Mauthausen Trilogy

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Mauthausen Trilogy
Song cycle by Mikis Theodorakis
2000 recording cover art
Other name
  • The Ballad of Mauthausen
  • Mauthausen Cantata
Occasion50th anniversary of liberation of the Mauthausen concentration camp (May 1945)
Text
Maria Farandouri (Greek), Elinor Moav (Hebrew), Gisela May (German)
Simon Wiesenthal (speech), Asteris Koutoulas, Alexandros Karozas & Tim Dowdall (producers)

The "Mauthausen Trilogy", also known as "The Ballad of Mauthausen"[3] and the "Mauthausen Cantata",[4] is a cycle of four arias with lyrics based on poems written by Greek poet Iakovos Kambanellis, a Mauthausen concentration camp survivor, and music written by Greek composer Mikis Theodorakis. It has been described as the "most beautiful musical work ever written about the Holocaust",[5] and as "an exquisite, haunting and passionate melody that moves Kambanellis' affecting words to an even higher level".

In May 1988, the world premiere of the "Trilogy" at the Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria was attended by then Austrian chancellor

Athens Festival.[7]

The ballad reflects Kambanellis's own experience at Mauthausen, including his love for a Lithuanian-Jewish woman, as it recounts the love affair between a young Greek prisoner and his Jewish love amidst the atrocities they witnessed at the camp. Approximately a year after the release of his ballad, during the premiere of the Mauthausen song cycle in

Greek military junta
and his music was banned in the country.

Historical background

In World War II, Iakovos Kambanellis, a Greek author and poet, was imprisoned by the Nazis at the Mauthausen concentration camp in Austria where he witnessed the Nazi atrocities. Over 100,000 victims died at the camp. Kambanellis survived the incarceration at the Nazi concentration camp and, after the liberation by the Allies, started writing a book based on the events and atrocities he witnessed there.[5]

With the passing years, Kambanellis's work remained in manuscript form at his home. Subsequent world events, such as the assassination of US President Kennedy, caused Kambanellis to re-examine and update his manuscript. He then wrote two new chapters, which were eventually published in the Sunday editions of the Greek newspaper Eleftheria and caused a sensation. In December 1965, Kambanellis published his book Mauthausen with the Themelio publishers in Athens.[5]

Inception and theme

While the book was being prepared for publication by Themelio, Kambanellis wrote four poems based on four chapters in his book. The poems recounted the love affair between two young prisoners at the camp. The owner of Themelio publications, Mimis Despotides, suggested to Kambanellis that the four poems should also be released as songs, to coincide with the publication of the book, and suggested Mikis Theodorakis as the composer.[8]

Kambanellis agreed and gave the poems to his friend Mikis Theodorakis who was very receptive to the idea of composing the music for them, since he was also imprisoned by the Nazis and

Italian fascists in Greece during the war, and created the "Mauthausen Trilogy" which was quite unlike any of his previous works.[2][5] The premiere of the works in Greece was at a theatre in Hippocrates street in Athens in December 1965 and the reception by the audience was enthusiastic.[8][9]

Structure

Tanks of the US 11th Armored Division entering the Mauthausen concentration camp in 1945

The title of the songs is "The Ballad of Mauthausen" and contained four arias:[4] "Άσμα ασμάτων [Asma Asmaton]" (Song of Songs) with verses inspired to a degree by erotic lyrics from the biblical Song of Songs,[4] and includes the lyrics Τι ωραία που είναι η αγάπη μου [Ti oraia pou einai i agapi mou] (How beautiful is my beloved).[5] The second song was "Αντώνης [Antonis]" (Anthony), followed by "Δραπέτης [Drapetis]" (Runaway) and "Όταν τελειώση ο πόλεμος] Otan Teleiosi o Polemos" (When the War Ends).[5] The composition is a music cycle.[10]

