BBC, Sky Movies on music of Auschwitz concentration camp orchestra

The role of music in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camps is the focus of two films to be aired on British television by public broadcaster BBC and Comcast ahead of Holocaust Remembrance Day on Monday. Commemorating the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the concentration camp. Sky.

Both films explore the role that music and the as many as 15 orchestras formed there played at Auschwitz, where more than 1.1 million people died, including how the musicians had to perform alongside other prisoners in the camp. Play a march as you leave early to go to work. Returning home in the morning and entertaining Nazi officers.

British Broadcasting Corporation The last musicians of AuschwitzDirected by Toby Trackman, it tells the story of cellist Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, “a 99-year-old member of the Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz” The only surviving member of the regiment.” The 90-minute film also includes testimonies from other former Auschwitz prisoners who played and composed music at the camp, exploring “what music means in the worst place on earth.” The BBC highlights that throughout there are new performances of musical compositions composed by concentration camp prisoners, which were “filmed today in the shadow of Auschwitz”.

Lasker-Walfish recalled in the film that she eventually joined the orchestra, fearful of playing the wrong notes while also benefiting from receiving slightly more food than other prisoners.

The film, produced by Two Rivers Media, also includes a performance of Robert Schumann's opera “Träumerei” (The Dream). childhood sceneThe BBC's plot synopsis emphasizes that “the notorious concentration camp doctor Josef Mengele asked Anita to play the piece for him, which is performed here by her son, professional cellist Raphael Wallfisch.”

Meanwhile, Polish political prisoner Adam Kopyciński, conductor of Auschwitz's First Orchestra, composed “Lullaby,” a handwritten manuscript that survives and is featured in the documentary His performance is also included, along with songs such as “There Is A Big”. Auschwitz” is performed by Petra Gelbart, a musicologist of Roma descent. It is believed that the song was originally sung in camps and passed down through her family.

“I didn't know there was music in Auschwitz or any concentration camp,” says director Trackman THR. “There's definitely some cognitive dissonance when you first hear about this.”

As a director, joining the project was “a huge personal decision to dive in, open the box, get in there and really see what's inside,” he added. “I was also very, very aware that there was a huge amount of film work surrounding the Holocaust, and I was determined from the beginning that if I was going to tackle it, I was going to approach it in a different way, make something that presented the experience in a different way ”

Finding the right tone means “walking a tightrope between trying to be expressive and evoking emotion and being creative, but also being very, very sensitive to the subject matter and the survivors and all the victims, and never letting the desire to be creative overshadow any of those things ,” Trackman explained. “This is about honoring and respecting, not getting in the way of a tragedy.”

After all, he found the music of Auschwitz “meaningful to those who had been twisted and corrupted by the Nazis.”

He and the rest of the team chose the music presented with a focus on “making sure that each piece of music helped us tell part of the broader story. So we were looking for music that spoke to emotional themes that we could really explore,” the director explained, adding that the team was very lucky to be able to work with Auschwitz and its museum. “We are very honored to be able to perform musical works around the camp,” he emphasized.

Not only the pieces of music played in the documentary, but also the camera footage used to film it have horrific connections to Auschwitz. “We obtained a set of footage that we knew was German pre-war footage and it was being relocated…but in the process of relocating it they discovered they were doing some research on the origins of the footage and later It was discovered that they were designed by a German Jewish woman who was under house arrest in Berlin during the Nazi regime,” Trackman said. THR. “Then, tragically, she was sent to Auschwitz in 1943 and murdered. … In fact, after she was sent to Auschwitz, the company wrote a letter to the Nazi Finance Office letter requesting the return of their lenses.”

The director explained that the lenses were “very unusual in their optical quality, very soft…romantic”. “For a film about Auschwitz, they're not necessarily the choices you initially think of. But to be in those spaces with performers who are connected to the survivors and on footage made by people who died behind the fence It's incredibly powerful to record music made by prisoners.”

at the same time, The lost music of AuschwitzAiring on Monday night on Sky Arts and the Sky streaming service Now, it tells the story of British composer and musician Leo Geyer's eight-year mission to find, analyze, and in some cases organize and present some of the stories from Auschwitz Concentration camp prisoners.

