Viktor Ullmann, Composer, Conductor, Music Journalist and Educator, 1898 – 1944 by Susan Moubayed

While visiting several years ago, Samir and I took a trip to nearby Theresinstadt, referred to today as Terezin, which is the site of a former Nazi concentration camp. This experience has remained one of the grimmest of my life.

The fact that Viktor Ullmann had been interned in Terezin piqued my curiosity and I was interested in learning about him. I had never heard of him before, nor had I ever heard his music. What had his life been like? What happened to him at Terezin? And what did his music sound like?

So when I sat down and listened to his String Quartet #3 the first time, I was amazed and pleasantly surprised at how different it sounded from what I had anticipated. Having been written in Terezin, I thought it would be something completely dirge-like, very strident and atonal. But it wasn't exactly that. I found it to be, in fact, a very beautiful piece — melancholic and mournful, with dissonant sounds, yes, but with a lovely lyrical melody, full of emotion and energy. At least that's the way it sounded to me!

A more learned music critic than I am describes it in this manner:

The first movement opens with a beautiful melody full of nostalgia and melancholy. This moves into a grotesque scherzo with the cello responding angrily and soothingly to taunt- like sounds from the strings. The lyrical melody then returns, but in a darker mood, which leads into a slow movement building to a cello fugue-like texture. And this is the emotional heart of the work. The Finale is a bold, assertive theme, alternating with fast passages before returning to the opening music as the Coda.

So, now a bit of biographical information, which I hope will help to understand the man behind this beautiful music.

Viktor Ullmann was born in 1898 in the small garrison town of Teschen, which then was a part of Austria-Hungary, but today a part of the Czech Republic. Prior to Ullmann's birth, his father, who was of Jewish heritage, had converted to Roman Catholicism in order to advance his military career. Viktor was baptized a Catholic and registered with that community in Teschen. Nothing I have read mentions that Ullmann knew he was of Jewish origins nor that he was familiar with that heritage. In 1909, when Ullmann was 11 yrs old, his family moved from the small town of his birth to the large cultural center of . There he attended the gymnasium, took private piano lessons, and studied music theory and composition with a student of , the father of atonal music and a major influence in Ullmann's life. Ten years later (1918), after finishing two years of military service, which saw him fighting in WWI on the Italian front, and after having been decorated for bravery, Ullmann simultaneously

1 entered the Law School and was also accepted into a Schoenberg Composition Seminar. At Schoenberg’s recommendation, he became one of Alexander Zemlinsky’s assistants at The German Theatre in Prague, where his responsibilities included vocal coaching, conducting, and helping to, stage the large productions of the German Male Chorus Society. At this time Ullmann began to debut several early compositions and to establish himself as a composer of new works such as lieder with piano, incidental music, and his 1st string quartet.

Ullmann was appointed as the conductor of the opera house in Aussig for the 1927 season where he conducted such operas as Tristan and Isolde and Le Nozze de Figaro.

Although the period between 1929 and 1931 can be seen as a highpoint of his career, when his works were being performed throughout Europe, it was also a time of spiritual and intellectual crisis.

It was during these years that Ullmann became acquainted and captivated with , the philosophy of Adolf Steiner (1861-1925), a German philosopher and esotericist, who also happens to be the father of the international Waldorf Schools. The word, Anthroposophy means, “the wisdom of the human being.”

