The Cello Still Sings

The Cello Still Sings

A Generational Story of the Holocaust and of the Transformative Power of Music

A sweeping history of three generations darkened by the long shadow of the Holocaust, The Cello Still Sings is a vivid, moving, and true story of secrets kept, of personal discovery, and of the power of music to heal and to unite.

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About the Book
In a world in which antisemitism is on the rise, Horvath’s story—equal parts disturbing and inspiring—is necessary and timely reading. A poetic, nuanced tribute to the power of music and family. — Kirkus Review, starrred review
Ms Horvath’s ability of unrestrained self-reflection combined with her eloquent writing style, her way of summarizing complex events into comprehensible paragraphs will not let you put the book down. — Jewish Book World 
Janet Horvath tells [her parents’] gripping story with honesty and humour in an engaging style as if talking to a friend.THE STRAD music magazine

A sweeping history of three generations darkened by the long shadow of the Holocaust, The Cello Still Sings is a vivid, moving, and true story of personal discovery. As a child Janet is haunted by the eerie hush surrounding her parents’ experiences. George and Katherine, two professional musicians and Holocaust survivors, bury the memories of who and what they were before, silencing the past in order to live. Music is their lifeline.

After five decades of secrets, Janet finally unravels her Holocaust heritage when she stumbles upon a clue. After the war, George performed morale-boosting programs throughout Bavaria in a twenty-member orchestra of concentration camp survivors. Although Janet also becomes a cellist, her father never discloses that two of the programs, in 1948, were led by the legendary American maestro, Leonard Bernstein.

Janet’s father was more fortunate than others. When he was rounded up for hard labor, narrowly missing deportation to the death camps of Auschwitz, a music-loving Nazi guard gave him gloves to protect his cello-playing hands. Janet’s memoir of the Holocaust is deeply personal and illuminating. Through humor and colorful story-telling, she weaves her parents’ life into her own and captures the intensity of their life experiences. The lingering scars are healed through the sustenance and power of music, and their music-making unites people from generation to generation.

Publication in the Strad

Review in the Jewish Book World

 

