“Music as a memory”
Walter Arlen: A lecture recital
Walter Arlen, in conversation with Michael Kerbler:
Memory of the November 1938 pogroms
A joint event with the Austrian Parliament, Barbara Prammer M.A. (President of the National Council), the City of Vienna and exil.arte
The event takes place in cooperation with radio Ö1.
Walter Arlen Concert Flyer (in German)
Walter Arlen is one of the last living composers of the generation that was obliterated by the Nazis: he has, after his escape from Vienna in 1939, not only as a music critic for the Los Angeles Times, but also as a founder of the Music Department of the Loyola Marymount University, contributed significantly to the cultural transfer of Austrian musical tradition.
Walter Arlen was born in 1920 as Walter Aptowitzer in Vienna. His grandparents were the founders and owners of the warehouse Dichter in Ottakring. On the night of 12 to 13 March 1938, Hitler’s storm troopers invaded and plundered his family’s apartment. He was abused, his father was taken to the prison in Karajangasse, – later to the camp of Dachau, then to the camp of Buchenwald. Walter Arlen left Vienna at the age of 14 in March 1939, a day before his visa for the U.S. was to expire.
At the end of April – his father was released from Buchenwald – his parents and his sister Edith fled to England. Under the name Arlen he began his new career: composer, musicologist, music critic, university professor. In Chicago, he studied with the renowned composer Leo Sowerby. In 1947, Walter Arlen was assistant to the composer Roy Harris, and in 1952, he began his work as a music critic, in 1969 he founded the music department at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, he stayed in the board until 1998. His works include chamber music, songs and piano pieces. He was friends with Darius Milhaud, Villa Lobos and Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco.
exil.arte just released a CD with songs by Walter Arlen. The songs are interpreted by Rebecca Nelsen (soprano) and Chanda VanderHart (piano).
Excerpt of the Ö1 interview with Michael Kerbler:
Consult Walter Arlen’s articles on the Los Angeles Times achive.
Wien (PK) – Das Parlament gedenkt auch heuer in Kooperation mit dem Volkstheater, der Stadt Wien und exil.arte in einer Matinee der Novemberpogrome von 1938.
Diesmal steht einer der letzten noch lebenden Komponisten jener Generation, die die Nationalsozialisten auslöschen wollte, im Zentrum des Gedächtnisses. In einem “Gesprächskonzert” mit Michael Kerbler blickt Walter Arlen auf sein bewegtes Leben zurück. Den Ehrenschutz für diese Veranstaltung hat Nationalratspräsidentin Barbara Prammer übernommen.
Die Matinee findet am 6. November 2011 um 11 Uhr im Volkstheater statt. […]
Das Gespräch wird in Ö1 am 10. November um 21 Uhr und am 11. November um 16 Uhr gesendet.
Walter Arlen wurde 1920 als Walter Aptowitzer in Wien geboren. Nachdem SA-Männer noch in der Nacht des Einmarsches von Hitlers Truppen seine Wohnung plünderten und ihn misshandelten, verließ Arlen am 14. März 1938 Wien in Richtung USA. Seine Eltern flohen nach der Entlassung seines Vaters aus Buchenwald nach England.
In der neuen Heimat USA begann Arlen eine neue Laufbahn als Komponist, Musikwissenschaftler, Musikkritiker und Universitätsprofessor. 1969 gründete er die Musikabteilung an der Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, deren Vorstand er bis 1998 war. Zu seinen kompositorischen Werken zählen Kammermusik, Lieder, Songs und Stücke für Klavier.
Im Anschluss an das Gesprächskonzert übergibt exil.arte den von Los Angeles nach Wien gebrachten Vorlass von Walter Arlen an Stadtrat Andreas Mailath-Pokorny. Rebecca Nelsen (Sopran) und Chanda VanderHart (Klavier) werden Lieder von Walter Arlen interpretieren.
Check the photo gallery from Marko Lipus on the website of the Volkstheater.
Photos: Marko Lipus
- except Volkstheater: Photo Andreas Praefcke
