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“So what should I do as an émigré from 8:00 every morning, other than compose? […] The greatest source of inspiration for an émigré is […] the torturous power of boredom that forces… Continue reading
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.
“So what should I do as an émigré from 8:00 every morning, other than compose? […] The greatest source of inspiration for an émigré is […] the torturous power of boredom that forces… Continue reading
“Eisler’s album of songs composed in exile, later entitled the Hollywood Songbook, contains settings that cover all his compositional styles. Today it has become common practice for a selection of some 40 of… Continue reading
Matthias Goerne and Eric Schneider’s award-winning recording of Eisler’s ‘multi-layered narrative of exile’ is on Spotify.
Arnold Schoenberg’s letter of condolence to Erich Wolfgang Korngold after the death of his father, the equally revered and feared critic Julius Korngold.
Erich Wolfgang Korngold playing ‘Pierrots Tanzlied’ (from his 1920 opera Die tote Stadt) at a party in Hollywood.
The autograph score of Eisler’s ‘Über die Dauer des Exils’… his 1939 setting of Brecht (a poem also set by the Austrian exile pianist and composer Eduard Steuermann).
“If Mahler, like Heine before him, saw conversion as his billet d’entrée to opportunity, Schoenberg would, with his reconversion to the religion of his birth, declare the opposite. Though Hitler provided Schoenberg with… Continue reading
“They evolved an amalgam of values in which both the purity of art and the purity of German musical traditions merged. Few would wish to stray from these particular absolutes, which most, including… Continue reading
“If Mahler had provided the portal through which younger Jewish composers could walk, embracing their uniqueness as artists, it comes as no surprise to discover that much of this uniqueness stemmed from their… Continue reading
Schoenberg’s obituary of Mahler, courtesy of www.schoenberg.at