{"id":111109,"date":"2025-01-20T09:33:47","date_gmt":"2025-01-20T14:33:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=111109"},"modified":"2025-01-20T09:33:47","modified_gmt":"2025-01-20T14:33:47","slug":"interview-composer-bernard-foccroulle-talks-journal-helene-berr-stage-koerner-hall-january-21-23","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2025\/01\/20\/interview-composer-bernard-foccroulle-talks-journal-helene-berr-stage-koerner-hall-january-21-23\/","title":{"rendered":"INTERVIEW | Composer Bernard Foccroulle Talks About The Journal of H\u00e9l\u00e8ne Berr \u2014 On Stage At Koerner Hall January 21 \u2013 23"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_111112\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-111112\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-111112\" src=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/01\/Copy-of-Copy-of-INTERVIEW-2025-01-20T093001.243.jpg\" alt=\"R: Composer Bernard Foccroulle; R: Soprano Elena Scott-Howard (Photos courtesy of the artists)\" width=\"1200\" height=\"628\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/01\/Copy-of-Copy-of-INTERVIEW-2025-01-20T093001.243.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/01\/Copy-of-Copy-of-INTERVIEW-2025-01-20T093001.243-300x157.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/01\/Copy-of-Copy-of-INTERVIEW-2025-01-20T093001.243-1024x536.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/01\/Copy-of-Copy-of-INTERVIEW-2025-01-20T093001.243-768x402.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-111112\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">R: Composer Bernard Foccroulle; R: Soprano Elena Scott-Howard (Photos courtesy of the artists)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The 21C Music Festival presents The Journal of H\u00e9l\u00e8ne Berr, a work for soprano, piano and string quartet in its North American premiere.<\/p>\n<p>Soprano <strong>Elena Howard-Scott<\/strong>, who recently took the stage in Stephen Sondheim\u2019s Into the Woods, performs with pianist <strong>St\u00e9phane Mayer<\/strong>, and The <strong>Glenn Gould School Quartet<\/strong> (Byungchan Lee, violin; Daria Schibitcaia, violin; Hezekiah Leung, viola; Peter Eom, cello).<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a unique work that brings a tragic story to life.<\/p>\n<h2>H\u00e9l\u00e8ne Berr<\/h2>\n<p>On April 7, 1942, Parisian student H\u00e9l\u00e8ne Berr began a journal, dedicated to her lover Jean Morawiecki. The 21-year-old studied English literature at the Sorbonne. She was also Jewish, and her two-year diary documents her life under the increasingly oppressive Nazi Occupation.<\/p>\n<p>The journal ends in early 1944, shortly before Berr and her family were deported to Auschwitz. They were among the last of the Jews to be taken from Paris. H\u00e9l\u00e8ne would die in April 1945 at the Bergen-Belsen camp, a victim of typhoid and a brutal beating by prison guards because she could not get up for morning call.<\/p>\n<p>It was five days before the liberation of the camp by Allied forces.<\/p>\n<p>H\u00e9l\u00e8ne\u2019s brother sent the pages she\u2019d written, and kept safe by entrusting them to the family\u2019s cook, to Jean Morawiecki. Heartbroken, Jean held on to the document for almost a half century before family members convinced him it should be published.<\/p>\n<p>LvT spoke to Belgian composer Bernard Foccroulle about the project.<\/p>\n<p><em>From the original French production with soprano Ad\u00e8le Charvet, pianist Jeanne Bleuse et le Quatuor B\u00e9la:<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/d-9aKDtc4_0?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/div>\n<h2>Composer Bernard Foccroulle: The Interview<\/h2>\n<p>The road to composing The Journal of H\u00e9l\u00e8ne Berr was a winding path for composer Bernard Foccroulle. Back in 2018, he was General Director of the Festival d&#8217;Aix-en-Provence, and was approached by Le Quatuor B\u00e9la to write a piece for them. \u201cA full evening piece,\u201d Foccroulle recalls.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA full evening piece for a string quartet \u2014 it&#8217;s not easy to do.\u201d He\u2019d already considered the idea of adding a vocalist. \u201cA friend of mine sent me this book.\u201d The book, of course, being The Journal of H\u00e9l\u00e8ne Berr. \u201cI started reading it with no special idea,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the middle of it, it became to me obvious that this was the kind of material that would make sense with a string quartet.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>H\u00e9l\u00e8ne wrote the journal to her boyfriend, but, as he points out, also to her future, one that she hoped to live out. \u201cIt was a testimony of the life of Jews in Paris during those terrible years.