James Simon (29 September 1880 – 12/14 October 1944) was a German

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

and

musicologist Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some mu ...

Timeline

* Born on 29 September 1880 in Berlin * Married on 1 May 1907 to Anna Levy in Berlin * Birth of his son, Jörn Martin Simon on 14 September 1910 in Berlin * Birth of his son, Ulrich Ernst Simon on 21 September 1913 in Berlin * Emigration: 1 April 1933, via Zürich to Amsterdam, the Netherlands * Death of his son, Jörn in 1937 in Russia during the purge of the Moscow Trials * Deported from Westerbork 5 April 1944 to Theresienstadt, ghetto * Transferred 12 October 1944, to Auschwitz, extermination camp * Death: 14 October 1944, Auschwitz, extermination camp – officially declared dead, age 64

Biography

James Simon was born into a Jewish family in Berlin and murdered in Auschwitz in 1944 following his internment at Theresienstadt. He studied at the Musikhochschule in Berlin piano (

Conrad Ansorge Conrad Eduard Reinhold Ansorge (15 October 1862 – 13 February 1930) was a German pianist, teacher and composer. He was born in Buchwald, Silesia, studied at the Leipzig Conservatory between 1880 and 1882, and under Franz Liszt in Weimar in 1 ...

) and composition (

Max Bruch Max Bruch (6 January 1838 – 2 October 1920) was a German Romantic composer, violinist, teacher, and conductor who wrote more than 200 works, including three violin concertos, the first of which has become a prominent staple of the standard v ...

). In 1934 he was forced to leave Germany to Zurich, later Amsterdam where he was arrested and deported to

Theresienstadt Theresienstadt Ghetto was established by the Schutzstaffel, SS during World War II in the fortress town of Terezín, in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (German occupation of Czechoslovakia, German-occupied Czechoslovakia). Theresienstad ...

. From there, on 12 October 1944, James Simon boarded the transport to Auschwitz and was murdered in a gas chamber shortly after his arrival. He was last seen sitting on his suitcase composing music. His older son, Jörn Martin Simon, died in the purge of the

Moscow Trials The Moscow trials were a series of show trials held by the Soviet Union between 1936 and 1938 at the instigation of Joseph Stalin. They were nominally directed against "Trotskyists" and members of "Right Opposition" of the Communist Party of th ...

in 1937. The younger son,

Ulrich Ernst Simon Ulrich ichardErnst Simon (21 September 1913 in Berlin – 31 July 1997 in London) was an Anglican theologian of German Jewish origin. Simon had known Thomas Mann during his childhood in Berlin and Dietrich Bonhoeffer was another near neighbou ...

, survived, escaping to London, where as a young man he converted to Christianity, became a noted Anglican writer and theologian, and was a member of the council of

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

Published works

While some of Simon's piano pieces, songs and his opera ''Frau im Stein'' (1918) (based on ’s work) were published, many of his compositions remain unperformed. He is called the "Lost Composer". His (17/18 December 1938) was premiered in Prague by Czech cellist

František Brikcius František Brikcius is a Czech cellist. Early life František Brikcius was born in Prague. From early childhood, he began to play the cello and later studied at the Prague Conservatoire under Professor Jaroslav Kulhan. He was accepted into t ...

as part of the "Weinberger Tour" on 23 April 2007 at the Spanish Synagogue. A cantata, ''Ein Pilgermorgen'' (''A Pilgrim’s Morning,'' 1929–30) for soprano, tenor, baritone, chorus and orchestra to a text by

Rilke René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926), shortened to Rainer Maria Rilke (), was an Austrian poet and novelist. He has been acclaimed as an idiosyncratic and expressive poet, and is widely recogni ...

, survives in manuscript.

References

External links

Biography with photo at World ORT's Music and the Holocaust

One of James Simon's home addresses in Amsterdam

Guide to the James Simon Collection
at the

Leo Baeck Institute New York The Leo Baeck Institute New York (LBI) is a research institute in New York City dedicated to the study of German-Jewish history and culture, founded in 1955. It is one of three independent research centers founded by a group of German-speaking ...

Family Tree for James Simon
on Geni.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simon, James 1880 births 1944 deaths 20th-century pianists 20th-century German musicians 20th-century German male musicians 20th-century German musicologists German opera composers German pianists German male pianists German male classical composers German Jews who died in the Holocaust German civilians killed in World War II German people who died in Auschwitz concentration camp Theresienstadt Ghetto prisoners Jewish composers Male opera composers Musicians from Berlin Musicologists from Berlin People associated with King's College London

Timeline

Biography

Published works

See also

References

External links