A Survivor from Warsaw
Encyclopedia
A Survivor from Warsaw, Op. 46, is a work for narrator
, men's chorus
, and orchestra
written by the Austria
n composer
Arnold Schönberg in 1947. The initial inspiration for the work was a suggestion from the Russian émigrée dancer Corinne Chochem for a work to pay tribute to the Holocaust victims of the German Third Reich. While the collaboration between Chochem and Schönberg did not come to fruition, Schönberg continued to develop the idea for such a work independently. He then received a letter from the Koussevitzsky Music Foundation for a commission for an orchestral work. Schönberg then decided to fulfill this commission with this tribute work. He wrote the work from 11 August 1947 to 23 August 1947.
Because of the connection of the Koussevitzsky Foundation and the conductor Serge Koussevitzsky with the Boston Symphony Orchestra
, it was presumed at the time that the Boston Symphony and Koussevitzsky would give the premiere. However, Kurt Frederick, conductor of the Albuquerque Civic Symphony Orchestra
, had heard about this new work, and wrote to Schönberg to ask for permission to give the premiere. Schönberg agreed, and stipulated that, in lieu of a performance fee, the New Mexico musicians prepare a full set of orchestral and choral parts and send those to him. The premiere was originally scheduled for 7 September 1948, but did not occur until 4 November 1948 in Albuquerque, New Mexico
at the University of New Mexico. Kurt Frederick conducted the Albuquerque Civic Symphony Orchestra, with Sherman Smith as the narrator. Between the two dates of the scheduled and actual premiere, Koussevitzsky had heard of the request from Albuquerque, and approved of the situation.
The work lasts a little more than six minutes. Richard S. Hill published a contemporary analysis of Schoenberg's use of twelve-tone rows in this composition. Jacques-Louis Monod
prepared a definitive edition of the score, which was published in 1979. Beat A. Föllmi has published a detailed analysis of the narrative of A Survivor from Warsaw.
during the Second World War, from his time in a concentration camp. The narrator does not remember how he ended up living in the Warsaw sewers. One day, in the camp, the Nazi authorities held a roll call of a group of Jews. The group tried to assemble, but there was confusion, and the guards beat the old and ailing Jews who could not line up quickly enough. Those Jews left on the ground were presumed to be dead, and the guards asked for another count, to see how many would be deported to the death camps. The guards ask for a faster and faster head count, and the work culminates as the Jews begin to sing the prayer Shema Yisroel. In Schönberg’s piece, the creed ends with Deuteronomy 6:7, which reads “and when thou liest down, and when thou riseth up."
I remember only the grandiose moment when they all started to sing, as if prearranged, the old prayer they had neglected for so many years - the forgotten creed!
But I have no recollection how I got underground to live in the sewers of Warsaw for so long a time.
The day began as usual: Reveille when it still was dark. "Get out!" Whether you slept or whether worries kept you awake the whole night. You had been separated from your children, from your wife, from your parents. You don't know what happened to them... How could you sleep?
The trumpets again - "Get out! The sergeant will be furious!" They came out; some very slowly, the old ones, the sick ones; some with nervous agility. They fear the sergeant. They hurry as much as they can. In vain! Much too much noise, much too much commotion! And not fast enough! The Feldwebel shouts: "Achtung! Stilljestanden! Na wird's mal! Oder soll ich mit dem Jewehrkolben nachhelfen? Na jut; wenn ihrs durchaus haben wollt!" ("Attention! Stand still! How about it, or should I help you along with the butt of my rifle? Oh well, if you really want to have it!")
The sergeant and his subordinates hit (everyone): young or old, (strong or sick), quiet, guilty or innocent ...
It was painful to hear them groaning and moaning.
I heard it though I had been hit very hard, so hard that I could not help falling down. We all on the (ground) who could not stand up were (then) beaten over the head...
I must have been unconscious. The next thing I heard was a soldier saying: "They are all dead!"
Whereupon the sergeant ordered to do away with us.
There I lay aside half conscious. I had become very still - fear and pain. Then I heard the sergeant shouting: „Abzählen!“ ("Count off!")
They start slowly and irregularly: one, two, three, four - "Achtung!" The sergeant shouted again, "Rascher! Nochmals von vorn anfange! In einer Minute will ich wissen, wieviele ich zur Gaskammer abliefere! Abzählen!“ ("Faster! Once more, start from the beginning! In one minute I want to know how many I am going to send off to the gas chamber! Count off!")
They began again, first slowly: one, two, three, four, became faster and faster, so fast that it finally sounded like a stampede of wild horses, and (all) of a sudden, in the middle of it, they began singing the Shema Yisroel.
of Beethoven
. The Jewish prayer is joined by Beethoven's."
On 30 October 2010, the Berliner Philharmoniker under Sir Simon Rattle performed this piece in the same way into Mahler's Second Symphony
.
Narrator
A narrator is, within any story , the fictional or non-fictional, personal or impersonal entity who tells the story to the audience. When the narrator is also a character within the story, he or she is sometimes known as the viewpoint character. The narrator is one of three entities responsible for...
, men's chorus
Refrain
A refrain is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the "chorus" of a song...
