Who is Karol Rathaus and why we are making this film
Karol Rathaus (1895, Ternopol, Galicia — 1954, Flushing, New York) emerged in the early 1930s as one of the most promising voices in European music — his works championed by Wilhelm Furtwängler and Erich Kleiber, his film scores among the most sophisticated achievements of early European cinema.
Then the Nazis came to power. Rathaus fled — first to Paris, then London, finally New York, where he became the first professor of composition at the newly founded Queens College. His son Berndt would later say: “Hitler killed the composer Karol Rathaus.”
This film is an attempt to understand what those words mean. It tells the story of an emancipated Jew from Galicia in search of his identity as its layers are stripped away — his language, his cultural world, his faith in a civilization that had just tried to destroy him. He chose safety in obscurity. And he left behind music that has waited long enough to be heard again.
Promo/Demo Reel
This is the latest teaser for the film emphasizing Rathaus’ struggles. In this reel you see and hear voices of student musicians of The Orchestra Now (TON), the president of Bard college and the principal conductor of TON Maestro Leon Botstein, one of Rathaus’ students George Sturm, a historian Henry Feingold, and Rathaus’ daughter-in-law June Rathaus.
Michael Haas is an award winning recording and executive producer who worked with major music labels such as Decca, Sony, Deutsche Grammophon, etc. His most highly regarded work has been in the recovery of music lost during the Nazi era in Europe, including London/Decca’s recording series Entartete Musik of works thought lost, forgotten or destroyed. After publishing book “Forbidden Music: Music of Jewish Composers Banned by the Nazis” he was invited to become a senior researcher at the exile.arte Zentrum of Vienna University for Music and Performance Arts.
Daniil and Sergey Deych are two brothers, one of whom (Daniil) is an up and coming filmmaker and the other (Sergei) is a classically trained pianist. After Daniil came back home from Vancouver, where he attended Vancouver Film School, the Deyches teamed up and formed a film production company specializing in classical music videos. Daniil (with Sergei help) also wrote, produced and directed his first short film “Untitled”, which he submitted to a number of festivals.
Music Director and Principal Conductor of American Symphony Orchestra and The Orchestra Now of Bard College, a scholar, and an expert in the history of European music. President of Bard College,
Photo by Matt Dine
Polish Pianist, Chamber musician, Adjunct Assistant Professor at University of Silesia. Alexandra founded Karol Rathaus Ensemble, dedicated to promotion of Karol Rathaus’ music, and Karol Rathaus Foundation in Poland.
Promotion Executve at Boosey and Hawkes, the largest specialist classical music publishing company in the world. Boosey and Hawkes published a large number of Karol Rathaus’ compositions, with Frank Harders being one of Rathaus’ major champions.
Senior Lecturer in Music at the Department of Music University of Bristol, UK. Dr. Scheding work focuses on the displacement of European music and musicians caused by the catastrophes of the 20th century. His recent book, “Musical Journeys: Performing Migration in 20th-century Music” received the Royal Musical Association/Cambridge University Press Monograph Prize 2020.
Karol Rathaus on world wide web
