Poster Pavel Haas
Pavel Haas
Pavel Haas Foundation
Performance Today®

Holocaust Remembrance Day

There are at least six million stories of suffering and death from the Holocaust. Many composers were among the victims. Their names might be unfamiliar to you: Marcel Tyberg, Leo Smit, Pavel Haas (pictured), Erwin Schulhoff, Viktor Ullmann. We'll always wonder what might have been, had they survived. Today, on Yom Hashoah, we'll feature music by victims of the Holocaust.

Episode Playlist

Hour 1

Leo Smit: String Quartet
Violinists Jacobien Rozemond and Marijke van Kooten, violist Edith van Moergastel, and cellist Doris Hochscheid

Pavel Haas: Second movement from Wind Quintet, Op. 10
The Imani Winds
Maud Mood Weyerhaeuser Music Studio, St. Paul, Minnesota

Marcel Tyberg: Symphony No. 3
The Buffalo Philharmonic with conductor JoAnn Falletta
Kleinhans Music Hall, Buffalo, New York

Hour 2

Viktor Ullmann: First movement from Sonata No. 6, Op. 49
Pianist Edith Kraus

Samuel Barber: Adagio for Strings
The Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra
Newman Center for the Performing Arts, Denver

Lawrence Siegel: Excerpts from "Kaddish"
VocalEssence Ensemble Singers and Chorus with soprano Maria Jette, alto Krista Palmquist, tenor Jason Collins, baritone James Bohn, and conductor Philip Brunelle
Ted Mann Concert Hall, Minneapolis

Ervin Schulhoff: Andante from Five Pieces for String Quartet
The Jose White String Quartet
Spivey Hall, Morrow, Georgia

Erwin Schulhoff: Two movements from Five Jazz Etudes
Pianist Sarah Rothenberg
The Menil Collection, Houston

Ernest Bloch: "Prayer," for Cello and Strings
Cellist Ladislav Szathmary with the Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra and conductor Mario Kosik
Slovak Radio, Bratislava, Slovakia

Steve Reich: Double Sextet
eighth blackbird with members of the Oberlin College Contemporary Music Ensemble
Finney Chapel, Oberlin, Ohio

Love the music?

Donate by phone
1-800-562-8440

Show your support by making a gift to YourClassical.

Each day, we’re here for you with thoughtful streams that set the tone for your day – not to mention the stories and programs that inspire you to new discovery and help you explore the music you love.

YourClassical is available for free, because we are listener-supported public media. Take a moment to make your gift today.

More Ways to Give

Your Donation

$5/month
$10/month
$15/month
$20/month
$

Latest Performance Today® Episodes

VIEW ALL EPISODES

Latest Performance Today® Episodes

Nina Bernat

Nina Bernat

Today, we’re featuring one of our 2025 Young Artists in Residence: double-bassist Nina Bernat. In today's show, Nina joins Fred Child for music and conversation at our studio in Saint Paul.

1:59:00
Geneva and Nathan Lewis

Geneva and Nathan Lewis

As talented young kids, siblings Geneva Lewis and Nathan Lewis were part of a successful family trio. They’re all grown up now, each at the top of their careers, and they still find time to make music together. In today’s episode, Geneva and Nathan Lewis perform a duet by Edward Elgar at a concert in Athens, Georgia.

1:59:00
Florence Price: Symphony No. 3

Florence Price: Symphony No. 3

In 1940, Eleanor Roosevelt was introduced to Symphony No. 3 by African American composer Florence Price; the First Lady loved it and praised it enthusiastically in her daily newspaper column. On today’s show, we’ll take you to a recent concert in St. Louis for a performance of Price’s Symphony No. 3.

1:59:00
Franz Liszt's fascination with mortality

Franz Liszt's fascination with mortality

When composer and pianist Franz Liszt was a young man, he was fascinated with death. He went to hospitals to observe people who were sick or dying. He went to prisons to meet people who had been condemned to die. On today’s show, we’ll hear Franz Liszt’s Totentanz, The Dance of Death, a piece based on the Dies Irae, a chant from the Catholic Mass for the Dead.

1:59:00
PT Weekend: The outsider

PT Weekend: The outsider

Invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s, the saxophone has long been seen as an outsider in classical music. But Timothy McAllister is on a mission to change that. On today’s show, Timothy McAllister performs a saxophone classic: Alexander Glazunov’s Saxophone Concerto.

1:59:00
Henriëtte Bosmans

Henriëtte Bosmans

On today's show, we explore music by Dutch composer Henriëtte Bosmans. Join us at a concert in Wismar, Germany, to hear a performance of Bosmans's String Quartet, a piece from a time when in-home concerts were a matter of necessity for artists whose work had to be kept undercover.

1:59:00
Sibelius' final symphony

Sibelius' final symphony

The final symphony by Jean Sibelius unfolds over twenty-one minutes, evolving from a quiet opening to a warm, life-affirming ending—it's one unbroken weightless stream. Join us at a concert in Zurich for the Symphony No. 7 by Jean Sibelius.

1:59:00
Photos: Scenes from MPR Day at the 2025 Minnesota State Fair
Lost and found Mendelssohn

Lost and found Mendelssohn

When Felix Mendelssohn was 14, he wrote music for a family party. The manuscript was then stashed away in the Mendelssohn household and forgotten about, and it wasn't played again until 1999. Hear the lost and found Double Concerto by Felix Mendelssohn on today’s show.

1:59:00
Franz Schubert's 'Miracle Year'

Franz Schubert's 'Miracle Year'

Some people refer to 1815 as Franz Schubert's "Miracle Year." He was only 18 years old, living at home and working as an elementary school teacher, but in that year, this humble young man composed an astonishing amount of memorable music. On today's show, we'll take you to a concert in Germany to hear a symphony from Schubert's 'Miracle Year.'  

1:59:00
VIEW ALL EPISODES

About Performance Today®

To find a station near you on our Stations Listings page, click here.

American Public Media’s Performance Today® is America’s most popular classical music radio program and a winner of the 2014 Gabriel Award for artistic achievement. The show is broadcast on hundreds of public radio stations across the country, including at 1 p.m. central weekdays on Minnesota Public Radio. More information about our stations can be found at APM Distribution.

Performance Today® features live concert recordings that can’t be heard anywhere else, highlights from new album releases, and in-studio performances and interviews. Performance Today® is based at the APM studios in St. Paul, Minnesota, but is frequently on the road, with special programs broadcast from festivals and public radio stations around the country. Also, each Wednesday, composer Bruce Adolphe joins host Fred Child for a classical musical game and listener favorite: the Piano Puzzler.

How do I leave a comment?

Send us a comment here.

About Performance Today®
YourClassical Radio
0:00
0:00