Literature and Music: A day for Margarete Susman in Frankfurt!

Literature and Music: A day for Margarete Susman in Frankfurt!

On May 7, 2025, literature lovers and music lovers will embark on a special journey into the world of German-Jewish poetry. As part of the Hessischer Rundfunk (hr) event “A Day for Literature,” a concert will take place on Sunday, May 25, 2025, presenting Margarete Susman’s poems that are over 100 years old in a new light. The Montez Family Art Association in Frankfurt will be the backdrop for this remarkable event.

Organized by the Buber-Rosenzweig Institute at Goethe University and the Frankfurt Musica Judaica association, the performance also receives support from the “Dynamics of Religious” research network. Margarete Susman (1872-1966), a pioneering German-Jewish poet, philosopher and critic, is the centerpiece of this concert. Her connection to the city of Frankfurt runs deep, as she lived here for several years before fleeing the Nazis to Switzerland in 1933.

Musical discoveries

The concert “In the Field a Girl Sings” begins at 3 p.m. and will be performed by mezzo-soprano Alice Lackner and pianist Jascha Nemtsov, moderated by Rafaël Newman. Martin J. Kudla, a doctoral student at the Buber-Rosenzweig Institute, has discovered around 60 settings of Susman's poetry, some of which are only available in manuscript form or were printed in small editions. Particularly noteworthy are the settings, which are based almost exclusively on Susman's volume of poetry “Mein Land” from 1901. Among these, the most famous work is Jean Sibelius, which gives the concert its title.

In addition, an annotated volume of music of the discovered settings is being planned, which will be published by Königshausen & Neumann. An edition of Susman's letters is also being worked on to further document the poet's literary legacy.

Diverse program

“A Day for Literature” includes a total of 106 events that present various aspects of literature in and about Hesse. In addition to the concert, there are readings, staged readings, literary walks, lectures and workshops. This event, which is organized every two years as part of the “Literaturland Hessen” network project, aims to celebrate the diversity of literary voices and offer them a platform.

The event is financially supported by the Hessian Ministry of Science and Research and the Ministry of Art and Culture. The organizers, including the Hessischer Rundfunk and the Hessischer Literaturrat e.V., invite everyone interested to take part in this cultural encounter.

For further information, please visit hr2.de, where you can find all the details about the “A Day for Literature” event.