György Justus
György Justus (1898–1945) was a Hungarian composer, musicologist, and choir master. According to the biography by Agnes Kory, he was impoverished throughout his life and struggled to survive. For many years he was homeless and wrote his essays and compositions on park benches and in coffee houses. Nevertheless, he published almost thirty papers on music, dance, and theater in Hungarian journals. He also composed over forty musical works in a variety of genres.
Only two of his compositions appear to have been recorded: the Jazz Suite (1928) for piano and the song “Sometimes in the Evening.” Both works convey a sense of humor and a joie de vivre that belie his dire circumstances.
In 1943 Justus was assigned to a forced labor camp in Transylvania. The text to “Sometimes in the Evening,” which Justus wrote himself, expresses his longing for his mother and for Pest, a section of Budapest. (The translation is by Nanette McGuinness.)
Sometimes in the evening, when I turn on the light,
When the afternoon is graying.
I am longing so much for you, dearest.
For you I am longing, and for Pest.[Refrain:]
O Pest, dear city,
Your beauty is unlimited.
I wish I could see you right now
Where so much joy awaits me!
Pest, you sweet treasure of mine,
Far from you I can find no peace.
On your roads would I gladly walk
You dear, precious world!Sometimes in the evening, when no one sees me,
With tears in my eyes, I long for you.
I am running, and the grey evening
Runs through the world at me, too.[Refrain]
Sometimes in the evening, you still come to mind,
Then your picture is next to me,
And two chilly little hands
Stroke your spouse’s forehead.[Refrain]
Justus escaped from the camp in 1944 and returned to Budapest, where he went into hiding. Later that year he disappeared after being detained by the Arrow Cross, a fascist and antisemitic political party installed by the Nazis. He was reportedly killed in Budapest in early 1945.
I am in awe of the human spirit when I read about composers who wrote music under the most adverse conditions. They were not deterred by fear, isolation, illness, forced labor, imprisonment, or homelessness. They composed in their head when they had no paper. And not only composers: poets, diarists, essayists, painters, actors, and all manner of performing artists resisted their oppressors in the pursuit of art. The creative spark, once ignited, cannot be extinguished.
A doctoral dissertation by Péter Bársony, A Vészkorszak Magyar Muzsikus Áldozatai [Hungarian Musician Victims of the Holocaust], was published in 2010 in Hungarian. The purpose of his research was to present all available information about Hungarian composers who perished in the Holocaust. An abstract is available in English.
