Related Objects

KPFA-FM Music Dept. ➔ Morning Concert: Composer Paul Dessau, 1 of 2

Analog Audio

Event Type

Interview and Music

Origin

KPFA

Identifier

MC.1976.05.07.A

Program Series

Morning Concert

Program Length

139 min

Part

1 of 2

Dates

1976-05-07 | broadcast
| 1976-05-07 | created

Description

Perhaps best known as the musician who, starting in 1944, composed scores for some of the plays and operas by Bertolt Brecht, including “Mother Courage” and “A Man Is A Man”, Paul Dessau was one of the most important political composers of the 20th century. In this program, recorded on May 7, 1976, Charles Amirkhanian talks with the East German musicologist Fritz Hennenberg, who was visiting the San Francisco Bay Area from his home in Leipzig. Hennenberg has authored two books on Paul Dessau and provides here countless tidbits of information about the composer and his partnership with Brecht. Also joining the discussion is Helga Lohr-Bailey, who also acts as a translator for Hennenberg, and Ronald G. Davis, the director of Epic West, a Bay Area organization dedicated to popularizing the works of Brecht, and the sponsor for Hennenberg’s visit. A generous selection of Dessau’s music, much of it from East German record labels, is also offered up for our enjoyment.

Genres

20th century classical
Operas

Musical Selections

An Meine Landsleute (”To My People”) [text by Bertolt Brecht] (1965) -- In Memoriam Bertolt Brecht (1957) (13:25) -- Aufbaulied der FDJ [text by Bertolt Brecht] (1949) (1:48) -- Das Zukunftslied (”Song of the Future”) [text by Bertolt Brecht] (1949) (2:45) -- Hymnus 1959 [text by Johannes R. Becher] (1959) (8:31) -- Lied Von Der Grossen Kapiulation (”Song of the Big Capitulation”) [text by Bertolt Brecht, from Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder (“Mother Courage and Her Children”)] (1946-49) (4:04)

Performers

Gisela May, voice (An Meine)
Gewandhaus Orchestra of Leipzig (Memoriam)
Paul Dressau, conductor (Memoriam)
Radio Youth Choir of Leipzig (Aufbaulied)
Hermann Hähnel, baritone (Zukunftslied)
Hans Sandig, conductor (Aufbaulied ; Zukunftslied)
Renate Krahmer, soprano (Hymnus)
Günther Leib, baritone (Hymnus)
Ekkehard Schall, narrator (Hymnus)
Radio Choir of Leipzig (Hymnus)
Radio Symphony Orchestra of Leipzig (Hymnus)
Herbert Kegel, conductor (Hymnus)
Helene Weigel, voice (Lied)

Subjects

20th century classical
Songs with instrumental ensemble
Orchestral music
Choruses with instrumental ensemble
Songs (Medium voice) with instrumental ensemble
Cantatas, Secular (Mixed voices)
Operas -- Excerpts

Acknowledgment

Funding for the preservation of this program made possible through a grant by the GRAMMY Foundation.