| Annika Fuhrmann (in English)

BRECHT / EISLER / DESSAU: SONGS FROM EXILE

A one-woman touring performance that explores the intergenerational feelings of guilt, shame, and sorrow associated with German identity, Finland’s whitewashed role as Nazi Germany’s ally, and the current political climate in Europe and the world.

The performance is built around songs composed by Austrian Hanns Eisler (1898–1962) and German Paul Dessau (1894–1979) to texts by Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956). The songs were written between 1933 and 1948 while Brecht and the composers were in exile across Europe and the United States. They offer sharp and moving commentary on the Nazi rise to power, fascism, war, and displacement—topics that are, once again, eerily relevant today.

The journey follows Brecht from early 1930s Berlin through Denmark and Finland, then to the United States, and finally back to post-war East Germany. Between songs, space is given to questions such as:

Why, even in the 1930s, were the Nazis largely dismissed in Germany as merely ridiculous and harmless? Are there parallels to today’s Europe, where far-right parties have once again become socially and politically acceptable?

Or: Is it time to reassess the Finnish narrative, which holds that while Finland fought alongside Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union out of necessity, it had no involvement in German war crimes, the Holocaust, or National Socialism?

The music of Hanns Eisler and Paul Dessau, along with Bertolt Brecht’s texts, provide a powerful framework for these and other pressing questions.

The performance is presented in a mix of German and Finnish. The only accompaniment is a travel harmonium built in 1930s Germany, a simple yet starkly beautiful instrument that complements the mood of the Brecht songs. It also doubles as a traveling trunk, symbolizing exile and flight.

The full performance lasts approximately 60 minutes without intermission. Upcoming performances can be found in the calendar.

“The audience at Koko Theater bursts into furious applause after having spent an hour in concentrated silence, listening to Annika Fuhrmann perform refugee-themed songs by Bertolt Brecht and his court composers, Hanns Eisler and Paul Dessau, mostly written in the 1930s and 1940s.

Fuhrmann, known as a versatile singer and vocal artist, accompanies herself on a travel harmonium made in 1930s Germany. Its aged, patinated sound evokes a sense of history, while also serving as a symbolic stage prop that encapsulates the atmosphere of the entire evening.

Of Finnish-German heritage, Fuhrmann performs songs in both Finnish and German in this touring production. Her singing is clear and lyrically beautiful, yet, especially in German, carries the Brechtian quality of commentary—at times, chillingly dramatic. […] Between songs, Fuhrmann provides context on the historical moments and personal circumstances that influenced the songwriters. Through these explanations, she highlights how attitudes toward Nazi ideology evolved in Germany and Finland before, during, and after the war. Special emphasis is placed on the persecution of Jews and the oppression of other minorities. It also becomes evident how many of Brecht’s observations remain highly relevant today, offering a sharp critique of modern Russian totalitarianism and the increasingly influential far-right ideologies across various countries—including the way contemporary refugees are discussed in Finland.

The ethos of this stark yet elegantly minimalist performance is perhaps best encapsulated in the song Song of a German Mother (1943), in which a remorseful mother mourns how she herself encouraged her son onto a doomed path. At the darker end of the selection is the chilling Ballad of “Jewish Whore” Marie Sanders (1937), a bitter commentary on the Nazis’ grotesque racial laws. However, a sense of hope for resistance shines through in the encore, Song of Peace (1950), which in its updated lyrics lists the wars currently causing suffering in the world.”

Tuomas Rantanen, Voima (30.1.2025)