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Viktor Ullmann

composer

About this Artist

Born: 1898, Teschen, BohemiaDied: 1944, Auschwitz

"All that I would stress is that Theresienstadt has helped, not hindered, me in my musical work, that we certainly did not sit down by the waters of Babylon and weep, and that our desire for culture was matched by our desire for life."

Ullmann entered Schoenberg's composition seminar in Vienna at the age of 20. From there, he went to Prague, where he worked as a composer and conductor. After posts in Aussig and Zürich, he gave up music altogether in 1931 to join the anthroposophists, a spiritual movement emphasizing an awareness of one's own humanity. The Nazi takeover forced him to return to Prague and to music; he was arrested there in 1942 and killed in Auschwitz two years later.

Further listening:

Don Quixote Dances Fandango (1944)

Gürzenich Orchestra, Conlon (Capriccio)