400 musical works banned by the Nazis to be published

More than 400 musical works banned by Nazis are set to be published for the first time. 

The publication is made up of more than 300 songs, 100 chamber music works, 50 orchestral works, several vocal and stage works, and numerous film scores, and is made possible by a cooperation between the American classical music publisher, G. Schirmer, Inc. (part of Wise Music Group) and the Exilarte Center for Banned Music in Vienna, Austria.

Dr. Gerold Gruber, Exilarte founder and chairman of the Exilarte Center, said the cooperation is of “incredible value for future generations.”

“The Nazis wanted a world in which the music of Jewish composers would have been banned and forgotten. It is therefore our obligation to counteract these policies by rescuing the music of exiled composers from oblivion. The cooperation between Exilarte and Schirmer/Wise is of incredible value for future generations,” Dr. Gruber added.

G. Schirmer will provide continued financial suppor to Exilarte Center, the world’s leading center for the restoration, preservation and publication of composers banned by the Nazis during World War II, and will also act as the publisher of the restored music.

“The agreement between Exilarte and G. Schirmer will ensure that these composers who were silenced during World War II are not forgotten, their legacies restored, and their musical works brought to the public for the first time in performances and recordings,” Robert Thompson, president of G. Schirmer/Wise Music.

Exilarte was founded in 2006 as an association to address the preservation of music that had been suppressed by the Nazi regime — largely written by Jewish composers who were targeted by the Third Reich’s genocidal anti-Semitic policies. In 2016 it became a fully accredited research center and archive based on the historic campus of the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna.