Introduction
Have you heard of composer Mieczyslaw Weinberg? According to the researcher of this composer’s life, David Fanning, Weinberg should be regarded as the third greatest Soviet composer, alongside such renowned ones as Prokofiev and Shostakovich. Mieczysław Weinberg’s complicated life events and circumstances inevitably impacted his musical style and identity.
Born in Poland to a Jewish family and later emigrating to the Soviet Union, he is commonly described by musicologists and music scholars as a Polish-Jewish-Soviet composer. Indeed, one cannot avoid the influence of one’s surroundings and relationships on one’s identity and artistic expression, which is why all these three cultural elements impacted Weinberg. However, given the lack of proper evidence and in-depth research on the topic, the essence of his identity is under-discovered. Thus, the question that should be answered in this research study is how each of Weinberg’s different identities is represented in his music.
Mieczysław Weinberg’s Biography
Undoubtedly, an artist’s biography is an essential source of information that allows for identifying the core influences that have formed their cultural identity, later manifested in their works. In the case of Mieczyslaw Weinberg, the composer’s life significantly contributed to his multicultural identity. The composer was born in a Jewish family in Warsaw, Poland, on December 8, 1919. His father was a musician and had a decisive impact on Weinberg’s beginning of his musical career.
Weinberg recollected his childhood memories, sharing that his father was a violinist, composer, and conductor for a touring Jewish theater, the music of which was “less than top-quality, but always very sincere.” At an early age, Weinberg taught himself to play the piano and, by age ten, started composing and “at times substituted for his father as leader of the musical ensemble.” Indeed, the childhood experiences associated with his father’s work and his early introduction to the music world have shaped Weinberg’s musical identity.
In his childhood memories, the composer recalled that “life was my first music teacher” due to his exposure to musical surroundings since birth. For Weinberg, as a child, it was common to take his “father’s music sheets and scribbled down something or other; some clefs, some notes, without any intelligent meaning” until he learned good music literacy. In such a manner, the composer’s musical heritage was predetermined by his immediate family environment.
Notably, the mere fact of being introduced early to music composed and played by his father and the musical theater played a decisive role in shaping Weinberg as a composer. According to the interview of one of the most renowned researchers of Weinberg’s biography, David Fanning, “the Jewish folk music background, particularly the klezmer ensemble, the dance music that he had been used to from his father’s theater, where he grew up and first made music.”This quote illustrates that the perception of Jewish folk melodies and genres was inherently close to Weinberg’s musical identity since childhood and has had a prominent role in his later composing career.
Being a member of a Jewish family during the time of World War II disruption, Weinberg was exposed to traumatic and life-changing experiences. With the rise of Nazism in Europe, his family suffered from a wave of antisemitism that expanded beyond Germany and reached Poland. Weinberg’s sister and parents were killed in the Holocaust, which disrupted his identity as a human being and, undoubtedly, as a composer. In his own words, the composer admitted that “many of my works are connected with the issue of war; alas, this was not my own choice; it was dictated by my fate and by the tragic fate of my family.”
Thus, acknowledging the disruptive fatality of war-related life experiences created the basis for his music. Moreover, the composer stated, “I see it as my moral duty to write about the war and about the terrible things that happened to people in our century.” The exposure to the atrocities associated with war in general consequently shaped the composer’s core ideas, transmitted through his music.
In an attempt to escape from an antisemitic Nazi regime, the composer escaped Poland to the Soviet Union. Having suffered a family tragedy and emigrated to the Soviet Union, Weinberg had to hide his Jewish identity due to the oppression against these people. Consequently, trying to cross the borders of the Soviet Union as a refugee escaping from the Nazis invading Poland, Mieczysław Weinberg changed his name to sound appropriate for the new environment to be able to live in the Soviet Union. The change of name was the demarcation line that signified “not only a new name that awaited Weinberg but in a way also a new identity and a new life, of a kind he had probably never expected.” His escape to a different country was a turning point in his life and career as a music artist since the political and cultural environment of the Soviet Union significantly shaped his identity as a composer.
