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Commemorating the liberation of Auschwitz

Henry Goodman and Maria Friedman with readings marking the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. Music by Schumann, Beethoven, G贸recki and Ilse Weber.

In this special edition of Words and Music marking the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, readers Henry Goodman and Maria Friedman read poetry and prose about life and death at the most notorious Nazi concentration camp. We'll hear from survivors like Primo Levi and Victor Frankl, who paint startling pictures of existence at Auschwitz; and from Anita Lasker-Wallfisch who played the cello in the Auschwitz Women's Orchestra. She once played Schumann's Tr盲umerei for Dr Josef Mengele, who came to be known as 'the angel of death'.

Despite the hellish conditions, music was made in concentration camps. We'll hear about the fate of Auschwitz's Roma Orchestra and the unexpected presence of Tango at Auschwitz. You'll hear an early recording of the first song to be written in a concentration camp, the 鈥楶eat Bog Soldiers鈥�, and songs by Ilse Weber, who wrote music for the children of the Theresienstadt camp and is said to have sung to her son and other children as she accompanied them into the gas chambers of Auschwitz. Poetry by survivors Andr谩s Mezei and Annette Bialik Harchik reminds us that liberation was the end of a nightmarish journey but that living with the aftermath of the Holocaust was a burden which would be carried long after the camps were destroyed.

Producer Georgia Mann

Extract from a letter by Salmen Gradowski,
The Survivor -Andr谩s Mezei translated by Thomas Orsz谩g-Land
If This is a Man - Primo Levi
Man鈥檚 Search For Meaning - Victor E. Frankl, translated by Lisle Lasch
Earrings - Annette Bialik Harchik translated by Rafael Bielobradek
Boots At a Concert of Lydia F - Krzystof Janusz Boczkowkski translated by Adam A. Zych and Andrzej Diniejko
The Librarian of Auschwitz - Antonio Iturbe, translated by trans Lilit Zekulin Thwaites
Fugitive Pieces - Anne Michaels
Violins of Hope - James A. Grymes
First Thoughts: On Liberation Day From a Concentration Camp - Annette Bialik Harchik
The Survival Syndrome - Adam Alfred Zych translated by June Friedman

1 hour, 14 minutes

Last on

Sun 26 Jan 2020 17:30
91热爆 Radio 3

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Music Played

Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes

  • 00:01

    Gy枚rgy Ligeti

    Extract from Atmospheres

    Performer: Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Claudio Abbado (conductor).
    • DG, 429 260-2.

  • Salmen Gradowski

    Extract from a letter by Salmen Gradowski, discovered after liberation in a flask buried on the grounds of the Auschwitz-Birkenau crematorium, read by Maria Friedman

  • 00:03

    Johann Sebastian Bach

    Extract from Partita in D minor, BWV 1004: Chaconne

    Performer: Yehudi Menuhin.
    • EMI, 7678102.

  • Andr谩s Mezei Translated from the Hungarian & edited by Thomas Orsz谩g-Land

    Extract from The Survivor, read by Henry Goodman

  • Desert Island Discs

    Anita Wallfish in conversation with Sue Lawley

  • 00:05

    Bloch

    Extract From Jewish Life

    Performer: Rafael Wallfisch (cello), John York (piano).
    • Nimbus, NI5943.

  • Primo Levi, translated by Stuart Wolf

    Extract from If This is a Man, read by Maria Friedman

  • 00:07

    Ravel

    Kaddish from 2 M茅lodies h茅bra茂ques

    Performer: Nina Koshetz (soprano).
    • Opal, CDS9855.
  • 00:12

    Isou

    Extract from Symphony No. 4

    Performer: Isidore Isou, Maria Faustino.
    • Al Dante, AD19.

  • Primo Levi, translated by Stuart Wolf

    Extract from If This is a Man, read by Maria Friedman

  • Victor E. Frankl, translated by Lisle Lasch

    Extract from Man聮s Search For Meaning, read by Henry Goodman

  • 00:14

    Reich

    Extract from Different Trains

    Performer: Kronos Quartet.
    • Nonesuch, 9791762.

  • Annette Bialik Harchik translated by Rafael Bielobradek

    Earrings, read by Maria Friedman

  • 00:17

    Mahler

    Symphony no. 2 in C minor "Resurrection" 4th mvt: Urlicht (Sehr feierlich)

    Performer: Magdalena Kozena, Berlin Philharmonic, Simon Rattle (conductor).
    • EMI, 5099964736327.

