Music in TerezínSpurný, Lubomír (Avtor) TheresienstadtTerezín composersViktor UllmannPavel HaasHans KrásaGideon KleinZikmund SchulKarel ReinerFreizeitgestaltungThe article examines the phenomenon of the “Terezín composers” and the role of music in the extreme conditions of the Theresienstadt (Terezín) ghetto between 1941 and 1945. The term, although widely used, does not denote a coherent compositional school: Viktor Ullmann, Pavel Haas, Hans Krása, Zikmund Schul, Karel Reiner, Gideon Klein, and others did not share a unified aesthetic programme, compositional techniques, or common patronage. Their works have little in common in terms of innovation or stylistic novelty. Instead, they were profoundly shaped by the circumstances of imprisonment and the cultural topography of the ghetto, which, as Michael Beckerman has pointed out, conferred upon them a special emotional resonance. The study outlines three perspectives: professional practice under duress, the cultural preludes of clandestine musical life in the Protectorate, and the development of musical life in Terezín itself – from early prohibitions through the structures of Freizeitgestaltung to its exploitation in Nazi propaganda. Special attention is given to the vital role of performers who preserved the works and to the paradoxical cultural encounter of Czech, German, and Jewish traditions. In this sense, Theresienstadt became the last site where these cultures converged – briefly and creatively, before being destroyed by the deportations of 1944.Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana20262026-03-10 08:38:04Delo ni kategorizirano22748sl