Turn bei Teplitz-Schönau, 1881 – 1959, London
Arthur Willner was an Austrian-born composer, pianist, and teacher whose career was shaped by exile following the Nazi takeover. Born in Bohemia, then part of Austria-Hungary, he studied in Leipzig and Munich with leading figures including Carl Reinecke and Ludwig Thuille. From 1902 to 1924 he taught composition at the Stern Conservatory in Berlin, where his students included Claudio Arrau, Otto Klemperer, Edgar Varèse, and Kurt Weill. He later worked in Vienna as a teacher, editor, and composer.
After the Anschluss in 1938, Willner fled first to France and then to England, where he spent the remainder of his life. In exile he continued composing and working as an editor and arranger, including for the publisher Boosey & Hawkes. His output comprises symphonies, concertos, chamber music, songs, and orchestral arrangements, combining late-Romantic idioms with strong formal craftsmanship. Sadly, much of his work fell into obscurity after his death, despite composing in an early Modernist idiom that was acknowledged at the time and today would be welcomed by audiences.