In "Asma Asmaton" the struggle of the young male prisoner is depicted as he is trying hopelessly to locate his love. It reflects Kambanellis's own experience at Mauthausen with a Lithuanian-Jewish woman,[11] as it recounts the love affair between a young Greek prisoner and his Jewish love.[11][12] Kambanellis uses a question from the biblical "Song of Songs" 3:3: "Have you seen the one I love?" as the refrain for his lyrics.[13]

In the lyrics, the hero is asking the girls of the concentration camps if they saw the girl he loves: "Girls of

Belsen, have you seen the one I love? and gets the reply: "We saw her in the frozen square with a number in her white hand, with a yellow star on her heart".[5][14]

In "Antonis", the suffering of the imprisoned Jews doing

hard labour,[4] at the Mauthausen quarries is told, "mixed with a revolutionary and subversive mood".[5] Antonis is a Greek prisoner who tries to help his Jewish friend carry a heavy boulder up an incline of 180 steps after his friend cannot work any longer and asks Antonis to help him. The boulders are used to pave the streets of Vienna.[15] The lyrics state: "help is an insult. compassion a curse", indicating that helping another inmate is severely punished by the Nazi guards.[15]

However, Antonis helps his friend without hesitation.

Charos, death, at the marble threshing-floor".[16]

In "Drapetis", the adventure of an escapee, "Yannos Ber from The North", is narrated through the song, as is also his recapture by the

SS which leads to his "tragic fate".[5]

The finale "Otan Teleiosi o Polemos" is a fantasy about the reunion of the two lovers.[4] It goes full circle with the girl from "Song of Songs" appearing as "the girl with the fearful eyes" and "the girl with the frozen hand",[12] and shows the protagonist of the first part, "Asma Asmaton", seeking love everywhere inside the concentration camp as a means of erasing Death, singing the words: "Έρωτα μεσ' στο μεσημέρι σ' όλα τα μέρη του θανάτου ώσπου ν' αφανιστεί η σκιά του" (Make love at midday, in all of Death's places until his Shadow disappears".[5]

Reception

The ballad is considered as possibly the greatest work of Theodorakis,

Baltimore Sun writes: "Theodorakis had the genius to set this poem with melodic elements from the hymn for Palm Sunday of the Eastern Orthodox Church, creating an exquisite, haunting and passionate melody that moves Kambanellis' affecting words to an even higher level."[17]

Jerry Silverman in his book The Undying Flame: Ballads and Songs of the Holocaust writes that "we can be [similarly] enthralled by the passionate lyrics and haunting melody of "Asma Asmaton"" and "[Kambanellis] also wrote a cycle of four poems based on episodes in his book, which were lovingly set to music by Mikis Theodorakis".[19] Silverman also calls "Asma Asmaton" "extraordinarily moving".[20]

Sophia Richman in her book Mended by the Muse: Creative Transformations of Trauma writes: "The song cycle is a requiem for Holocaust victims and raised the consciousness of all Greeks. Its sublime melodic lines, extended harmonies and rhythms, forced listeners to ask, "What happened to our Jews?"".[1] Richman also mentions that the composer "created songs that have entered the pantheon of acclaimed song cycles".[1]

Yaʾir Oron in the book The Pain Of Knowledge: Holocaust And Genocide Issues In Education writes that Kambanellis's poem "Song of Songs" "touches on certain aspects of the attitude of the world to the victims of the Holocaust in a unique way". Oron further comments that "Through its delicate poetical phrasing and its allusions to the biblical "Song of Songs" (Song of Solomon), the reader's attention is drawn to seemingly trivial details rather than to abstract generalizations. In this way, the poem evokes a personal identification with a specific figure (a young Jewish girl in this case)." Oron concludes that these attributes of the poem will make the pupil interested in the poem itself as well as the greater historical context surrounding the events depicted in the lyrics.[14]

Kambanellis's poem "Song of Songs" has been included in a 7th Grade reader which is approved for the new middle schools' literature curriculum in Israel.[14]