, and orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
written by the Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
Arnold Schönberg in 1947. The initial inspiration for the work was a suggestion from the Russian émigrée dancer Corinne Chochem for a work to pay tribute to the Holocaust victims of the German Third Reich. While the collaboration between Chochem and Schönberg did not come to fruition, Schönberg continued to develop the idea for such a work independently. He then received a letter from the Koussevitzsky Music Foundation for a commission for an orchestral work. Schönberg then decided to fulfill this commission with this tribute work. He wrote the work from 11 August 1947 to 23 August 1947.
Because of the connection of the Koussevitzsky Foundation and the conductor Serge Koussevitzsky with the Boston Symphony Orchestra
Boston Symphony Orchestra
The Boston Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1881, the BSO plays most of its concerts at Boston's Symphony Hall and in the summer performs at the Tanglewood Music Center...
, it was presumed at the time that the Boston Symphony and Koussevitzsky would give the premiere. However, Kurt Frederick, conductor of the Albuquerque Civic Symphony Orchestra
New Mexico Symphony Orchestra
The New Mexico Symphony Orchestra entered Chapter 7 bankruptcy on April 20, 2011, announcing that it would cease operations and existence. Orchestra members were notified of the board's decision to file for bankruptcy by email, a few hours after the vote was taken...
, had heard about this new work, and wrote to Schönberg to ask for permission to give the premiere. Schönberg agreed, and stipulated that, in lieu of a performance fee, the New Mexico musicians prepare a full set of orchestral and choral parts and send those to him. The premiere was originally scheduled for 7 September 1948, but did not occur until 4 November 1948 in Albuquerque, New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...
at the University of New Mexico. Kurt Frederick conducted the Albuquerque Civic Symphony Orchestra, with Sherman Smith as the narrator. Between the two dates of the scheduled and actual premiere, Koussevitzsky had heard of the request from Albuquerque, and approved of the situation.
The work lasts a little more than six minutes. Richard S. Hill published a contemporary analysis of Schoenberg's use of twelve-tone rows in this composition. Jacques-Louis Monod
Jacques-Louis Monod
Jacques-Louis Monod is an influential French-born, American domiciled composer, pianist and conductor of 20th century and contemporary music.-Paris 1940s: early years under Messiaen and Leibowitz:...
prepared a definitive edition of the score, which was published in 1979. Beat A. Föllmi has published a detailed analysis of the narrative of A Survivor from Warsaw.
Story
The narration depicts the story of a survivor from the Warsaw ghettoWarsaw Ghetto
The Warsaw Ghetto was the largest of all Jewish Ghettos in Nazi-occupied Europe during World War II. It was established in the Polish capital between October and November 15, 1940, in the territory of General Government of the German-occupied Poland, with over 400,000 Jews from the vicinity...
during the Second World War, from his time in a concentration camp. The narrator does not remember how he ended up living in the Warsaw sewers. One day, in the camp, the Nazi authorities held a roll call of a group of Jews. The group tried to assemble, but there was confusion, and the guards beat the old and ailing Jews who could not line up quickly enough. Those Jews left on the ground were presumed to be dead, and the guards asked for another count, to see how many would be deported to the death camps. The guards ask for a faster and faster head count, and the work culminates as the Jews begin to sing the prayer Shema Yisroel. In Schönberg’s piece, the creed ends with Deuteronomy 6:7, which reads “and when thou liest down, and when thou riseth up."
Text
I cannot remember everything. I must have been unconscious most of the time.I remember only the grandiose moment when they all started to sing, as if prearranged, the old prayer they had neglected for so many years - the forgotten creed!
But I have no recollection how I got underground to live in the sewers of Warsaw for so long a time.
The day began as usual: Reveille when it still was dark. "Get out!" Whether you slept or whether worries kept you awake the whole night. You had been separated from your children, from your wife, from your parents. You don't know what happened to them... How could you sleep?
The trumpets again - "Get out! The sergeant will be furious!" They came out; some very slowly, the old ones, the sick ones; some with nervous agility. They fear the sergeant. They hurry as much as they can. In vain! Much too much noise, much too much commotion! And not fast enough! The Feldwebel shouts: "Achtung! Stilljestanden! Na wird's mal! Oder soll ich mit dem Jewehrkolben nachhelfen? Na jut; wenn ihrs durchaus haben wollt!" ("Attention! Stand still! How about it, or should I help you along with the butt of my rifle? Oh well, if you really want to have it!")
The sergeant and his subordinates hit (everyone): young or old, (strong or sick), quiet, guilty or innocent ...
It was painful to hear them groaning and moaning.
I heard it though I had been hit very hard, so hard that I could not help falling down. We all on the (ground) who could not stand up were (then) beaten over the head...
I must have been unconscious. The next thing I heard was a soldier saying: "They are all dead!"
Whereupon the sergeant ordered to do away with us.
There I lay aside half conscious. I had become very still - fear and pain. Then I heard the sergeant shouting: „Abzählen!“ ("Count off!")
