Gideon Klein (December 6, 1919 – c.January 1945) was a Czech pianist and composer of classical music. He was born in Přerov and, showing musical talent early, studied piano with Růžena Kurzová and Vilém Kurz, and composition with Alois Hába.
In December 1941 he was deported by the Nazis to Terezín concentration camp, where along with Leoš Janáček's pupil Pavel Haas, Hans Krasa, and Schoenberg's pupil Viktor Ullmann he became one of the major composers in that camp, one of the few in which artistic activity occurred on any scale. His works from these years include music for string quartet (similar in tone to Berg's opus 3 work), a string trio, and a piano sonata among others.
He was deported to Auschwitz and then to Fürstengrube in October 1944, less than two weeks after completing his string trio. He did not survive.
The website Holocaust Music reports that for a long time, " it was assumed that except for a few sketches and juvenilia, Klein had written little music until blossoming as a composer in Terezín. Unexpectedly, however, in June 1990, the Dr Eduard Herzog family in Prague, friends of the Kleins from before the war, found in their possession a locked suitcase that had been forgotten for over fifty years. It contained a treasure of Gideon's manuscripts, evidently placed for safekeeping with the Herzogs before Klein was sent to Terezín. ... it revealed works, dating from 1939 and 1940, of astonishing craftsmanship and maturity for one then so young: songs for soprano and piano, an octet for winds, large-scale pieces for string quartet and several string duos, including one in quarter tones."
In 2019, Klein's "Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello" was included on the album Silenced Voices, performed by Black Oak Ensemble.
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