EFTERLADT
JANINA KATZ/MARTIN HALL
LP/CD
JANUARY 2015
PANOPTIKON (OPTIK 45)
Efterladt – a Danish word that means both “abandoned” and “left behind” – is a posthumously released spoken word album featuring the Polish-Danish author Janina Katz’ last readings made shortly before her death in October 2013. The record is produced by Martin Hall.
At the time of the recordings no one knew how ill Katz actually was. During 2014 Hall continued to work on the project, assisted by the project’s original initiator, journalist and writer Søren E. Jensen, and the final album was released in January 2015.
1. I (0:55)2. II (1:41)3. III (3:50)4. IV (1:21)5. V (1:01)6. VI (2:35)7. VII (0:54)8. VIII (1:27)9. IX (1:59)10. X (2:44)11. XI (2:22)12. XII (2:42)13. XIII (0:21)14. XIV (2:38)15. XV (0:32)16. XVI (2:10)17. XVII (1:32)18. XVIII (1:13)19. XIX (0:44)20. XX (3:33)
JANINA KATZ (1939–2013)
Janina Katz was born in Krakow. She lost most of her relatives in the Plaszow concentration camp in Poland from which she was smuggled out in 1943, three years old. As an adult Janina Katz studied Polish literature and sociology at the Jagielloński University in Krakow. Then she worked for several years as an assistant at the Department of Sociology and Polish philology. She left Poland in 1969 for to live in Germany for a short while, but just one year later she moved to Denmark where she worked as a literary critic and translated Polish literature into Danish. For 13 years she worked at the Royal Library in Copenhagen. In addition, she worked for Radio Free Europe and later the BBC.
Janina Katz made her debut as a writer at the age of 52 with the poetry collection My Mother’s Daughter (1991), 22 years after she had come to Denmark. During her authorship she has released 18 books, novels as well as poetry. Her writing especially reflects her Polish Jewish origin and experiences during World War II. Janina Katz has mainly written in Danish despite her Polish mother tongue.
In 1993 she received the National Arts Foundation prize for best novel, My Life as a Barbarian. In 1998 she received the Beatrice Award and in 2002 she was awarded the National Arts Foundation grant for life. In 2012 she was nominated for the Nordic Council Literature Prize for his poetry collection Written in Polish.
Janina Katz died on the 18th of October 2013.
Martin Hall: Electronics, keyboards, environmental recordings and tape material
Linus Carlsen: Mandolin, e-bow, guitar, melodica, piano, bass and glockenspiel
Christian Skeel: Orchestration
Othon Mataragas: Piano
Johnny Stage: Ring modulator and keyboards
Tag Brass Band: Brass band
The Vista Dome Ensemble: Strings
Design: Kenneth Schultz
Photo: Johnny Stage
Janina Katz was born in Krakow. She lost most of her relatives in the Plaszow concentration camp in Poland from which she was smuggled out in 1943, three years old. As an adult Katz studied Polish literature and sociology at the Jagielloński University in Krakow, but left Poland in 1969. After a short stay in Germany she moved to Denmark where she made her debut as a writer at the age of 52 – 22 years after her arrival. During her authorship she released 18 books, novels as well as poetry. Her writing especially reflects her Polish Jewish origin and experiences during World War II.
In 1993 she received the National Arts Foundation prize for best novel, My Life as a Barbarian. In 1998 she received the Beatrice Award and in 2002 she was awarded the National Arts Foundation grant for life. In 2012 she was nominated for the Nordic Council Literature Prize for his poetry collection Written in Polish.
Janina Katz died on October 18, 2013, at the age of 74.
Among the musicians on Efterladt you’ll find Greek-English pianist Othon Mataragas (probably best known from his works with names such as Marc Almond, Current 93 and Peter Christopherson from Coil and Throbbing Gristle), the young Danish musician Linus Carlsen, producer and visual artist Christian Skeel as well as The Vista Dome Ensemble.
The release is funded by grants from Danish Arts Foundation (Statens Kunstfonds Projektstøtteudvalg for litteratur), Andreas Harboes’ Foundation, Danish Artists Union and DJBFA. Apart from the cd and download versions of the album, a limited edition of 100 vinyl copies were made available in relation to Martin Hall’s and Søren E. Jensen’s presentation of the project at Bogforum 2014 (a yearly Danish bookfair in Copenhagen in November).
Special thanks need to be credited Jytte Nordholt and Den2Radio in regards to the recordings. Acknowledgements also go to the publishing agencies Gyldendal, Rosinante and Lindhardt & Ringhof.
The portrait of Janina Katz is taken by Piotr Topperzer.
Written and read aloud by Janina Katz. The record’s musical staging is produced, composed and arranged by Martin Hall – track 3, 10 and 20 in collaboration with Linus Carlsen, track 6 with Othon Mataragas and track 16 and 18 with Christian Skeel. The album is mixed by Martin Hall. Final mastering made by Johnny Stage.