The work has been described as a "classical piece",[21] and as "one that contrasts the Nazi horror with the only possible joy, the joy of resistance".[22]

During the premiere of his ballad in

Greek military junta and his music was banned in the country.[17]

On 6 May 1994 at a concert in

platinum disc.[23]

World premiere and anniversaries

In May 1988, the world premiere of the "Mauthausen Trilogy", described as a "landmark concert",

Maria Farandouri in Greek, Elinoar Moav Veniadi in Hebrew, Nadia Weinberg in English, and by East-German singer Gisela May in German.[24][25]

In May 1995, a repeat concert at Mauthausen camp took place to mark the 50th anniversary of the liberation of the camp conducted again by Theodorakis, which was also attended by chancellor Vranitzky and Simon Wiesenthal, who held a speech during the event. Maria Farandouri was the performer of the songs at that concert as well.[21][26]

On 10 May 2015, the ballad of Theodorakis was played in a ceremony at the Greek memorial of Mauthausen honouring the memory of the 3,700 Greek victims of the Holocaust with Zoe Konstantopoulou attending as speaker of the Hellenic Parliament on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the camp. Delegations from other European states and thousands of Europeans also attended ceremonies at the memorials of their individual countries.[27]

In October 2015 the municipality of Larissa in Greece included the performance of Theodorakis's ballad as part of a five-day celebration commemorating the liberation of the city from the Nazi occupation.[28]

Wider impact

The song "Antonis" from the ballad has been used by the

BAFTA Award for Best Film Music in 1970.[5][29]

"Antonis" was also chosen as the background music for a pre-election advertising spot of Syriza, a fact criticised by the newspapers because the name "Antonis" was that of the New Democracy leader at the time, Antonis Samaras, and the lyrics depict Antonis as a heroic figure who challenges anyone to fight with him on the marble threshing-floor. The title of one newspaper article translates as: "[Elena] Akrita: Did anyone at Syriza pay attention to the lyrics of the piece they chose for their [advertising] spot?" and the other: "Unfortunate selection of music in Syriza's [advertising] spot".[31][32]

Theatrical play

A theatrical play based on the Trilogy premiered in Athens on 6 December 2012 featuring the music of Mikis Theodorakis and Gustav Mahler. The work appeared at the Badminton Theater in Athens under the title Mauthausen. Theodorakis had granted permission for the use of his work during the play.[33]

