Most of the works on this album are premiere recordings, drawn from Jerzy Fitelberg's manuscript scores and personal papers donated to the New York Public Library in 1978.
Composer Biography
Jerzy Fitelberg's father, Grzegorz Fitelberg, was a celebrated conductor and composer in Poland, known for premiering hundreds of Polish works and having a conducting competition established in his name.
Composer Biography
Fitelberg was part of the first wave of emigrants who fled Germany in 1933 and, as a Jewish musician, was forced to flee Paris again in 1940, settling in New York.
Historical Context
Fitelberg was one of many composers labeled 'entartete' (degenerate) by the Third Reich, whose works the Nazis intended to eradicate, a mission that almost succeeded in his case.
Cultural Impact
Despite establishing a reputation on both sides of the Atlantic and having his music featured in all International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) festivals from 1926 to 1951, Fitelberg is now almost completely unknown.
Historical Context
Fitelberg's obscurity is partly attributed to the repercussions of World War II, which caused him and many other exiled Jewish musicians to lose their influence, community, and cultural ties.
Composer Biography
Jerzy Fitelberg, born in Warsaw in 1903, studied at the Musikhochschule in Berlin from 1922 to 1926 with Walther Gmeindl and Franz Schreker.
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