Paul Kling: Legacy Of Unbreakable Musical Spirit

By Kelsey Knott • Photos provided by Louisville Orchestra

“It is not your own persona that counts; rather, you are part of something larger and, if you do not do your part, you damage someone else’s chance.” Paul Kling’s timeless insight perfectly encapsulates not only a musician’s responsibility within an orchestra, but also how we can all find community and refuge in art, even under unimaginable circumstances.

A violin prodigy from Czechoslovakia, Kling was four when he traded the gramophone he was gifted for his brother’s violin. At seven, he played Bach and Mozart concerti with the Vienna Symphony as a soloist, leading to many other solo recitals and symphonies in Europe. 

But his early career was halted with the German occupation of Czechoslovakia. “When they took away my violin,” Kling said, “it really sunk in.” At age 13, he and his brother were transported to Theresienstadt, a ghetto meant to appear on the outside as a culturally vibrant village with thriving Jewish inhabitants, though its inmates knew it was merely a stopping point on their way to certain death. Still, it was there he met musical mentors, including Czech-Jewish composers Viktor Ullman and Peter Kien, who didn’t survive to see their work, Der Kaiser von Atlantis (“The Emperor of Atlantis”), performed. Kling rehearsed this satirical opera with them, survivor art thought to be lost for 30 years that went on to become “one of the most significant creations in the spiritual legacy of the Holocaust era.”

During a death march leaving Auschwitz, Kling took his chances and laid down in the snow with other dead bodies, narrowly escaping at age 14. He rebuilt his life, finishing his Prague Academy of Music diploma after the war. Fleeing to Austria, he met pianist Joseph Garai, who advocated for Kling’s talent, granting him an audition and that led to his role as the concert master of a symphony orchestra in Vienna. In Europe, he continued performing as a soloist, recording the works of Beethoven and Brahms before being recruited by the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Japan in the early 1950s. It was there he found two new loves: his wife, internationally celebrated harpist Taka; and teaching, as he became a professor for the Tokyo University of Art. 

In 1959, Kling joined the UofL School of Music faculty as well as the Louisville Orchestra as their concertmaster. As a teacher, his students remember him as serious but loving when it counted. A formally-dressed man, he valued collaboration over competition, setting him apart from other stern instructors. One student shared that he walked out of class in a fit of discouragement once, but Kling called him a couple of weeks later, saying “Come see me.” The student ended up back in school and went on to have a 50-year career as a violinist. Other students have recalled instances of his support and encouragement, even when they felt they didn’t deserve his gentleness. An example of focus and drive perfectly balanced by kindness, it is clear how Kling’s former students have gone on to successful careers as concertmasters, soloists and chamber musicians, many maintaining their relationship with him throughout his life. 

In addition to UofL, Kling taught at the University of Indiana while in the states, and after 20 years in Louisville, moved back to Europe to teach at the University of Victoria and University of British Colombia, the former of which he served as Director of Music. His later years were spent participating in Holocaust education to honor his colleagues and mentors and ensure that the significance of Theresienstadt compositions and performances were not lost. 

Each season with the Louisville Orchestra, Kling performed a concerto, playing Bruch, Mozart #5, Saint-Saens #3, and the Alban Berg Concerto in the early 70s before finally taking his leave in 1975. Karajan, Busch, Woess, Rodzinsky, Sargent and Stravinsky are just a few of the conductors with whom Kling performed and recorded throughout his career as concertmaster and soloist with orchestras in Vienna, Louisville, and Tokyo. He received two medals, one from Japan and one from Austria, and remains an honorary member of the NHK Symphony. 

Kling passed away in 2005, but this past January for Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Louisville Orchestra paid tribute to their beloved concertmaster with a performance of Der Kaiser von Atlantis. Teddy Abrams, conductor and music director of the orchestra with Jewish roots, stated, “It felt like we actually owed it to his memory to present this music.” The Louisville Orchestra’s connection with its Jewish community has run deep since its founding in 1937. 

While it should not come at the expense of their suffering, artists continue to remind us to embrace life always. Paul Kling exemplifies that no broken spirit, self-pity, or resentment for lost time can stop humanity from seeking refuge in art.