My Little Gnudren,

This year was kicked off with the feast day of the Holy Innocents who were slaughtered by Herod the Great in order to keep his position of power. 

We are minded of all those other thousands of innocents throughout the world who are slaughtered in order for tyrants to keep power. After that cheering thought, I quite forgot: Happy New year to one and all! Back to the innocents who are being slaughtered. Lest we think we are guiltless of such a crime we must remind ourselves of those who are dying because of the life style we have adopted in the wealthy part of the northern hemisphere.

What can we do in the world where greed and power-seeking merchants are rife and regarded as an acceptable norm?

Let me introduce you to music-man Fritz Werner.

Herr Werner fought in both the First and Second world wars. He was taken prisoner in both Wars so he must have been on the wrong side. In the WW2 he was posted in occupied France by the German military. It comes as a surprise then that after the war the French authorities made him a Chevalier de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. Harken unto Mr. Waki Pedia:

• “To be considered for the award, French government guidelines stipulate that citizens of France must be at least thirty years old, respect French civil law, and must have “significantly contributed to the enrichment of the French cultural inheritance”.

This was a considerable achievement on the part of Herr Fritz. As German officer in occupied France during WW2 part of his job was to send French Musicians to labour camps in Germany. The Nazis it seems didn’t like French music or French musicians – they must have played Beethoven with an offending French accent. Such musicians were to be replaced with German counterparts. Unfortunately, Herr Fritz was human and, it seems, had bad eyesight. So, for example he failed to notice distinguished French musicians in the ensembles he was conducting. In fact, he protected many French musicians from labour camp and probably death. One such musician was Pierre Pierlot, a very distinguished 20-year-old oboe player. 

Maestro Fritz didn’t notice that Pierre was playing in an orchestra he was conducting (for the new Germanised French Radio network). He must have had an aberration. Towards the end of WW2 and the collapse of the German occupation in France, in 1944, the wicked Herr Fritz was taken prisoner and placed in American war captivity, first in Kansas USA; he was later transferred to the Heilbronn-Bockingen camp where he continued to serve his sentence for being a wicked German. He was released in 1946. He didn’t return to his home town, Berlin, but settled in Heilbronn and enhanced the musical life of the town by establishing Church Choral Days which still survive to this day. He also formed the Heilbronn Schutz choir which still exists, travels and records extensively. But more! Old Gnu considers one of his greatest legacies his start of recording the all of Bach’s 200+ Cantatas.

He only managed a third of them, but did record the St. Matthew and St. John Passions, the Christmas Oratorio and the B minor Mass. For Old Gnu his recordings of the Cantatas have never been superseded. They are marvellous, unpretentious, and do not have the hallmarks of a conductor trying to make a point, by which many subsequent recordings are mostly tainted and tarnished. Yuk! The music speaks for itself – a spiritual experience indeed, despite lower quality recording and some flaws in performance.

And guess what. One of the oboists who features prominently through Maestro Fritz’s Cantata Cycle is Pierre Pierlot – the young French oboist he was meant to send to forced labour camp. Wicked man!

So you see dear friends, “‘Allo ‘Allo” is quite right. (Forgive me mentioning this very insightful but, for some very holy Christians who shouldn’t have been watching it, slightly risqué comedy.) WW2 and all wars are filled with people who just want to sit down with fellow human beings and enjoy a glass of wine or coffee despite the fact that their leaders and commanders are hell bent on power and murder in order to get achieve their ends.

My little Gnudren, let us not fail to stick up and help those who are victims of power-seeking tyrants whose exploits are spiralling out of control. Let us indeed make it a Happy New Year for someone who wouldn’t otherwise have one without our help or intervention. Amen.

Vetus Pater Gnu
Academiae Musicorum et Theologia
Turris LA
III Mensis Ianuarii  MMXXIII