Wir müssen lernen, in Fesseln zu tanzen

Leo Kestenberg was a representative of intellectual German Jewry, combining European enlightenment with Jewish spirit. Awareness of the significance of his achievements as a pianist, music educator, and educational policy maker is gradually fading, even though the effects of his reforms on school music education, extracurricular instrumental instruction, and the international orientation of music education are still felt today. As a student of Busoni and friend of Artur Schnabel, Kestenberg seemed destined for a brilliant career as a pianist, but as a socialist he devoted himself entirely to public education, first in social democratic education committees and then increasingly as a Prussian ministry official, working with the Freie Volksbühne Berlin and initiating a far-reaching reform of the old singing lessons in schools. The biography presented here is based on Kestenberg's writings and includes his extensive correspondence and all documents from his estate. This has given rise to a new appreciation of this artist and educator, education politician and reformer, who, as a European intellectual, was associated with many artists and scientists of his time. After emigrating to Palestine in 1938, he became a reformer, teacher, and organizer for a second time, reestablishing music education in Israel. His lasting impact on education policy and music in both Germany and Israel is an example of the great significance of Jewish enlightened thought on the cultural and intellectual history of Europe.

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