Thursday, November 7, 2024 @ 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm CST
Thirty-five years after its dismantling, the Berlin Wall continues to hold a place in memory as a symbol of the Cold War. The collective output of a generation of writers, artists, and musicians on both sides of the Iron Curtain reveals a complex and often unexpected mix of conflicted nationalist loyalties, ideological optimism, and artistic triumph in the face of profound challenge. Guarneri Hall’s three-day festival commemorating the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989 will explore the music of the Cold War and its context through the socio-political lenses of both the west and the east. With the help of leading topical experts, each event will illuminate less conventionally understood aspects of the era’s music and provide a balanced view of the forces that influenced its composers.
About This Event
Hanns Eisler (1989-1962) was an important German composer whose work is seldom heard in the US. His story reflects the multiple and sometimes competing perspectives of 20th century history and politics. A German pre-war Communist who frequently collaborated with Berthold Brecht, Eisler emigrated to the US after his work was banned by the Nazi Party in 1933. In 1948 Eisler was blacklisted and deported from the US. He eventually settled in East Germany and would go on to write its national anthem, but would often find himself persona non grata again, writing music that was too experimental, too difficult, and too political for the Communist regime. Read more about Hanns Eisler.
University of Chicago Sociology Professor Andreas Glaeser will frame this performance of Eisler’s works with a discussion of 20th-century history and the politics reflected in the music of Eisler’s era.
Program: The Music of Hanns Eisler
Selections from “The Hollywood Songbook” (1942-43) for low voice and piano
Fourteen Ways of Describing Rain, Op. 70 for flute, clarinet, violin/viola, cello and piano
Septet No. 2 (“Circus”) for flute/piccolo, clarinet, bassoon, and string quartet
“Serious Songs” for baritone and strings
Artists: Tyler Duncan, baritone; Erika Switzer, piano; Elizabeth Fayette and Stefan Hersh, violins; Brian Hong and Tanner Menees, violas; Ari Evan and Alexander Hersh, cellos; Constance Volk, flute; Katherine Jimoh, clarinet; Ben Roidl-Ward, bassoon
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57 people are attending Sounds of the Cold War: The Landscape of Exile
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