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Solidaritätslied
The "Solidaritätslied" ("Solidarity Song") is a revolutionary working song written between 1929 and 1931 by Bertolt Brecht, and set to music by Hanns Eisler. It was written against the background of the Great Depression, the Great War (1914–18), and the social issues caused by the Industrial Revolution that were explored in Brecht's 1932 film ''Kuhle Wampe'' in which the song also appeared. History Two versions of the text exist, both written by Brecht. The better known version is the second, written during the Spanish Civil War, which is more abstract and ideological. The first version is more closely tied to the film ''Kuhle Wampe''. In 1932, the song was first performed with the collaboration of several working-men's choirs. The song spread quickly in the final months of the Weimar Republic, particularly at sporting events. Structure and score The begins with the following verse: : In Eisler's arrangement, the first four syllables of the word "Solidarity" are repe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Einheitsfrontlied
The "Einheitsfrontlied" (German for "United Front Song") is one of the most famous songs of the German labour movement. It was written by Bertolt Brecht and composed by Hanns Eisler. The best-known rendition was sung by Ernst Busch. History After Adolf Hitler's coming to power in January 1933, the situation for left-wing movements in Germany drastically deteriorated. The antagonism between the Social Democratic Party and the Communist Party had long divided the German left. After the Nazis banned both parties and labour unions in the summer of 1933, many people, including Bertolt Brecht, believed that only a united front of social democrats and communists could fight back against fascism. In 1934, at the request of fellow theatre director Erwin Piscator, Brecht wrote the "Einheitsfrontlied", calling for all workers to join the ''Arbeiter-Einheitsfront'', the Workers' United Front. The song was performed the next year in the First International Workers Music Olympiad held in St ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hanns Eisler
Hanns Eisler (6 July 1898 – 6 September 1962) was an Austrian composer (his father was Austrian, and Eisler fought in a Hungarian regiment in World War I). He is best known for composing the national anthem of East Germany, for his long artistic association with Bertolt Brecht, and for the scores he wrote for films. The Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler" is named after him. Family background Johannes Eisler was born in Leipzig in Saxony, the son of Rudolf Eisler, a professor of philosophy, and Marie Ida Fischer. His father was an atheist of Jewish origin and his mother was Lutheran. In 1901, the family moved to Vienna. His brother, Gerhart, was a Communist journalist, and his sister, Elfriede, was a leader of the German Communist Party in the mid-1920s. After emigrating to America, she turned into an anti-Stalinist, writing books against her former political affiliation, and even testifying against her brothers before the House Un-American Activities Committee. At age 14 Eis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kuhle Wampe
''Kuhle Wampe'' (full title: ''Kuhle Wampe, oder: Wem gehört die Welt?'', translated in English as ''Kuhle Wampe or Who Owns the World?'', and released in the USA as ''Whither Germany?'' by Kinematrade Inc.) is a 1932 German feature film about unemployment, homelessness and left wing politics in the Weimar Republic produced by Prometheus Film. The script was conceived and written by Bertolt Brecht. He also directed the concluding scene: a political debate between strangers on a train about the world coffee market. The rest of the film was directed by Slatan Dudow. The film music was composed by Hanns Eisler. Kuhle Wampe itself was a tent camp on the Müggelsee in Berlin. ''Wampe'' is Berlin dialect for "stomach", so the title could be rendered "Empty Stomach". The film was banned in Germany in 1932 due to the accusations that it depicted the president, the legal system, and religion in a negative light but, following protests, the ban was lifted for a recut version. The fil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ernst Busch (actor)