  • Krzystof Janusz Boczkowkski translated by Adam A. Zych and Andrzej Diniejko

    Boots At a Concert of Lydia F, read by Henry Goodman

  • 00:23

    Beethoven

    Extract from Piano Sonata Op. 78

    Performer: Arthur Schnabel (piano).
    • Music Concepts, MC181.

  • Primo Levi, translated by Stuart Wolf

    Extract from If This is a Man, read by Maria Friedman

  • Victor E. Frankl, translated by Lisle Lasch

    Extract from Man聮s Search For Meaning, read by Henry Goodman

  • 00:29

    Ilse Weber

    Ade, Kamerad!

    Performer: Christian Gerhaher (baritone), Gerold Huber (piano).
    • DG, 4776546.

  • Antonio Iturbe, translated by trans Lilit Zekulin Thwaites

    Extract from The Librarian of Auschwitz, read by Henry Goodman

  • Antonio Iturbe, translated by trans Lilit Zekulin Thwaites

    Extract from The Librarian of Auschwitz, read by Maria Friedman

  • 00:33

    Brahms

    Quintet for clarinet and strings (Op.115) in B minor, 2nd movement: Adagio

    Performer: Thea King (clarinet), Gabrieli String Quartet.
    • Hyperion, CDA66107.

  • Victor E. Frankl, translated by Lisle Lasch

    Extract from Man聮s Search For Meaning, read by Henry Goodman

  • 00:39

    Mark. R Waterfield, Steven Guy Hellier

    Uno Dos Tango

    Performer: Mark Waterfield (violin).
    • West One Music Group, WOMG 034.
  • 00:40

    Lyrics translated into Yiddish by P.M and Shmerke Kaczerginsky

    The Tango from Auschwitz

    Performer: Tangele.
    • TZADIK, TZ8124.

  • Anne Michaels

    Extract from Fugitive Pieces, read by Henry Goodman

  • 00:44

    Anonymous

    Peat Bog Soldiers

    Performer: Erich Kunz (baritone), Vienna State Opera Orchestra and Chorus.
    • Fontana, BIG327L.
  • 00:04

    Ilse Weber

    Ich Wandre durch Theresienstadt

    Performer: Anne Sofie Von Otter (mezzo), Bengt Forsberg (piano).
    • DG, 4776546.

  • Anita Wallfish

    Extract from Desert Island Discs

  • Victor E. Frankl, translated by Lisle Lasch

    Extract from Man聮s Search For Meaning, read by Henry Goodman

  • 00:50

    Gustav Mahler

    Extract from Symphony No. 2

    Orchestra: City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Sir Simon Rattle.
    • Warner, 9463458025.
  • 00:53

    Bach

    Donna Nobis Pacem from Mass in B minor

    Performer: Dunedin Consort and Players, John Butt (director).
    • LINN, CKD354.
  • 00:56

    George Gershwin

    Someone to Watch Over Me

    Performer: The Columbians Dance Orchestra.
    • Halcyon, DHDL112.

  • James A. Grymes

    Extract from Violins of Hope, read by Henry Goodman

  • 00:58

    Roby Lakatos

    Klezmer Csardas

    Performer: Roby Lakatosh (violin), Aldo Granato (accordion), Roby Lakatos Ensemble, Franz Liszt Chamber Orchestra.
    • Avanti Classic.

  • James A. Grymes

    Extract from Violins of Hope, read by Maria Freidman

  • Richard Dimbleby

    Describing scenes at Belsen, 19th April 1945

  • 01:02

    Alexander Wertynski & Aaron Liebeskind

    Lullaby for My Little Son in the Crematorium

    Performer: Aleksander Kulisiewicz.
    • Folkways, FSS37700.
  • 01:06

    Henryk Miko艂aj G贸recki

    Extract from Symphony of Sorrowful Songs

    Performer: Joanna Kozlowska (soprano), Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, Kazimierz Kord (conductor).
    • Decca, 4787433.

  • Annette Bialik Harchik

    First Thoughts: On Liberation Day From a Concentration Camp, read by Maria Friedman

  • Adam Alfred Zych translated by June Friedman

    The Survival Syndrome (from the cycle 聭Syndromes聮)

  • Anita Wallfisch

    Extract from Desert Island Discs

  • 01:11

    Beethoven

    Extract from Piano Sonata Op. 111

    Performer: Peter Wallfisch.
    • 91热爆 Recording.

Broadcast

  • Sun 26 Jan 2020 17:30
    91热爆 Radio 3

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