Homage to Jakub Segar 2024 

violin

as part of Orchestras of Auschwitz​​

​

Duration 5mins | Difficulty Professional | Scoring Solo violin

​

Programme Note 

This solo violin composition plays tribute to the Roma violinist Jakub Segar who was imprisoned in Auschwitz. Fellow prisoner, Paweł Stolecki gave an astonishing account of Segar's arrival at the camp: 

 

“A Gypsy fiddler whose name I do not remember came from Wrocław. He played the fiddle beautifully even though he could not read music at all. I remember him from the time of being in Auschwitz I and from the moment when he was brought to the camp. As a member of the Beklei- dungskammer [“clothing chamber,” the labour detail that dealt with the civilian clothing in which prisoners arrived] I was present when his transport was received. When he was stripped naked, he wept and begged to be allowed to keep his fiddle. He didn’t want to part with it for the world. He gave an unusual demonstration of his abilities: stark naked, he played as if he were in a trance and coaxed sobbing tones out of the fiddle. That was enough to determine that he was immediately accepted in the camp orchestra. He was the best fiddler there despite not reading music. All he needed was for someone to play a passage from some work for him once and he repeated it flawlessly.”

​

Purchase