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Gideon
Klein was just 23 years old when he arrived in Terezin, but was already
well-recognized as an up-and-coming performer and composer. From the age of 11
Klein was taking piano lessons and from the age of 15 he was developing his
fresh and promising compositional style. His successful studies led him on a
path to Charles University in Prague where he studied Musicology and also to
the Master School of the Prague Conservatory for further piano instruction. At
this time Klein also enjoyed private tutelage under the famed Czech modernist
composer, Alois Haba. However, as Hitler's influence spread in the late 1930s,
the consequences of being a Jew in Prague brought Klein's higher education to a
premature and unfortunate halt.
Yet as
schools closed their doors to Jewish students, Klein did not
allow his creative nature to be stifled. Possessing talent
and drive beyond many of his generation's musicians, he continued
to compose and give virtuosic piano recitals. By September
of 1941 Klein often adopted the pseudonym of Karel Vranek
in order to continue public performance, and when that grew
too dangerous under watchful Nazi eyes, he limited his appearances
to private affairs in the apartments, homes and school buildings
of fellow Jewish music enthusiasts.
In
December of 1941, this early chapter in his clandestine musical life drew to a
close. Klein was deported from Prague to Terezin, where he soon became heavily
involved in the prisoners' surreptitous musical efforts. His compositional
talent for providing new material became invaluable in a situation lacking
sheet music and arrangements for the unique assortment of available
instruments. But even more invaluable was his indomitable passion for music,
which sparked life and hope into the hearts of many a despondent musician and
audience member.
When
the Freizeitgestaltung (Administration of Free Time Activities) was established
in Terezin in 1942, Klein's pivotal role became official as he was chosen to
head the department of Instrumental Music. In addition to performing
high-caliber repertoire in numerous recitals, especially once more pianos
became available within the camp, Klein also organized chamber ensembles and
gave lectures, lessons, and advice to other camp musicians. All this work was
balanced, however, with his dedication to composing new works. Though his style
little reflects the microtonal nature of his mentor Haba, the influences of
another Czech musician, Leos Janacek, and Austrian Arnold Schoenberg are more
clear. Like Janacek, Klein drew from Moravian folk music as sources for
inspiration. This is most evident in his Fugue for a String Quartet and String
Trio, finished just 9 days before his deportment to Auschwitz in October of
1944. Schoenberg's influence is displayed in his Sonata for Piano.
After
time in Auschwitz, Klein was moved yet again to the Furstengrubbe concentration
camp where he was forced to work in coal mines. He died of uncertain
circumstances in January of 1945—a great loss to the world both for his musical
talents and his inspirational personality. Fortunately his legacy has been
maintained, thanks especially to the work of Charlotte Opfermann and Irma Frank
Semecka, who hid and smuggled many of his works out of the camp. While his
entire collection has not survived, especially items composed pre-imprisonment,
the remaining pieces impress listeners to this day and make us long for more of
what might have been written...
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