Sent to various lists on May
6, 2000
Below are excerpts from an
article entitled "Ein Thesaurus
des Gedenkens" ["A Thesaurus of Remembrance"] by Thomas
Dombrowski which appeared in _Der Standard_
(May 4, 2000.) This is one of several recent Austrian articles which
consider whether art can adequately address the theme of the Holocaust. They were written in response to the Vienna
Philharmonic's coming performance of
Beethoven's Ninth in Mauthausen Concentration Camp--a presentation reportedly
costing about 1.5 million dollars, and sponsored by Austria's ultra-right,
nationalist government.
Dombrowski asks if there are
not better alternatives for the program than Beethoven. He also questions the Vienna Philharmonic's
appropriateness for the concert. He
begins by taking umbrage with Adorno:
"Adorno was not right:
There can be poetry after Auschwitz, but not poetry about Auschwitz. There are many attempts to deal with the
Holocaust through art, but hardly any are successful. Schönberg's _Survivor of Warsaw _ is symptomatic of the
well-intentioned but irredeemable desire to comprehend the unfathomabilty of
genocide. In a search for convincing artistic
projections of horror, we confront only two legendary examples: Picasso's
'Guernica' and Celan's 'Todesfuge,' a painting and a poem, which in
woodcut-like abstraction focus the essential, and deeply affect the
viewer/reader.
"Why is this not
accomplished by any piece of music?
Perhaps it is because music seems less precise in the description and
projection of reality, and only first shows its strength in laying open
spiritual and emotional precipices.
"And that is exactly
why it is of little use in strategies for dealing with history.
"With the illumination
of psychological backgrounds and the release of emotions--in the perpetrators
as in the victims--it individualizes guilt and suffering, personalizes, even
awakens compassion and abhorrence. The
facts, however, sink into a haze, the enormously important documentation of
history falls by the wayside.
"Documentation: What is more instructive than the
photographs and films the Nazis themselves made of their misdeeds? What has moved discussions of history more
than Anne Frank's diaries or the files of the Eichman trials?" [Dombrowski then briefly discusses the
visits made by a survivor to Austrian schools, then continues:]
"There are, however,
also artistic documentations. They are,
above all, those often quoted works, created under the grotesque conditions of
Theresienstadt, which highlight the horrific daily life of the victims, and
which today provide an impression of the living conditions and human worth from
which art struggled forth. The most
meaningful musical achievement was certainly Viktor Ullman's Theresienstadt
Opera, "Der Kaiser von Atlantis",
the only piece of music, which -- if there is one at all -- would be
worthy of performance in Mauthausen."
"TASTELESS
SELF-ADMIRATION" [caption heading]
[In this next section
Dombrowski refers to an earlier article about the Mauthausen concert by Martha
Halpert entitled "A Slaughter Yard Is Not A Concert Hall." He notes that the title reveals an even more
fundamental truth, namely:]
"A work of musical art
is not suited to protocol the remembrance of a crime. And certainly not Beethoven's Ninth. Even if its sublime 'Ode To Joy' serves as a passable backdrop
for a Victory Day [its use during the Third Reich] or for the fall of the
Berlin Wall [another use it was put to], it degenerates into tasteless self-admiration
in this context of Mauthausen."
"Poor Beethoven! Once again played -- or feigned in the
truest sense of the word-- by the Vienna Philharmonic, the most unworthy
ensemble in the world for such a task, whose ranks contained enthusiastic Nazis
well into the seventies, such as Otto Strasser or Helmut Wobisch. What a crying shame it is no longer possible
to win over Böhm or Karajan as conductor!"
[Dombrowski plays on the
German the word "gespielt," which can mean either "played"
or "feigned." Strasser was
concertmaster of the Vienna Philharmonic. Wobisch was first trumpet, and that
instrument's most acclaimed classical virtuoso until about 1970.
To state Dombrowski's view
in another way, the Austrian government and Vienna Philharmonic create an
atmosphere of "self-admiration" through the abuse of Beethoven--a
specious projection of cultural greatness and brotherhood in a country being
ruled by an extremist, xenophobic party--to say nothing of an orchestra that
forbids membership to women and people of color. This projection of self-admiration would be impossible to achieve
by performing the music of a camp prisoner, even though it would be a memorial
far more meaningful to the victims.
In effect, the concert of
Beethoven's Ninth is a subtle orchestration of denial, an act that weakens and
disperses the survivors by burying them in a calculated atmosphere of Austrian
cultural self-esteem. If the Vienna
Philharmonic were really repentant, it would use the occasion to clearly speak
about its own history: its chairman
during the Reich was an SS Officer; its Nazi Party membership was far above the
national average; it was willingly one of the principle propaganda organs of
the Third Reich. The orchestra has made
no mention so far that six orchestra members were murdered in the extermination
camps, that eleven had to save their lives by fleeing the country, and that
another nine were reduced in status within the orchestra due to
"contaminated" blood. If the
purpose of the concert is remembrance and remorse, these facts would be mentioned, especially in regard to the
orchestra's complicity and its current policy of excluding women and people of
color.]
Dombrowski continues:
"The organizers could
have learned of many works and composers far more appropriate, if they had
consulted the Orpheus Trust, which since 1996 has rigorously sought to trace
the numerous musicians who had to flee Austria in 1938, or who were murdered: a
self-imposed task of documentation - supported with good public words and far
too little public funding!
[While 1.5 million is being
spent on the concert by an ultra-right government.]
Dombrowski: "An unbelievable abundance of
biographical data and works has been meticulously brought together with high
musicological standards by the Orpheus Trust ; the data bank contains
references to 3360 persons and about 6000 compositions, many of which still
await refurbishing. A true 'Thesaurus
of Remembrance' shall come into being out of the encyclopedia, already
substantially enhanced by more the 100 concerts organized by the Orpheus
Trust. There are very special gems
among the interviews given by people who, in spite of all resentment, do not to
want to repress the cultural humus this homeland once gave them.
"The situation of the Orpheus
Trust truly reflects Austria today. A
project, which should seem very important and worthy of support to those
responsible, especially when considering the moral dimension, is neglected to
the benefit of activities which carry prestige.
"Shouldn't the music of
the exiled at least ring out as a document of their own tragedy? And why must it be, that the many people who
are not ready to forget must disintegrate into isolated resistance, instead of
locking shoulders and presenting a united front against those who want to draw history's final lines
and banish remembrance."
_____________
Dr. Thomas Dombrowski is a
musicologist and publicist, and has been on the board of the Orpheus Trust
since 1998. (orpheustrust@netway.at).
William Osborne