PAVEL KLING: VIOLINIST OF THE CENTURY
Pavel
Kling was born in Troppau (Czechoslovakia) in 1928. His father, Dr. Alfred Kling,
had been a student of Antonin Dvorak and was quite a good violin player himself.
He would be also young Pavel's first teacher. Very soon Kling Junior was rightly
qualified as a child prodigy. At 7, his performances of Mozart's A major
concerto and Bach's A minor concerto with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra,
conducted by K.H. Adler, were proclaimed "a miracle of technical perfection".
From 1935 on, the budding performer's life took him on the concert circuit in
Czechoslovakia and Austria. But the dark years of the Nazi regime were quickly
covering Europe. Austria was invaded on 12 March 1938, and a year later the
German army marched into Prague. From that moment on, Jewish people were
forbidden to perform publicly. Paul Kling: "There hardly was an opportunity to
appear in public; every possible instruction was denied and ultimately the
instruments were confiscated, too. But I had limited access to a mute violin—one
without a body—that produced almost no sound. It was then a wonderful feeling
when I was sometimes invited to play house concerts, for which I was able to use
a real violin." He was deported to Terezin on 9 April 1943 where very soon he
was integrated into the activities of the (the leisure time organisation). As a
15-year old, "the little one"—as conductor Karel Ancerl called him—participated
fully in the musical life of the and performed with Ancerl, Aranyi, Klein,
Schaechter, Sussmann, Mark, Fröhlich, and Taussig. Meanwhile the "Wunderkind"
continued to study. He had lessons in harmony with com- poser Pavel Haas,
counterpoint with pianist Bernhard Kaff, some violin lessons with Fröhlich. At
first he was allowed to share a violin with another boy, later got to play on a
¾ viola, which was strung up as a violin for him. Paul Kling: "The home I was
later placed in, our supervisors were two conductors, three composers, a poet
and a proliferation of teachers from every area. I may have felt at that time
that I was not learning much, but in retrospect I must say that I learned in
those years more than in my whole life." Next to innumerable chamber music
concerts, Kling played under Schaechter in the "Bastien and Bastienne"
performances as well as in the 13 instrument ensembles preparing Ullmann's "The
Emperor of Atlantis". The 16-year old violinist was put on the of 28 September
1944 to Auschwitz, was later sent to a workcamp in Gleiwitz, but survived the
ultimate death march. After the war Kling studied under J. Feld in Prague,
obtained his diplomas from the Music Academy of Prague and in 1947, at 19, had
the chance to display his renewed maturity, replacing an absent soloist with the
Prague Symphony Orchestra in Smetana Hall in Brahm'sDmajor Concerto. From that
point on, his international career took off. He premiered works by von Einem,
Goldmark, Garai, and Fuessl. He recorded for several companies, became
concertmaster of the Louisville Orchestra and the NHK Symphony in Tokyo. He
would also teach at Louisville University before becoming professor and later
Dean of Music at the University of Victoria from where he retired. Those who
have heard Paul Kling play Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms know that this musician
was one of the great violinists of our time.
William MelnykDe 1942 à 1945, Paul (Pavel, en tchèque) a été prisonnier dans les camps de concentration de Terezin et d’Auschwitz. Il a survécu aux camps et à la dernière marche de la mort d’Auschwitz. Pavel avait été violoniste avant la guerre et, après son évasion, son frère a trouvé un violon « pas si nouveau mais agréable » pour Pavel. Pavel a perdu de nombreux membres de sa famille dans les camps, mais quelques-uns ont survécu. Un descendant de l’un de ces survivants a hérité du violon et, bien des années plus tard, est devenu mon professeur de violon. C’est ainsi que j’en suis venu à jouer « Pavel’s Violin ». Le violon lui-même est un beau modèle de Jakob Stainer, construit peut-être au milieu des années 1800. Dans le roman, il est réalisé par Stainer en 1670, et nous retraçons son voyage de la maison de Stainer à Absam, en Autriche, au palais du prince-évêque à Kromeriz, en Moravie, à la communauté juive de la campagne morave, à la grande synagogue d’Olomouc, à Terezin, puis à Auschwitz, et enfin à la montagne des