Szymon Laks

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Szymon (Simon) Laks (born November 1, 1901 in Warsaw , Russian Empire ; died December 11, 1983 in Paris ) was a Polish - French composer and survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp .

Life

Laks studied mathematics for two years in Vilnius and Warsaw before he began studying at the Warsaw Conservatory in 1921 with Roman Statkowski (composition), Henryk Melcer-Szczawiński (conducting) and Piotr Rytel . In 1926 he moved first to Vienna , then to Paris , where he continued his music studies at the Paris Conservatory with Paul Vidal (composition) and Henri Rabaud (orchestral direction ) from 1927-29 . Laks was involved in the Paris Association des jeunes musiciens polonais , to which most of the young Polish musicians of the interwar period belonged and which was close to neoclassicism ; Alexandre Tansman , honorary member of the Association, became one of Laks' key artistic caregivers and a lifelong friend. The acquaintance with the painter Tadeusz Makowski and the artistic collaboration with the singer Tola Korian were also important . Laks worked in the Parisian years as a music teacher, coffeehouse violinist, silent film companion, as a musician on an ocean liner and wrote film scores. A blues symphonique composed by him was awarded a prize by the Association in 1928, and his sonata for cello and piano was premiered by Maurice Maréchal and Vlado Perlemuter .

In 1941, Laks was interned in the French Pithiviers camp near Orléans , and in July 1942 deported to Auschwitz II - Birkenau . He survived the camp as a member, later arranger and leader of the camp orchestra . In October 1944 he was evacuated to the Dachau camp . After the liberation by American troops, he returned to Paris.

In 1948 he published his memories of the camp time, which he wrote together with the Auschwitz survivor René Coudy , as a book under the title Musiques d'un autre monde . Translations did not appear until after 1979. After the war, Laks only slowly returned to composing, initially mainly chamber music and vocal works. In his musical style he remained true to the pre-war period and Tansman's “ École de Paris ”. Tonality , strictness of form, polyphony , clarity are characteristic; In addition, in Laks there is often the inclusion of Polish elements. Under the influence of the 6-day war , Laks almost completely gave up composing after 1967 and devoted himself more to work as a writer and translator - he had already dealt with linguistic issues and with the subtitling of films.

His son is the classical philologist André Laks .

Compositions

stage

  • L'Hirondelle inattendue ("The Unexpected Swallow") (1965) Opéra-bouffe in one act, French libretto by Henri Lemarchand based on the radio play Le Bestiaire inattendu: L'Hirondelle du faubourg by Claude Aveline

orchestra

  • Farys (1924) Symphonic poem for orchestra, lost
  • Symphonia (1924), missing
  • Scherzo (1925) for orchestra, lost
  • Blues symphonique (1928), lost
  • Sinfonietta for strings (1936)
  • Suite polonaise (Suita polska) (1936) (original version for violin and piano, 1935)
  • Poème (1954) for violin and orchestra
  • Od strzechy do strzechy ("From hut to hut") (1959) Suite based on folk songs for small "Odeon" orchestra
  • Petite suite légère (1960) for orchestra
  • Symphony (1964) for strings
  • Les filles du forgeron (1964) Music for the play of the same name by Perez Hirschbein

Chamber music

  • Sonatina (1927) for piano
  • String Quartet No. 1 (1928), lost
  • Sonate concertante (1929) for violin and piano
  • Wind quintet (1929), lost
  • Sonata for violoncello and piano (1932)
  • String Quartet No. 2 (1932), lost
  • Trois pièces de concert (1933) for violoncello (or violin) and piano
  • Suite polonaise (Suita polska) (1935) for violin and piano
  • String quartet No. 3 in Polish folk tunes (1945)
  • Passacaille (Vocalise) (1946) for violin, violoncello, flute and oboe (also versions for voice and piano / violin or violoncello and piano)
  • Sonate brève (1946) for harpsichord
  • Ballade (Hommage à Chopin) (1949) for piano
  • String Quartet No. 4 (1962)
  • String Quartet No. 5 (1963)
  • Concerto da Camera (1963) for piano, nine wind instruments and percussion
  • Dialogue (1964) for two violoncellos
  • Concertino (1965) for oboe, clarinet and bassoon
  • Divertimento (1966) for flute, violin, violoncello and piano (or violin, clarinet, bassoon and piano)
  • Piano quintet (1967) (based on string quartet No. 3 )
  • Prelude for piano (undated)
  • Blues for piano (undated)
  • Variations sur le choral "What God does is well done" for organ (undated)

