Music as ‘Transitional Object’ and the Curated Scrapbooks of Conductor Rudolf Pekárek

Transitional objects specific to the Holocaust-survivor experience can often include musical objects that survivors cling to for consolation, during and after the Holocaust. This article argues for the connection between conductor and Holocaust survivor Rudolf Pekárek’s programming of Czech composers throughout his career in Australia and this music being a transitional object of comfort for him. Drawn from research into Pekárek’s archival collection held at the University of Queensland’s Fryer Library, ten scrapbooks containing news articles, photographs, and ephemera including concert programs are analysed as case studies into how Holocaust survivors might use personal curation by scrapbooking for identity reformation. Findings reveal that Pekárek’s programming choices were likely derived from his connection to Czech composers’ music, which became transitional objects for him because of his experiences as a Czech Holocaust survivor. Pekárek’s specific preoccupation with and passion for Dvořák is linked to a moment in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp that gave him hope: specifically, melodies from Dvořák’s Symphony no. 9 in E minor, op. 95, ‘From the New World’, therefore held special meaning for him. In Australia, Pekárek’s programming created musical experiences for his local and regional audiences, as well as audiences abroad, that were critically recognised. Pekárek’s own narrative is meticulously recorded in a series of scrapbooks capturing his personal curation of storytelling that details his conducting journey through the placement of artefacts, and this article concludes that these scrapbooks were identity-strengthening for him as a Holocaust survivor. By applying a theoretical framework of self-fashioning, and processes of identity-reformation, this article also investigates the potential for scrapbooking to create an elevated sense of control for personal narrative through the honouring and curation of memories, particularly for Holocaust-survivor musicians.