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A series of performances and interviews exploring the musical compositions and life of Peter Gellhorn (1912-2004) during his time in Mooragh Internment Camp on Ramsey Promenade during the Second World War.
These films were made in 2017 with the visit of musicians and academics from the Royal College of Music as a part of 'Singing a Song in a Foreign Land,' a Royal College of Music research and performance project highlighting the contribution of musicians who fled from Nazi Germany and Austria to musical life in Britain and beyond. The project is led by singer and curator Norbert Meyn.
The conductor and composer, Peter Gellhorn (1912-2004), was a professional musician in England under the outbreak of war, whereupon he was arrested as an 'enemy alien' and interned in Mooragh Camp on Ramsey Promenade. While here Gellhorn gave piano recitals, played the organ in the local church, directed ensembles and choirs, and composed several works including two studies for violin, two works for string quartet, and a work for strings and male voices, 'Mooragh,' in a setting of words by F. F. Bieber, a fellow internee. Gellhorn was eventually released on 21 January 1941 after intervention by Ralph Vaughan Williams in his role as chair of the Committee for the Release of Interned Alien Musicians.
More information about Peter Gellhorn, his music, and his time interned in the Isle of Man is available here: www.petergellhorn.com
These Isle of Man concerts were generously supported by the Isle of Man Arts Council, Culture Vannin and the Malcolm Scott Dickinson Charitable Trust.
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Mooragh (1940)
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Andante
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Interview with Barbara Gellhorn
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Peter Gellhorn's letters from Mooragh Camp
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Interview with Norbert Meyn
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A poem composed within Mooragh Internment Camp; 'Mooragh'
