ‘Survivor, Schoenberg presents the audience with a fictional representation of the Warsaw ghetto Uprising and uses musical and textual devices to depict the labours of traumatic memory.

Beethoven's 5th Symphony

The British Promenade Series and the Blitz

London’s summer ‘Promenade’ concerts were a popular pastime for the British people. It was conductor Sir Henry Wood who became the name most associated with the Proms.

Wartime Opera in Britain

At the outbreak of war, the Royal Opera House was taken over as a dance hall. Sadler’s Wells was able to continue its activities with seven productions in the first year after war had been declared

Classical Singers and the Holocaust

All articles Politics & Propaganda Response Resistance & Exile Memory

Response

Brundibár

Brundibár is a children's opera written in 1938 and composed by Hans Krása with lyrics by Adolf Hoffmeister. Its premiere in Terezín was on 23 September 1943.

Response

Camp System

An overview of the types of internment camps within the camp system of the Third Reich related to major phases of the Nazi regime.

Resistance & Exile

Anthems for France

Political regimes use hymns as symbols of their values and aspirations. While France was divided by the war, it adopted three anthems between north and south.

Resistance & Exile

British Internment and Music

In September 1939, the British government established tribunals to evaluate the potential security risk of all UK resident German and Austrian nationals.

Politics & Propaganda

Classical Music Radio in Wartime Britain

For better or worse, BBC radio was the dominant voice of Britain throughout WWII for which classical music was an important and revealing feature.

Politics & Propaganda

Jews and Music in Fascist Italy

The modern nation of Italy had existed for barely more than sixty years when, in October 1922, Benito Mussolini became the country’s prime minister.

Memory

Deggendorf Songbook

The illustrated ‘Deggendorf Songbook’ is both a fascinating artefact and a visual record of cultural life and social rehabilitation in the DP Camps.

Politics & Propaganda

Memory

Jojo Rabbit

Explores the coupling of visual and musical symbolism, focusing on how the film Jojo Rabbit uses popular music and visual and vocal icons of the Holocaust.

All music Orchestral Music

Name

Artist

Time

Babi Yar ♫ - ‘Babi Yar’ from the CD Symphony no. 13 in B-flat minor, op. 113 (‘Babi Yar’), courtesy of EMI Classics (www.emiclassics.com).

Evgeny Evtushenko (1962)

Music after the Holocaust

Orchestral Music

16:10

Different Trains ♫ - "Europe During the War" from the CD Different Trains courtesy of Signum Records, Boosey and Hawkes and Steve Reich (www.signumrecords.com).

Steve Reich (1988)

Music after the Holocaust

Orchestral Music

07:31

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Lyrics

1940.
On my birthday
The Germans walked-walked into Holland
Germans invaded Hungary
I was in 2nd grade
I had a teacher
A very tall man, his head was completely plastered smooth
He said, "Black Crows-
Black Crows invaded our country many years ago"
And he pointed right at me
No more school
You must go away
And she said, "Quick, go!"
And he said, "Don't breathe"
Into the cattle wagons
And for four days and four nights
And then we went through…

The idea for the piece comes from my childhood. [Due to my parent’s divorce], I travelled back and forth by train frequently between New York and Los Angeles from 1939 to 1942. […] While these trips were exciting and romantic at the time, I now look back and think that, if I had been in Europe during this period, as a Jew I would have had to ride on very different trains. With this in mind, I wanted to make a piece that would accurately reflect the whole situation.

Jüdische Chronik ♫ - Excerpt from the CD Jüdische Chronik, courtesy of Edel Classics (www.edel.com).

Music after the Holocaust

Orchestral Music

06:39

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A Survivor from Warsaw ♫ - Excerpt from the CD A Survivor from Warsaw (1996), courtesy of EMI Classics (www.emiclassics.com).

(1947)

Music after the Holocaust

Orchestral Music

07:21

Hans Neumeyer - DBSG Duo for Violin and Viola, played and recorded by Chris Brierley. Courtesy of Chris Brierley and Ruth Locke.

Orchestral Music

01:38

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