Singer Meryl Zimmerman will be participating with other choral singers in a short program of works tonight by Hugo Distler titled “Breathing Room.” The program, which is open to the public, will be performed at a private residence at 738 Milan Street at 8:00 p.m
Distler, who is known primarily for his church choral works, was a “reluctant” member of the National Socialist German Workers Party (Nazis) beginning in 1933. At the time his continued employment as an organist depended upon it. Distler wrote a number of interesting neomodal a capella pieces marked by polyphony and miasma.
Distler committed suicide in 1942, reportedly due to his reaction to the deaths of several of his friends, Allied bombing and his treatment at the hands of Nazi authorities, who criticized the modern aspects of the body of his work as “enterante kunst” or “degenerate art.” Like Distler, the majority of these criticized composers or artists were not Jewish, yet their work was often decried as having been possessed of Jewish or Yiddish aspects.
Zimmerman is also inviting other musicians, artists, poets and stand-up comics to participate in the parlor event for slots between 10 and 15 minutes each.