The composer’s life in the Soviet Union was marked by challenges and political threats in line with the totalitarian regime’s oppression and control of any artistic expression that would jeopardize the Soviet Union’s power. Indeed, researchers of Weinberg’s biography indicate, “in 1948, the political leadership of the USSR put pressure on the composers – as indeed on other creative artists” because they “wanted the music to be more popular and readily comprehensible in the spirit of socialist realism.” The expectations of the government from artists were for them to glorify the Soviet Union and establish an optimistic perception of life among its citizens.
According to researchers, although “Weinberg was not subjected to tough personal criticism, some of his works appeared on a prohibition list, together with music by Shostakovich, Prokofiev,” and others. However, in 1953, Weinberg was arrested not for his music but for the wrongful conviction of politically fabricated crimes that were technically needed for Stalin’s regime to induce repressions against artists. Thus, Weinberg was arrested due to familial relations with anti-Soviet individuals.
Indeed, researchers state that his arrest was associated with “the fact that his wife was a close relative of Miron Vovsi,” who had an active legal position in antisemitism cases. However, according to the International Mieczyslaw Weinberg Society, Shostakovich initiated a petition to liberate Weinberg from prison, which ultimately helped the composer to obtain freedom. Thus, the relationship between Weinsberg and Shostakovich helped the former avoid long-term imprisonment; however, their interaction was characterized by far more fruitful outcomes, as demonstrated in the next section.
Relationship Between Weinberg and Shostakovich
Indeed, Mieczysław Weinberg’s friendship with Shostakovich was a significant particularity of the composer’s life and career. The relationships with this famous Soviet Union composer contributed to Weinberg’s style perfection and the formation of his musical identity in all its complexity. The first meeting of the two composers occurred in Moscow in 1943, when they started their fruitful journey of a lifetime of friendship and creative work.
While many scholars argue that Weinberg’s style was formed under the predominant influence of Shostakovich, allocating the latter a place as a master and a leader in Weinberg’s musical career, there are striking pieces of evidence that suggest the opposite. Indeed, according to Elphick, “while the strong influence of Shostakovich on Weinberg is frequently audible, the reverse process is arguably no less significant.” Elphick continues, “Several authors have proposed that Shostakovich’s interest in Jewish idioms may have come in part at least from Weinberg’s example.” Thus, these implications transform the conventional beliefs that Shostakovich and his musical ideas purely impacted Weinberg’s identity.
Both evidenced the friendship between the two composers in their interviews and memories. Firstly, through common friends, Shostakovitch became aware of Weinberg’s music. In his letter to a friend, Shostakivitch wrote: “You have already written to me several times about the composer Weinberg, each time with great praise; it would be exciting to get acquainted with his works.” According to Weinberg’s wife’s memories, the two met in Moscow in 1943. Secondly, their friendship is witnessed by their deliberate and long-term work on a piano duet.
Moreover, Weinberg shared his memories that “Shostakovich asked me to play a piano reduction of his Symphony, which I did with pleasure; in general, I played a lot on the piano together with Dmitry Dmitriyevich, and we met frequently.” Finally, the two composers lived close to each other and often visited each other for chats. Indeed, Weinberg stated that Shostakovich came to his place “whenever he simply wanted to sit for a while and have a chat;” he also invited Weinberg to family celebrations. Thus, friendship and mutually warm relationships have been demonstrated in the statements of both composers.
