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The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, in Washington, DC, presented its first Chamber Music Series in beautiful Joseph and Rebecca Meyerhoff Theater in the summer months of 1994. The music on this disc was performed on that series. The programs feature music by talented composers, such as Erwin Schulboff, who perished at the hands of the Nazis, as well as works by Gideon Klein, Viktor UlIman, Hans Krása and Pavel Haas, composers who were permitted - for a brief time - to continue their creative activities while imprisoned in the Theresienstadt ghetto and concentration camp. The series also features works that evoke the suffering of victims of World War II. In addition, the series spotlights Jewish and Hebraic themes, as well as Holocaust-related works by contemporary composers.
The works on this disc are not often heard in performance, and most have never been recorded. All of them deserve a permanent place in the performed repertoire, and it is my hope that this project is a step in that direction. I would like to thank Robert Starer, Moisei Vainberg, George Perle and Herman Berlinski for their interest in and support for the series and this disc.
Steven Honigberg
Chamber Music Series Director
SONATINA FOR PIANO, OP.38
PAUL BEN HAIM
Israeli composer Paul Ben Haim was born Paul Frankenburger in Munich, Germany, where he studied composition and conducting at the Academy of Arts. Already established as a rising conductor while still a young man, Frankenburger suddenly resigned the podium in order to devote himself fully to composition. His works were beginning to gain recognition when the onset of Nazi rule compelled him to leave Germany; in 1933 he settled in Palestine, where he adopted the Hebraic surname Ben Haim. In the years that followed, Ben Haim forged a style that came to typify the "Israeli School" of composition, a style that attempted to reconcile Western traditions of harmony and form with the melodic and rhythmic features of Middle Eastern music.
Ben Haim's major works include the Symphony No.1 of 1940; a cantata, The Sweet Psalmist of lsrael (1953); and the Violin Concerto (1962). The Sonatina for Piano, Op.38, completed in May 1946, is a representative work of the composer. Its opening movement is an often delicate, dance-like pastorale; the middle movement, titled Improvisazione, evokes the style of eastern Mediterranean folk music; and the concluding Toccata draws on the vigorous rhythms of what would become the Israeli national dance, the hora.
ELEGY FOR A WOMAN WHO DIED TOO YOUNG
ROBERT STARER
The distinguished American composer Robert Starer was born in Austria, received his music education in Palestine (where his family fled after the 1938 Nazi annexation of Austria), and served in the British Royal Air Force during World War II. Starer left Palestine for New York in 1947 to further his music studies at the Juilliard School; he remained there as an instructor until 1975. Since 1963 he has also been a member of the faculty of Brooklyn College. A prolific composer, Starer's major works include three symphonies, three operas, several works for chamber ensemble, the cantata Joseph and His Brothers, and the ballet score The Dybbuk. His autobiography Continuo: A Lift In Music, was published in 1987.
Concerning the work on this disc, Starer writes; "I was deeply moved by the death of a young niece of mine, Smadar Levin, of whom I had been very fond. As I composed, it occurred to me that a musical tribute to the dead should have some consolation for the living and I chose a traditional Jewish melody which was surprisingly 'majorish' and positive near the end of the composition. I decided to call it Elegy for a Woman Who Died Too Young; thus it becomes a tribute to many, unfortunately too many.”
FROM THE WORLD OF MY FATHER
HERMAN BERLINSKI
The distinguished composer and organist Herman Berlinski has led an eventful and productive life in music. Born to Polish-immigrant parents in Leipzig, Germany, Berlinski studied piano, conducting and composition at his home town's celebrated Conservatory. The Nazi rise to power and subsequent adoption of anti-Jewish legislation, however, ended his opportunity to complete his education in Germany, and by 1934 Berlinski had taken refuge in Paris, where he studied composition with the eminent pedagogue Nadia Boulanger and piano with the celebrated virtuoso, Alfted Cortot. In Paris, Berlinski's professional activities included a stint as Music Director of the Paris Avant-Garde Yiddish Theater, but again the course of world events interrupted the progress of his career, and, with the declaration of war in 1939, he enlisted in the French army. After the defeat of France, Berlinski found his way to the United States. There, he resumed his studies, taking degree in Sacred Music at the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. He served from 1954 to 1963 as organist at New York's Temple Emanu-El, and from 1963 to 1977 as minister of music to the Hebrew Congregation of Washington, DC.
While known mostly for his liturgical compositions, Berlinski has also written much orchestral and chamber music. From the World of My Father was composed in 1938, when Berlinski, still in Paris, learned of his father's death. (Ten years later, the composer, having irretrievably lost the manuscript to the European conflagration, rewrote the piece from memory.) In this piece, the composer recollects the prayer chants and improvised melodies heard in his parental home. Concerning the Suite, Berlinski has remarked: "The thematic materials are by no means folkloristic. Both the melodic and harmonic materials are fully composed, even though their affinity and kinship to traditional Jewish musical elements is never denied."
