The Lost Music of Auschwitz: How a British composer brought hidden Holocaust symphonies to life
For 80 years, the haunting melodies of Auschwitz lay buried in silence, hidden among the archives of one of history’s darkest chapters.
Now, for the first time, this lost music – composed by prisoners – will be heard again, thanks to the extraordinary efforts of British composer Leo Geyer.
A new documentary, The Lost Music of Auschwitz follows the journey of composer and conductor Geyer on a ten-year mission to piece together fragments of musical manuscripts found in the Auschwitz-Birkenau Museum.
The film, commissioned by Sky Arts, commemorates the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the concentration camp from the Nazis. Over one million people were killed at Auschwitz as the horrors of the Holocaust unfolded.
Inmates were forced to compose and perform for SS officers as victims marched to their deaths, with survival often depending on the strength of their musical talent.
Featuring interviews with some of the last remaining survivors of the genocide and the Auschwitz orchestra, Geyer reveals how musicians rebelled with secret melodies and forbidden notes hidden within the music.
Geyer, 33, first came across the lost archive when he was commissioned to write a composition in memory of Sir Martin Gilbert, a Holocaust historian. “I went on a research trip to Auschwitz,” he told The Independent.
“I wasn’t expecting to discover anything other than a greater understanding of the Holocaust, particularly as I’m not Jewish, Polish, Romani, or indeed descended from any other group or person who perished in Auschwitz. But I did know something about the orchestras of Auschwitz, as most classical musicians do.”
A chance conversation with an archivist led to the discovery of the treasure trove.
“He said in a very offhand way, ‘Oh yeah, well, I think there’s some music in the depth of the archive, but yeah, you won’t be interested.’ And I said, ‘I think I will.’”
Geyer returned a month later to examine the manuscripts and said, “It transpired that actually there was a lot.” He was moved to take up the project when he saw handwriting on an unfinished manuscript that was similar to his own. In the documentary, he searches for the identity of the hand that wrote it.
“Suddenly, it made it clear in my mind that while I’m not immediately connected to this history, I am human and therefore I am connected to this history,” he said.
Some of the pieces were damaged beyond recognition or too faint to read, but through painstaking work, Geyer and his team were able to piece together and complete the works. His orchestra will finally play the music exactly as it would have sounded 80 years ago in The Lost Music of Auschwitz.
“Most people are incredibly surprised that there were orchestras in Auschwitz in the first place, and once people have reconciled with that, people hope that any music that was performed was sorrowful and sad, in some way engaged with that history,” Geyer explained.
“But the reality is the total opposite. Most of the music that was performed, bearing in mind of course that this was mostly for the SS, is incredibly jolly and very happy.
“Some of the hardest music to perform, which we did for the documentary, was one of the foxtrots, which was for the SS parties. For Nazis gorging on food and downing beer. The juxtaposition of that image and the music is utterly horrific.”
However, he added: “This is why I was so moved by one of the pieces because it was what I was looking for, which was something which was racked with grief and sorrow.”
He reports that Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, now the sole survivor of the orchestras of Auschwitz, expressed bittersweet frustration at the recovery of the lost music.“It was frustration that it had taken 80 years for this music to come to light,” Geyer said. “She was very frustrated that she did not have the opportunity to share this music with any of her colleagues.”
The Lost Music of Auschwitz will air on 20 January at 9pm on Sky Arts, Freeview, and NOW.