They start slowly and irregularly: one, two, three, four - "Achtung!" The sergeant shouted again, "Rascher! Nochmals von vorn anfange! In einer Minute will ich wissen, wieviele ich zur Gaskammer abliefere! Abzählen!“ ("Faster! Once more, start from the beginning! In one minute I want to know how many I am going to send off to the gas chamber! Count off!")
They began again, first slowly: one, two, three, four, became faster and faster, so fast that it finally sounded like a stampede of wild horses, and (all) of a sudden, in the middle of it, they began singing the Shema Yisroel.
Performance history
As noted in the documentary The Ninth, at at least one performance (the date is not mentioned), "In a tremendous symbolic gesture, the Beethoven Orchestra of Bonn plays Schoenberg's 'A Survivor from Warsaw' and without a pause goes straight into the Ninth SymphonySymphony No. 9 (Beethoven)
The Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, is the final complete symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven. Completed in 1824, the symphony is one of the best known works of the Western classical repertoire, and has been adapted for use as the European Anthem...
of Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
. The Jewish prayer is joined by Beethoven's."
On 30 October 2010, the Berliner Philharmoniker under Sir Simon Rattle performed this piece in the same way into Mahler's Second Symphony
Symphony No. 2 (Mahler)
The Symphony No. 2 by Gustav Mahler, known as the Resurrection, was written between 1888 and 1894, and first performed in 1895. Apart from the Eighth Symphony, this symphony was Mahler's most popular and successful work during his lifetime. It is his first major work that would eventually mark his...
.
Recordings
- RCA LSC-7055 Boston Symphony OrchestraBoston Symphony OrchestraThe Boston Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1881, the BSO plays most of its concerts at Boston's Symphony Hall and in the summer performs at the Tanglewood Music Center...
; Erich LeinsdorfErich LeinsdorfErich Leinsdorf was a naturalized American Austrian conductor. He performed and recorded with leading orchestras and opera companies throughout the United States and Europe, earning a reputation for exacting standards as well as an acerbic personality...
, conductor, Sherrill MilnesSherrill MilnesSherrill Milnes is an American operatic baritone most famous for his Verdi roles. From 1965 until 1997 he was associated with the Metropolitan Opera....
, narrator, New England Conservatory Chorus, Lorna Cooke deVaronLorna Cooke deVaronLorna Cooke deVaron is an American choral conductor. She is one of the pre-eminent choral conductors of the 20th century, having given the world premiere or American premiere of many important works by Benjamin Britten, Leonard Bernstein, Samuel Barber, Aaron Copland, Irving Fine, Gunther...
, conductor. - Columbia SBRG 72119-20: CBC Symphony OrchestraCBC Symphony OrchestraThe CBC Symphony Orchestra was a Canadian orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario that was operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation during the 1950s and 1960s. Founded in 1952, conductor Geoffrey Waddington served as the orchestra'a only music director; although other conductors, such as...
; Robert CraftRobert CraftRobert Lawson Craft is an American conductor and writer. He is best known for his intimate working friendship with Igor Stravinsky, a relationship which resulted in a number of recordings and books.-Life:...
, conductor - CBS 76577: BBC Symphony OrchestraBBC Symphony OrchestraThe BBC Symphony Orchestra is the principal broadcast orchestra of the British Broadcasting Corporation and one of the leading orchestras in Britain.-History:...
; Pierre BoulezPierre BoulezPierre Boulez is a French composer of contemporary classical music, a pianist, and a conductor.-Early years:Boulez was born in Montbrison, Loire, France. As a child he began piano lessons and demonstrated aptitude in both music and mathematics...
, conductor, Günter ReichGünter ReichGünter Reich , also spelled Günther Reich and Gunther Reich, was an Israeli baritone of German birth...
, speaker - Naxos 8.557528 Philharmonia OrchestraPhilharmonia OrchestraThe Philharmonia Orchestra is one of the leading orchestras in Great Britain, based in London. Since 1995, it has been based in the Royal Festival Hall. In Britain it is also the resident orchestra at De Montfort Hall, Leicester and the Corn Exchange, Bedford, as well as The Anvil, Basingstoke...
; Simon Joly Chorale; Robert CraftRobert CraftRobert Lawson Craft is an American conductor and writer. He is best known for his intimate working friendship with Igor Stravinsky, a relationship which resulted in a number of recordings and books.-Life:...
, conductor, David Wilson-JohnsonDavid Wilson-JohnsonDavid Wilson-Johnson is a British operatic and concert baritone.-Career:David Wilson-Johnson studied Modern and Mediaeval Languages at St Catharine's College, Cambridge...
, narrator
Sources
- Offergeld, Robert. Beethoven - Symphony no. 9 - Schoenberg - A Survivor from Warsaw, included booklet. BMG Classics 09026-63682-2, New York, 2000.
- Schoenberg, Arnold. Style and Idea. University of California Press, Los Angeles, 1984. ISBN 0-520-05294-3
- Kamien, Roger. Music: An Appreciation, Sixth Brief Edition, New York, 2008, pp. 325-327.. ISBN 0-07-340134-X.
External links
- A Survivor from Warsaw at Schoenberg.org
- Annotatable Elektronic Interactive Oesterreich Universal Information System Website - Includes history, full text, tone row and analysis