List of émigré musicians from Nazi Europe who settled in Britain

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.

Primarily composers

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[2]

Primarily conductors or performers/teachers

Pianist Artur Schnabel and cellist Emanuel Feuermann stayed for a short time in Britain before moving on[2]

Primarily critics or musicologists

  • Otto Erich Deutsch (1883-1967). Arrived in 1939, returned to Vienna 1951
  • Hans Keller (1919-1985). Arrived 1938 from Austria
  • Else Mayer-Lissmann (1914-1990). Arrived 1938 from Germany[5]
  • Hans Redlich (1903-1968). Arrived 1939, from Germany
  • Peter Stadlen (1910-1996). Arrived 1938 from Austria
  • Erwin Stein (1885-1958). Arrived 1938 from Austria

Theodor Adorno arrived 1934 from Germany (with frequent trips back) but moved on to New York in 1938[2]

Primarily publishers

  • Walter Bergmann (1902-1988). Arrived from Germany, 1939[6]
  • Alfred Kalmus (1889-1972). Arrived 1936 from Austria
  • Ernst Roth (1896-1971). Arrived 1938 from Austria

References
  1. Continental Britons: The Émigré Composers, Notes to Nimbus CD NI5730 (2004)
  2. SOAS, Jewish Music Institute
  3. Helene Isepp biography, Royal College of Music
  4. Ilse Wolf biography, Bach Cantatas
  5. Elsie Mayer-Lissmann biography, Royal College of Music
  6. Walter Bergmann biography, Schott

Further reading
  • Gal, Hans. Music Behind Barbed Wire: A Diary of Summer, 1940 (2014)
  • Gordon, David and Peter. Musical Visitors to Britain (2005)
  • Haas, Michael. 2013. Forbidden Music: The Jewish Composers Banned by the Nazis. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-15430-6 (cloth); ISBN 978-0-300-15431-3 (pbk).
  • Snowman, Daniel, The Hitler Emigrés (2002)
  • Royal College of Music. Project celebrating the work of migrant musicians who fled the Nazis
  • Music and the Holocaust: Composers in Exile
  • Through Lotte's Lens: A film by Tony Britten
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