Steiner's fundamental philosophical work is called "The Philosophy of Freedom,” which addresses the questions whether and in what sense man can be said to be free. "To be free,” he says, "we must lift ourselves out of our group existence; out of the prejudices . . . of family, nation, ethnic group and religion, and all that we inherit from the past that limits our creative and imaginative capacity to meet the world objectively." And, continues Steiner, "Freedom is a spiritual activity, not a state or condition—one where love, or devotion to the world, is necessary.” This philosophical concept of mind over matter was essential to Ullmann's understanding of the role of art as central to human spiritual and ethical development, and was to influence him greatly throughout his life and certainly in Terezin. In fact, Ullmann became so caught up with the Anthroposophy movement that he ceased all his musical activity to open a bookstore in , Germany devoted to that philosophy. However, after two years, the bookstore was a financial disaster, so in 1933 Ullmann found himself back in Prague and unable to secure a permanent position. So he, once again, established himself as a freelance musician, making important contributions to both Czech and German musical culture there as a composer, conductor, music journalist and educator. During this period Ullmann received two prestigious Emil Herztka prizes. In 1934 he received the prize for his Schoenberg Variations (written in 1925), and the next year he received one for an opera called "The Fall of the Antichrist,” essentially a battle between good and evil. After the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1939, U's living situation became more precarious. He had tried, but been unsuccessful in finding work in London or S Africa and was denied visas to Switzerland and the US. He ultimately was able to send two of his children to Britain via the Kindertransport. But he and his third wife and his eldest son Max found themselves trapped in Prague.

2 His musical output up until this point included some 40 works. Though most of them were lost in the War, 13 of them, which he gave to a friend, still exist. Theresienstadt was originally built as a fortress and walled garrison town by the Hapsburg Emperor Joseph II in honor of his mother Empress Maria Teresa. In 1940, the town was assigned to the Gestapo, who were instructed to convert the fortress to a ghetto/concentration camp. Then in 1942, the whole local population was evacuated and the entire town was used as a garrison, with the fortress remaining the Concentration Camp. [1942-45] Originally, Terezin was designated and disguised as a model community for middle class and elderly Jews, and a large number of prominent, well known artists, musicians and other educated and elite Jews were inmates. In an effort to fool the Western allies about what was happening inside the ghetto, the Nazis publicized the camp for its rich cultural life, officially promoting music and the arts especially among the children.

There were lectures, recitals, and poetry readings; and at least 4 concert orchestras and chamber groups and jazz ensembles were organized. Several stage performances were produced and attended by the inmates. [ticket stubs printed for Germans to attend concerts!] Although Terezin was not an extermination center, but a transit camp, about 33,000 died there due to the appalling conditions: which included population density, malnutrition, disease and murder by guards. About 90, 000 Jews were sent through Terezin to the gas chambers of Auschwitz and other extermination camps.

In the spring of 1944, succumbing to worldwide pressure, and especially to the demands of the King of Denmark as to what had happened to his 400+Danish Jews, the German authorities decided to prepare for a visit by the International RC. by disguising the horrendous conditions with a beautification program, lasting several months. This included planting gardens, painting housing, renovating the barracks and in particular developing and practicing cultural programs to entertain the dignitaries and convince them that the "Seniors' Settlement was real. [In fact, to alleviate the "overcrowding problem", 7500 people were deported in two days between 5/16'5/18, 1944]

During their 8-hr visit, the 3 RC dignitaries were duped by the extensive German propaganda that the camp was really a residence for the elderly and children, and the deportations and exterminations continued.

By the way, if anyone is interested, one of the musical presentations was a performance of Brundibar, a children's opera, performed in a community hall built for the occasion. This opera will be presented Sunday afternoon Oct 19 at the BSO along with the music of another Holocaust composer, .

It was into this camp of Terezin, a thriving cultural scene despite the environment of horror and death, that Viktor Ullmann and his family [3rd wife Elizabeth and 2 sons] were sent on Sept 8, 1942.

Ullmann quickly became one of the leading figures in the camp's musical life. This is not surprising given his previous experiences with conducting musicians, choruses, composing and

3 directing stage performances and working as a music critic. So, Viktor, instead of being given the regular work assignment, was asked to occupy himself with music, and was quickly accepted into the musical leadership of "Administration of Free Time Activities".

He was put in charge of organizing rehearsals, conducting concerts, and he wrote reviews and gave lectures on such diverse topics as Mahler's 1st Symphony and Anthroposophy, the philosophy that had influenced him all his life and continued to do so. The "Studio for New Music" was an informal musical group that Viktor founded to support other musicians in Terezin, and to give public performances of his own work.

