It was in 2015 when the lawyer Randol Schoenberg sent me a copy of a contract that not only embargoed access to, but also any information on the musical estate of Hans Winterberg.… Continue reading
When translating and writing accompanying commentary on the reviews of Mahler as composer and opera director, I was frustrated that I couldn’t find a review of his First Symphony. Here it is – tucked away on the inside of the paper, written by Eduard Hanslick on 20. November 1900
The post reflects on the significant changes in music composition and consumption during the twentieth century, questioning the concept of progress and exploring the impact of societal and cultural shifts on musical expression. It delves into the complexities of dissonance, the challenges of conveying emotion through music, and the evolution of musical language in the face of societal upheaval.
Banned first by Hitler, then later by the Sudeten German Music Institute – Hans Winterberg, Theresienstadt survivor and the missing link in Czech music
1897 was an eventful year for music in Vienna: Johannes Brahms died and Gustav Mahler took over the Imperial Opera; the anti-Semitic Karl Lueger was elected mayor; the Eleven-year-old Ernst Toch decided to… Continue reading
My article on Eric Zeisl from 2014 updated with its formerly corrupted audio files replaced.
The Exilarte Archive and Research Center turns ten – its parent, the exil.arte Verein (society) was founded 20 years ago. This is a brief report of what its achieved.
This new book on the contributions made by musicians fleeing Hitler and ending up in Iceland touches on an important subject that has only rarely been examined: the fates of those musicians who found refuge in the “Old World” of other European countries, or countries with their own established musical traditions, and musicians who fled to the New World, where European colonisation had already planted seeds of European music. Both options presented advantages and disadvantages, though very different advantages and disadvantages.
Normally, upon publication of a book I’ve written, I would be encouraging all the people who follow this blog to rush out and buy a copy. That probably will not be practical this… Continue reading
A brilliant but deeply compromised composer. Ethical questions are asked as to how his legacy should be seen. The music itself is too strong to ignore
Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher and… Minimalism, a development that had been bubbling under the surface since La Monte Young’s Static Music and Terry Riley’s In C established the dominance that had begun with Philip Glass’s Einstein on the Beach. Repeated c-major triads appeared to re-set the musical brain into diatonic order again. Tonality, structure and lyricism began its climb back into acceptance just as Mrs Thatcher pronounced that there was “no such thing as society”; there were only individuals.
The post discusses the complex nature of music composed in Nazi concentration camps, highlighting the contradictions and misunderstandings surrounding it. While some view it as an act of defiance, the author argues it often served more as propaganda or distraction from harsh realities. It emphasizes the multifaceted relationships between perpetrators, victims, and the music created during this dark period.
A further update on the work of the Exilarte Center.
Schoenberg is 150 years old and it would be strange if this celebration were not marked for the composer who more than others represented “Forbidden Music”.
