A Letter from Gideon is a book about the life and work of the Czech musician, composer and teacher Gideon Klein (1919-1945), whose promising artistic career in the interwar period was interrupted by the Holocaust.
"I attended one of the concerts. Imagine a vast attic, a black grand piano built on makeshift legs in the middle of it, and an enthusiastic audience sitting on the rafters around. The audience is small because the concert is held in secret and the Germans are not allowed to hear about it. A few candles provide the light. These are a very rare commodity. At the keyboard sits Gideon Klein, a handsome, slender young man, an impressive pianist and composer. He plays exclusively Bach today, the great mystic. He plays quietly and intently, by the light of two candles. Space and time have dissolved; there is no ghetto, no war or hunger, we are free and happy, far from all that evil. There is only Johann Sebastian Bach, Gideon's face in trance and the immense power of music. I've never experienced such a wonderful concert, so magnificent."
Czech Edition