Abstract

In 1939 a Jewish choral conductor imprisoned in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp organized a clandestine choir. The choir and its conductor managed to rehearse and perform secretly for three years. Sensing that the end was near, in 1942 the ensemble was rehearsing its own "Jewish Requiem" when the deportation order arrived. Neither the conductor nor any of his singers survived, but the "Jewish Requiem" did survive. This article chronicles the origins and fate of this unique composition.

Notes

This is a pre-copy-editing, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in The Musical Quarterly following peer review. The definitive publisher-authenticated version -- Musical Quarterly (2000) 84 (3): 452-474 -- is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/mq/84.3.452.

Keywords

Sachsenhausen concentration camp, Holocaust, World War II, Martin Rosenberg, choral music, Jewish music

Disciplines

Ethnomusicology | Jewish Studies

Publication Date

2000

Rights Holder

© 2000 Oxford University Press


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