Event

MUSIC FOR THE BARBED STRINGS

"Music for the Barbed Strings" brings to light and celebrates the music of Jewish composers who lived, worked (and, in many cases, died), under two most oppressive regimes in the mid 20th century Europe.

Even as the reign of Stalinism and Nazism disrupted and destroyed the lives of millions of people, Jews and non-Jews alike, we must remember that these dark regimes could not suppress human inspiration. People continued to create, often under conditions of intolerable suffering. However, names of many of them have been undeservedly erased from public memory and remain known only to a narrow circle of experts. We hope this project will help in reacquainting wider audiences with these composers.

The program of this experimental multimedia show includes music of Gideon Klein (1919-1945), Erwin Schulhoff (1894-1942), Alexander Lokshin (1920 1987), and Mieczysław Weinberg (1919 1996). It opens with performance of "Nigun" from "Baal Shem" by Ernest Bloch (1880 1959) and ends with Kiddush by Maurice Ravel (1875 1937).

The live musical performance is complimented by cinematographic and theatrical elements, providing the context and setting the mood for the music. The program was conceived and is presented by Sergey Deych (piano) and Daniil Deych (cinematography), with the participation of Samuel Katz (violin) and Anya Fidelia (soprano).

The banner image is a drawing made by Emo (Emanuel) Groag in Theresienstadt on January 26th, 1944, and it is used with the permission of Sima Shachar, the archival director of Beit Theresienstadt, Israel.