Carlo Sigmund Taube (born 4 July 1897 in Lodz, died 3 October 1944 in

Auschwitz-Birkenau Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

) was a Czech Jewish

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

, and conductor who was murdered in

the Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

Life

Carlo Taube was born in the Lodz in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

on 4 July 1897. He studied music in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

with

Ferruccio Busoni Ferruccio Busoni (1 April 1866 – 27 July 1924) was an Italian composer, pianist, conductor, editor, writer, and teacher. His international career and reputation led him to work closely with many of the leading musicians, artists and literary ...

and earned a living by performing in cafes in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

Brno Brno ( , ; german: Brünn ) is a city in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. Located at the confluence of the Svitava and Svratka rivers, Brno has about 380,000 inhabitants, making it the second-largest city in the Czech Republic ...

and

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

. Taube, his wife Erika and their child were deported from Prague to the Terezín (

Theresienstadt Theresienstadt Ghetto was established by the Schutzstaffel, SS during World War II in the fortress town of Terezín, in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (German occupation of Czechoslovakia, German-occupied Czechoslovakia). Theresienstad ...

)

ghetto A ghetto, often called ''the'' ghetto, is a part of a city in which members of a minority group live, especially as a result of political, social, legal, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished t ...

on 10 December 1941. In April 1942 he conducted the first orchestra performance in the Terezín Magdeburg caserne, premiering his own Terezín Symphony. Taube gave a number of solo concerts and conducted the Terezín band and orchestra. He also performed in the café. Carlo and Erika Taube and their child were deported to

about 1 October 1944 (arriving Auschwitz 3 October 1944), where they were murdered.

Works

Taube composed several pieces in Terezín in addition to the Terezín Symphony. These include: *a Ghetto Lullaby (part of a Ghetto Suite for Alto and Orchestra), *Poem, Caprice and Meditation, three short pieces for solo violin, *Ein Jüdisches Kind (A Jewish Child), a lullaby for soprano and piano (the only work by Taube to survive

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

). - recorded by Anne Sofie von Otter

References

Sources

*Makarova, Elena, S. Makarov, V. Kuperman. ''University Over the Abyss''. 2nd Ed. Verba Publishers, Jerusalem, 2004. *Karas, Joža. ''Music in Terezín, 1941-1945''. 1st Ed. Beaufort Books Publishers, New York, 1985. *Kuna, Milan. ''Hudba na hranici života'' (Engl: ''Music on the Boundary of Life''). 1st Ed. Naše vojsko/Český svaz protifašistických bojovníků, Praha, 1990.

External links

Biography at World ORT's Music and the Holocaust
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taube, Carlo Sigmund 1897 births 1944 deaths Jews from Galicia (Eastern Europe) Austrian pianists Austrian male composers Austrian composers Male conductors (music) Austrian Jews who died in the Holocaust Jewish composers Theresienstadt Ghetto prisoners Austrian civilians killed in World War II Austrian people who died in Auschwitz concentration camp 20th-century Austrian conductors (music) 20th-century Austrian male musicians 20th-century Austrian composers 20th-century pianists Male pianists