“Many of the manuscripts they left behind were almost illegible, while others were damaged beyond recognition,” says the 90-minute film, produced by production company Windfall Films. “During this musical journey, he discovered how musicians resisted and resisted,” Gale said. Secret performances, weaving forbidden melodies in concert… are intertwined with powerful interviews with some of the last survivors and special performances by (Geye's) orchestra. “

The film is executive produced by Dan Kendall, directed by Tom Cook, edited by Emily West, and has music provided by Constella Music.

Gale said in a statement about the film: “After years of research, I am delighted to be able to share this music with the public to mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. The Holocaust should never be forgotten. Through this music, I hope to bring everyone together to commemorate not only those who were saved by their musical talent, but also all those who suffered and died during the Holocaust.”

Ahead of the film's screening in London on the evening of January 20, producer Kendall said he was immediately attracted to the project when he was introduced to Gale and Constra managing director Natalie de Port. attract. “After talking to them for about two minutes, the question was no longer whether I wanted to work with them on a film about this extraordinary subject,” he explains. But “my mind is really racing with how on earth are we going to make this happen,” he added, citing both creative and practical concerns.

Kendall stressed that “the market for a single film is difficult” and putting together an orchestra is expensive. And “it doesn't really fit into any neat type,” which could add debugging challenges to financial issues. But he said the Sky Arts team embraced the project. “We believe in the power and importance of this story,” he summed up Sky's approach.

In a Q&A after the London screening, Gueye and Cooke were asked to explain the role of music in the death camps and why and how the Nazis used music in the death camps. “They use music to let off steam. They use music to reward the guards. I think it's definitely one of the things they do, but it's definitely a tool,” Cook explained. “They used music as a tool to help run the camp – you know, marching music was the main thing. The orchestra was there to make sure they could walk out of the camp every morning and come back every night and march in a very, very linear fashion so that it was more It's easy to count, so they definitely love music – the Germans – but they use it as a tool.”

Geyer added: “Many of the decisions made at Auschwitz were made to make everything very efficient, and playing marches was part of that efficiency. This steady rhythm meant the prisoners would move faster , they will move in columns, which means everything about the move becomes easier.”

He also emphasizes how different this is from how people usually feel about music. “We think of music as something we enjoy, as a pleasure. But … the intent is to weaponize it, to use it as part of a killing machine,” Guyer said. “It's very difficult to admit that.”

At the same time, music is also an opportunity for prisoners to “rebel,” Gueye stresses. “One of the things the prisoners did that was amazing was they wove Polish melodies… into marches. The soldiers didn't realize it, but for the Polish prisoners they heard these melodies and when they had no strength And it gave them strength and courage. It was just an incredible move.”

The expert even noted that musicians in the camp sometimes played marches by American composer John Philip Sousa as a symbol of their defiance. “The soldiers didn't see any difference between this and regular German music. And, I think a lot of the prisoners couldn't necessarily tell the difference,” Guyer explained. “But they knew they were making such a huge gesture to the Nazis.”

He describes much of his work as restoring musical pieces composed or performed at camp, based on extensive research. But he also created one for the film himself. One of the many touching moments in the documentary is when a musician plays this violin solo, which Gale composed in memory of Roma violinist Jakub Sehgal, who also played the violin in Auschwitz Survived the concentration camps.

“Having been doing research for so long, you'd think I'd be used to horror, but it actually gets worse as time goes on because I learn more every year,” Guyer shared. “I can’t really explain what it feels like to carry such weight, but I can express something in music, and that violin solo piece gave me that opportunity.”

The team behind the documentary emphasized how much thought and meticulous work they put into the film to get it right. For example, Cook emphasized, “We wanted to keep the documentary as authentic as possible and avoid anything stilted…so in pursuit of authenticity, we also spent a considerable amount of time recording in Auschwitz. The place sounds like it does now, so all the sounds you hear in the footage of the modern concentration camp are now the real sounds of Auschwitz.”

When selecting musicians, the team also ensured there was Jewish and Roma representation to honor the many victims of the refugee camp.

“I'm not a Jew, I'm not a Pole, I'm not a Roma, I'm not a descendant of anyone who died in Auschwitz,” Geyer said. “But I'm human, and the Holocaust is the greatest tragedy that humanity has inflicted on itself. If I can do something to prevent a similar evil from coming back, then I will do it. That's our ambition.”