Herbert Zipper (April 24, 1904 in
Vienna, Austria
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
– April 21, 1997 in
Santa Monica, California
Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing t ...
) was an internationally renowned composer, conductor, and arts activist. As an inmate at
Dachau concentration camp in the late 1930s, he arranged to have crude musical instruments constructed out of stolen material, and formed a small secret orchestra which performed on Sunday afternoons for the other inmates.
Together with friend
Jura Soyfer
Jura Soyfer (8 December 1912, Kharkov, Russian Empire – 15/16 February 1939, Buchenwald concentration camp, Germany) was an Austrian political journalist and cabaret writer.
Life
Jura Soyfer was the son of the industrialist Vladimir Soyfer a ...
, he composed the "Dachau Lied" ("Dachau Song"), which was learned by the other prisoners.
Released in 1939, he accepted an invitation to conduct the Manila Symphony Orchestra
The Manila Symphony Orchestra (MSO) is one of the oldest orchestras in Asia. Founded by Alexander Lippay in 1926, the orchestra has played a major role in Philippine history, including acting as a symbol of resistance during the Second World War. ...
.[ Jailed for four months by the Japanese during their occupation of the Philippines, after his release, he worked secretly for the Allies, transmitting shipping information by radio.][ After the war, he emigrated to the United States in 1946, where he conducted the Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra][ and promoted music education.
]
Early life
He was born to a prosperous engineer and inventor in Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
, Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
.[ He grew up in an affluent Jewish family in the cultural center of Europe, rubbing shoulders with many of the leading writers and artists of the time, and "studied at the ]Vienna Music Academy
The University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (german: link=no, Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien, abbreviated MDW) is an Austrian university located in Vienna, established in 1817.
With a student body of over three thousa ...
with Maurice Ravel and Richard Strauss."[ He worked as a composer and conductor.
]
Imprisonment
On May 27, 1938, shortly after the Anschluss
The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938.
The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany ...
, Herbert and two of his brothers were arrested at their home and sent to Dachau concentration camp. Zipper arrived at Dachau on May 31. He would spend a year in this camp, but instead of sinking into despair, he used the experience to develop his character and his love for humanity, often volunteering for the most demeaning of jobs. Zipper used music and poetry to bolster the spirits of the other inmates. He eventually had instruments made from stolen wood and wire and gathered a group of 14 musician prisoners to form an orchestra,[ for which he composed music.] The orchestra held secret rehearsals and gave concerts on Sunday afternoons in an unused latrine.[ Zipper said that the concerts were not for entertainment, but a means of keeping alive some small measure of civilization and of restoring value to their lives.
Zipper encountered the poet and writer ]Jura Soyfer
Jura Soyfer (8 December 1912, Kharkov, Russian Empire – 15/16 February 1939, Buchenwald concentration camp, Germany) was an Austrian political journalist and cabaret writer.
Life
Jura Soyfer was the son of the industrialist Vladimir Soyfer a ...
, whom he had known in Vienna. Soyfer composed the lyrics and Zipper the music for the song "Dachau Lied", which was passed through the camp and eventually made its way to other camps, providing strength and hope to the prisoners. Zipper was working on the typhoid fever detail when Soyfer fell ill and eventually succumbed to the disease at the age of 26.[ The inmates on the detail had not been given proper protection nor even clean water to wash themselves and many contracted typhoid fever as a result. It was Zipper's responsibility to carry the victims to be buried. Herbert wrapped his friend in the prescribed paper shirt and placed him in the box for the unceremonious burial.][ Cummins, Paul. '' Dachau Song: The Twentieth-Century Odyssey of Herbert Zipper'']
On September 23, 1938, Zipper was transferred to Buchenwald
Buchenwald (; literally 'beech forest') was a Nazi concentration camp established on hill near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within Germany's 1937 borders. Many actual or sus ...
[ because of overcrowding at Dachau. Zipper and his brothers were fortunate that their father, Emil Zipper, had been in London trying to secure documents for the family to leave Austria. Emil was eventually able to secure the release of his sons. Zipper and his brothers were released on February 21, 1939, and returned home to Vienna. Zipper and one of his brothers traveled to join the rest of the family on March 16 in Paris.
]
The Philippines
On May 3 of that year, Zipper received a call from the Philippines asking if he would accept the position of conductor of the Manila Symphony Orchestra
The Manila Symphony Orchestra (MSO) is one of the oldest orchestras in Asia. Founded by Alexander Lippay in 1926, the orchestra has played a major role in Philippine history, including acting as a symbol of resistance during the Second World War. ...
. Zipper’s fiancée, renowned dancer Trudl Dubsky
Trudl Dubsky Zipper (31 January 1913 – 3 July 1976), born Gertruda Dubsky, was an Austrian-American innovative dancer, choreographer and teacher.
Early life and education
Gertruda Rosa Josefine Dubsky was born in Vienna, the daughter of Wilhe ...
, had been working in Manila since 1937 and had recommended him for the post. Zipper accepted and joined Trudl in Manila, where they were married on October 1, 1939.
