Erich Itor Kahn (23 July 1905 - 5 March 1956) was a German composer of Jewish descent, who emigrated to the United States during the years of National Socialism.

Biography

He was born in Rimbach in the

Odenwald The Odenwald () is a low mountain range in the German states of Hesse, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. Location The Odenwald is located between the Upper Rhine Plain with the Bergstraße and the ''Hessisches Ried'' (the northeastern section ...

, the son of Leopold Kahn, a mathematician and synagogue cantor. He studied piano and composition at the

Hoch Conservatory Dr. Hoch's Konservatorium – Musikakademie was founded in Frankfurt am Main on 22 September 1878. Through the generosity of Frankfurter Joseph Hoch, who bequeathed the Conservatory one million German gold marks in his testament, a school for ...

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

, where his teachers included Paul Franzen and

Bernhard Sekles Bernhard Sekles (20 March 1872 – 8 December 1934) was a German composer, conductor, pianist and pedagogue. Life and career Bernhard Sekles was born in Frankfurt am Main, the son of Maximilian Seckeles and Anna (née Bischheim). The fami ...

; he concluded his studies in 1928, although he had been giving public recitals of classical and contemporary repertoire since 1919. He then worked for Radio Frankfurt as a pianist, harpsichordist, composer and arranger, reporting to

Hans Rosbaud Hans Rosbaud (22 July 1895 – 29 December 1962) was an Austrian conductor, particularly associated with the music of the twentieth century. Biography Rosbaud was born in Graz. As children, he and his brother Paul Rosbaud performed with thei ...

, director of the Radio's music department. In this capacity he met many leading contemporary composers, and on 29 January 1930 gave the world premiere of the Piano Piece op. 33a by

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

. In April 1933 he was dismissed from his post by the Nazis and emigrated to Paris with his wife Frida (née Rabinowitch). There he became friendly with

René Leibowitz René Leibowitz (; 17 February 1913 – 29 August 1972) was a Polish, later naturalised French, composer, conductor, music theorist and teacher. He was historically significant in promoting the music of the Second Viennese School in Paris after ...

, to whom he introduced Schoenberg's Twelve-note technique. At the beginning of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he was interned as an enemy alien at the

Camp des Milles The Camp des Milles was a French internment camp, opened in September 1939, in a former tile factory near the village of Les Milles, part of the commune of Aix-en-Provence (Bouches-du-Rhône).Guénaël LemoueeCamp des Milles : la mémoire de la ...

in the southeastern France; although in May 1941 Kahn and his wife were permitted to emigrate to the United States. He worked as a pianist and teacher in New York. He founded the Albeneri Trio with

Alexander Schneider Abraham Alexander Schneider (October 21, 1908 – February 2, 1993) was a violinist, conductor and educator. Born to a Jewish family in Vilnius, Lithuania, he later moved to the United States as a member of the Budapest String Quartet. Early li ...

and Benar Heifetz, with whom he made many recordings. In 1955, after giving a piano recital, Kahn suffered a

cerebral haemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

and spent many months in a coma until his death at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York."Erich Itor Kahn Is Dead at 50; Pianist With Chamber Groups" ''New York Times'' (March 6, 1956

/ref> Kahn wrote several distinctive keyboard works including the ''Ciaconna dei tempi di guerra'' (1943) composed for

Ralph Kirkpatrick Ralph Leonard Kirkpatrick (; June 10, 1911April 13, 1984) was an American harpsichordist and musicologist, widely known for his chronological catalog of Domenico Scarlatti's keyboard sonatas as well as for his performances and recordings. Life ...

to play on the harpsichord, though it is also performable on piano.

References

Adapted from an essay by

Juan Allende-Blin Juan Allende-Blin (born 24 February 1928) is a Chilean composer and academic teacher who lives in Germany. Career Born in Santiago de Chile, Allende-Blin studied first with his uncle, Pedro Humberto Allende, and with , a pupil of Anton Webern. ...

in the booklet notes of

Cybele Cybele ( ; Phrygian: ''Matar Kubileya/Kubeleya'' "Kubileya/Kubeleya Mother", perhaps "Mountain Mother"; Lydian ''Kuvava''; el, Κυβέλη ''Kybele'', ''Kybebe'', ''Kybelis'') is an Anatolian mother goddess; she may have a possible forer ...

SACD 160.403. {{DEFAULTSORT:Kahn, Erich Itor 1905 births 1956 deaths German classical composers 20th-century classical composers Hoch Conservatory alumni German male classical composers 20th-century German composers 20th-century German male musicians