PROFILPELAJAR.COM

The rise of Nazism and its aftermath led to a wave of Central European intellectuals, many of them Jewish, seeking escape abroad during the 1930s and 1940s due to persecution at home. It has been claimed that nearly 70 composers came to the UK to escape Nazi persecution between 1933 and 1945, though many of them subsequently moved on elsewhere.^[1] This list details those composers, performers, publishers and musicologists who ended up living and working in Britain, where they had a significant and lasting influence on musical culture and development - though often at considerable personal and professional cost, with much of their legacies lost.^[2]

Primarily composers

Ernest Berk (1909–1994). Arrived 1934 from Germany, returned mid-1980s.^[3]
Boaz Bischofswerder (1885–1946). Arrived 1933 from Germany. Deported as an enemy alien to Australia in 1940 with his son Felix Werder
Nicholas Brodszky (1905–1958). Arrived from Austria 1939, moved on to California 1949^[4]
Francis Chagrin (1905–1972). Arrived 1936 from Romania (via France)
Erika Fox (born 1936). Arrived 1939 from Austria
Hans Gál (1890–1987). Arrived 1938 from Austria
Peter Gellhorn (1912–2014). Arrived 1935 from Germany
Roberto Gerhard (1896–1970). Arrived 1939 from Spain (via France)
Berthold Goldschmidt (1903–1996). Arrived 1935 from Germany
Allan Gray (real name Josef Zmigrod, 1902–1973). Arrived 1935 from Austria
Wilhelm Grosz (1894–1939). Arrived 1934 from Austria (moved onto the US, 1938)
Joseph Horovitz (1926–2022). Arrived 1938 from Austria
Karel Janovický (born 1930). Arrived 1950 from Czechoslovakia
Robert Kahn (1865–1951). Arrived 1938 from Germany
Erwin Lendvai (1882–1949). Arrived 1933 from Germany
Ray Martin, (real name Kurt Kohn, 1918–1988). Arrived 1938 from Austria
Hans May (1886–1959). Arrived 1936 from Germany (via Paris), returned to Europe 1957
Ernst Meyer (1905–1988). Arrived 1933 from Germany, returned 1948
Karl Rankl (1898–1968). Arrived 1939 from Austria
Franz Reizenstein (1911–1968). Arrived 1934 from Germany
Mátyás Seiber (1905–1960). Arrived 1935 from Hungary
Leopold Spinner (1906–1980). Arrived 1939 from Austria
Mischa Spoliansky (1898–1985). Arrived 1933 from Germany
Peter Ury (1920–1976). Arrived 1939 from Germany
Egon Wellesz (1885–1974). Arrived 1938 from Austria
Arthur Willner (1881–1959). Arrived 1938 from Austria

Other composers stayed for a short time in Britain before moving on elsewhere. They included Hanns Eisler, Ernst Krenek, Karol Rathaus, Kurt Roger, Ernst Toch and Kurt Weill^[5]

Primarily conductors, performers, teachers

Oskar Adler (1875–1955). Arrived 1938 from Austria
Amadeus Quartet (three members of). Arrived 1938 from Austria
Friedrich Buxbaum (1869–1948). Arrived 1938 from Austria
Peter Ebert (1918–2012). Arrived 1933 from Germany
Elena Gerhardt (1883–1961). Arrived 1935 from Germany
Walter Goehr (1903–1960). Arrived 1933 from Germany
Michael Graubart (1930-2024). Arrived 1938 from Austria^[6]
Erich Gruenberg (1924–2020). Arrived 1946 from Austria (via Israel, 1938)
Paul Hamburger (1920–2004). Arrived 1939 from Austria
Karl Haas (1900–1970). Arrived 1939 from Germany
Hans Heimler (1913–1990). Arrived 1938 from Vienna^[7]
Helene Isepp (1899–1968). Arrived 1938 from Austria^[8]
Martin Isepp (1930–2011). Arrived 1938 from Austria
Julius Isserlis (1888–1968). Arrived 1938 from Austria
Susi Jeans (1911–1993). Arrived 1935 from Austria
Louis Kentner (1905–1987). Arrived 1935 from Hungary
Anita Lasker-Wallfisch (born 1925). Arrived in 1946 after liberation from Belsen
Maria Lidka (1914–2013). Arrived 1934 from Germany
Hans Oppenheim (1892–1965). Arrived 1935 from Germany
Rawicz and Landauer, piano duo. Arrived 1935 from Austria
Arnold Rosé (1863–1946). Arrived 1938 from Austria
Max Rostal (1905–1991). Arrived 1934 from Germany
Rudolf Schwarz (1905–1994). Arrived from imprisonment in Germany (via Sweden) in 1947
Jan Sedivka (1917–2009). Arrived 1942 from Czechoslovakia
Walter Susskind (1913-1980). Arrived 1939 from Czechoslovakia, from 1952 worked mostly abroad
Richard Tauber (1891–1948). Left Austria 1938, British citizenship gained in March 1940
Vilém Tauský (1910–2004). Arrived 1940 from Czechoslovakia (via France)
Edith Vogel (1912–1992). Arrived 1938 from Austria
Ilse Wolf (1921–1999). Arrived 1939 from Germany^[9]

Pianist Artur Schnabel and cellists Fritz Ball and Emanuel Feuermann stayed for a short time in Britain before moving on^[5]

Primarily critics or musicologists

Theodor Adorno (1903–1969) arrived 1934 from Germany (with frequent trips back) but moved on to New York in 1938^[5]
Mosco Carner (1904–1985). Arrived 1933 from Poland
Otto Erich Deutsch (1883–1967). Arrived 1939, returned to Vienna 1951
Erich von Hornbostel (1877–1935). Arrived 1933 from Austria
Hans Keller (1919–1985). Arrived 1938 from Austria
Georg Knepler (1906-2003). Arrived from Austria in 1934, returned in 1946
Else Mayer-Lissmann (1914–1990). Arrived 1938 from Germany^[10]
Hans Redlich (1903–1968). Arrived 1939, from Germany
Fritz Spiegl (19263–2003). Arrived 1939, from Austria
Peter Stadlen (1910–1996). Arrived 1938 from Austria
Erwin Stein (1885–1958). Arrived 1938 from Austria
Klaus Wachsmann (1907–1984). Arrived 1936 from Germany. Uganda (1937-57), UK (1957-63), US (1963-75), UK (1975-84)

Primarily publishers

Adolf Aber (1893–1960). Arrived from Germany, 1933, worked at Novello
Walter Bergmann (1902–1988). Arrived from Germany, 1939, worked at Schott^[11]
Otto Blau (1893–1980). Arrived 1938 from Austria, worked at Josef Weinberger^[12]
Alfred Kalmus (1889–1972). Arrived 1936 from Austria, worked at Universal Edition
Edward Kassner (1920-1996). Arrived 1938 from Austria, Kassner Music^[13]
Ernst Roth (1896–1971). Arrived 1938 from Austria, worked at Boosey & Hawkes