Moreover, Shostakovich admitted that Weinberg’s newly acknowledged styles presented to him impacted his career and the perception of music. Indeed, Weinberg’s Second String Quartet signified the connection between Weinberg and Shostakovich. Fanning states that “there is strong internal evidence to suggest that Shostakovich borrowed ideas from it for his Second and Sixth Quartets, so beginning a creative dialogue that would remain fruitful for three decades. Furthermore, as evidenced by Nelly Kravetz, as cited in Elphick, “the interest Shostakovich showed in the Jewish subjects was highly aroused by his acquaintance with Weinberg.” Since Weinberg’s musical heritage significantly impacted Shostakovich, one might argue that the musical styles and views were manifested through an equal exchange rather than a one-way influence on Weinberg.
Jewish Klezmer Music Used by Weinsberg
Weinberg’s Jewish heritage has had a pivotal role in his musical style due to the omnipresence of Klezmer music, manifested by implementing a unique musical language in his pieces. When referring to the definition of this direction in folk music, one should state that Klezmer is a term that originated in the Hebrew language, where the parts of the term include instrument (kley) and song (zemer). Thus, Klezmer might be defined as a song sung by an instrument. Indeed, this meaning becomes evident to a listener once exposed to these folk musical pieces, replicating human voices marked by crying, laughing, and wailing. They represent a mixture of sadness and joy, which characterize the fullness of life in the magnitude of musical sounds’ possibilities.
The history of Klezmer music is similar to the tragic experiences of the Jewish people during the twentieth century. Yale Strom, an American musician and researcher in Klezmer revival, states that Klezmer music was “a music of laughter and tears, of weddings and festivals, dancing and prayer.” However, during the Holocaust, most of the players who performed this music were murdered. Only in the past decades, “Klezmer has been reborn, with dozens of groups, often mixing klezmer with jazz or rock, gaining large followings worldwide.”
Thus, using this music in Weinberg’s compositional works and its substantial presence in Shostakovich’s body of work has been a remarkable cultural phenomenon that allowed for prolonging and popularizing the tunes of folk Jewish music. Therefore, it is essential to investigate the manifestations of Mieczysław Weinberg marked by the Klezmer tradition. Such an analysis will allow for deepening the insights into the composer’s musical and cultural identity and establishing its core impact.
Examples of Jewish Manifestations in Weinberg’s Music
While the general implications of the composer’s Jewish heritage are evident in his music, several of MieczysławWeinberg’s pieces vividly demonstrate Klezmer music’s influence. Indeed, there is much evidence that Weinberg’s Jewish identity is clearly illustrated in his compositions. Firstly, “Children’s Song,” Op.13, written in 1943, was initially titled “Jewish Music” and used the poems of Polish Jewish poet lzik Lejb Perez. In ‘The Orphan’s Letter,’ “the innocent world of the earlier songs is shattered,” and “the vocalise of the Coda seemingly gives voice to the child’s broken life, until a final gesture of defiance from the piano.” Thus, one might indicate that the lyrical songs composed by Weinberg illustrate his Jewish identity on several levels, namely, thematic and musical.
Secondly, Symphony No. 21, Op. 152 (1991), for soprano (wordless) and orchestra, is another example of the Jewish identity of the composer. This piece “expresses the composer’s thoughts and feelings about the horrors of his life, from the Holocaust through the Stalinist era,” which are illustrated in the musical features of the symphony. The clarinet solo of the piece, which is performed in the Klezmer style, is characterized by the tonal sound specific to the Jewish musical tradition.
Thirdly, a symphonic cycle named ‘Festive Pictures’, Op. 36 (1946-76) in general, and its second of the three movements, ‘Jewish Rhapsody’, exemplifies the composer’s Jewish identity. The Rhapsody “lives up to its title in a complex and somewhat rambling design, its chief interest being that it serves as a dry run for the succession of Jewish and other ‘national melos’ works.” Thus, these examples vividly demonstrate Weinberg’s Jewish identity manifested in his musical pieces.