Friedrich Wilhelm Ernst Busch (22 January 1900 – 8 June 1980) was a German singer and actor. Biography Busch originated from a Kiel worker family. He started in life as a shipyard worker before he decided to make use of his acting and singing talent. Busch first rose to prominence as an interpreter of political songs, particularly those of Kurt Tucholsky, in the Berlin Kabarett scene of the 1920s. He starred in the original 1928 production of Bertolt Brecht's ''Threepenny Opera'', as well as the subsequent 1931 film by Georg Wilhelm Pabst. He also appeared in the movie ''Kuhle Wampe''. A lifelong communist, Busch fled Nazi Germany in 1933, accompanied by his wife, Eva Busch, and with the Gestapo on his heels, initially settling in the Netherlands. By 1938 they had divorced, without acrimony, as their lives diverged. Eva settled in Paris while Ernst initially made his home in the Soviet Union where he worked with Gustav von Wangenheim on the 1935 film "Kämpfer" (''"Fighte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Interval Signal
An interval signal, or tuning signal, is a characteristic sound or musical phrase used in international broadcasting, numbers stations, and by some domestic broadcasters, played before commencement or during breaks in transmission, but most commonly between programmes in different languages. It serves several purposes: * It helps a listener using a radio with an analog tuner to find the correct frequency. * It informs other stations that the frequency is in use. * It serves as a station identifier even if the language used in the subsequent broadcast is not one the listener understands. The practise began in Europe in the 1920s and 1930s and was carried over into shortwave broadcasts. The use of interval signals has declined with the advent of digital tuning systems, but has not vanished. Interval signals were not required on commercial channels in the United States, where jingles were used as identification. List of interval signals by station * Radiodifusión Argentina a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The People United Will Never Be Defeated!
''The People United Will Never Be Defeated!'' (1975) is a piano composition by American composer Frederic Rzewski. ''The People United'' is a set of 36 variations on the Chilean song " ¡El pueblo unido jamás será vencido!" by Sergio Ortega and Quilapayún, and received its world premiere on February 7, 1976, played by Ursula Oppens as part of the Bi-Centennial Piano Series at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Concert Hall. Rzewski dedicated the composition to Oppens, who had commissioned it, and who recorded it in 1979; her recording was named "Record of the Year" in that year by ''Record World'', and received a Grammy nomination. Analysis The song on which the variations is based is one of many that emerged from the Unidad Popular coalition in Chile between 1969 and 1973, prior to the overthrow of the Salvador Allende government. Rzewski composed the variations in September and October 1975, as a tribute to the struggle of the Chilean people against the newl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frederic Rzewski
Frederic Anthony Rzewski ( ; April 13, 1938 – June 26, 2021) was an American composer and pianist, considered to be one of the most important American composer-pianists of his time. His major compositions, which often incorporate social and political themes, include the minimalist ''Coming Together'' and the variation set '' The People United Will Never Be Defeated!'', which has been called "a modern classic". Early life and education Rzewski was born on April 13, 1938, in Westfield, Massachusetts, to parents of Polish and Jewish descent, and raised Catholic. He began playing piano at age 5 and attended Phillips Academy, Harvard, and Princeton, where his teachers included Randall Thompson, Roger Sessions, Walter Piston, and Milton Babbitt. In 1960, he went to Italy on a Fulbright grant, a trip which was formative in his future musical development. In addition to studying with Luigi Dallapiccola in Florence on a Fulbright scholarship he began a career as a performer of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ruth Zechlin
Ruth Zechlin (22 June 1926 – 4 August 2007) was a German composer. Life Ruth Oschatz was born in Grosshartmannsdorf, where she began piano lessons at the age of five years, and wrote her first composition at the age of seven. From 1943 to 1949 she studied music theory with Johann Nepomuk David and Wilhelm Weismann, church music and organ with Karl Straube and Günther Ramin and piano with Rudolf Fischer and Anton Rohden at the Music Academy in Leipzig. After she completed the state exam, she worked at the academy for a year as a lecturer and also worked as a deputy organist at the Nikolai Church in Leipzig. In 1951 she married pianist Dieter Zechlin, and the marriage lasted until 1972 when the couple divorced. Zechlin gained lectureship in music theory at the German College of Music in Berlin in 1969, where she taught harpsichord and studied harmony, counterpoint, form, orchestration and composition. After 1970 she was professor of composition at the Academy of Arts and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joachim Werzlau
