Composers
Walter Braunfels
b Frankfurt, 19 Dec 1882; d Cologne, 19 March 1954
Braunfels, Walter (b Frankfurt, 19 Dec 1882; d Cologne, 19 March 1954) was an important composer in Germany in the 1920’s and 30’s until his music was banned as “degenerate” […]
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Hanns Eisler
1898-1962
The reputation of Hanns Eisler (1898-1962) in his native Germany is remarkably different from his reputation in the United States, where he lived from 1937 until 1948. After his American […]
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Veniamin Fleishman
1913-1941
Veniamin Fleishman [Вениамин Иосифович Флейшман] (1913-1941) was a Russian composer and a student of Dmitri Shostakovich. After Fleishman was killed during the Siege of Leningrad, Shostakovich completed his opera, Rothschild’s […]
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Hans Gal
1890-1987
Hans Gál (1890-1987) was a prolific composer, teacher and scholar throughout his long life. At the height of his powers and his popularity, he was forced to leave Germany and […]
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Berthold Goldschmidt
1903-1996
Berthold Goldschmidt (1903-1996) could well be a poster boy for one kind of composer in exile. A rising superstar in Germany, his move to England certainly ensured his survival and […]
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Pavel Haas
Pavel Haas was born into a wealthy and prominent Jewish family in the Moravian capital of Brno. This was a city with a rich cultural life, and it was during […]
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Karl Amadeus Hartmann
Karl Amadeus Hartmann, composer and organizer of Munich’s postwar contemporary music series Musica Viva, has received much attention in association with notions of inner emigration. Emerging in the postwar correspondence […]
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Jaroslav Jezek
1906-1942
Jaroslav Ježek [1906-1942] was an important composer, performer and conductor during the inter-war period in Czechoslovakia. As leader of the Ježek Big Band and composer for the Liberated Theater, his […]
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Vitezslava Kapralova
1915-40
When she died in exile in France at the age of twenty–five, Vítĕzslava Kaprálová (1915–40) was on the threshold of a successful international career as a composer and conductor. During […]
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Gideon Klein
1919-1945
Gideon Klein (1919-1945) was a pianist, composer, writer and educator. In his short life he combined a dizzying array of skills, experiences, musical styles and activity. He arranged Hebrew folk […]
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Erich Wolfgang Korngold
1897-1957
Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957) was a child prodigy, a remarkable interwar talent in the musical life of German-speaking Europe, and in his later years, one of the most famous figures […]
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Hans Krasa
1899-1944
Hans Krása (1899–1944) played an active role in Prague’s multi–ethnic musical life between the wars. During WWII, Krása was deported to the Terezín concentration camp, where a remarkable musical community […]
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Ernst Krenek
1900-1991
Ernst Krenek (1900-1991) was one of the most prolific musical figures of his time. Born with the century in 1900, he lived until 1991 and was active as a composer […]
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Bohuslav Martinu
1890–1959
Despite the fact he spent his last two decades in exile, Bohuslav Martinů (1890–1959) was among the most prolific composers of the twentieth century. Born in a church tower above […]
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Franz Reizenstein
June 7, 1911 – October 15, 1968
When Franz Theodor Reizenstein (June 7, 1911 – October 15, 1968) left Berlin in 1934, England presented an obvious sanctuary. His uncle Bruno, who had been injured in the First […]
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Erwin Schulhoff
1894-1942
Erwin Schulhoff (1894-1942) was a prolific and multi-faceted creative figure whose work embraced a full panoply of styles and influences. Like Kafka and Mahler, a German Jew in a Czech […]
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Marcel Tyberg
1893–1944
Marcel Tyberg (1893–1944) was an accomplished composer, conductor and pianist. Notable conductors such as Rafael Kubelik and Rodolfo Lipizer premiered his pieces at venues in Prague and Italy. His eclectic […]
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Viktor Ullmann
1898-1944
Viktor Ullmann (1898–1944) was born on 1 January 1898 in the garrison town of Teschen in Silesia, in what belonged to the Austro–Hungarian Empire and is now a part of […]
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Kurt Weill
Despite the relative brevity of his life, composer Kurt Weill forged a far-reaching career that challenged the purity of preexisting styles. As a famous German Jew, he fled Nazi Germany, […]
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Mieczyslaw Weinberg
Mieczysław Weinberg’s flight from Nazi-occupied Europe was rather different from the customary exile to the West – to England or the United States. His move to the Soviet Union meant […]
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Jaromir Weinberger
1896-1967
Jaromír Weinberger (1896-1967) was the composer of one of the most successful operas between the wars, the comedy Švanda Dudák (Schwanda the Bagpiper). While unable to duplicate that level of success in […]
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Eric Zeisl
1905-1959
Eric Zeisl (1905-1959) was a composer whose career unfolded along a well-trodden path of exile. In the early 1930’s he was a promising young Viennese composer just starting to make […]
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Alexander Zemlinsky
October 14, 1871 – March 15, 1942
Alexander Zemlinsky (October 14, 1871 – March 15, 1942) was one of the most powerful musical voices of his time. A remarkably influential musician, he had connections with both the […]
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