Abstract

In this essay I explore problems of pedagogy related to Hans Krása’s Brundibár by drawing heavily upon the thinking of two divergent theoretical perspectives regarding Holocaust testimony as advanced by Giorgio Agamben (2002) and Shoshana Felman (1992). I theorize that lodged within a space of difficult knowledge coalesced through violence, trauma, complicity, memory, and music lies a rupture at the heart of the Brundibár experience. This space is created yet not altogether embraced by contemporary musical experiences of Brundibár in the most extensive and all-encompassing comprehension of its musicking: experiencing the operetta allows its participants to hear those whom it is impossible to hear. I claim that the musical experience as inhered within and enabled by the operetta serves a testimonial and therefore pedagogical function. This function, figuratively hearing and being present to Brundibár’s present absences, implies an empathic walking-beside-in-solidarity and is a position that I suggest allows participants to engage with the operetta more fully.