Singing and piano

  • Cinq chants sur des poèmes de J. Tuwim (1938) Text: Julian Tuwim (Polish)
  • Le Général (1938) Text: Jacques Audiberti (French)
  • Nie winię ("I don't have to") (1939) Text: author unknown (Polish)
  • Passacaille (Vocalise) (1946)
  • Huit chants populaires juifs (Eight Jewish folk songs) (1947) Text: volkstüml. (yidd.); Transfer from Jean-Michel Dumarais (French)
  • Z mroków i świtów (Ombres et Lumières) (1948) Texts: Stefan Żeromski, Andrzej Bogusławski, Z. Moszczyński u. a. (Polish); Transfer from Henri le Pointe and F. de Joannis (French)
  • Bezdomna ("The Vagabond") (1949) Text: Julian Tuwim (Polish)
  • Polały się łzy me ("My tears flowed") (1949) Text: Adam Mickiewicz (Polish)
  • C'est d'un 'maladie d'cœur (1952) Text: author unknown (French)
  • Trois poèmes chantés (1960) Text: Wanda Maya Berezowska (Polish); Transfer from Henri Lemarchand (French)
  • Elegia miasteczek żydowskich (Élégie pour les villages juifs) (1961) Text: Antoni Słonimski ; Transcriptions by Henri Lemarchand (French) and Robert Braun (English)
  • Portrait de l'oiseau-qui-n'existe-pas (1964) Text: Claude Aveline (French)
  • Cztery pieśni ("Four Songs") - 1. Zielony skrzypek ("The Green Violinist", after Chagall) / 2. Strach na wróble ("Scarecrow") / 3. Kompozycja ("Composition") / 4. Adoracja drzewa (" Adoration of the Tree ") (1967) Text: Tadeusz Sliwiak (Polish)
  • Pięć pieśni ("Five Songs") - 1. Modlitwa ("Prayer") / 2. Szczęście ("Equanimity") / 3. Przymierze ("Bund") / 4. Erratum / 5. Wszystko ("Everything") (1968 ) Text: Julian Tuwim (Polish); Transfers by Henri Lemarchand (French) and Hy Janowitz (English)
  • Pożegnanie ("Adieu") (1974) Text: Ludwik Żuk-Skarszewski (Polish)
  • Gdybyś (Si seulement ...) (1974) Text: Ludwik Żuk-Skarszewski (Polish)
  • Six songs - 1. Aniołowe ("Angel Faces") / 2. Staruszkowie ("The Little Old Ones") / 3. Ballada Starofrancuska ("The Ballad of Old France") / 4. Dyzio Marzyciel ("Dyzio the Dreamer") / 5. Prośba o piosenkę ("Request for a song") / 6. O Grzesiu kłamczuchu ("About Little Gregory, the Liar") (undated) Text: Julian Tuwim (Polish)
  • Ewangelia szczęśliwych ("The Gospel of the Happy") (undated) Text: Stanisław Baliński (Polish)
  • Pogrzeb ("The Burial") (undated) Text: Mieczysław Jastrun (Polish)
  • Deszcz ("Rain") (undated) Text: Jarosław Iwaszkiewicz (Polish)
  • La Rue ("The Street") (undated) Text: Wanda Maya Berezowska (Polish)
  • Jednego całowałam z miłości ("I kissed one out of love") (undated) Text: author unknown (Polish)
  • O mastusiu moja ("O my little mother") (undated) Text: author unknown (Polish)
  • Jezusek ("Little Jesus") (undated) Text: author unknown (Polish)

Own writings

  • with René Coudy: Musiques d'un autre monde . Foreword by Georges Duhamel . Mercure de France, Paris 1948
  • Makowski . Swiat, No. 50 (1960). From: Wladyslawa Jaworska, Tadeusz Makowski. A Polish painter in Paris. Dresden 1975.
  • Epizody ... Epigramy ... Epistoły ... ("Episodes ... Epigrams ... Epistles ...") (1976)
  • Poloniki ... Polemiki ... Polityki ... ("Polonisms ... Polemics ... Political ...") (1977)
  • Słowa i antysłowa ("Speech and Counter- Speech") (1978)
  • Szargam świętości ("I don't give a damn about sanctuaries") (1980)
  • Dziennik pisany w biały dzień ("Diary, written in broad daylight") (1981)
  • Taryfa ulgowa kosztuje drożej ("The reduced tariff is more expensive") (1982)
  • Moja wojna o pokój ("My War for Peace") (1983)
  • O Kultruze z cudzysłowem i bez ("Culture with and without quotes") (1984)

Translations into French (selection)

  • Wladyslawa Jaworska: Gauguin et l'Ecole de Pont-Aven (Neuchâtel 1971)
  • Krystyna Żywulska : L'eau vide (Paris 1972)
  • Korab: L'œil de Dayan (Paris 1974)

literature

  • Laks, Szymon: Music in Auschwitz , trans. by Mirka and Karlheinz Machel, ed. and with an afterword by Andreas Knapp; Droste-Verlag, Düsseldorf 1998, ISBN 3-7700-1092-2
  • Laks, Simon: Music in Auschwitz , trans. by Mirka and Karlheinz Machel, reviewed and expanded new edition ed. v. Frank Harders-Wuthenow and Elisabeth Hufnagel, with afterwords by André Laks and Frank Harders-Wuthenow and CD; Boosey & Hawkes, Berlin 2014, ISBN 978-379-31408-2-5 . review
  • Lagerwey, Mary Deane: Reading Auschwitz , Ethnographic Alternatives, Vol. 5 (ed. By Carolyn Ellin, Arthur Bochner), Altamira Press, Walnut Creek 1998.
  • Zofia Helman:  Laks, Szymon. In: Ludwig Finscher (Hrsg.): The music in past and present . Second edition, personal section, volume 10 (Kemp - Lert). Bärenreiter / Metzler, Kassel et al. 2003, ISBN 3-7618-1120-9 , Sp. 1035-1036 ( online edition , subscription required for full access)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Zofia Helman:  Laks, Szymon. In: Ludwig Finscher (Hrsg.): The music in past and present . Second edition, personal section, volume 10 (Kemp - Lert). Bärenreiter / Metzler, Kassel et al. 2003, ISBN 3-7618-1120-9 , Sp. 1035-1036 ( online edition , subscription required for full access)
  2. ^ Teresa Chylińska:  Laks, Szymon. In: Grove Music Online (English; subscription required).
  3. ^ According to the French foreword by Vidal-Naquet, a "more sedate" version on which all the following in the other languages ​​are based
  4. ↑ first 1962; therefore based on the French version from 1948
  5. ↑ Peter Sühring on January 27, 2015 on info-netz-musik ; accessed on January 27, 2015
personal data
SURNAME Laks, Szymon
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Laks, Simon
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Polish-French composer
DATE OF BIRTH November 1, 1901
PLACE OF BIRTH Warsaw
DATE OF DEATH December 11, 1983
Place of death Paris