Lotte and Joseph present a long-lost song cycle by 20th century German composer and anti-fascist radio pioneer Ernst Schoen, who studied with Varese and Busoni.

https://www.bishopsgate.org.uk

Prior to this, on December 4 the Bishopsgate Institute presents a fascinating discussion and presentation about Ernst Schoen’s life, presented by Esther Leslie and Dr Sam Dolbear. A recording of the songs featuring Lotte and Joseph will also be played at this event.

Details for this are here.

Ernst Schoen, the director of Radio Frankfurt, was arrested in 1934 for crimes against the Third Reich, which included the protection and encouragement of Jewish and Socialist colleagues. During his time as a radio producer and radio station manager in Weimar Germany, Schoen had developed, in collaboration with his school friend Walter Benjamin and others such as Bertolt Brecht, Hanns Eisler and Anton von Webern, a radical sound and radio practice aimed at the dissemination of communist principles through avant-garde techniques. Escaping to London, Schoen continued his work as a radical socialist activist and writer from exile.