The compositions on the program were written in concentration camps by Pavel Haas, Erwin Schulhoff, Hans Krasa and Viktor Ullmann. The concert is just a day before Yom Hashoah, "Holocaust Remembrance Day" and will be introduced by Rabbi George Gittleman of Congregation Shomrei Torah in Santa Rosa. Rabbi Gittleman will speak about "music as a means of resistance, even in the face of radical evil. The spirit of these artists could not be broken."

 

In the lobby of the Jackson Theater, Sonoma Country Day School Students will present an exhibit based on their study of Tolerance and Prejudice. In addition, a video produced by Listening for a Change will be screened before and after the performance. This documentary consists of interviews--conducted by Healdsburg Junior High School Students--with local residents who are Holocaust survivors or relatives of those who were victims.

 

The Festival of Remembrance is a collaborative community event that encourages audiences and performers to examine their understanding of these significant historical events in light of the evocative music presented on stage.

Concert underwritten by The Clarence C. Heller Charitable Foundation. Listening for a Change video underwritten by Summit State Bank. The Festival of Remembrance Series made possible by The James Irvine Foundation.

Program Notes
by: Steven Ledbetter

Music has been essential to German culture and national identity for centuries. For the Nazis, music was seen not only as a source of national pride but also a tool that could be used to reshape German society to reflect the racial and cultural ideology of the Third Reich. Shortly after taking power in 1933, Nazi officials sought to “coordinate” German music by establishing the Reich Chamber of Music to supervise all musical activities in Germany and encourage music that upheld “Aryan” values. Orchestras and conservatories were nationalized and subsidized by the state, while popular performers were recruited to serve as propaganda outlets for the Reich. Jewish musicians were stripped of their positions, and those who chose or were forced to remain in Germany formed the Jewish Culture Association (“Jüdischer Kulturbund”) to operate an orchestra, theater, and opera company composed of Jewish performers. The Nazis also ascribed a racial element to music, denouncing popular music like jazz as well as modern, avant-garde orchestral compositions as corrupting influences on traditional German values.

In the ghettos and concentration camps, music was used as a form of spiritual and cultural resistance against the Nazis. Orchestras, choirs, and other musical groups were formed in many ghettos to give clandestine performances for fellow residents. The ghetto at Terezin (Theresienstadt in German), which the Nazis used for propaganda purposes as a “model ghetto,” held many of the most prominent Jewish musicians and composers from across Europe, including Hans Krása, Pavel Haas, and Viktor Ullmann. Music composed and performed in Theresienstadt and other ghettos reflect the dire living conditions under the Nazis and longing for what was being destroyed.

The Czech city of Terezín is located about thirty-five miles north of Prague, one of the most musical capitals of Europe. Built as a garrison town in 1780 by Austrian Emperor Joseph II to protect Prague from potential Prussian attack, it had strong walls that allowed the Nazis to turn it into a gigantic temporary cell to hold prisoners en route to the death camps in Poland. At the same time, they manipulated public awareness of the cultural life that had developed within the city to deceive the world as to the nature of Hitler’s concentration camps.

A substantial number of the prisoners were either professional musicians or well-trained amateurs. The first Jewish prisoners were sent there late in November 1941. By the arrival of the second transport, musical instruments were already being smuggled in. At first the prisoners used these to give secret concerts in the attics and basements. Eventually the inhabitants of Terezín included many of the most gifted artists in Europe, including composers and conductors. The secret concerts were discovered by the prison-camp administration, but they were allowed to continue and even to become more elaborate on the theory that they could help in the maintenance of order. In fact, attempts at escape or infractions of the rules were punished by the cancellation of concerts, lectures, theater productions or other free-time activities.