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Polish Music Center |
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Description:This conference, the first of its kind, attempts to fill some of the larger gaps in Polish music history by (1) highlighting the richness of achievements of Polish composers of Jewish descent and Jewish music in Poland and by (2) emphasizing the complexity of cultural relationships betweent the two ethnic groups, including both assimilation and coexistence. Invited scholars discussed the lives and music of individual composers (Rosenthal, Friedman, Godowsky, Tansman, Fitelberg, Rathaus, Koffler, Ryterband, Vars), groups of musicians (klezmer) and communities.
Thematic Areas:
Registration:Conference with concerts, regular $50, student /retired/member of FPM $25. Registration per day is also available. Tickets to concerts: reg. $7, stu/ret/FPM $4. For more information about registration click here: Registration Form. You may also e-mail the PMRC at polmusic@usc.edu, or fax the USC School of Music (fax: 213-740-3217).
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Prof. Wróbel (historian) is the main specialist in "minority" issues in Polish history, the author of two books on the subject. He taught history at the University of Warsaw (including a course on the history of Polish Jewry) before assuming his current post at the endowed chair in Polish History at the University of Toronto.
SUNDAY. 11:10 a.m. - 1:10 p.m.
USC Campus, Arnold Schoenberg Auditorium
SESSION II: SOLOISTS AND SOCIETIES
SESSION CHAIR: Prof. Piotr WROBEL, University of Toronto
Prof. Goldberg is an American scholar of Polish Jewish descent, a Chopin specialist whose doctoral dissertation dealt with the social context of F. Chopin's early life in Warsaw and who is presently completing a book on music in Chopin's Warsaw. This study presents a new direction in her research, stimulated by her personal interests and this conference.
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Prof. Cohen (musicologist) and Prof. Szpilberg received a grant from the Canada Council to research the forgotten music of the Jewish virtuosi who originated from Poland but conquered the world with their art.
Aleksander Tansman, Roman Ryterband, and Henry Vars came to California at different moments in their lives. Tansman survived the war and returned to Paris. Ryterband had lived in Switzerland, Canada, and on the East Coast before retiring here, while Vars enjoyed a successful career as a film composer. A comparison of these three lives casts light at the issue of personal, national and ethnic identity and cultural belonging of immigrants.
Dr. Schubert's dissertation about the use of early music in film opens a new study area. Her research on Henryk Wars (Vars) and his work for the Hollywood film industry is a new project, stimulated by this conference.
USC graduate, classical guitarist, Jordan Charnofsky and Leo Chelyapov, originally from Russia, discuss the various folk sources and styles of klezmer music as well as the approach of their group to this musical repertory.
Hankus Netsky is an instructor at Boston's New England Conservatory (where he served ten years as chairman of Jazz Studies). He is founder and director of the Klezmer Conservatory Band; currently, Mr. Netsky is finishing a Ph.D in Ethnomusicology at Wesleyan University. He will discuss four twentieth century professional Jewish folk instrumentalists, Harry Kandel, Carl Frydman, Leo Rosner, and Ben Bazyler, focusing special attention on how their Polish origins and adopted homes influenced their careers.
Bret Werb has served as musicologist at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. since 1992. He is a Ph.D.candidate in ethnomusicology at UCLA.
SUNDAY, 2:10 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
USC Campus, Arnold Schoenberg Institute Auditorium.
SESSION III: FROM POLAND TO CALIFORNIA
Session organized in cooperation with the USC Institute for the Study of Jews in American Life.
SESSION CHAIR: Prof. Paul KNOLL, History Department, USC College of Letters Arts & Sciences.
"The Question of Identity: Polish Jewish Composers in California"
"Recovering a Repertory: The American Film Scores of Henry Vars"
SUNDAY. 3:50 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
SESSION IV: FOLK AND KLEZMER MUSIC
SESSION CHAIR: ASST. PROF. TIMOTHY COOLEY, UCSB, Ethnomusicology.
"Two Voices on Klezmer Music"
"Four Klezmorim From Poland (Kandel, Frydman, Rosner, Bazyler)"
"A Musical Parergon to Chone Shmeruk's Mayufes: A Window on Polish-Jewish Relations"
SUNDAY, 8:00 p.m.
USC Campus, Arnold Schoenberg Auditorium.
CONCERT I: TANSMAN AND HIS CONTEMPORARIESThis concert presents the rich musical personality of Aleksander or Alexandre Tansman who was born in Poland, settled in Paris, and became a citizen of the world, set against the background of works by his colleagues and friends. Describing himself as a "Polish composer" and drawing from the music heritage of mazurkas and polonaises, Tansman was a member of the international avantgarde, a protege' of Ravel and a personal friend of Stravinsky (during his California years, 1941-46). His contemporaries in Poland, coming from the same group of Western-oriented, cosmopolitan Polish - Jewish musicians include Koffler (student of Schoenberg, Poland's first 12-tone composer), neo-romantic modernist Rathaus, and neoclassicist Laks.
Performers:USC Faculty, Students and Guests.
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In the program: |
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Christopher Hailey is an independent scholar who specializes in early twentieth-century music history. His publications include a biography of Franz Schreker; he is currently writing a biography of Schoenberg for Cambridge Univeristy Press. Dr. Hailey is director of the F. Schreker Foundation and an artistic consultant for the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Ms. Guzy-Pasiak (musicologist) is currently completing her doctoral dissertation about the music of Karl Rathaus, under Prof. M. Goł±b. This is the first extensive Polish study of the music of this composer.
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Dr. Schussler researched Rathaus's music since 1992, completing his doctoral dissertation in 1997 at the Freie Universitat Berlin. This pioneering work drew upon hitherto unknow sources in Europe and the U.S. including the composers' private papers. Dr. Schusler published several articles on Rathaus and helped to "rediscover" the composer's music by editing his works for publication and performance.
MONDAY. 2:20 p.m. - 3:40 p.m.
SESSION VII: ALEKSANDER TANSMAN
Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion, L.A. Campus.
Anna Grancell Student Lounge/Martin Gang Lecture Hall.
SESSION CHAIR: Bret WERB, Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington.
Ms. Milewski is currently completing her doctoral dissertation on the history of the "mazurka" including contributions of Jewish, Russian, and German composers to the development of this stylized dance form. In August 1997, she presented a paper on songs in concentration camps at the 16th Congress of the International Musicological Society.
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MONDAY. 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion.
Anna Grancell Student Lounge/Martin Gang Lecture Hall.
SESSION VIII: DISCUSSION: IDENTITY/ETHNICITY/ART?
SESSION CHAIR: Maria Anna HARLEY (Trochimczyk), USC School of Music.
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MONDAY, November 16. 8:00 p.m.
CONCERT II: GREAT MUSIC BY GREAT VIRTUOSI
USC Campus, Newman Recital Hall.
This double recital highlights the virtuosic and expressive achievements of composers-performers who wrote brilliant piano music for themselves and charming, miniatures for their salons. Szymanowska is a 19th c. virtuosa pianist; the names of Godowsky, Friedman and Rosenthal need no introduction to a lover of piano music. Friedman's songs are well respected for their beauty, while Ryterband's and Fitelberg's pieces display the poignant and festive moods of Jewish music. This selection highlights both the cosmpolitan, international dimension of the art of these composers and the roots of their music that thrived on the Polish soil to enchant the world.
RECEPTION, immediately after the concert, Newman Recital Hall foyer.
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