»Grace does not save nor effort«

7.7. – 15.10.2023
Studio exhibition

Leipzig Museum of City History, Böttchergäßchen Building, Böttchergäßchen 3, 04109 Leipzig

The title of a book published in 1983 was Who was Hanns Eisler. On the occasion of his 125^th birthday, we will explore this question in an exhibition in his native town. Who was this artist who was so interested in politics that he was turned into a political icon in the GDR? What do we still know about him today – 61 years after his death? What remains unknown? And, more specifically, what is his music like? His life traces the upheavals of the 20^th century – political resistance, persecution for being Jewish and a communist, exile, deportation from the USA and the return to this home country. But what was “home” to Eisler, who was born in Leipzig, grew up in Vienna and “changed countries more often than his shoes”? His inner world and the exterior world are reflected in his extensive oeuvre which comprised choral and orchestral works, ensemble music, songs, ballads, stage and film music as well as the national anthem of the GDR and makes him one of the most important – albeit still relatively unknown - composers of the 20^th century.

The exhibition is a cooperation between the International Hanns Eisler Society, Berlin, and the Leipzig Museum of City History. It will be accompanied by the Eisler Days hosted by the International Hanns Eisler Society in Leipzig from 6^th to 9^th July 2023. www.hanns-eisler.de