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

Analog Audio

Event Type

Interview and Music

Origin

KPFA

Identifier

MC.1976.05.07.B

Program Series

Morning Concert

Program Length

139 min

Part

2 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
Music Theater

Musical Selections

Das Verhör des Lukullus (”The Trial of Lucullus”): Final Scene [text by Bertolt Brecht] (9:22) -- Fünf Kinderlieder: Vom Kind, Das Sich Nicht Waschen Wollte (”Of The Child, Who Did Not Want To Wash Itself”) (1:39) ; Der Pfluamenbaum (”The Plum Tree”) (1:16) ; Kleines Bettlelied (”The Little Begging Song”) (2:04) ; Mein Bruder war ein Flieger (”My Brother Was A Flier”) (1:09) ; Gottseibeiuns (”God Be With Us”) (3:00) [texts by Bertolt Brecht] (1949) -- Orchestermusik No. 4 (1973) (20:00)

Performers

Roswitha Trexler, soprano (Fünf)
Werner Pauli, guitar (Fünf)
Staatskapelle Berlin (Orchestermusik)
Günter Herbig, conductor (Orchestermusik)

Subjects

20th century classical
Music theater
Songs (High voice) with guitar
Orchestral music

Acknowledgment

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

Related places

Berkeley (Calif.) (was recorded at)
Berkeley (Calif.) (was broadcast at)

Related Entities

Staatskapelle Berlin
Amirkhanian, Charles
Hennenberg, Fritz
Lohr-Bailey, Helga
Davis, R. G.
Dessau, Paul, 1894-1979
Brecht, Bertolt, 1898-1956
Trexler, Roswitha
Pauli, Werner
Herbig, Gunther