Eric Bentley (born September 14, 1916) is a British-born American critic, playwright, singer, editor and translator. In 1998, he was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame and is a member of the New York Theater Hall of Fame in recognition of his many years of cabaret performances.
Bentley is considered one of the preeminent experts on Bertolt Brecht, whom he met at UCLA as a young man and whose works he has translated extensively. He edited the Grove Press issue of Brecht's work, and recorded two albums of Brecht's songs for Folkways Records, most of which had never before been recorded in English.
In 1968, he signed the “Writers and Editors War Tax Protest” pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the Vietnam War.
On this album, poems by 20th-century German poet Wolf Biermann are preformed in English by the Eric Bentley. Biermann, born in Hamburg and a member of the Communist party, sympathized with East Germany, and moved there in 1953. Outspoken and occasionally critical of the Communist government, Biermann was in turn heavily criticized in the official Communist newspaper Neues Deutschland, which described his poetry as “anarchistic” and “politically perverse,” despite Biermann considering himself a “good” Communist being ruled by “bad Communists.” The liner notes of this 1968 album include a description of Biermann’s life, selected English texts, original German song and poem text, and news clippings.
Download Liner Notes
Tracklist:
A1 | | The Song Of The Worst Thing |
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A2 | | Ballad On The Poet Francois Villon |
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A3 | | Ballad Of The Letter-Carrier William L. Moore |
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A4 | | The Barlach Song |
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A5 | | Nothing To It! |
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A6 | | Comrade Julian Grimau |
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A7 | | Ballad Of The Man |
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A8 | | Legend Of The Soldier In World War III |
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B1 | | Ballad Of Fredi Rohsmeisl |
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B2 | | Do Not Wait For Better Times! |
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B3 | | Early Morning |
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B4 | | The Singer's Inaugural Address |
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B5 | | Toys |
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B6 | | To The Old Comrades |
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B7 | | Reckless Abuse |
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B8 | | German: A Winter's Tale |
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B9 | | December 1965 |
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B10 | | Soldatenmelodie |
(320 kbps, cover art included)
2 Kommentare:
I recall reading and being impressed by Eric Bentley's critical writings in college when I took a seminar in German on Brecht. Many thanks for so many re-posts recently. They have been great for re-acquiring (and backing up) what I lost in an external hard drive crash last year. To regain what I thought was lost because of expired links; danke für das schöne Geschenk! What a wonderful gift for the holiday season!
You are always welcome!
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