Re: Music and the Holocaust

[JeffSchan <JeffSchan...>]

     Jenny:
     
     I wanted to answer your e-mail on how Jewish musicians deal with the
Holo-
     caust by recounting some of my own personal struggles with the issue.  I
may
     have a different perspective than others because I am a child of
survivors, but
     I hope that some of this will be useful to you.
     
     Like many second generationers I know, I compartmentalized my life to a
     great extent.  My second generation identity was, as Helen Epstein
eloquently
     wrote: "an iron box buried so deep inside me that I was never sure just
what it
     was."  Add to this that my mother told me when I was young not to ask my
     father about his experiences during the War, it would be too painful for
him. 
     So the question of the Holocaust was something which I tried not to
allow to
     impinge on other parts of my life, including my music.
     
     My father died 4-1/2 years ago.  I had idolized him all of my life, and
like
     most other 2nd generationers, attempted to shield my parents from pain
and
     suffering because they had been through so much.  Needless to say, I
could
     not shield him from death.  Since he was such a large part of my
personality,
     after his death I pretty much had to rediscover and redefine who I was.
 In
     doing so, I realized I could no longer keep the Holocaust bottled up
some-
     where deep inside me.  After his death I wrote "Totenmarsch" for violin
and
     orchestra in his memory - he survived a death march from Buchenwald. 
     Unfortunately this piece has never been performed.  Writing this piece
helped
     me deal with and perhaps express many of the unresolved feelings towards
     him.
     
     I then wrote "Lament for Erik," for baritone and viola, for my half
brother
     Erik Schanzer, who survived the War and was reunited with my father, but
     who died of leukemia two years before I was born.  Erik's picture in our
     house was the only item which related in any way to my father's life
before
     the War.  It also dealt with my feeling (and that of most second
generationers)
     that my life is meant to make up for those who did not survive.
     
     My next work was more political and less personal.  "No More In Thrall"
for
     string quartet and percussion was written to commemorate the 50th
anniversary
     of the liberation of Buchenwald.  Buchenwald was unique because the camp
     was liberated by resistance fighters from among the prisoners.  Because
most
     of the Buchenwald resistance was communist (I am a communist -
Trotskyist -
     as well), this story is almost unknown in the land of J. Edgar Hoover
and
     Joseph McCarthy.  This piece has just been released on the CRI label.  I
will
     put a separate post on it today.
     
     My most recent piece "A Mother's Story - 1939-40," for mezzo-soprano
     Isabelle Ganz and cello, is a setting of my mother's oral testimony of
her
     escape from the Nazi blitzkrieg of Poland.  This will be premiered at a
     Holocaust Memorial Concert I am curating at The Kitchen in New York.
     
     Last year, I was at the WNYC radio station doing an in-studio broadcast
of
     "No More In Thrall" and an interviewer asked me whether I felt that the
     creation of art was an appropriate response to something as horrific as
the
     Holocaust.  I felt that this was an interesting question.  In writing my
mother's
     piece, I also felt I came up with a better answer than I gave on the
air.  It
     occurred to me that one of the earliest functions of music and song -
even
     before man created written language - was to pass down stories - and
history -
     from one generation to the next.  Here I am sitting in my living room at
the
     verge of the 21st century, composing on a piano and entering the music
     immediately into the notation program on my computer - and I'm doing the
     same thing that musicians have been doing for thousands of years -
handing
     down stories from one generation to the next.  Unfortunately some of
those
     stories are not so pleasant.
     
     So for me and most 2nd generationers, the question of keeping the
memories
     of our parents, many of whom have died and are getting older, is of
para-
     mount importance.  I also appreciate others writing and presenting
concerts
     dealing with the Holocaust when it is done in a serious and respectful
way. 
     As I said above, I am curating a Holocaust Memorial Concert, half of
which
     will be music composed in Terezin and half by second generation
composers. 
     However, I also agree with Yoel Epstein who believes that pieces dealing
with
     the Holocaust should be programmed with other music.  Concerts of music
     dealing with the Holocaust have an important function in enhancing our
     resolve to keep the memory of what happened alive so that we can fight
to see
     it never happens again, but it does have some of the character of
preaching to
     the converted.  The premiere of my "Lament for Erik" was one piece on a
     baritone's recital, and I found that the reaction was quite interesting
in that
     people were not used to being force to deal with a "real" subject at a
concert.
     
     One thing I have found quite frustrating is the lack of interest in
"modernist"
     music dealing with the Holocaust from the traditional Jewish arts
institutions,
     who seem to be interested in presenting nothing more modern than Yiddish
     folk music.  I have been working on locating other second generation
compos-
     ers and producing a concert of our music for years now.  It is finally
going to
     happen at The Kitchen - an alternative art space - and not at a Jewish
institu-
     tion.  If you or anyone else is interested, you can contact me for names
of
     other second generation composers to program on concerts dealing with
the
     Holocaust.
     
     Jeffrey Schanzer