Barnet Licht

From the Book Description:

Musik als Lebenshilfe--Barnet Licht Author: Thomas Schinköth Publisher: Altenburg : Kamprad, ©2000.

Retraces the life story of Barnet Licht, a Jewish musician, who was born in Vilna in 1874 and grew up in the USA. In 1898 Licht moved to Leipzig, enrolled at the academy of music, and remained there after his studies as a choirmaster, a position he was forced to leave in 1934. He continued to perform in the framework of the "Jüdischer Kulturbund". From December 1939 Licht lived in a "Jewish house". In February 1945 he and his wife were deported to Theresienstadt. After the liberation they returned to Leipzig.

https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnet_Licht

https://www.lexm.uni-hamburg.de/object/lexm_lexmperson_00002625

Barnet Licht was a successful musician with an unusual idea. Everyone, whether a farmer, factory worker or craftsman, should be able to listen to and play “classical” music. At the age of 17 he founded a choir for people from the poorest areas of the city of New York, where he moved from Lithuania at a young age. He wanted to go to Europe to study. So he came to Leipzig to study music at the conservatory . Barnet Licht was a student of Salomon Jadassohn (1831, Breslau - 1902,Leipzig). In Leipzig Barnet Licht continued what he had already started in New York. He founded workers' choirs and orchestras so that everyone could have access to music, and even made choirs with prison inmates. You have to remember, at Barnet's time there was no MP3 or CD player and certainly no smartphone! At the age of 50, Barnet Licht became choir director of the Gottschedstrasse Synagogue. When the National Socialists came to power, everything changed. Workers' choirs were banned. He was no longer allowed to appear as a musician. But he continued to work tirelessly in the synagogue and in the Jewish community. In 1945 he and his wife were abducted to the Theresienstadt ghetto. Both survived their captivity. Despite the experiences in the ghetto, Licht could not be discouraged. He immediately went back to Leipzig and rebuilt his choirs. On May 1, 1946, he conducted a large choir concert in front of 200,000 spectators in the open air on Augustusplatz. Surrounded by ruins, he brought the music back to them and gave them strength and hope again.

Sound example: Unfortunately there are no records.

https://notenspur-leipzig.de/fuer-kinder/der-notenbogen-entdeckerpa...