Eisler in Malibu during his exile in Los Angeles.
USC's Feuchtwanger Memorial Library is partnering with Villa Aurora to present two musical performances and a panel discussion exploring the legacy of German exile composer Hanns Eisler. On Friday at 8:00 p.m. on Mar. 26, the Music Guild of the Parish of St. Matthews will perform a program of Eisler's musical compositions. At 3:00 p.m. on Sat. Mar. 27 at Villa Aurora, Johannes Gall, John McCumber, and Horst Weber will discuss the investigation of Eisler and other German exiles by the House Committee on Un-American Activities. At 7:00 p.m., mezzo-soprano Kristina Driskill and pianist Mark Robson will perform Eisler's art-song cycle, Hollywood Songbook, which incorporates verse by Brecht, Mörike, Hölderlin, and Goethe.
German researchers Johannes Gall and Horst Weber recently received Feuchtwanger Grants for Exile Studies at the Feuchtwanger Memorial Library and will work intensively with the collection during their residence in Los Angeles.
Eisler collaborated intensively with Bertolt Brecht, writing music for several of his plays and helping to compose protest songs that became fixtures of Weimar-era German politics. Eisler and Brecht escaped Germany in 1933, after their works were banned by the Nazi party. They eventually found their way to Los Angeles and worked in the film industry. Eisler composed the scores for numerous Hollywood films, including the Oscar-nominated Hangmen Also Die! and None but the Lonely Heart. After being investigated by the House Committee on Un-American Actitivites for his Marxist political beliefs and blacklisted by Hollywood studios, Eisler was deported in 1948. On his departure from LaGuardia airport, he said
I leave this country not without bitterness and infuriation. I could well understand it when in 1933 the Hitler bandits put a price on my head and drove me out. They were the evil of the period; I was proud at being driven out. But I feel heart-broken over being driven out of this beautiful country in this ridiculous way.
After his deportation, the composer settled in East Berlin, where he composed the national anthem of East Germany and worked on art songs and a controversial opera based on Goethe's Faust. He died in East Berlin in 1962.
Visit the Villa Aurora event calendar or email infola@villa-aurora.org to learn more about the two musical performances and panel discussion on March 26 and 27. The series is presented by Villa Aurora and USC's Feuchtwanger Memorial Library in cooperation with St. Matthew's Music Guild and supported in part by the Richard Schuller Fund. USC's Feuchtwanger Memorial Library is home to numerous papers and archival materials related to Hanns Eisler and other German exiles in Los Angeles. For example, the FML is home to Eisler's personal and business correspondence, papers related to his film scores, and drafts of his speeches. You can learn more about these collections by consulting the FML LibGuide.