Program 10: Forbidden Music, Silenced Voices
Song: Mirror of the World Radio Series
Program 10: Forbidden Music, Silenced Voices
Germany was the land of classical music’s most glorious achievements, but when Hitler came to power, he banned everything written by Jews. That included acknowledged masters like Mendelssohn and Mahler, and musicians whose reputations never recovered, like Karl Goldmark. Also on the list were promising composers forced to flee, such as Alexander Zemlinsky, and those who were murdered, including Pavel Haas and Viktor Ullmann.
Listen to the full program (Director’s Cut):
Host & Artistic Director:
Thomas Hampson
Co-Produced by the Hampsong Foundation and The WFMT Radio Network
Production Team:
Executive Producers: Thomas Hampson & Steve Robinson (The WFMT Radio Network)
Audio Producer: Carolyn Paulin (The WFMT Radio Network)
Coordinating Producer: Miriam Lewin
Project Manager: Christie Finn
Writer for Forbidden Music, Silenced Voices: Michael Haas, author of Forbidden Music: The Jewish Composers Banned by the Nazis (Visit his blog here.)
Song listings with composer / poet, performers, CD label, and CD number are listed below.
Korngold & Goldmark: Violin Concertos; Sinding: Suite…
Clip of II. Andante, from Violin Concerto in A, Op. 28 (1877)
Composer: Karl Goldmark (1830-1915)
Itzhak Perlman, violin
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
André Previn, conductor
EMI Great Recordings of the Century: 9677
Weill: Die sieben Todsünden & Chansons
Clip of “Es regnet” (“It’s raining”) (1933)
Composer: Kurt Weill (1900-1950)
Text: Jean Cocteau (1889-1963)
Brigitte Fassbaender, mezzo soprano
Cord Garben, piano
Harmonia Mundi Musique D’abord: 1951420
Songs of Franz Schreker
“O Glocken, böse Glocken” (“O Bells, Angry Bells”), from Fünf Lieder & Zwei Lieder auf dem Tod eines Kindes, Op.5 (before 1899)
Composer: Franz Schreker (1878-1934)
Text: Mia Holm (1845-1912)
Hermine Haselböck, mezzo soprano
Russell Ryan, piano
Bridge: 9259
Zemlinsky: Strings Quartets, Vol. 2
Clip of III. Schnell (die Achtel), from String Quartet No. 2, Op. 15 (1913-5)
Composer: Alexander Zemlinsky (1871-1942)
Escher String Quartet
Naxos: 573088
Alexander Zemlinsky: Lieder
“Harlem Tänzerin” (“Harlem Dancer”), from Zwölf Lieder, Op. 27 (1929)
Composer: Alexander Zemlinsky (1871-1942)
Text: Claude Mckay (1889-1948), trans. Anna Siemsen
Hans Peter Blochwitz, tenor
Cord Garben, piano
Deutsche Grammophon: 427348
Verboten und Verbannt
“Auf Flügeln des Gesanges” (“On the Wings of Song”), from Sechs Gesänge, Op. 34, No. 2 (1835)
Composer: Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847)
Text: Heinrich Heine (1797-1856)
Thomas Hampson, baritone
Wolfram Rieger, piano
Orfeo d’Or: 708061
Es flog ein klein’s Waldvögelein – Folksongs with Guitar
Clip from “Die Lorelei” (“The Lorelei”)
Composer: Friedrich Silcher (1789-1860)
Text: Heinrich Heine (1797-1856)
Peter Schreier, tenor
Konrad Ragossnig, guitar
Berlin Classics: 10192
Icon: Nicolai Gedda
Clip from “Magische Töne” (“Magic Tones”), from Die Königin von Saba, Op. 27 (1875)
Composer: Karl Goldmark (1830-1915)
Text: Salomon Hermann Mosenthal (1821-1877)
Nicolai Gedda, tenor
Bavarian State Opera Orchestra
Heinrich Bender, conductor
Warner Classics: 56095
Mahler: Des Knaben Wunderhorn Original Piano Versions
Clip from “Rheinlegendchen” (“A Little Legend of the Rhein”), from Des Knaben Wunderhorn (1893)
