Siegfried Alkan (30 March 1858 – 24 December 1941) was a German composer from Saarland in the Kingdom of Prussia. He was assaulted and his musical business was looted during the Kristallnacht.
Siegfried Alkan | |
|---|---|
 Siegfried Alkan with his mother Johanna in an 1899 photograph | |
| Born | 30 March 1858[1] |
| Died | 24 December 1941 (aged 83)[1] |
| Occupation | Composer |
Biography
editAlkan was born in Dillingen, Saarland, within the Kingdom of Prussia[1] to prominent Jewish piano businessman Johannes Alkan and his wife Johanna née Bonn. His grandfather and two of his nephews were also musicians. He had three siblings.[2] He was a distant relative of the composer Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy[3] through his mother's relationship to the Oppenheim family.[2]
In November 1938, when he was in his eighties, Alkan was assaulted in the street during the Kristallnacht, and all the musical instruments and sheet music in his shop were destroyed,[4] and his piano looted by the Nazis.[5] He refused to seek treatment at a Christian hospital, he tried to seek help at his synagogue,[6] unaware it had been set ablaze.[4] He relocated to Mainz, where he died in 1941 for causes unrelated to persecution.[1] He never married.[6]
Posthumous information
editIn November 2018, the city of Dillingen held a communal ceremony for the victims of the Kristallnacht, which included honoring Alkan and 50 others.[4] In 2019, Katja Terlau, a specialist in looted art, and the Rose Valland Institute were able to trace Alkan's piano to a purchase in 1982.[3]
Music
editAlkan's sheet music was written for the piano and the organ. He composed at least 99 musical compositions. His work was distributed by Friedrich Hofmeister Musikverlag and Kistner & Siegel in Leipzig:
- "Gruß an die Saar" (English: "Greetings to the Saar"; Op. 32)[7]
- "O wüsstest du's" (English: "Oh, if only you knew"; Op. 39)[8]
- "Ur-Großmütterchen" (English: "Proto-Great-grandmother"; Op. 80)[7]
- "Neues Saarlied" (English: "New Saar Song"; Op. 91)[9]
- "Es wälzt sich der Nebel im Thale" (English: "The fog rolls through the valley"; Op. 92)[7]
- "Hab' deine Eltern lieb!" (English: "Love thy parents!" Op. 99)[10]
References
edit- 1 2 3 4 5 "Siegfried Alkan". gedenkbuch.saarbruecken.de. Retrieved 2026-01-05.
- 1 2 Leistenschneider, Tina (2023-06-26). "Jüdischer Friedhof in Diefflen: Mit rund 400 Grabstellen ist der größte jüdische Friedhof – was die Grabstätte in Diefflen so besonders macht". Saarbrücker Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 2026-01-05.
- 1 2 "Provenienzforschung zu Objekten des Open Call: Unrechtmäßige Besitzverhältnisse in Deutschland des anlässlich der documenta 14 gegründeten Rose Valland Instituts – Das Klavier des Siegfried Alkan | Kulturgutverluste". kulturgutverluste.de (in German). 2019-09-01. Retrieved 2026-01-05.
- 1 2 3 Künkeler, Axel (2018-11-08). "Pogromnacht: "Es geschah auch hier bei uns vor Ort"". Saarbrücker Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 2026-01-05.
- ↑ "Provenienzforschung zu Objekten des Open Call: Unrechtmäßige Besitzverhältnisse in Deutschland des anlässlich der documenta 14 gegründeten Rose Valland Instituts – Das Klavier des Siegfried Alkan | Kulturgutverluste". kulturgutverluste.de (in German). 2019-09-01. Retrieved 2026-01-05.
- 1 2 Best, Katharina (1988). "Die Geschichte der ehemaligen Synagogen-Gemeinden Dillingen und Nalbach" [The history of the former synagogue communities of Dillingen and Nalbach]. Unsere Heimat. Mitteilungsblatt des Landkreises Saarlouis für Kultur und Landschaft (in German) (3/4): 95–114.
- 1 2 3 "Hofmeister XIX". hofmeister.rilm.org. Retrieved 2026-01-05.
- ↑ Hofmeister, Friedrich, ed. (1887). Handbuch der musikalischen Literatur, oder Verzeichniss der im deutschen Reiche und in den angrenzenden Ländern erschienenen Musikalien: auch musikalischen Schriften, Abbildungen und plastischen Darstellungen; mit Anzeige der Verleger und Preise (PDF) (in German). Vol. 9. Leipzig: Friedrich Hofmeister. p. 13.
- ↑ Hofmeister, Friedrich (1930). Hofmeisters Musikalisch-literarischer Monatsbericht (in German). Vol. 102. Leipzig: Friedrich Hofmeister Musikverlag. p. 33.
- ↑ Fritzsch, E.W. (1906). Kipke, Carl (ed.). C. F. W. Siegel's Musikalisches Wochenblatt: Organ für Musiker und Musikfreunde (in German). Vol. 37. Leipzig: Kistner & Siegel. p. 41.