Although the orchestra was of poor quality, Zipper’s skill and enthusiasm soon led to successful concerts. Then disaster struck. The Japanese invaded Manila, and Zipper found himself a prisoner again. After four months of imprisonment and interrogations, he was released, and he and Trudl spent the next few years helping friends and trying to stay alive, having lost what few belongings they had accumulated. Zipper made many friends while in Manila, including General MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was C ...
’s wife, who helped him organize a victory concert after the Allies liberated the island.
The Zippers had many brushes with death during the 30-day Battle of Manila in early 1945. On more than one occasion the buildings they occupied were directly hit by artillery shells. On February 26, 1945, at 4:00am, Herbert left their seven story, partially destroyed, apartment building to fetch the daily water.[ Recognizing an opportunity to make a run for American front lines, Zipper crossed battle lines to reach American troops. There he learned that the apartment building was scheduled to be razed to the ground by artillery bombardment in 15 minutes. Zipper exclaimed that the building could not be shelled as it was occupied by 800-1000 civilians and there were no enemy troops. The bombardment was delayed for 45 minutes, allowing Zipper to hasten back to begin an evacuation. He saved the lives of everyone in the apartment building, including his wife Trudl.][
As an internee at Dachau, Herbert Zipper had vowed that he would one day commemorate the downfall of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi regime with a performance of Beethoven's 3rd Symphony "Eroica." One of his few possessions to survive the Battle of Manila was his musical score for the symphony, as he had carried it with him at all times during the intense battle. With the arrival of American forces on Luzon Island, Zipper set out to reconstitute his disbanded orchestra, though some members had not survived, including concertmaster Ernesto Vallejo. Like a phoenix from the ashes, the orchestra coalesced in the ruins of Santa Cruz Cathedral for the performance. War correspondent William J. Dunn, who reviewed the concert, recorded that on May 10, 1945, Herbert Zipper fulfilled the vow he had conceived at Dachau seven years prior.] News of the fall of the Nazi regime reached Zipper the day following the concert.
Emigration to the United States
In 1946, Zipper and his wife joined the rest of his family in the United States. His main reason for the trip was as a fundraising mission for the Philippine Cultural Rehabilitation Program that he had helped start. After only a few months, he received word that the program had been put on hold. While that project was stalled, Zipper saw as a deficit in arts education in U.S. schools and embarked on what would be his major life work — to help start community arts programs.
In 1947, Zipper was offered a teaching post at The New School for Social Research
The New School for Social Research (NSSR) is a graduate-level educational institution that is one of the divisions of The New School in New York City, United States. The university was founded in 1919 as a home for progressive era thinkers. NSS ...
in New York, founded in 1918 by Alvin Johnson as one of the country’s first adult education centers. Over the next few decades, Zipper went on to start many community art centers throughout the country. He also worked on reviving the disbanded Brooklyn Symphony, a group which had not been active since their conductor, Sir Thomas Beecham
Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet, Order of the Companions of Honour, CH (29 April 18798 March 1961) was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic and the Roya ...
, had returned to England. Zipper’s role of conductor with the Brooklyn Symphony focused much of their work on school outreach programs, while Zipper became increasingly involved in championing racial equality, social justice, and environmental causes.
In 1953, Zipper took the position of director of the Winnetka School of Music in the Chicago area, where he worked during the school year and then returned to Manila each summer to conduct a concert series. Winnetka was a community art school that served children and adults in afternoon and evening programs. In 1954, through a large fundraising effort, the school was relocated, expanded, and renamed Music Center of the North Shore (now the Music Institute of Chicago
The Music Institute of Chicago, known informally as MIC (formerly the Music Center of the North Shore), is a nonprofit community music school in Illinois with campuses in Chicago, Downers Grove, Evanston, Lake Forest, Lincolnshire, and Winnetka.
...
). Through this school, Zipper organized a professional orchestra whose purpose was to play concerts in area schools.
In 1972, Zipper accepted a job as project director for the School of Performing Arts at the University of Southern California
, mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it"
, religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist
, established =
, accreditation = WSCUC
, type = Private research university
, academic_affiliations =
, endowment = $8.1 ...
. His beloved wife and partner Trudl died of cancer in 1976. Despite his grief, Zipper continued his zeal for the arts and in the early 1980s began trips to China where he served as a teacher, arts advocate, and conductor.
Zipper remained active in the arts until his death in 1997 at age 92. He was the subject of the Oscar-nominated documentary '' Never Give Up: The 20th Century Odyssey of Herbert Zipper''.
References
External links
Biography at nationalguild.org
Herbert Zipper Concert Hall at The Colburn School
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zipper, Herbert
1904 births
1997 deaths
Austrian Jews
Musicians from Vienna
Dachau concentration camp survivors
American people of Austrian-Jewish descent
Austrian male composers
Austrian composers
Jewish American composers
Austrian conductors (music)
Male conductors (music)
American male conductors (music)
Music directors
20th-century American composers
20th-century American conductors (music)
20th-century American male musicians
20th-century American Jews
Austrian emigrants to the United States