Via White Crane Institute // WALTER ARLEN (né Aptowitzer)

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July 31 Born 1920 - WALTER ARLEN (né Aptowitzer) ; born on this date, is an Austrian-born American composer, specializing mainly in voice and piano scores, having published around 65 works. He is also a music critic for the Los Angeles Times. Arlen was born in Vienna. His parents ran a department store until it was taken from them by the Germans in 1938. His father was sent to Buchenwald concentration camp and his mother committed suicide after a breakdown. Walter lost his first love, Budapest native Fülöp “Lumpi” Loránt, during the war — the latter starved to death while at a heinous labor camp at the age of 24 or 25. After the war, Walter relocated to Chicago. While living there, Aptowitzer changed his name to Walter Arlen. (He is not related to "Over the Rainbow" composer Harold Arlen.) He staved off depression by writing music. He won a prize in a song cycle contest and became an assistant to the American composer Roy Harris. Because of that, he  had a chance encounter with Schubert composer, Otto Erich Deutsch, and having promise was encouraged to compose, he records for Decca Records, with many of his works only discovered recently, having trained at the University of California, Los Angeles under Leo Sowerby and Roy Harris. His assistance and knowledge has been fundamental in tracking down other artists from the period whose works where lost or forgotten due to the Nazi Regime.  Whilst working as a journalist, he founded the music department at Loyola University Chicago. Arlen established friendships with numerous other German and Austrian emigrees, including Stravinsky, Milhaud, Villa-Lobos and Chavez.  Arlen pursued his musical studies at UCLA, worked as a driver for Igor Stravinsky and, before long, was hired as a classical critic for the Los Angeles Times. I also write for the LA Times, but had never heard of Arlen until I was introduced to him by Michael Haas — a musical historian who arranged for Arlen's work to be recorded along with many other Jewish composers. For decades, Arlen's music remained in his desk drawer. Among the recently recorded work is an oratorio, "The Song of Songs," based on the ancient Jewish love poem and composed by Arlen in the early 1950s. Walter Arlen has been happily married to his partner of 65 years Howard Myers since July 2, 2013. They are featured in the 2023 Netflix documentary Eldorado: Everything the Nazis Hate.    |8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8| Gay Wisdom for Daily Living from White Crane Institute "With the increasing commodification of gay news, views, and culture by powerful corporate interests, having a strong independent voice in our community is all the more important. White Crane is one of the last brave standouts in this bland new world... a triumph over the looming mediocrity of the mainstream Gay world." - Mark Thompson Exploring Gay Wisdom & Culture since 1989! www.whitecraneinstitute.org |8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|O|8|