HEBREW MELODIES FOR SOLO CELLO
GEORGE PERLE
George Perle was born in Bayonne, New Jersey, grew up in the midwest, and received his early musical education in Chicago. He has held teaching positions at major universities throughout the United States, and is currently Professor Emeritus at City University of New York. Prominent as a music theorist as well as composer, Perle's classic text, Serial Composition and Atonality, is now in its sixth edition. In 1986, his Wind Quintet No. 4 received a Pulitzer Prize for composition. About his Hebrew Melodies for solo cello, Dr. Perle writes: "The piece was composed in November 1945 in Okazaki, Japan, where I was with the first American
troops to occupy the country after the war. Because I didn't have many qualifications other than being able to play the piano, I was given the job of chaplain's assistant, and happened to be assigned to a rabbi who was a great lover of music. This rabbi, and the religious services in which I assisted him, provided the inspiration and source material for the Hebrew Melodies. Although I later studied the formal elements of Jewish liturgical composition, it was in Japan that I first became intrigued with the idea of incorporating ancient Hebrew melodic fragments within a totally chromatic, contemporary musical language. At the time, this was for me a completely new way of composing."
PIANO TRIO, OP. 24
MOISEI VAINBERG
Although Moisei Vainberg is a composer of great stature and achievement, his music is little known in the United States. Born in Warsaw and trained as a pianist, Vainberg was a nineteen-year-old Conservatory graduate when, in 1939, the German army invaded Poland. He fled east, first to Minsk, where he completed his composition studies, and later to Moscow, where he has lived since 1943. A versatile and prolific composer, Vainberg has written in every major music genre: symphony, opera, ballet, chamber music, and score for film and theatrical productions.
Stylistically, and perhaps even philosophically, Vainberg's music is marked by the influence of his friend and mentor, Dmitri Shostakovich. Like Shostakovich, Vainberg turned to music in response to the catastrophes brought on by fascism, genocide and war. Indeed, Vainberg's catalogue reveals a near obsession with the dark years 1939-1945: Symphony No.6 ("The Flowers of Poland"); the cantata Diary of Love dedicated to the memory of the children who died at Auschwitz; the Symphonic Trilogy ("To Outlive the War"); the opera The Passenger, set in Auschwitz concentration camp; and, most recently, the Symphony No.21, "In Memory of the Victims of the Warsaw Ghetto." Vainberg's Piano Trio Op. 24, completed as the World War drew to a close, also makes this conflict its central theme. The work premiered in Moscow in 1945, with the composer at the piano. For what appears to have been its United States debut performance, during the course of the 1994 season of chamber music concerts at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum, Moisci Vainberg offered the following greeting from Moscow: "I would like to thank the Holocaust Memorial Museum, its leaders and all of its staff for their outstanding work. Thanks also to the musicians for their attention to my composition. My parents and sister died in the Warsaw ghetto. I hope that I will be able to see the Museum some day."
Notes by Bret Werb
Musicologist,
US Holocaust Memorial
Museum Research Institute
© 1995
Cellist STEVEN HONIGBERG gave a successful New York debut recital in 1984, and has since appeared in concert to critical acclaim in major cities throughout the U.S., including Los Angeles, Washington D.C., and Chicago. A member of the National Symphony Orchestra, he has been featured numerous times as soloist with that ensemble, the Chicago Symphony, and other orchestras across North America. This young American cellist is much acclaimed for his explorations of important new works, such as David Diamond's 'Concert Piece' for Solo Cello, written for him and premiered during the 1993/94 season. With fellow NSO cellist David Teie, he won rave reviews for the 1988 world premiere of David Ott's "Concerto for Two Cellos" with the National Symphony Orchestra and Maestro Rostropovich, with repeat performances on the NSO's 1989 & 1994 United States tours. Steven Honigberg graduated with a Master's degree from The Juilliard School of Music, where he studied with Leonard Rose and Channing Robbins. Other menors include Pierre Fournier and Karl Fruh. In 1987 he was the only American winner in the International Cello Competition in Scheveningen, Holland. Musical America magazine honored Mr. Honigberg in 1988 as a "Young Artist to Watch". Honigberg made his recording debut with an Albany CD of 20th century American cello works, which received the highest 5 star rating from Classical Pulse Magazine, with pianist Kathryn Brake. Voted 'Best New Chamber Music Series' of 1994 by The Washington Post, Steven Honigberg has been The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum's music director since its inception. Steven Honigberg performs on the 'Stuart' Stradivarius cello made in 1732.