Details
Author:
Series: Holocaust Heritage
Genre: Holocaust
Tags: Audio rights available, Foreign Rights Available, Holocaust memoir
ASIN: B0BR9ZMX91
ISBN: 9789493276802
List Price: $23,95
eBook Price: $5,95
Endorsements
Janet Horvath tells [her parents'] gripping story with honesty and humour in an engaging style as if talking to a friend.
– THE STRAD music magazine
Ms Horvath's ability of unrestrained self-reflection combined with her eloquent writing style, her way of summarizing complex events into comprehensible paragraphs will not let you put the book down.
– Jewish Book World
In a world in which antisemitism is on the rise, Horvath’s story—equal parts disturbing and inspiring—is necessary and timely reading. A poetic, nuanced tribute to the power of music and family.
– Kirkus Review, starrred review
Janet's book is an inspiring and engrossing read. It is extremely hard to put down once you have started it. Her father, a superb cellist, as is Janet, gave her a clue to his Holocaust story very late in his life. This clue prompted Janet's quest to unravel a timeline of her parents' Holocaust experiences. She embarks upon a daughter's quest to understand the experiences which altered and shaped her parents' lives, and consequently, the lives of her brother and herself. One feature of the book which really resonates with me is the interconnectedness of past, present, and future. Janet is extremely successful in weaving together the threads from the past that inform her present life. This is a very personal telling of one family's experiences, but the tragedies and triumphs are universally relatable. Janet's writing about music, specifically her father's and her own performances, is very powerful. She also includes wonderful descriptions of food, and even some favorite Hungarian recipes from her mother. Insightful and thoughtful, this is a beautiful book to read.
– Heather MacLaughlin
Janet’s memories are a beautiful remembrance of her father and a living testament to the indelible power of music to transcend and unite. Her view of music from the inside out gives the reader a genuine sense of what it feels like to be a professional musician.
– Maestro Marin Alsop. Chief Conductor of the ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra.
Part memoir and part biography, Janet Horvath’s The Cello Still Sings is an inspiring chronicle of her journey to unearth the story of how her father and 16 other Holocaust survivors formed an orchestra shortly after their liberation. Readers will be left breathless as Horvath retraces her father’s footsteps and reclaims his legacy—one of music, loss, and ultimately redemption.
– James A. Grymes. National Jewish Book Award winning author of Violins of Hope: Violins of the Holocaust—Instruments of Hope and Liberation in Mankind’s Darkest Hour.
The Cello Still Sings is a riveting memoir that captures Janet Horvath’s personal quest that led to uncovering her parents’ story and trauma during the Nazi occupation of Hungary. In this beautifully written story, Horvath weaves contemporary life and her search for family truth, with ancestral richness alongside the horrific history of the Jews during WWII. She illuminates the healing power of music and how it was a thread that connected generations over time.  My heart opened as I read this memoir. I cried and I stood in awe of the courage of this family.
– Ilana (Nancy) Rowe. Professor of Transpersonal Psychology, Sofia University.
[Leonard Bernstein] came face to face with the remnants of the unspeakable in the spring of 1948 when, as a 29-year-old on the cusp of world-wide adulation, he conducted an ensemble in Landsberg, Germany. Janet’s father Gyuri (George) played the cello… in the very orchestra conducted by Bernstein… The consequences of that emotional music-making serve as brackets to the remarkable tale told in this powerful book by cellist Janet Horvath.
– Martin Goldsmith. NPR Classical Music Host and author of The Inextinguishable Symphony: A True Story of Music and Love in Nazi Germany.
The Cello Still Sings is a memoir that captures both the enduring trauma of the second generation of Holocaust survivors and the enduring healing power of music. It is a powerful., intergenerational narrative mix that reveals and illumines
– Lawrence Sutin. Professor Emeritus, Creative Writing and Liberal Studies Programs at Hamline University, Saint Paul, MN, and professor of a low-residency program at the Vermont College.
Your writing is superb; I feel each word, keenly. Another excellent piece from you, my friend. I feel your hunger, your pervasive thirst and it fills me up.
– Deborah Rachel “Deb” Filler. Internationally acclaimed writer, actor, musician, and comedian. She has toured the world with her one-woman shows Punch Me in the Stomach.
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About the Author
Janet Horvath

Janet Horvath is a lifelong performing classical musician, soloist, speaker, educator, and author. The Minnesota Orchestra’s associate principal cello from 1980 to 2012, she has appeared as soloist with orchestra, and in recital and chamber music throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe. She has appeared on national radio and television, including the BBC, CBC, and NPR and on podcasts.
A contributing writer for the online classical music e-magazine Interlude.HK, she has penned over 350 feature articles about music and musicians. Recent essays have appeared in national publications, including The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Minneapolis Star Tribune and international music publications Musical America, Chamber Music America, Strings Magazine, The Brass Herald and Strad Magazine.

The author of the award-winning book Playing (Less) Hurt—an Injury Prevention Guide for Musicians, she has worked with instrumentalists to establish a holistic approach to music making. A pioneer and authority in the area of the medical problems of performing artists, and a passionate arts advocate, Janet is well-known among both amateur and professional musicians, teachers and students, and health care providers. Her masterclasses and seminars have been well received by orchestras including the San Francisco Symphony, Utah Symphony, Indianapolis Symphony, and Boston Symphony Orchestra, and at colleges, conservatories, and conferences from coast to coast. 
Through her writing and musical performances, Janet creates restorative conversations, offers spiritual sustenance, and explores music’s life-bringing and healing power.

In the age of fast-moving news, despite our best efforts, uncertainty and divisiveness prevail. Janet hopes to counteract the consequences of intolerance and endeavors to stimulate dialogue about inequality and the ramifications of racism.

Ms. Horvath earned her master’s degree in music performance from Indiana University and completed her MFA in creative writing at Hamline University in St. Paul, MN. 
Look for her classical music articles which appear at www.interlude.hk. More information can be found on her website www.janethorvath.com.

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