Lyda Bagriansky Geist and Edwin Geist collection

Identifier
irn88429
Language of Description
English
Alt. Identifiers
  • 2013.503.2
Dates
1 Jan 1919 - 31 Dec 2013
Level of Description
Item
Languages
  • German
  • English
  • Russian
  • Lithuanian
Source
EHRI Partner

Extent and Medium

boxes

oversize boxes

oversize folders

3

2

2

Creator(s)

Biographical History

Edwin Ernst Moritz Geist (1902-1942) was a German composer, originally from Berlin, who moved to Kaunas, Lithuania after he was expelled by the Nazis from the Reichsmusikkammer (Reich Music Chamber) in 1937. After arriving in Lithuania, Geist married the pianist Lyda Bagriansky, in 1938, and experienced his most productive period as a composer during the next several years, creating the opera "Die Heimkehr des Dionysos" (1934-1939), "Kleine Deutsche Totenmesse" (1940), and "Kosmischer Frühling" (1941). After the German invasion of Lithuania in 1941, Geist and his wife Lyda were imprisoned at the Ninth Fort in Kaunas, where Geist was held until he was released through the intervention of friends in March1942. Geist sought to obtain the release of Lyda as well, but he was rearrested several months later and was shot on 10 December 1942. After learning of his death, Lyda took her own life as well. Geist's music was rediscovered in Lithuania in the 1970s, and "Die Heimkehr des Dionysos" had its premiere in Vilnius in 2002, and his works have been performed in Germany, Lithuania, and the United States in the years since.

Archival History

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum

Acquisition

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Rosian Bagriansky Zerner

Gift of Rosian Bagriansky Zerner, 2013.

Scope and Content

Contains manuscript musical scores, biographical documents, newspaper articles, photographs, correspondence, concert programs, and audio recordings and video recordings of performances of the work of composer Edwin Geist. The collection largely consists of original and copied manuscript musical scores of Geist’s work, as well as recordings and documents from performances of Geist’s works between 1973 and 2012. The material in this collection was assembled by Rosian Bagriansky Zerner, the niece of Edwin Geist, and her father, Paul Bagriansky, whose sister was married to Geist.

System of Arrangement

The collection is arranged in three series: I. Biographical and Performances, II. Scores, and III. Sound recordings and moving image materials. The second series (Scores) is further divided into three subseries: A. Manuscript (Berlin), B. Copies (Lithuania), and C. Performances, 2002-2008.

Conditions Governing Reproduction

Copyright Holder: © Edwin Geist and Lyda Bagriansky Geist Estate

People

Subjects

Genre

This description is derived directly from structured data provided to EHRI by a partner institution. This collection holding institution considers this description as an accurate reflection of the archival holdings to which it refers at the moment of data transfer.