Joachim Werzlau (5 August 1913 – 23 October 2001)Walk, InesJoachim Werzlau(in German) DEFA, retrieved 10 August 2021. was a German pianist, radio consultant and composer. He belonged to the first generation of composers in the GDR, where he was also active in organisations and politics. As a pianist, he played for the theatre, for Mary Wigman's dance school, and a kabarett, among others. He composed popular songs, music for audio plays, film scores, incidental music, and three operas. With films such as '' Nackt unter Wölfen'' (''Naked Among Wolves'') and '' Jakob der Lügner'' (''Jacob the Liar''), he was the most popular film composer of the GDR of his time. Early years Born in Leipzig the son of an orchestra musician,Musial, Torsten MusialWerzlau, JoachimIn ' 5th edition. Vol. 2. (in German) Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, , retrieved 10 August 2021. Werzlau tried first compositions at age twelve. His father taught him violin and piano. Since the family's economic situation prevent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siegfried Köhler (composer)
Siegfried Köhler (2 March 1927 in Meißen – 14 July 1984 in East Berlin) was a German composer in the German Democratic Republic. Life During World War II, Köhler worked with a musicians group ''(Spielschar)'' within the Hitler Youth organisation. After the end of the war, the Soviet secret police NKVD arrested him and charged him with being a member of the Werwolf. He was detained at the infamous prison Speziallager Nr. 4 in Bautzen. In March 1946 he was transferred into Speziallager Nr. 1 in Mühlberg and on 21 June 1946 he was handed over to the NKVD command in Dresden. He was released there suffering from tuberculosis.Andreas Weigelt: ''Chronik der Initiativgruppe Lager Mühlberg e.V.''. IG Lager Mühlberg, Mühlberg/Elbe, 2010 (), referenced by: Dieter Härtwig: ''Er erträumte ein „Reich des Menschen“.'' In: ''Dresdner Neueste Nachrichten'' March 2, 2002 Köhler went on to study first Composition in Dresden and then musicology and Art history in Leipzig. From 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Günter Kochan
Günter Kochan (2 October 1930 – 22 February 2009) was a German composer. He studied with Boris Blacher and was a master student for composition with Hanns Eisler. From 1967 until his retirement in 1991, he worked as professor for musical composition at the Hochschule für Musik "Hanns Eisler". He taught master classes in composition at the Academy of Music and the Academy of Arts, Berlin. He was also secretary of the Music Section of the Academy of Arts from 1972 to 1974 and vice-president of the from 1977 to 1982. Kochan is one of eleven laureates to have been awarded the National Prize of the GDR four times. In addition, he received composition prizes in the US and Eastern Europe. He became internationally known in particular for his Symphonies as well as the cantata '' Die Asche von Birkenau'' (1965) and his Music for Orchestra No. 2 (1987). His versatile oeuvre included orchestral works, chamber music, choral works, mass songs and film music and is situated between social ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fritz Geißler
Fritz Geißler (or Geissler) (16 September 1921 in Wurzen, Saxony – 11 January 1984 in Bad Saarow, Brandenburg) was one of the most important composers of the German Democratic Republic. The son of Elsa and Walther Geißler, he was raised in modest circumstances. His first violin lessons came from the leader of a local tenants' association's mandolin-band, himself a pipe-fitter. Following graduation from public school, Geissler went into training with the town-pipers band of Naunhof. After the conclusion of this most inauspicious education he earned the means to continue private lessons in violin, piano, and music theory as a bar and coffee house fiddler in Leipzig. Later, in 1979, he used his experiences from this time in his opera ''Die Stadtpfeifer'' ("The Town Pipers"). In 1940 he was conscripted into the Wehrmacht as a musician, and ordered to Guernsey in 1942, where he served in the Luftwaffe's musical corps. In 1945 he became a prisoner of war of the English, where he w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
