Frankly Music’s 'Voices Unforgotten'
Frankly Music’s “Voices Unforgotten” is a program is presented in partnership with Violins of Hope – Wisconsin.
Frankly Music opens this season with compositions by two Jewish composers whose lives and voices were silence by the Nazis. The first composition, “Duo for Violin and Cello, WV 75,” was composed by Erwin Schulhoff in 1925. Schulhoff was born in Prague in 1894 and fought in World War I for the Austro-Hungarian Army. He was encouraged by Dvořák, studied with Debussy and was influenced by jazz and the avant-garde including Dadaism.
The Duo is an emotional tour-de-force making use of the full range of the two instruments’ capabilities for sounds and harmonics. Using jazz-like rhythms, it incorporates folk-like tunes. Schulhoff is a contemporary of Aaron Copland and one can only wonder at the music lost when his life was cut short.
Almond is joined by Alexander Hersh on cello. “The Schulhoff Duo embodies a powerful fusion of extremes, at once wildly virtuosic and rhythmically driven, yet contrasted with moments of striking delicacy and sparseness,” Hersh says. “Schulhoff’s voice is singular, he takes the listener on a vivid journey.
They will be joined by Eric Gratz (violin) and Anthony Devroye (viola) for the next composition on the program, Viktor Ullmann’s String Quartet No. 3, Op. 46. Ullmann was born in Silesia (Poland) in 1898. He grew up in Vienna where he studied with Arnold Schoenberg. Though his parents converted to Catholicism before he was born, he was deported to the Theresienstadt Concentration Camp in 1942 where this String Quartet was composed a year later.
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Ullman wrote this shortly before he was deported Auschwitz-Birkenau where he was gassed two days after he arrived: “All that I would stress is that Theresienstadt has helped, not hindered, me in my musical work, that we certainly did not sit down by the waters of Babylon and weep, and that our desire for culture was matched by our desire for life; and I am convinced that all those who have striven, in life and in art, to wrest form from resistant matter will bear me out.”
Here’s what Almond had to say about the Violins of Hope: “It’s a really strange experience to hold and play these instruments, knowing the horrific stories behind them. I’m grateful to now be a part of that history and to keep these memories alive, hopefully in a meaningful and durable way.”
After the intermission, pianist Victor Asuncio will join Almond, Devroye, and Hersch to play Robert Schumann’s Piano Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 47. This quartet, composed in 1842, begins with a soft sob and then quickly recovers and moves into a resilient statement with hints of the sadness of the introductory phrases. It’s a wonderfully romantic piece with an uplifting finale leaving the listener with the feeling that all is well and that hope will be rewarded.
For tickets and more information, visit: franklymusic.org.
About Violins of Hope
The Nazis waged war not only against the Jews but also against their music and instruments. Their music was prohibited, and their instruments confiscated or destroyed. Some instruments were saved and restored after the war. These stringed instruments now tour the world where they can be used by others, telling their stories and bringing hope to all. More information can be found on the website: violinsofhopewisconsin.org
Frankly Music’s “Voices Unforgotten” will be performed 7 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 28 at Milwaukee Youth Arts Center, 325 W. Walnut St.
