The Music of Josima Feldschuh

FIRST COMMERCIAL RELEASE

Maria Garzon returns to the studio to record the complete piano music of Josima Feldschuh. ‘Josima Feldschuh (1929–1943) was a Polish-Jewish pianist and composer whose extraordinary musical talent emerged during one of the darkest periods of European history. Feldschuh began learning piano at the age of five and was quickly recognised as a child prodigy. Following the Nazi occupation of Poland, Feldschuh and her family were forced into the Warsaw Ghetto in 1940. Despite the harsh conditions, music remained a vital source of cultural resistance and emotional survival.

As well as playing the piano, Feldschuh composed original piano works influenced by Chopin and Jewish musical traditions. Seventeen of her compositions have survived, including mazurkas and pieces inspired by Shabbat melodies, now preserved in the Yad Vashem archives. Her ambition was not only to perform music but to prove that women could also succeed as composers.

During mass deportations from the ghetto, the family went into hiding, where Feldschuh became seriously ill with tuberculosis. She died on 21 April 1943 at only fourteen years old, shortly after escaping the ghetto.’ Jonathan Blackledge

Ptaszek Opowiada (A Bird Tells a Story), Op. 1
Rhapsodie, Op. 2
Szemiranie Strumyka (The Murmur of a Stream), Op. 3
Suita Orientalna (Oriental Suite), Op. 4
Mazurek Op. 5-10
Wiejscy Muzykanci (Village Musicians), Op. 11
Walz, Op. 12
Kujawiak (Dance of love), Op. 13
Sabbathiade No. 1, Op. 14
Sabbathiade No. 2, Op. 15
Nocturno, Op. 16
Sonata, Op. 17