The Voice of the Viola in Times of Oppression

Featuring

Ásdís Valdimarsdóttir
Marcel Worms
Mieczysław Weinberg
Dick Kattenburg
Max Vredenburg
Dmitri Shostakovich

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Compositional Technique

Mieczysław Weinberg's music, like that of Dmitri Shostakovich, often navigates the boundaries permitted by the Soviet regime, and his style is strongly colored with Jewish melodies and rhythms.

Composer's Artistic Vision

The viola is often chosen by composers to express feelings with maximum intensity and depth, especially when conveying emotions related to loss, repressive political systems, persecution, and war.

Album & Artwork

This album, titled "The Voice of the Viola in Times of Oppression," is the first of two CDs exploring compositions for viola and piano where oppression played a significant role.

Composer Biography

Max Vredenburg, a Jewish artist and composer, fled to Indonesia during WWII where he was interned in a camp, and later became a music critic and director of Youth and Music Holland.

Composer Biography

Dick Kattenburg, a highly talented Dutch composer, was picked up during a razzia in 1944 and died at age 24 in Auschwitz, leaving behind an oeuvre that shows a love for dance music and jazz.

Composer Biography

Mieczysław Weinberg, a Polish-Russian, Jewish composer, fled to the Soviet Union after the Nazi invasion of Poland and was later imprisoned, only to be released thanks to his friend Dmitri Shostakovich.

Composition History

Dmitri Shostakovich's Sonata for viola and piano op. 147 was his final composition, written while he was aware of his impending death from lung cancer, making it a strongly autobiographical work.