Programme
- Milton Court Sun 23 Jan 2022
- Milton Court Sun 23 Jan 2022
- Zwei hebräische Chöre
- Songs of Comfortfor low voice and string quartet
- String Trio
- Folk Songs for male chorus
- Terezín Ghetto Requiem: I. Lacrimosafor baritone and string quartet
- String Quartet no. 2, ‘IV. Wild Night’
- Als Ob (As If)Dieter Gogg/Leo Strauss arr. Iain Farrington
- Theresienstadt, der schönste Stadt der Welt (Theresienstadt, the most beautiful city in the world)Dieter Gogg/Leo Strauss arr. Iain Farrington
- Song Without Words for String Quartet
- Yiddish Songs for Choir
- ‘Komm Tod, du unser werter Gast‘ from Der Kaiser von Atlantisarr. Iain Farrington
Performers
- Simon Wallfischbaritone
- Nicholas Chalmersconductor
Concert Information
Singing gives comfort in dark times. Before the Nazis sanctioned Theresienstadt’s “leisure activities”, covert music persisted – composers drew their own manuscript paper and choirs met in secret. Hear works that would have been forbidden elsewhere in Nazi territory, including Hebrew and Yiddish songs by Viktor Ullmann. Baritone Simon Wallfisch – co-curator of the concert and grandson of an Auschwitz survivor – also sings Ullmann’s Songs of Comfort and reads first-hand accounts from the camp.
With most instruments needing to be smuggled in, Theresienstadt led composers to write for small groups, such as in the pieces for strings by Gideon Klein, Pavel Haas and František Domažlický which are presented here by Guildhall School Musicians. Post-war reflections from Silvie Bodorova and Dieter Gogg complete the programme.
Please note that the texts included in this concert deal with subjects of a distressing nature.