105. WILLKOMMEN, BIENVENUE, WELCOME (Available soon)

23 October 2021, 11:00pm

A tantalising exploration of the Berlin music scene in the 1920s and 1930s, as perceived through the eyes of Stephen Spender, Virginia Woolf, WH Auden and others. Presented with the collaboration of the Bodleian Libraries and the Literaturhaus in Berlin, this film builds on the summer 2021 exhibition Happy in Berlin? (Berlin and Oxford), curated by Stefano Evangelista. It includes music by Weill, Schoenberg, Strauss, Hindemith and Ethel Smyth, specially recorded in the Holywell Music Room by mezzo-soprano Lotte Betts-Dean and pianist Joseph Havlat.

For our audience at home, we are delighted to present three specially made films, each with musical performances recorded exclusively for these films. Filmed by TallWall Media, they feature fascinating speakers and musicians, and explore the music, poetry and creation of song. They will be available from the opening day (8 October) until the end of November and are accessed via the Digital Concert Hall in the same way as all our livestreamed events.