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>H\u00e9l\u00e8ne was a violinist, and wrote a great deal about music. \u201cMusic was probably the first link between her and her love,\u201d Bernard believes. H\u00e9l\u00e8ne\u2019s sister, a pianist, survived the camp. \u201cI never met her sister, but I met her niece, who is the person who published this manuscript.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Berr wrote poetry along with her diary entries. \u201cHer quotations of English poetry are just amazing,\u201d Foccroulle says.<\/p>\n<p>His decision to use the material was immediate, but he realized, in requesting the rights, that the outcome was not at all certain. At first, the family was divided on whether or not to grant him the rights to use her diary in a musical project.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the end, I received the rights,\u201d he says. The whole family made it to the premiere in France in 2023, which made him happy.<\/p>\n<p>After about 20 performances in France, the Koerner Hall presentation will be a North American premiere. \u201cIt&#8217;s the first time out of France,\u201d he says. \u201cIt&#8217;s the first time it&#8217;s made with a new ensemble of artists.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The cast is now a full Canadian version, as he points out. \u201cIt&#8217;s the first time it&#8217;s done in a second language.\u201d The spoken portions of the text will be in English, but sung in French.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt&#8217;s also a very well written language,\u201d he says of the Journal. Berr was a gifted writer. He notes that there were almost no corrections to the original manuscript.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat attracted me at the time, there were several things,\u201d Foccroulle says. He noticed, among other elements, her attraction to the natural world. \u201cThis speaks to me very, very much.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As a composer of a vocal work, the story has a kind of fixed arc, but one with nuance due to Berr\u2019s writing and observations. \u201cThe priority is the drama,\u201d he explains. \u201cThere is a lot of light, and a lot of darkness.\u201d A main feature of her journal, however, is that those moments of light and darkness are mixed into each other.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI made the libretto just from her own texts,\u201d he says. Her thoughts and observations offer a mirror into her world. Storms become a kind of recurring image. \u201cEach storm in her diary becomes a sort of a mirror of her own feelings, her anxiety and fear.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Like any young 20-something, her knowledge of the outside world is limited in the beginning, but grows as the Occupation drags on. \u201cYou have a young beautiful woman walking in Paris, enjoying the life [&#8230;] but at the same time, you have someone who is aware of the tragedy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The story necessarily becomes darker and darker as the forces of the outside world close in on H\u00e9l\u00e8ne and her family. \u201cBut, even very close to the end, there are moments of pure joy,\u201d Foccroulle says. \u201cIt&#8217;s not unidimensional. It&#8217;s more than that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Very early in the book, Foccroulle notes, she talks of her premonitions of tragedy. But, in the end, she still decides to stay in Paris. \u201cFor a musician, it&#8217;s very interesting to have such a portrait of such quality, with this association of light and darkness,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>The timing of the project was apt, the composer feels. \u201cOne of the first reasons why I decided to do this, of course, I am very much aware that we are living in a period where antisemitism and racism are growing at a very fast speed.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>The Production<\/h3>\n<p>Foccroulle has been Zooming in on rehearsals with director <strong>Matthew Jocelyn<\/strong>. Jocelyn is also General Director of the Koffler Arts Centre, who were instrumental in bringing the production to Toronto.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI&#8217;m very touched that he made a lot of efforts to make this possible,\u201d Bernard says. \u201cI&#8217;m very curious to hear what the Toronto audience will take from it.\u201d<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Find details and tickets for the performances January 21, 22, and 23 [<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rcmusic.com\/concerts\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">HERE<\/a><\/strong>].<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong><em>Are you looking to promote an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/advertising\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #0e101a\"><u>event<\/u><\/span><\/a>? Have a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/masthead\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><u>news tip<\/u><\/a>? 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