With support from the University of Richmond

History News Network

History News Network puts current events into historical perspective. Subscribe to our newsletter for new perspectives on the ways history continues to resonate in the present. Explore our archive of thousands of original op-eds and curated stories from around the web. Join us to learn more about the past, now.

Performance of concerto written before World War II, forgotten for decades, gets Grammy nod

DENTON, Texas — Paul Kletzki lost his inspiration to compose music after his sister and parents died in the Holocaust.

The native of Lodz, Poland, who wrote and conducted in Berlin before leaving Germany in the 1930s, went on to achieve international acclaim as a conductor but his own musical compositions faded into obscurity.

Now, one of his pieces from the early 1930s, a piano concerto, has been revived by a project at the University of North Texas, and a performance of the work will be in the running for a Grammy award this Sunday.

"It's very emotionally charged. It's significant music," said University of North Texas piano professor Joseph Banowetz, who performed the piece with the Russian Philharmonic Orchestra. He said the piece is technically demanding for both the pianist and the orchestra....
Read entire article at Canadian Free Press