Weinberg’s Representative Work of Klezmer Music
While his Jewish heritage, in general, and Klezmer music, in particular, had a far-reaching impact on his musical style, Weinberg’s specific works might be used as vivid examples of implementing Klezmer music principles. In particular, his Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 28, is one of the illustrative pieces of work where Jewish tunes have a prominent representation. Weinberg wrote this piece in the autumn of 1945, after the end of World War II. It was first performed “in Moscow in 1946 by Weinberg on the piano and Vasiliy Getman, clarinet professor at the Gnesin music academy, on clarinet.” It was an important piece that illustrated Weinsberg’s Jewish identity.
The Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 28, consists of three movements representing the multifaceted nature of Jewish folk music. Indeed, Fanning’s accounts of the use of Klezmer music in the sonata demonstrate the complexity of stylistic features and combinations. The researcher stated that “all three movements are marked by wistful permeability of major and minor modes, impulsive rhythmic outbursts and invitations to the clarinet to glide up to and between notes.” Indeed, the sonata “concludes on a note of passionate protest, with a slow finale, a feature that would become increasingly characteristic of Weinberg’s multi-movement works.” Thus, the sonata’s tone, structure, and combination of melodic and mood-related aspects denote the essence of Klezmer’s music in Weinsberg’s style.
Moreover, the use of the Freygish scale in Weinberg’s Sonata for Clarinet and Piano is a particular feature of Klezmer music. Indeed, Klezmer is predominantly written in Freygish, mix-Lydian, and Dorian scales. According to Strom, “the Ahava-Raba (Hebrew: a great love) is known as Freygish among klezmorim today.
It is similar to the Phrygian but with a permanently raised third.” Thus, one might notice the similarity in the Freygish mode’s order, which includes half – augmented second – half – whole – half – whole. Thesonata’s first movement measures 77 to 78 in the clarinet line’s notes are D, Eb, F, Gb, F, Eb, Bb, and A, which is Bb Freygish mode.
Another example of the Freygish mode appears in measures 137 to 141, which is also in a Freygish mode. Similarly, Weinberg used recitative and melismatic melodies in the 3rd movement in a clarinet cadenza, demonstrating the klezmer style. Furthermore, the representation of human voices by musical instruments is evident in the recitative and melismatic quality of the melody,” as well as an anapestic rhythm where “the first two notes are accented and short, followed by a long note. In addition, the ornaments used in the sonata are connected with Klezmer music.
Indeed, the particularities of Klezmer ornaments are unique and might be noticed in Weinberg’s Sonata for Clarinet and Piano. According to Strom, the krekhtsn (groans, moans) and trills are “used usually by the violinist and clarinetist to evoke a lament.” A vivid example of these elements is in the second movement, measure 64, where the theme returns to the krekhtsn ornament, as well as the second movement’s measures 125-130, where thrills and krekhtsn are used repeatedly to emphasize the Klezmer idea. Thus, these examples and evidence support the claim that Weinberg’s Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 28, is heavily influenced by klezmer idioms.
Conclusion
In summation, the life and works of MieczysławWeinberg were marked by the complexity of his cultural background, the historical events he endured, and his artistic encounters. Being a Jew during Nazi Germany’s invasion of Poland and an unwanted refugee in the Soviet Union, he managed to adjust and manifest his cultural heritage in his works. Having investigated his mutual musical influences with Shostakovich, one clarified that the close friendship with the renowned Soviet composer was not a dominant feature of Weinberg’s style and musical career.
Instead, the prominence of Klezmer music and its ultimate impact on Shostakovich’s work through the lens of Weinberg’s musical perceptions was a key feature of his artistic works. As demonstrated in his Sonata for Clarinet and Piano, Op. 28, Klezmer’s multifaceted nature and complexity represented the core ideas of what music should be like in Weinberg’s opinion. Thus, when answering the research question in this paper, one might state that Weinberg is a Jewish composer whose Jewish identity is clearly and directly manifested through his music.
Annotated Bibliography
Elphick, Daniel. 2014. “Weinberg, Shostakovich and the Influence of Anxiety.” The Musical Times 155 (1929): 49-62.
