"The Lost Music of Auschwitz" Documentary Released

The film features performances of music written at Auschwitz, reconstructed by composer and researcher Leo Geyer

Windfall Films has produced a new documentary for Sky Arts, to coincide with the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.

Titled The Lost Music of Auschwitz, the film follows composer and researcher Leo Geyer's work in restoring and re-composing previously unheard fragments of music that were held in the Auschwitz archive.

There were at least six orchestras in Auschwitz, comprised of prisoners from the camp. Prior to Geyer's research, little was known about what music they might have played since many of the surviving manuscripts are either faded or damaged. Geyer has restored many of these works by filling in the missing gaps, using contextual clues and his own musical intuition.

The documentary includes performances of these works by his ensemble Constella Music, as well as interviews with Holocaust survivors including Anita Lasker-Wallfisch — the sole remaining person familiar with the orchestras in Auschwitz.

While audiences may expect the works to express the terrors of life in the camp, Geyer found that many of these pieces were "incredibly jolly and very happy," since they were often written for contexts such as SS parties. Yet Geyer also traces small acts of resistance by the players, such as the incorporation of forbidden tunes into performances.

"I wasn’t expecting to discover anything other than a greater understanding of the Holocaust, particularly as I’m not Jewish, Polish, Romani, or indeed descended from any other group or person who perished in Auschwitz," Geyer said of his initial impetus to complete the research. "But I did know something about the orchestras of Auschwitz, as most classical musicians do."

"After many years of research, I'm pleased to be able to share this music with the public to commemorate 80 years since the liberation of Auschwitz," he added. "The Holocaust should never be forgotten. Through this music, I hope to bring everyone together to remember not only those whose lives were saved due to their musical talents but also all those who suffered and perished during the Holocaust."

"This is a powerful and important film, and we are so proud to bring such a remarkable story to the screen through Sky Arts," said Dan Kendall, Executive Producer at Windfall Films.

You can view the trailer for the documentary below.

PC: Sky