Woodcut by Conrad Felixmüller of the composer Erwin Schulhoff, Prague 1924. Lindenau-Museum, Altenburg, VG Bild-Kunst
Of all the composers covered by the term ‘Entarte music’, Erwin Schulhoff is the most complex.
Contrary to what various anthologies tell us, Schulhoff was never in Theresienstadt. Nor was he murdered in Auschwitz. The hybrid Czech composer who did not fit into any pigeonhole had simply been unlucky. The Russian citizenship he applied for came two days too late, so instead of being in the Soviet Union, he ended up in the Wülzburg concentration camp, where he died of tuberculosis in 1942.
From his early childhood, Schulhoff was fascinated by everything new. Heartily embracing dada and jazz, he also had a particular liking for the grotesque. His music crossed borders and genres – sometimes even those of a “good decency”.
No wonder his music cannot be labelled: within the oeuvre for string quartet alone, one will discover a huge variety of styles.
Except for his Divertimento op.14 and string quartet op.25, all the works played by the Alma Quartet were composed between 1923 and 1925. Both, highly rhythmic string quartets betray Schulhoff’s affinity with jazz – the second a little more than the first – and also with Czech folklore.
The 1923 ‘5 Pieces for String’ dedicated to Milhaud sound quite neo-classical. Each refers to a dance or a country. In ‘Alla Valse Viennese’, the “waltzes of Ochs” are shining through and in ‘Alla Tango Milonga’ one can only think of Argentina.
Of all the existing recordings of Schulhoff’s quartets so far, the one by the Petersen Quartet (Cappricio) was always dearest to my heart. I still love their performance, but now they have to acknowledge the superiority of their Amsterdam colleagues. Grandiose.
Huge kudos also to Vruchtvlees.com for the cover and box cover design. Not only very bright and cheerful, but also perfectly suited to Schulhoff’s music.
More Schulhoff:
Erwin Schulhoff: genres and music crossing borders
Basia con fuoco 