Page 50 - Weiss, Jernej, ur./ed. 2026 Skladateljska društva nekoč in danes.../Composers’ Societies Past and Present...

Skladateljska društva nekoč in danes | Composers’ Societies Past and Present
circumstances of internment, however, the connections among these mu-
sicians and composers were largely circumstantial, and the term “There-
2
sienstadt Composers” should not be understood as denoting a coherent
school.
Among the many notable composers interned there were Viktor Ul-
lmann (1898–1944), Pavel Haas (1899–1944), Hans Krasa (1899–1944), Zik-
mund Schul (1916–1944), Karel Reiner (1910–1979), Gideon Klein (1919–
1945), Carlo Taube (1897–1944), Hans Winterberg (1901–1991), Viktor Kohn
(1910–1944), Franz Eugen Klein (1912–1944), Heinz Alt (1922–1945), Lena
Stein-Schneider (1874–1958), and Ilse Weber (1903–1944), among others.
Most of these belonged to the middle and younger generation of compos-
ers, associated with the modern tendencies of the 20 century. Yet they did
th
not share a common aesthetic or ethical programme, they did not employ
similar compositional techniques, nor were they united under the patron-
age of a significant artistic figure.
Michael Beckerman published an inspiring reflection, “Why Study the
Music of Terezín?”, on the website of the Terezín Composers Institute in
3
2018. In it, he draws attention to the profound connection between the mu-
sic and the place of its creation. The topography of the ghetto here acquires
extraordinary significance and transforms the ordinary perception of the
works. In this way, the “Terezín programme” confers a special emotional
value upon them.
Seen from this perspective, the works created in Terezín have little in
common in terms of radical innovation or striking novelty. Instead, the
circumstances of their creation deeply permeated them and, in an unusu-
al way, defined their character. Purely practical considerations, determined
by the conditions of imprisonment, shaped their design. Thanks to this leg-
acy, we can witness the moment when composition itself became a hidden
struggle for survival.
Another factor that played an important role was that the fate of
these works – more than is usually the case – was closely bound to par-
ticular performers. These performers had often commissioned the works,

2 The term “Terezín composers” is widely used in both scholarly and popular litera-
ture (see, for example, Joža Karas, Music in Terezín 1941–1945 (New York: Beaufort
Books Publishers, 1985)), though it can sometimes be seen as problematic. The com-
posers associated with Terezín did not form a coherent school or movement, but
rather a historically conditioned group linked by the circumstances of internment.
3 Michael Beckerman, “Why Study the Music of Terezín?” The Terezín Composers’ In-
stitute, Newsletter 29, no. 2 (2018): 31–40.

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