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 def ...

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

and

musicologist Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, f ...

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. Ansorge was born in Buchwald, Silesia, studied at the Leipzig Conservatory between 1880 and 1882, and under Franz Liszt in Weim ...

) and composition (

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

). 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 SS during World War II in the fortress town of Terezín, in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia ( German-occupied Czechoslovakia). Theresienstadt served as a waystation to the extermination c ...

. 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 in 1937. The younger son, Ulrich Ernst Simon, 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 university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

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 the ...

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), known as Rainer Maria Rilke, was an Austrian poet and novelist. Acclaimed as an idiosyncratic and expressive poet, he is widely recognized as a significant ...

, 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 J ...

Biography and Recordings of James Simon's Compositions for Cello: https://www.mollyjonescello.com/recital-1.html
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simon, James 1880 births 1944 deaths 20th-century German pianists 20th-century German male musicians 20th-century German musicologists German opera composers German pianists German male pianists 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 German 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