Ullmann viewed the physical and mental anguish of his surroundings as the ultimate challenge to his "mind over matter" creative philosophy and entered an astonishingly productive phase completing 23 compositions in 25 months. In fact it is probably the most prolific compositional period of his life. [Quite prolific compared to other Terezin composers.]

Due to the scarcity of scores at T, U's work represented a huge resource of potential performance repertoire. Unlike most of his prewar output (over 30 works), virtually all of the Terezin music has been preserved.

While we were at Terezin, a guide told us that many manuscripts and artwork had been hidden in between the walls of the barracks and discovered after the War. However, in Ullmann's case, he gave his manuscripts to the Librarian in the Camp, who was liberated and kept them till he passed them along to another liberated friend of Ullmann. [Adler]

Ullmann's interest in Jewish themes peaked at T. for the first time, motivating him to compose a number of Hebrew songs for various choruses.

Among the known works composed at Terezin (4 more either lost or incomplete) are:

• String Quartet #3 (1943) • 3 Sonatas for piano #5,6 7 • Songs for voice and piano • Three Yiddish Songs for Voice and Piano 1944 • Don Quijote Overture (1943) • Three Hebrew Boys" Choruses (1944)

However, his largest scale work produced during his imprisonment was an opera called , The Emperor of Atlantis or the Disobedience of Death. This opera is considered by some to be one of the most powerful examples of protest art in the 20th c. It tells of the battle of wills between the Kaiser, who wants to annihilate mankind , and Death. Death refuses to join the Kaiser/Emperor and refuses to work. This produces a hellish world where the living cease to live and the dying cannot die. Death resumes his activities only after the Emperor, admitting defeat, consents to be the first victim, and the natural order is restored.

4 Although this opera enjoyed one rehearsal, it was never performed in T. where the Head of the Camp thought the Emperor too closely resembled Hitler and the huge deportation in Oct of that year (1944) included Ullmann. I found of particular interest reference to a literary diary, which Ullmann kept, called "The Strange Passenger", a collection of his poems and aphorisms. Among his poems is the following:

I searched for truth and I fell into madness. I sought healing and I became ill. From evil I fled only to be damned. For Freedom I strove and became a slave. [From a program of "The Music and Poetry of V. Ullmann”—Holocaust Memorial Concert]

I haven't had access to this diary, but in addition to his deep despondency, it evidently discloses his conflict about his Jewish identity, his basically Christian religiosity and his cynicism. And where the interaction of life and art had earlier allowed the easier creation of beautiful forms [I refer to his belief in Anthroposophy], in Terezin this was different: in Ullmann's words: “Terezin, where anything connected with the muses is in utter contrast to the surroundings". Yet despite all the horror and loss and suffering to which he and those around him were subjected, Ullmann was able to surmount this hell and create this beautiful music that we can hear and enjoy today. I'd like finally to refer to the Biblical psalm 137, which begins, "By the rivers of Babylon" and refers to the capture of the Jews by the Babylonians in 607BCE. The hymn expresses three main thoughts:

1. Yearning of the Jewish people in exile for the homeland, Jerusalem. And the people cry. 2. The refusal of the Jews to obey their captors’ exhortations to make music. And the people hang their harps on the trees. 3. A violent image of revenge. And people conjure up the death of their captors' children.

I've referred to this psalm because the last essay in Ullmann's diary, entered/written in Terezin on Oct 16, 1944, two days before his death in the gas chamber at Auschwitz, concludes as follows:

"It must be emphasized that Theresienstadt has served to enhance, not to impede, my musical activities, that by no means did we sit weeping on the banks of the waters of Babylon, and that our endeavor with respect to Arts was commensurate with our will to live. And I am convinced that those who, in life and in art, were fighting to force form upon resisting matter, will agree with me."

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