Russian Waltz

Brahms: Piano Sonata No. 3 Op. 5 & Handel Variations

Piano Sonata No. 3 in F Minor, Op. 5: I. Allegro maestoso

27th of January - Holocaust Remembrance Day
IMPORTANT: Please watch the video for the "Dance of the Forgotten" here: http://youtu.be/bFbuBmyxMZ4
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Among the millions of victims of the Nazi Regime and the Holocaust, one group is still forgotten today: the nearly 400.000 victims were people with disabilites in the so called "Euthanasie" programs. In fact, they were the first victims of the Nazi regime, and they were the first human beings killed in gas chambers. The "technology" of gas chambers and "death plants" ("Todesfabriken") was first developed for and tested on the German people with disabilities. 

They were regarded as "unwertes Leben" ("unworthy life") and "Ballastexistenzen" ("ballast people"), "wertlose Menschenhülsen" ("worthless human bodies") and "nutzlose Esser" ("useless eaters"). At the end of the programme nearly everybody was in danger, who could not work, even elderly people and wounded soldiers were "euthanized".

Their names are still kept secret. Many of their families still feel "ashamed" today. They feared being viewed as having been "infected" by their disabled relatives ("erbkrank").

The victims of "Euthanasie" were legally not accepted as persecuted by the Nazis and thus did never receive any reparation. It took until the year 2007 (sic!) that the German Bundestag declared the "Erbgesundheitsgesetz" for illegal.

Most of the involved doctors continued their normal lives after the war. The victims were forgotten.

This piece goes therefore out to these forgotten victims of "Euthanasie", because "if we forget the victims, we murder them a second time."

Picture: Anna Lehnkering (2.8.1915 - 7.3.1940)
Anna was as a young girl sterilized and later on killed in the gas chamber of Grafeneck.
http://www.sigrid-falkenstein.de/euthanasie/anna.htm

This piece is part of the "Holocaust Remembrance Suite" for solo piano, which is an unique remembrance project, which has grown out of a collaboration between Stephan Beneking, composer based in Berlin, and pianist Hal Freedman (https://soundcloud.com/classical-soul-pianist) from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. 

The innocence and beauty of pure piano classical music 
poses a stark contrast to the horrors of the Third Reich and the Holocaust.

All recordings of the "Holocaust Remembrance Suite" uploaded to SoundCloud you find here: https://soundcloud.com/stephan-beneking/sets/holocaust-remembrance-suite-1

The booklet with descriptions about the historical background and scores / sheet music can be downloaded for free here:
http://www.beneking.com/hrs

Each piece in the Holocaust Remembrance Suite contains a vital message about the war crimes and atrocities of the past. Unfortunately, the message is applicable to conditons that persist in our world today. It is our sincere hope to raise social awareness of these problems through this important project.

The Suite is accompanied by dramatic videos showing images, which further tell the story behind each individual piece:
http://www.youtube.com/user/steveberlin0815
http://www.youtube.com/user/hmfreedman

The 'Holocaust Remembrance Suite' can be downloaded from BandCamp and is available (for regular price) on iTunes and many other platforms. 
http://beneking.bandcamp.com/album/holocaust-remembrance-suite-charity-album
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/holocaust-remembrance-suite/id675961753
http://www.amazon.de/Holocaust-Remembrance-Suite-Charity-Album/dp/B00E0QQ52C/ref=sr_shvl_album_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1374427542&sr=301-1

All proceeds will be donated to charities.


YouTube Video

The Dance of the Forgotten - Holocaust Remembrance Suite - played by Hal Freedman

Rachmaninoff: Piano Masterpieces

Moments musicaux, Op. 16: No. 1 in B-Flat Minor

Nostalgia

Robin Giesbrecht, Klavier
Aufnahme: Bellevue 2012. 50 Jahre Deutsche Stiftung Musikleben

Claude Debussy: L'Isle joyeuse

Grieg - Nightwatchman's Song Op. 12 No. 3

From a collection of 66 lyric piano pieces composed by Edvard Grieg (1843-1907)

Performed by Fiona Bechmann July 2024
Picture by @nataliebechmann - View from Champagnetoppen, Jelsa, Norway