Unconquered! Free Sparks of Glory Concert-with-Commentary December 5, 2009

The Nazi propaganda machine attempted to portray Terezín as a model ghetto that demonstrated the Third Reich's humane treatment of the Jews. In reality, inmates passed through Terezín on their way to the death camps--or succumbed there to starvation or disease. Remarkably, the musicians and composers imprisoned there never ceased creating. You'll hear Gideon Klein's vibrant, melodic Trio, written just nine days before his transport to Auschwitz, and the wit and satire of Terezin's cabaret songs. The audaciously original Erwin Schulhoff was sent not to Terezín but to a camp in Bavaria, where he perished in 1942. Schulhoff--banned as “degenerate” by the Nazi regime--united dance, jazz, and folk song melodies in the string quartets that are only now gaining the recognition they merit.