Carpates, où il devient finalement « le violon de Pavel ». En cours de route, le violon est une métaphore de la condition humaine : nos joies, nos peurs, nos peines, notre haine, nos amours et notre espoir d’un bon avenir. « Pavel’s Violin » est une œuvre de fiction historique, un genre assez particulier pour être sérieusement mal compris. La fiction historique n’est pas une histoire littérale qui a été romancée au point que ses détails ne sont pas des comptes rendus fiables de ce qui s’est passé. C’est une fiction inspirée d’événements historiques afin de transmettre des vérités plus profondes que littérales. La fiction historique, à son meilleur, sert de métaphore qui peut attirer un lecteur dans une histoire en tant que participant de première main, plutôt qu’en tant que consommateur de faits. C’est ce que j’ai essayé de faire avec l’histoire du « Violon de Pavel ». J’espère que vous n’apprendrez pas seulement ce qui s’est passé, mais que vous ferez partie de l’histoire, vous-même. Que vous vous tiendrez à côté de Jakob au sommet de Kartellerjochl, avec Pavel dans un wagon à bestiaux en route vers Auschwitz, avec l’infirmière Ilse et ses enfants alors que des boulettes de Zyklon B tombent parmi eux dans la chambre à gaz. Et plus encore. J’espère que vous n’entendrez pas seulement le violon, mais que vous en ferez l’expérience. Le son de sa musique sous votre oreille gauche. Les vibrations du bois sur votre menton et votre épaule. Surtout, j’espère que vous aussi, vous réaliserez la compulsion de l’histoire, et l’obligation de la raconter, à votre manière, aux autres. Cette histoire est inspirée des mémoires de Tommy Lustig, le fils de Pavel, « Children on Death Row », également disponible sur Amazon. Toutes les redevances d’auteur provenant de la vente du « violon de Pavel » sont reversées à diverses organisations du Mémorial de l’Holocauste, notamment le U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, le Hololcaust Museum Houston et le Whitwell Middle School Childrens Holocaust Memorial.
Part
I – In Absam Prope Oenipontum (1637-1670)
Jakob Stainer and the Making of the Violin
Chapter 1: An Alpine Symphony (1637)
Chapter 2: The Luthier of Absam (1668)
Chapter 3: Heresy and Heartstrings (1668-1669)
Chapter 4: A Far Hope (1668-1669)
Chapter 5: The Voice of An Angel (1669)
Chapter 6: A Lion’s Cub (1670)
Part II – Kroměříž Palace (1670 – 1752)
In the Palaces of Bishops and Emperors
Chapter 7: A Farewell in Salzburg (1670)
Chapter 8: The Church’s Greatest Ornament (1678)
Chapter 9: Where There Are Witches (1683)
Chapter 10: A Long Dark Night (1743)
Chapter 11: A New Dawn (1752)
Chapter 12: The Yiddish Fiddle (1758)
Part III – The Wandering (1758 – 1850)
The Jewish Community of the Moravian Countryside
Chapter 13: Lekhaim (1758)
Chapter 14: Two Surprises (1758)
Chapter 15: Hodele’s Wedding (1784)
Chapter 16: Pints and Petticoats (1792)
Chapter 17: I Want to Be a Czech (1800)
Chapter 18: Where Is My Home? (1850)
Part IV – This Sought-For Peace (1897 – 1942)
The Olomouc Synagogue
Chapter 19: By the Theresien Gate (1897)
Chapter 20: A Guardian in Domazlice (1904)
Chapter 21: In a Wagon from Galicia (1914)
Chapter 22: Sudetenland (1933)
Chapter 23: A Dark Fire Burning (1939)
Chapter 24: Transport (1942)
Part V – Terezin (1942 – 1944)
In Terezin Concentration Camp
Chapter 25: Fear in Every Heart (October 1942)
Chapter 26: In the Ruts of the Herd (January 1943)
Chapter 27: A Violin in Paradise (Spring 1943)
Chapter 28: Out of Ivory Palaces (23 August 1943)
Chapter 29: Touching the Dead (November 1933)
Chapter 30: Naked in the Night (8 March 1944)
Part VI – Auschwitz (1944 – 1945)
In Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp
Chapter 31: With0ut the Will to Live (5 April 1944)
Chapter 32: Whatever It Takes (22 September 1944)
Chapter 33: The Wind In The Lyre (6 October 1944)
Chapter 34: When The Music Dies (26 October 1944)
Chapter 35: Your Neighbor In Need (3 October)
Chapter 36: Death March (19 January 1945)
Part VII – Pavel’s Violin (January – September 1945)
The Violin Comes to Pavel
Chapter 37: Welcome Home (22 January 1945)
Chapter 38: The Survivor (27 January 1945)
Chapter 39: Return of the Partisan (February 1945)
Chapter 40: A Nice Violin (March 1945)
Chapter
41: Sorrow’s End (March 1945)
Chapter 42: A Song
of Hope (September 1945)
Appendices
A List of Characters in Order of Appearance
The Legacy of Pavel’s Violin
Suggestions for Czech Pronunciation