Discovering Lost Artists: Dick Kattenburg
Humans are capable of heinous acts of violence against each other. These heinous acts include historical events such as the three Armenian Genocides and the Holocaust. The word holocaust is defined as destruction or slaughter on a large scale. Historically the Holocaust is known as the systematic killing of million Jews and millions of LGBTQ, Roma, Slavs, political opponents, and many other groups by the Nazi regime. I wonder to this day how the world would be different, had the Holocaust never occurred. The loss of millions of lives, many that had bright futures waiting them. I still feel bitter to know that those futures were all taken prematurely from promising individuals. Musicians, artists, and composers, all who poured their emotions into the works. Any of the works that were left by these people have been almost completely erased; forgotten at best. All because of xenophobia and ignorance. As time goes on, it is evident that society is increasingly willing to forget this gruesome historical event and the people who perished.
I have the Leo Smit Foundation and Forbidden Music Regained to thank because I have learned the most through their site and their partners who actually sell the music of these musicians lost to time. Leo Smit himself was a composer who had been killed in the concentration camps during World War II. This foundation keeps records of Dutch Jewish composers who lived through WWII (mostly of those who perished during the time frame). One of the composers who were listed was Dick Kattenburg.
Dick Kattenburg was born in the Netherlands on the eleventh of November in 1919 to a Dutch Jewish family. His family operated the Hollandia-Kattenburg textile factory — which was a massively successful family-business for generations. Regardless of being raised in an affluent family, his family was not known for musical talent. From a young age, he was known for his talent in music. He was said to be an “ordinary child” with an “unusual musical talent”. This musical career started in his childhood. He first started violin and composing lessons with Hugo Godron, the violin instructor at Kattenburg’s high school in the city of Bussum in the North of the Netherlands. At the age of 17 he had obtained his music theory and violin degrees from the Collège Musical Belge in Antwerp, Belgium. The rest of his musical talent was self taught, along with asking for help from Leo Smit, another Dutch Jewish composer who was relatively famous at the time. Through these correspondences with Smit, Kattenburg crafted his unique style.
The majority of Kattenburg’s work was written during the period of 1936 to 1944. The majority of Kattenburg’s work was written while he was in hiding from the Nazi regime during World War II. While Kattenburg was unable to write many pieces, there are some notable pieces. One of the most famous of his pieces is his Sonata for Flute and Piano. This was the piece that first introduced me to Kattenburg and his music. This sonata was dedicated to Ima von Esso, his love. Though von Esso never played this piece, her safekeeping of this piece is the only reason why this piece still exists (the rest of Kattenburg’s pieces that exist now were kept safe by Kattenburg’s sister who also survived the Holocaust).
This piece, like the rest of Kattenburg’s creations, has not been listened to by many people. It is still obscure to this day. There are only a handful of performances of this piece that exist today. One of the better known pieces written by Kattenburg is the “Sonate voor fluit en klavier”. Translated from Dutch, the piece is called “Sonata for flute and piano”. Since this piece is relatively unknown to the general public, listening to this sonata feel like a premier on its own terms. Kattenburg’s musical ideas because they are so hidden feel new and different, even when this piece was written decades ago. Along with this obscurity that this piece has endured for the last couple decades, the style is unique to Kattenburg. Kattenburg was fascinated with jazz and uses influences amply in this works and this sonata is no different. The addition of jazz elements into this chamber piece creates an emotional depth unique to Kattenburg’s style. The romantic melody with the untraditional jazz-like harmony catches the audiences’ heart. The smooth, but technical melody is reminiscent of a jazz solo combined with a waltz.
Unfortunately, Kattenburg was murdered in 1944 in the Auschwitz concentration camp. It is unclear how exactly he was murdered. He died at the young age of 24. His life and flourishing career as a violinist and composer stopped dead in its tracks even before his career had truly started.
His memory and work lives on in the hearts of the few who still listen to his work.