Composer: Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
Text: Des Knaben Wunderhorn
Thomas Hampson, baritone
Geoffrey Parsons, piano
Teldec: 174726
Wunderhornlieder
“Zum Einschlafen” (“To Fall Asleep”), from Kinderlieder, Op. 11 (1911)
Composer: Karl Weigl (1881-1949)
Text: Des Knaben Wunderhorn
Wolfgang Holzmair, baritone
Thérèse Lindquist, piano
Col Legno: 60024
Icon: Brigitte Fassbaender
Clip from “Hain in diesen Paradiesen” (“Groves in This Paradise”), from Das Buch der hängenden Gärten, Op. 15, No. 2 (1908-9)
Composer: Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951)
Text: Stefan George (1868-1933)
Brigitte Fassbaender, mezzo soprano
Aribert Reimann, piano
EMI Classics: 829682
Complete Webern – Boulez
“Im Windesweben” (“In the Murmuring Wind”), from Fünf Lieder aus ‘Der siebente Ring’, Op. 3, No. 2 (1908-9)
Composer: Anton Webern (1883-1945)
Text: Stefan George (1868-1933)
Christiane Oelze, soprano
Eric Schneider, piano
Deutsche Grammophon: 447103 or 4576372
Eisler: Vocal Music
Clip from “Solidaritätslied” (“Solidarity Song”), from Kuhle Wampe oder Wem gehört die Welt?, Op. 27, No. 1 (1931-2)
Composer: Hanns Eisler (1898-1962)
Text: Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956)
Ernst Busch, baritone
The Studio Orchestra
Hanns Eisler, conductor
Berlin Classics: 9230
ballet mécanique
Clip from Ballet Mécanique (1923-5)
Composer: George Antheil (1900-1959)
University of Massachusetts Lowell Percussion Ensemble
EMF Media: 653727731926
Postcards
Clip from Fuge aus der Geographie,, (Geographical Fugue), for speaking chorus (1930)
Composer: Ernst Toch (1887-1964)
Text: English trans. by Henry Cowell & John Cage
Turtle Creek Chorale
Timothy Seelig, conductor
Reference Recordings: 61
Entartete Musik: Afrika Songs
“Das Lied vom Baumwollpacker” (“The Song of the Cotton Packer”), from Afrika-Songs, Op. 29 (1930)
Composer: Wilhelm Grosz (1894-1939)
Text: Jean Toomer (1894-1967)
Translation: Josef Luitpold Stern, under the pseudonym Josef Luitpold
Jake Gardner, bass baritone
Matrix Ensemble
Robert Ziegler, conductor
Decca: 455116
The Best of Ute Lemper
Clip from “The Lavender Song” (1920)
Composer: Mischa Spoliansky (1898-1985)
Text: Kurt Schwabach (1898-1966)
Ute Lemper, voice
Matrix Ensemble
Robert Ziegler, conductor
Decca: 4452849
Die Dreigroschenoper
Clip from “Moritat von Mackie Messer” (“The Ballad of Mack the Knife”), from Die Dreigroschenoper (Threepenny Opera) (1928)
Composer: Kurt Weill (1900-1950)
Text: Bertold Brecht (1898-1956)
Harald Paulsen, voice
Capriccio Records: 10346
Lied Edition Prey: Das Deutsche Lied vom Minnesang bis zur Moderne
“Unser Wein” (“Our Wine”), from Reisebuch aus den österreichischen Alpen (Travelogue from the Austrian Alps Op. 62, No. 2 (1929)
Composer: Ernst Krenek (1900-1991)
Text: Ernst Krenek
Hermann Prey, baritone
Ernst Krenek, piano
Decca: Digital Download
Haas, Krása & Schulhoff: Songs
“I heard the cry of wild geese,” from Čtyři Písně Na Slova Činské Poezi (Four Songs on Chinese Poetry), No. 1 (1944)
Composer: Pavel Haas (1899-1944)
Text: Wei Ying-wu (737-792)
Petr Matuszek, baritone
Aleš Kaňka, piano
Supraphon: B000000353R
Verbotene Lieder
“Abendphantasie” (“Evening Fantasy”) (1944)
Composer: Viktor Ullmann (1898-1944)
Text: Friedrich Hölderlin (1770-1843)
Christiane Oelze, soprano
Eric Schneider, piano
Capriccio: 71062
