Licco Amar

Born in Hungary, Licco Amar taught in Frankfurt for many years before 1933. He went to Turkey from Berlin via France in 1934 to escape Nazi persecution, stayed until 1957, and then left for Germany . Licco Amar had a long association with Pul Hindemith. On August 1 1922 , they performed the debut of the 3 Streichquartet op. 16 as part of the subsequently named "Amar Quartet" in Donaueschingen. The Amar Quartet and the Association for Music were founded in Frankfurt in 1922 and Hindemith had an active concert schedule with it until 1929. Licco Amar, was by far the most renowned émigré violinist in Turkey. Fritz Neumark, an economist by profession and a classical musician by avocation, and a fellow émigré, recalls that Amar was a “true-to-style”musician best demonstrated when he played solo the sonatas of Bach. “He had an extensive repertoire, and he was a supporter and popularizer of modern music as shown by his active participation in the ‘Donauesching Music Days.’At the same time, he was an excellent teacher. [Turkish] violinists who were his students, such as Ayla Erduran and Suna Kan, became recognized on the world music scene. Amar was professor of violin first in Istanbul and later at the Ankara Music Conservatory.”[1]

[1] Fritz Neumark, Zuflucht am Bosporus : Deutsche Gelehrte, Politiker und Künstler in der Emigration 1933-1953 (Frankfurt: Knecht, 1995), 84-85

For additional reading on Licco Amar's Turkish exile see Arnold Reisman TURKEY'S MODERNIZATION: Refugees from Nazism and Ataturk's Vision 2006. http://www.newacademia.com/turkeys_modernization/

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