Kaufmann / Arc Ensemble Music In Exile CD

For the fourth installment in their Music in Exile series, the Toronto-based ARC Ensemble turns it's attention to the music of Walter Kaufmann. Despite a very promising start in Prague and then Berlin, and friendships with Albert Einstein and with Franz Kafka's circle, Kaufmann's career become a casualty of the Nazi regime that forced scores of Jewish musicians to flee Germany - in his case for Bombay in India. Kaufmann's intriguing and extensive body of work remains largely forgotten, certainly underappreciated, and perhaps most tragically, unperformed since first heard, although ironically, millions of Indians are familiar with one piece of his music - the signature tune that he wrote in 1936 for All India Radio, which is still played every morning. "The hallmark of this remarkable music," explains the ARC Ensemble's Artistic Director, Simon Wynberg, "is it's striking originality. There are flashes of Debussy, Bart?k, and Stravinsky, and hints of Bohemian and klezmer music, but the end result is a world of inventiveness and surprises. It is an extraordinary blend of Eastern and Western traditions, both adventurous and accessible, and no less compelling for the eighty-year delay since it's first performance."

1. Kaufmann, w: String Quartet No. 11 2. Arc Ensemble 3. I. Lento 4. II. Un Poco Grave 5. III. Allegro Molto 6. IV. Allegro Barbarico 7. Kaufmann, w: Violin Sonata No. 2, Op. 44 8. Arc Ensemble 9. I. Molto Moderato E Tranquillo 10. II. Adagio Molto 11. III. Vivace 12. Kaufmann, w: String Quartet No. 7 13. Arc Ensemble 14. I. Energico 15. II. Sostenuto Cantabile 16. III. Allegro Molto 17. IV. Andantino 18. V. Vivace 19. Kaufmann, w: Sonatina No. 12 (Arr. for Clarinet ; Piano) 20. Arc Ensemble 21. I. Sostenuto Cantabile 22. II. Intermezzo 23. III. Finale 24. Kaufmann, w: Septet