Music at World's End - Three Exiled Musicians from Nazi Germany and Austria and Their Contribution to Music in Iceland

A fascinating story of how three musicians, who escaped the Nazis, inspired Iceland's modern classical music.
In Iceland in the 1930s, classical music was only beginning to be seriously practiced, at the same time when musicians of Jewish heritage were fleeing Nazi Germany and Austria. Despite the country's strict immigration policy, three outstanding young musicians were allowed to settle there: Robert Abraham, Heinz Edelstein, and Victor Urbancic. Their influence on Iceland's music scene as conductors, instrumentalists, teachers, and scholars proved invaluable. In Music at World's End, the first in-depth study of the lives and careers of these three musicians, musicologist Árni Ingólfsson examines their formative years in Germany and Austria, their dramatic escapes from the Nazi regime, and their triumphs and frustrating setbacks in their new homeland, a country in which Jews were virtually unknown. This fascinating case study is a valuable addition to studies of musical exile during World War II and beyond.

About the author

Árni Heimir Ingólfsson is an independent scholar, lecturer, and pianist. He is the author of several books, including Jón Leifs and the Musical Invention of Iceland, and coeditor of Sounds Icelandic: Essays on Icelandic Music in the 20th and 21st Centuries.

Product details

• Authors: Árni Heimir Ingólfsson
• Publisher: Ingram Publishers Services
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Release: 09.06.2025
• EAN: 9798855800692
• ISBN: 979-8-8558-0069-2
• No. of pages: 326
• Illustrations: 59 b&w photos, schwarz-weiss Illustrationen
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Music > General, dictionaries; Music, History: specific events & topics, European History, Individual composers & musicians, specific bands & groups, MUSIC / History & Criticism, MUSIC / Individual Composer & Musician, Iceland, HISTORY / World, 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000, MUSIC / Genres & Styles / Classical, General & world history, Second World War, History of Music, c 1938 to c 1946 (World War Two period), Music reviews & criticism, General and world history, Musicians, singers, bands and groups, Composers and songwriters, c 1939 to c 1945 (including WW2), Music reviews and criticism, Classical Music (C 1750 To C 1830), 20th Century & Contemporary Classical Music, Classical style, Art music, orchestral and formal music, HISTORY / Europe / Nordic Countries, History / Wars & Conflicts / World War II / European Theater