Artist database

27 March 1902, Budapest - 1944

Pál Hermann (Paul Hermann), cellist and composer, was born on 27 March 1902 in Budapest. Between 1915 and 1919 he studied at the Royal Hungarian Academy of Music (now known as the Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music) under such renowned artists as Béla Bartók, Zoltán Kodály, Zoltán Székely, Géza Frid, Lili Kraus, Adolf Schiffer and Leó Weiner.

Even during his studies he was a frequent performer. In addition to his solo recitals, he could also be heard as a chamber musician with the Hungarian String Quartet and violinist Zoltán Székely, among others. He gave concerts all over Europe, and his first performance abroad in 1920 was Kodály's Solo Sonata for Cello (Op. 8) at a private concert at the home of composer Arnold Schoenberg in Vienna.

In the 1920s, he moved to Berlin, where he studied with cellist and composer Hugo Becker at the University of Music. By this time he was already well known as a cellist, giving concerts all over Europe (the Netherlands, Germany, England) and performing with his baroque ensemble almost every week. At the same time he taught cello and composition. Because of the war and the political situation affecting the Jews caused him to leave Germany. He travelled with his family to the Netherlands, but after the tragic death of his wife, he moved to Brussels. He continued to work as a musician, performing in quartets in Belgium, France, Switzerland, Italy and Hungary.

In 1937 he moved to Paris, where he performed regularly as a soloist. During the French mobilisations, he volunteered for the army, where he was assigned to a military orchestra. After the German occupation, the regiment was disbanded. He then took refuge for a time in the countryside, taught the cello and made a few public appearances, initially under his own name and later, as persecution of the Jews intensified, under the pseudonym de Cotigny. In April 1944, however, he was arrested and deported from Toulouse to the Drancy camp, and on 15 May 1944 he was sent to the Baltic States on the Drancy Convoy 73 (a train from the Drancy assembly camp to Lithuania and Estonia). He was never heard of again after that.

In addition to his success as a cellist, he is also noted as a composer. 26 of his compositions have been preserved for posterity.

The Paul Hermann Foundation in his memory supports young cellists at the Hungarian Liszt Academy with scholarships.