Schönberg's masterpiece: a reminder of the horrors of the Holocaust in Cologne

Schönberg's masterpiece: a reminder of the horrors of the Holocaust in Cologne

A very special musical event is being celebrated in Cologne: Arnold Schönberg's melodrama “A Survivor from Warsaw” will be performed with the Gürzenich Orchestra under the direction of Andrés Orozco-Estrada. This premiere of the work, which is already considered one of the most powerful pieces dealing with the Holocaust, goes deep under the skin and receives prominent recognition. Loud Concerti The historical piece is accompanied by Dominique Horwitz as speaker.

“A Survivor from Warsaw,” composed in 1947, addresses the horrific scene of the Warsaw Ghetto and the brutal selections to which many Jews were subjected. In about seven minutes, Schönberg describes the gruesome circumstances that led to the murders. The premiere took place on November 4, 1948 in Albuquerque, New Mexico and was a great success. “It is an artistic manifesto that not only addresses the horrors of the Holocaust, but also serves as a warning for future generations,” said Luigi Nono, who described the work as an “aesthetic musical manifesto of our era.”

The meaning of the work

The work reaches its emotional climax in the finale, when the Jewish creed “Shema Yisrael” is chanted by the prisoners in the face of death. Loud Wikipedia The piece is enriched with a variety of musical and linguistic elements and reflects the brutality that the National Socialist occupiers inflicted on the population. Schönberg originally created the work under the impression of the atrocities that he himself experienced and which he processed deeply into his artistic identity.

The work's cast includes not only a string orchestra, but also a men's choir and various wind ensembles. An exciting facet is that Schönberg based the composition on a single twelve-tone row and divides the work into three parts - introduction, narrative and final chorus.

Schönberg's path to composition

Arnold Schönberg was born in Jewish Vienna in 1874 and grew up in the Orthodox district of Leopoldstadt. But his relationship to Judaism was complex; his upbringing was strongly influenced by the popular music of Vienna and not necessarily by religious traditions. His experiences with anti-Semitism and the traumatic experiences of the First World War led him to focus more heavily on his Jewish roots in his later works. Since he himself was a child of such brutal events, the confrontation became all the more relevant in his later compositions.

In 1913, Schönberg converted to Protestantism, only to return to his Judaism in 1933, shortly before his emigration to the United States. What served as an expression of his identity turned out to be a profound source of his creativity. “A Survivor from Warsaw” is therefore not only a musical work, but also a shocking testimony to his life story that deals with loss and memory.

Andrés Orozco-Estrada, who will be coming to Cologne next season as Gürzenich Kapellmeister, has celebrated numerous successes with his entertaining direction. This time he will demonstrate his good hand in interpreting Schönberg's complex and stirring work.

The fact that the people of Cologne are engaging with such a historical piece not only enriches the cultural life of the city, but also offers the opportunity to anchor the reminder of forgetting not only in the ears, but also in the heart. Schönberg's work represents an indispensable connection to history and is still often covered in school curricula today.