On 23 September, the concert “The Silenced Voices” was held to commemorate the victims of the Lithuanian Jews Genocide at the Centre for Tolerance.

Pax et Bonum VšĮ in collaboration with the non-profit organisation  Académie Lyrique (France)and the Vilnius Gaon State Jewish Museum held an international concert to commemorate the European Jewish composers, victims of the Nazi regime.   

 „Pax et Bonum“ representative and the composer Amaury du Closel.

It has been estimated that because of the aggressive cultural policy implemented by the Nazis tens of thousands of musical works of various genres (jazz, opera, cabaret, etc.) have been lost. The composers who wrote this lost music and are called Silenced Voices dominated the musical scene of pre-war Europe before they were consigned to oblivion. Some of them were exiled, others deported because of their Jewish origins, or allegedly, degenerate nature of the music they wrote. Nevertheless, many of them composed music in exile or concentration camps. Although some composers survived the Holocaust, their music was lost and forgotten. Not only the public but also specialists do not know about the existence of these composers. Very few can say who was Viktor Ullman, Aldo Finzi, Alfred Tokayer or Ernst Toch whose works have especially enriched the European cultural heritage.
Amaury du Closel, the founder of the ensemble The Silenced Voices (2005), delivered a short lecture “Music in Concentration Camps” during the first part of the event. After the interval, Rayanne Dupuis (soprano, Canada) and the ensemble Voix Etouffées (France) gave a concert.

The authors of the works performed suffered in one way or another at the hands of the Nazis: some suffered or died in concentration camps, while others had to immigrate to save their lives. The talents of the artists of tragic fates could not flourish fully. Works by the European Jewish composers D. Milhaud, A. Tansman, R. Karel, and K. Weill are on the programme.

Concert programme:
Darius Milhaud, “Machines agricoles” (1919)
Six pastorals for voice and chamber orchestra
(Texts from a catalogue of agricultural machines)
Alexandre Tansman, Suite for oboe, clarinet and bassoon
Rudolf Karel, “Nonette” (1945)
Kurt Weill, “Frauentanz”. Song cycle for soprano, flute, viola, clarinet, horn and bassoon
(after poems from the Middle Ages).