Walter Kaufmann (1907-1984)
Madras Express
Dirge
Rhapsodie solennelle pour orchetsre "Indian Facades"
Symphonie n° 2

Regensburg Philharmonic
Stefan Veselka, direciton

Shimmering timbres, vibrant rhythms and colourful harmonies complement ragas from the Indian subcontinent. Walter Kaufmann fled Nazi Germany in 1934 to research Indian classical music and combined these influences with Western traditions in his compositions. The Regensburg Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Stefan Veselka present four works from Kaufmann's most productive creative phase during his time in exile, taking the listener on a voyage through the region's fascinating musical landscape. Kaufmann was prolific – his oeuvre has over eighty works for orchestra, including six symphonies and more than a dozen operas. His career as a composer, conductor and musicologist spanned four countries and three continents. Madras Express is a fast-paced tone poem of travelling by train to the one-time fishing village of Madraspatnam, modern-day Chennai and so-called gateway to southern India. Influences from Indian art music are integrated into symphonic form in his Second Symphony, thereby expanding the traditional boundaries of the genre. Raga techniques are intensified in the work Indian Facades: A Solemn Rhapsody for Orchestra. Each raga has its own unique melodic personality and way of colouring the mind as it engages the emotions of the listener. Composed on the SS Strathmore somewhere between Bombay and London in a mood of farewell, Dirge laments the departed and also mourns all those who lost their lives under Nazi persecution. After twelve years of exile, Kaufmann made his way back to Europe in 1946.