Tuesday, November 4, 2025 @ 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm CST
On September 2, 1945, Japan’s formal surrender aboard the USS Missouri brought an official end to World War II. Eighty years later, Guarneri Hall commemorates this historic moment with 1945: At War’s End, a two-day festival that invites us to reflect on the lives of composers and musicians affected by the deadliest armed conflict in human history.
The programs feature musical works composed between 1944 and 1946 along with one contemporary work. In the course of two concerts, we’ll explore their embedded themes of resilience, identity, despair, and hope.
Our first program, Resilience, showcases music by three Central European composers, each with their own unique story of displacement by the war. Two were Poles of Jewish descent: Mieczysław Weinberg, who fled Poland for the Soviet Union on foot in 1939 and later became a protégé of Dmitri Shostakovich, and Szymon Laks, arrested in France in 1941 and eventually interned at Auschwitz and later Dachau until the camp was liberated. Also in 1941, the Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů fled Vichy France for the United States. Despite their harrowing experiences, in their postwar music we find a wellspring of resilience in the face of devastation.
The program opens with remarks from Paul Poast, Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science and Committee on International Relations at the University of Chicago.
Program
Bohuslav Martinů (1890-1955): Czech Rhapsody, H 307
Szymon Laks (1901-1983): String Quartet No. 3, “On Polish Folk Themes”
Mieczysław Weinberg (1919-1996): Piano Trio, Op. 24
Artists: Terra String Quartet (Harriet Langley, violin; Amelia Dietrich, violin; Chih-Ta Chen, viola; Audrey Chen, cello); Brian Hong, violin; Alexander Hersh, cello; Daniel Pesca, piano
Guest Speaker: Paul Poast
Read articles on our website related to the 1945: At War’s End series here and here.
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