Hans Krieg
Jiskor (In Memoriam) (1955)
Conducted by Shelley Katz using the Symphonova
Soprano: Adaya Peled
Jiskor (In Memoriam) (1955) In the oeuvre of Hans Krieg the title Jiskor appears several times. The Jewish invocation Jiskor is a prayer for the departed, for parents that passed away, for loved ones. Hans Krieg composed his large requiem Jiskor for soloists, two choirs and a symphony orchestra in memory of the six million Jews that were killed during World War II. The composition has four movements, preceded by a prelude and succeeded by a closing postlude. The first performance took place on February 27, 1960, in the Bachzaal in Amsterdam. It was conducted by the composer himself, who considered this work to be the epitome of his output. The reviews were full of praise, and made note of the poignant tenderness and overwhelming beauty of this composition. A recording of this performance was broadcast by Radio Jerusalem two months later. And after Hans Krieg himself passed away in November of 1961 a memorial service was organized, again featuring this impressive requiem.
From a few early versions it becomes clear that Hans Krieg had been working on this composition for many years. In the Nieuw Israëlitisch Weekblad of April 6, 1956, following a radio broadcast, mention is made of a vocal ‘In memoriam (Jiskor), which Krieg composed in Westerbork in the time of occupation’. As early as 1949, a large composition for soloists, choirs and organ named Jiskor had its premiere in the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam conducted by Hans Krieg. It was the primal version of the 1960 composition. It contained a prelude and postlude for organ and two vocal movements. Derived versions for voice and piano from 1949 and for piano solo from 1949-1950 exist as well. The heartbreaking Jiskor for soprano and a divided string orchestra from 1955, dedicated to the Philharmonic Orchestra of Israel, has the postlude from 1949 as its base. In the vast orchestration of 1960 this music forms the final, touching, apotheosis. The first line says: “Meine Brüder, meine Schwestern, oh meine Freunde, oh alle die Kinder, wohin seid ihr gegangen.” The autographs of these compositions are currently located at the Muziekcentrum van de Omroep in Hilversum.
Lourens Stuifbergen (translation: Luc den Bakker)
Hans Max Krieg was born in 1899 in Heynau, Silesia, to a family of Jewish leather workers. Music played an important role in the family home. At the age of six he played the piano and began composing two years later. As of 1923, Krieg worked as a choral accompanist, opera conductor and composer of theatre music at the leading theatres in Germany and Zürich and later he expanded his career in Breslau. In April 1933, caricatures of Krieg appeared in Nazi magazines, leading to his immediate escape to the Netherlands with his family. It wasn’t easy to build a new life in a foreign country. There was hardly any opportunity, certainly not as an opera conductor. Krieg knew he had to change course and took on everything to support his family. During the war he participated in lectures about Jewish songs, organized by the Jewish Council’s department of culture. In May 1943, the family was ordered to move to the Jewish quarter. One month later Krieg was arrested during a raid and shortly after that, the family was deported to Westerbork.
In January 1944, the Krieg family was transported to the concentration camp Bergen-Belsen where they remained until their liberation. Despite all the hardships, and against orders, he managed to cheer up fellow prisoners and children by singing Dutch and Hebrew folk songs together. Despite all the misery and personal losses, Krieg was determined to make something of his life as teacher, conductor, accompanist and musicologist, calling himself “a composer of Hebrew and Yiddish songs and music.” Krieg depicted himself as a torn man, neither at home in Germany nor in Israel. But if ever he felt safe, it was in Amsterdam, behind the desk in his study, with his piano and extensive library. Here – apart from his early theatre music, cabaret songs and music for radio plays – he created an extensive oeuvre of works in all kinds of shape and genre, ranging from (children’s) songs to vocal compositions for solo voice, duets and choir with piano or orchestral accompaniment in German, French, Dutch, Hebrew and Yiddish, to works for piano, chamber music and melodrama. On November 26, 1961, during a choral rehearsal, Krieg felt unwell, and he died on that same day of heart failure. A memorial concert took place in the Amsterdam Bach Hall on March 10, 1962.
Leo Smit Foundation
Image Source: Leo Smit Foundation
