Mahler's war songs, from the Des Knaben Wunderhorn collection, have an eerie sense of prophecy, having been written in the highly militarized society of Habsburg Austro-Hungary.
Composer Biography
George Butterworth, a promising English composer, was killed by a sniper at the Battle of the Somme in 1916.
Historical Context
Many artworks that seem to reflect the disruption of war actually predated and anticipated the outbreak of hostilities, including Mahler's war songs.
Historical Context
The American Civil War resulted in approximately 625,000 deaths, more than both World Wars and the Vietnam War combined for the US, representing 2% of the US population at the time.
Historical Context
Kurt Weill's settings of Walt Whitman's poems, composed during World War II, look back to the American Civil War, which was arguably the first modern conflagration.
Album & Artwork
The album's concept originated from the idea of creating a program to mark the centenary of the Armistice of November 1918.
Composer Biography
Rudi Stephan, a German composer, wrote some of his sensual love songs during wartime and was killed on the Galician front in 1915.