References

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-1-136-91403-4
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  2. ^ a b "Ο Ελληνισμός θα τιμήσει τους νεκρούς στο ναζιστικό στρατόπεδο συγκέντρωσης Μαουτχάουζεν". Epikaira.gr. 10 May 2013. Archived from the original on 2016-01-19.
  3. ISBN 978-0-19-165079-6
    .
  4. ^
    ISBN 978-1-136-91402-7
    .
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Αντωνης Μποσκοιτης (2 February 2015). "Αφιέρωμα στη Μπαλάντα του Μάουτχάουζεν του Μίκη Θεοδωράκη και του Ιάκωβου Καμπανέλλη Το ωραιότερο μουσικό έργο για το Ολοκαύτωμα που γράφτηκε ποτέ". Lifo.gr. Retrieved 27 December 2015. Google translation: "A Tribute to Ballad of Mauthausen Mikis Theodorakis and Iakovos Kambanellis The finest musical work about the Holocaust ever written."
  6. ^ "Mauthausen". Holocaustmusic.ort.org.
  7. ^ ""Μαουτχάουζεν" με την φιλαρμονική ορχήστρα του Ισραήλ και διεύθυνση του Z. Mehta". Μεγάλη Μουσική Βιβλιοθήκη της Ελλάδας.
  8. ^ a b Κωστουλα Τωμαδακη (19 April 2013). "Η λογοτεχνική αντίσταση στην καρδιά της χούντας". To Pontiki.
  9. ^ Política Operária. Política operária. 2005. p. 39. Assim nasceu a Cantata de Mauthausen, apresentada publicamente em Dezembro de 1965, cantada por Maria...
  10. ^ "Τιμούν τον Καμπανέλλη στο Νιου Τζέρσεϊ". No. 1862. Το ποντίκι [To Pontiki, the mouse]. 4 May 2015.
  11. ^ a b c Gail Holst-Warhaft (4 April 2011). "Iakovos Kambanellis obituary". The Guardian.
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  16. ISBN 978-0-521-39472-7
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  17. ^ a b c Stephen Wigler, Sun Music Critic (8 May 1994). "Theodorakis writes the music of history".
  18. ISBN 9789025607951
    . Theodorakis composed a series of four songs to a cycle of poems by the poet Iakovos Kambanellis. Kambanellis ... The 'Song of Songs' which opens the cycle is one of the finest songs Theodorakis has ever written.
  19. ISBN 978-0-8156-0708-3
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  20. ISBN 978-0-8156-0708-3
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  21. ^ a b The Bulletin. J. Haynes and J.F. Archibald. 1995. p. 91. As well as renditions of his popular works, audiences can expect classical pieces such as the Mauthausen cantata, which Theodorakis performed in Austria in May to mark the 50th anniversary of the liberation of that country's Mauthausen Nazi ...
  22. ISBN 978-3-85129-575-7
    . Una gioia questa, che non riesce a tacere nemmeno fra le mura di Mauthausen. No, non hanno suonato la cantata di Mauthausen di Mikis Theodorakis, quella che contrappone all'orrore nazista l'unica gioia possibile, la gioia della resistenza
  23. ^ "Liesbeth List: Biografie" (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 8 November 2017. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  24. ^ a b c "Βιέννη: Ο Μίκης Θεοδωράκης αποθεώθηκε στη μεγάλη συναυλία προς τιμήν του". Kathimerini.
  25. ^ Kızıl şafak. Vol. 34. G. Schneider. 2000. Mauthausen-Häftlings lacovos Kambanellis, die Mikis Theodorakis vertonte und Maria Farantouri zur Gedenkfeier sang sowie Versionen von Nadia Weinberg (englisch)
  26. ^ "Βραβείο για την πρώτη γερμανική μετάφραση του "Μαουτχάουζεν" του Ιάκωβου Καμπανέλλη". Συμβούλιο Αποδήμου Ελληνισμού.
  27. ^ "H Κωνσταντοπούλου στο Μαουτχάουζεν". NewPost.gr. 20 April 2015.
  28. ^ "Αφιέρωμα στην "Μπαλάντα Μαουτχάουζεν" του Μίκη Θεοδωράκη". Eleftheria.gr. 27 October 2015.
  29. ^ a b c "ΒΙΝΤΕΟ ΝΤΥΜΕΝΟ ΜΕ ΤΟΝ "ΑΝΤΩΝΗ" ΚΑΙ "ΠΟΙΟΣ ΔΕΝ ΜΙΛΑ ΓΙΑ ΤΗ ΛΑΜΠΡΗ" Η μουσική του Θεοδωράκη εμψυχώνει τη μάχη των Κούρδων στο Κομπάνι". Ethnos.gr.
  30. ^ "Υπό τους ήχους του Θεοδωράκη οι Κούρδοι πολεμούν τους τζιχαντιστές!". Imerisia,gr.
  31. ^ "Ακρίτα: Κανείς στο ΣΥΡΙΖΑ δεν πρόσεξε τους στίχους για το κομμάτι που επέλεξαν στο σποτ τους;". Eleftheria.gr.
  32. ^ "Ατυχής επιλογή η μουσική στο σποτ του Σύριζα". Topnews.gr. 5 January 2015.
  33. ^ "Θεατρικό "Μαουτχάουζεν" με υπογραφή Καμπανέλλη – Θεοδωράκη Το συγκλονιστικό χρονικό μιας προσωπικής εμπειρίας στη σκηνή του Badminton". To Vima. 5 December 2012.
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