The author reflects on his experiences writing about Jewish composers and music that were banned or otherwise impacted by the Nazis. He has published various academic works and translations on this topic over his ten year career. His new book, Music of Exile, stems from his work at Exilarte Centre, a cultural institution he co-founded. The piece discusses the lesser-known narratives of exile music, underscoring its historical significance and cultural nuances.
This is a fascinating youtube mini-documentary about the Galimir Quartet. A lengthier, fascinating documentary in French was put together by George Zeisel of ProQuartet, a French organisation that promotes chamber music (sadly not… Continue reading
The latest quarterly Hanns Eisler newsletter deals with the thorny question of exactly how ‘Stalinist’ Eisler was. The day-to-day confrontations with the murderous Stalin regime were never met with any overt condemnation. Eisler… Continue reading
Putting micro-details onto a macro-historic trajectory is no easy task. It’s easy to sink beneath a tsunami of minutia. Yet offering an accurate account of what people on all sides of the conflict… Continue reading
With the end of the month, we approach an important, but under-reported event in history: 70 years since the Moscow Declaration signed on October 30th, 1943. Though the three powers of Great Britain,… Continue reading
The Symposium noted elsewhere on this page called ‘Im Anschluss’ has now concluded. I should have mentioned earlier that the title of the symposium offers in German the double meaning of Austria’s annexation… Continue reading
On cue, just as the conference in Vienna ‘Im Anschluss’ begins, (see the article on the conference elsewhere on this page), a review of ‘Forbidden Music’ appears in a German publication that highlights… Continue reading
It’s still early days and I always feel slightly amazed when I’m forwarded a review by someone who has actually read the book rather than just the opening and last chapters with a… Continue reading
I’m sure many readers here also follow Norman Lebrecht – if not, he offers on his daily news-digest a fascinating audio clip that should not get lost. It is Deryck Cooke explaining his… Continue reading
Those living in the UK may have listened to the BBC’s week-long broadcast on Radio 3 of film composers. I have to admit that I only caught a couple of the programmes. To… Continue reading