The author presents the findings of the bibliography of Weinberg through the lens of his relationships with Shostakovich. The article investigates the manifestations of the two composers’ friendship and their mutual influence on each other’s musical styles. The source provides an invaluable set of data on the relationship between the two composers, which is central to the present research paper.
Fanning, David J. 2010. Mieczysław Weinberg: In Search of Freedom. Berlin, Germany: Wolke.
The author of this book is a renowned researcher of Weinberg’s biography and music. In particular, the book is based on the family archives and documented history of Weinberg’s life, with particular attention paid to his musical achievements and the impact of his life experiences on his music. The book sheds light on the composer’s Soviet life and the challenges of complying with the political system of the Soviet Union as a Jew.
Hunt, Rebecca. 2019. “Klezmer Music.” Boston Public Library.
This article is a brief account of the Klezmer music style, with proper attention paid to the manifestations of its particularities in different exemplar pieces. Although short, the source provides a historical perspective on the origins and development of this unique style of music. Moreover, the author describes its features and illustrates how this style is presented in different musical cultures in the contemporary world.
International Mieczyslaw Weinberg Society. n.d. “Mieczyslaw Weinberg.”
This online article, published by the International Mieczyslaw Weinberg Society, is an account of the composer’s biography from the perspective of his experiences in the anti-semitic political environment throughout his life. The article presents insightful and informative data from family archives and documents, which illustrate the impact of the life events of the composer on his decisions and artistic expression. A significant part of the article is dedicated to the Soviet Union life of the composer and his relationships with Shostakovich.
Liverpool Philharmonic. 2009. “David Fanning Talks about Mieczyslaw Weinberg.” YouTube video.
This video material presents a short interview with David Fanning, a researcher of Weinberg’s biography and music, in which the authors explore the multifaceted identity of the composer. In particular, the video contains factual information about Weinberg’s early childhood experiences and his relationships with his father. Importantly, the video analyzes how the early interactions with music ultimately shaped the composer’s musical identity and the expression of his Jewish and Polish heritage.
Robinson, Paul. 2019. “Weinberg’s Potent Symphony No. 21 Given Bold Etching.” Journal of the Music Critic Association of North America.
This article is a detailed analysis of Weinberg’s Symphony No. 21. The authors of the article focus on the symphony by exploring its structure, composition, musical features, and the impact of Klezmer music. In particular, the accounts of the manifestations of the Klezmer music style in tonal voice and instrument choice help the author justify the impact of the Jewish heritage on Weinberg’s musical style.
Romer, Megan. 2019. “Klezmer Music 101.”Liveaboutdotcom.
This online article presents a detailed and informative description of Klezmer music as a genre based on Jewish tradition. The author of the article presents the historical background of this style, its particularities, and threats of going extinct under the suppressive political impact, as well as the intra-stylistic influences. Importantly, the article offers an overview of the sound-specific and dancing features expressed in Klezmer music, which are particularly relevant in the context of the research study dedicated to Weinberg’s compositions.
Strom, Yale. 2011. The Book of Klezmer: The History, the Music, the Folklore. Chicago, IL: Chicago Review Press.
This book is written by a scholar and musician specializing in Klezmer music. It provides a thorough academic account of the style by drawing specific features of this style as manifested in the works of different composers. In particular, the works of Weinberg find their depiction in the book, which allows for claiming and relevantly supporting the claims of Weinberg’s representation of Klezmer in his works.
The University of the Arts Helsinki. 2022. “Mieczysław Weinberg Sonata op.28 for Clarinet and Piano (1945).” Uniarts.
This online article is an in-depth analysis of Weinberg’s Sonata op.28 for Clarinet and Piano, in which the authors outline the most significant stylistic features as well as analyze the musical and instrumental decisions made by the composer. The themes and their representation through particular techniques specific to Klezmer are emphasized. Thus, the article allows for a measure-by-measure analysis of the piece to identify the impact of Klezmer music.