Gloomy Sunday

Programs

Gloomy Sunday was written by a Hungarian composer Rezső Seress. At the time, many people who heard the song committed suicide, and it became known as the Suicide Hymn. Nick Barkow wrote a novel based on the events, The Song of Gloomy Sunday, which was later made into a film by director Rolf Schübel.
In 1939, András gets a job as a pianist in a small Budapest restaurant run by Szabó and his lover Ilona. He falls in love with Ilona at first sight and writes Gloomy Sunday for her. The song quickly wins fame but gets embroiled in a scandal for being linked to a suicide. To make matters worse, Budapest is occupied by Germany, and the arrival of another man who also loves Ilona, SS officer Hans, leads her and others to a devastating end.
A story dramatic enough to be made into a novel and a movie is made even more powerful when set to music, and the chaos and despair of World War II and the sad fate of the lovers who lived through that time of loss make each song in the musical all the more poignant.