obituaries
Obituaries from page 65
ROBERT WERNEY, 51, of West Bloomfield, died
March 4, 2015.
He is survived by his brother and sister-in-law,
Charles and Elaine Werney; nephew, Alan Werney;
many loving cousins and friends, as well as his
devoted caregivers.
Mr. Werney was the devoted son of the late Rose
and the late Sam Werney; the loving brother of the
late Arnold Werney.
Interment was at Machpelah Cemetery.
Contributions may be made to MORC-Macomb
Oakland Regional Center, 16200 19 Mile Road,
P.O. Box 380710, Clinton Township, MI 48038,
www.morcinc.org ; or a charity of one's choice.
Arrangements by Ira Kaufman Chapel.
Obituary Charges
The processing fee for obituaries is: $100 for
up to 150 words; $200 for 151-300 words,
etc. A photo counts as 30 words. There is no
charge for a Holocaust survivor icon.
The JN reserves the right to edit wording
to conform to its style considerations. For
information, have your funeral director call
the JN or you may call Sy Manello, editorial
assistant, at (248) 351-5147 or email him at
smanello@renmedia.us .
Hew Not To Get To Carnegie Hall
Lazar Berman
Times of Israel
A
composition from a bud-
ding young composer set
to be performed Sunday at
New York's Carnegie Hall was pulled
because it contained a musical quota-
tion from the Nazi anthem.
Estonian-born composer Jonas
Tarm, 21, won a commission to write
the piece from the prestigious New
York Youth Symphony's First Music
composer's contest. But Tarm's nine-
minute composition, titled "Marsh
u Nebuttya," or "March to Oblivion"
in Ukrainian, contained a 45-second
musical quotation from "Horst-
Wessel-Lied:' the Nazi anthem still
banned in Germany and Austria.
The composition also featured
a 45-second quotation from the
anthem of the Ukrainian Soviet
Socialist Republic.
NYYS Executive Director Shauna
Quill told the New York Times that
the move was "highly unusual," but
was undertaken "thoughtfully, but
firmly, as soon as we learned the
piece incorporated significant por-
tions of music written by others that
we determined were problematic for
an orchestra such as ours to be asked
to perform.
"Without this information and given
the lack of transparency, we could not
continue to feature his work on the
program," said Quill.
But Tarm, a junior at the New
England Conservatory of Music,
defended his decision, telling the
Wall Street Journal that the "piece is
not to provoke anyone. It's to evoke,
to make people think and feel."
He also said a composer writes
music to say things he can't express
in words.
Tarm told the New York Times the
composition is about conflict, totali-
tarianism and "polarizing nationalism:'
Other composers have quoted
from the anthem, including German
Karlheinz Stockhausen.
Adding to the controversy, Tarm's
program for the piece was simply a
quotation from T.S. Eliot's poem, "The
Hollow Men." Tarm, however, told
NPR that he was unaware of T.S. Eliot's
anti-Semitic tendencies.
The First Music competition has
given 139 commissions to young com-
posers since 1984. The composition
was commissioned in April 2014 and
submitted in September. Rehearsals
began in December.
Quill said she was not aware of the
inclusion of the Nazi anthem until
the piece's February premiere at New
York's United Palace Theater. An anon-
ymous letter from "a Nazi Survivor"
complained about the quotation.
Tarm told the Times he was devas-
tated. "It's one thing to have a concert
canceled because of weather or finan-
cial issues; that's kind of like death by
natural causes. But canceling because
of something that it's saying — it feels
almost like murder to me." ❑
LIVE STREAMING FROM WHEREVER
IT IS CONVENIENT FOR YOU
We are now web streaming funerals live from
across the area, including these recent locations:
Beth Israel Congregation Ann Arbor
Birmingham Temple
Congregation Shir Tikvah
David Oppenheim Chapel at Machpelah Cemetery
Davidson/Hermelin Chapel at Clover Hill Cemetery
Family Home in Bloomfield Hills
Temple Beth El - Maas Chapel & DeRoy Sanctuary
Temple Beth Emeth Ann Arbor
Temple Israel
The Heritage
And Graveside at Adat Shalom, Machpelah and
Great Lakes National Cemetery
As always, there is no cost & no password required.
THE IRA KAUFMAN CHAPEL
18325 W. Nine Mile Road Southfield, MI 48075
248.569.0020 • IraKaufman.com
66
March 12 • 2015
Obituaries
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