CAROL HONIGBERG has been heard as soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States and Europe. She has appeared as soloist with the Dutch Radio Philharmonic, l'Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne, and the Belgian Radio and Television Orchestra. A recent tour with the Chicago Chamber Orchestra included performances in Prague, Warsaw, Berlin and Leipzig. She has been featured in broadcasts on Radio France Musique, La Radio Suisse-Romande, the BRT in Belgium and Radio Ireland. Her New York debut took place at Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center. Carol Honigberg has recorded the Samuel Barber Piano Concerto and Sonata for the Musical Heritage Society. She has also recorded a CD on the Pavane label which features works by Gershwin, Piston, Ginastera and Bruzdowicz. Her latest CD on the Albany label feature the complete works for cello and piano by Beethoven with her son, Steven Honigberg. Carol Honigberg is currently on the faculty of Roosevelt University in Chicago. Her teachers included Rudolph Ganz and Marguerite Long in Paris. She received her Master of Music degree from Northwestern University.
JOSEPH HOLT, pianist, enjoys a wide ranging career as soloist and chamber music performer. He is pianist with the United States Army Chorus, Artist Member of the Chamber Artists of Washington and Adjunct Member of the Music Faculty of The American University. He has been awarded as a Baldwin Concert Artist Prizewinner, the Washington International Competition for Pianists, and the William C. Byrd Young Artist Competition. Recent performance highlights include a tour of Romania, a program of Spanish music at the Spanish Institute in New York City and the National Gallery of Art. Mr. Holt holds a Bachelor of music degree and the Performer's Certificate from the Eastman School of Music, a Master's of music degree from the Shenadoah University, and is currently pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in chamber music at The Catholic University of America where he studies with Marilyn Neeley. Other primary teachers include David Burge and Nelita True.
GEORGE MARSH has been a member of the National Symphony Orchestra since 1979. Mr. Marsh has performed as soloist with the National Symphony Orchestra, the Virginia Chamber Orchestra, the Catholic University Orchestra, and several other orchestras in his native midwest. As a chamber musician, he is a founding member at the Chamber Artists of Washington; he has also performed with the Vaener String Trio, the New England Piano Quartet, the Washington Chamber Society, and the Alexandria Chamber Ensemble. Recital performances include concerts at the Phillips Collection, the Organization of American States, and the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. Mr. Marsh has received numerous awards, including first prize in the 1985 Washington International Bach Competition. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan, where he studied with Paul Makanowitzky. Mr. Marsh plays a 1758 J.B. Guadagnini, the "ex Joseph Silverstein.”
JANE BOWYER STEWART, violin, has been a member of the National Symphony Orchestra since 1981. She earned both her Bachelor of Arts (summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa) and Master of Music degrees from Yale University. At Yale, she studied chamber music with Raphael Hillyer and the Tokyo String Quartet; her violin teachers have included Abraham Chavez, Jr., Broadus Erle, Syoko Aki and Shirley Givens. In Washington she has been a guest artist with the 20th Century Consort and the National Musical Arts Ensemble, and for six years she was a member of the Manchester String Quartet. As a founding member of the Chamber Soloists of Washington, she has performed at the Kennedy Center and recorded on the Newport Classic label. In addition to her chamber work, she has appeared as soloist with the Eclipse Chamber Orchestra and with the National Symphony Orchestra. Ms. Stewart's violin was made in 1691 by the Venetian master Matteo Goffriller.
Cover Artist
MARYAN (1927-1977) was one of the most powerful and gifted expressionist artists of the 20th century. Maryan (born Pinchas Burstein in a small town in Poland) until his teen years, lived in a way typical of the Eastern European shtetl Jew. Shortly after the beginning of World War II, Maryan's life became a nightmare. He ultimately was interned in Auschwitz, and was the only member of his family to survive. After more than two years in DP camps in Germany, he went to Israel and began his artistic training but left for Paris in 1950 to continue his studies. Though recognized as a major painter in France, he immigrated to the United States in 1962, where he settled in New York and eventually became a citizen. In 1960, Maryan created a series of personnages that clearly are rooted in his concentration camp experiences, though they carry broader meanings, signifying the human condition. Fancifully garbed, they display various headgear such as helmets, fools caps or hoods. Some wear armbands or costumes with targets on them or they point to targets, as if inviting their enemies to shoot them. Most interesting is his use of black-and-white stripes, suggestive of both prisoners' uniforms and phylacteries.
American Works for Cello with Steven Honigberg
Foss - Diamond - Bernstein - Schuller - Barber
Albany Records (Troy 082)
…The Performances have great virtuosity, eloquence and stylistic authority; the cello tone is unfailingly beautiful and adaptable to every expressive nuance...
Classical Pulse
Beethoven Complete Works for cello and piano Vol. I
Op. 5 No.2 - Op. 69 - "Judas Maccabaeus" - "Die Zauberfiote"
Albany Records (Troy 116)
played with warmth and recorded in rich sound. There is a magisterial approach to the music...
American Record Guide
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© 1995 ALBANY RECORDS
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