Uri Toeplitz: From Frankfurt Kulturbund to the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
Erich "Uri" Toeplitz was born in Göttingen, Germany, the son of mathematician Otto Toeplitz. His family moved to Kiel following his father's appointment as a professor at the University of Kiel, and later to Bonn in 1928 when his father became a professor at the university there.
Toeplitz's musical journey began at an early age. At eight years old, he accompanied his older brother to synagogue before his brother's bar mitzvah and was given the opportunity to blow the shofar (ram's horn). When he produced a tone while his brother could not, Uri told his mathematician father about the experience. Impressed, his father decided that young Uri should take up a woodwind instrument. He received his first flute as a bar mitzvah present at age twelve.
Toeplitz studied flute and later pursued musicology at the universities of Berlin, Bonn, and Cologne. His initial career plan was to become a music teacher, combining his studies in both music and mathematics.
Nazi Persecution and Escape
When the Nazis came to power in 1933, Toeplitz's dreams of becoming a teacher were immediately curtailed. The Nazi regime implemented the "Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service" that year, which removed Jews from positions in public service, including teaching positions. As a Jewish student, Toeplitz found himself increasingly isolated and discriminated against in academic settings.
As antisemitic policies intensified, Jews were systematically barred from general cultural events and performances. Jewish students like Toeplitz were actively shunned at music academies, making it impossible for them to continue their education in normal settings. The cultural isolation imposed on German Jews was severe, cutting them off from the rich musical traditions that had been central to German cultural life for centuries.
In response to these cultural restrictions, Jewish communities across Germany established their own cultural organizations. The Jüdischer Kulturbund (Jewish Cultural Association) was formed to provide employment for Jewish artists and to maintain Jewish cultural life under increasingly difficult circumstances. These organizations operated under strict Nazi surveillance and could only perform for Jewish audiences, further segregating Jewish cultural life from mainstream German society.
Toeplitz interrupted his university studies in 1934 and joined the orchestra of the Frankfurt Kulturbund as a flutist. For two years, he performed in this constrained environment, where Jewish musicians could only play for Jewish audiences and were limited in their repertoire by Nazi censors. The Kulturbund existed in a strange paradox—simultaneously a lifeline for Jewish artists and a tool of Nazi segregation policy.
During this period, violinist Bronislaw Huberman was actively implementing his plan to establish a symphony orchestra in Palestine, partly as a rescue mission for Jewish musicians facing persecution in Europe. William Steinberg, the musical director of the Kulturbund Orchestra in Frankfurt, recognized Toeplitz's talent and recommended him to Huberman for inclusion in the developing Palestine Orchestra. This recommendation became Toeplitz's ticket to escape the increasingly dangerous situation in Nazi Germany.
In 1936, as conditions for Jews in Germany continued to deteriorate following the Nuremberg Laws of 1935, Toeplitz immigrated to Mandate Palestine on his own. He left behind his parents and the only country he had known, facing an uncertain future in a land far from home. The decision to leave was both an escape from persecution and an embrace of a new beginning in what would eventually become Israel.
An exclusive interview of Uri Toeplitz by Christopher Nupen from his documentary We Want the Light, 2004. Courtesy Allegro Films.
The Palestine Symphony Orchestra
Upon arriving in Palestine in 1936, Toeplitz immediately became involved in the preparations for the inaugural concert of the Palestine Symphony Orchestra. The orchestra, founded by Bronislaw Huberman, represented not only a new professional opportunity but also a sanctuary for Jewish musicians fleeing European antisemitism.
The founding of the orchestra was itself a remarkable act of cultural resistance. Huberman had personally travelled throughout Europe, auditioning and recruiting approximately 70 Jewish musicians who were being systematically excluded from their positions in European orchestras. Many of these musicians arrived in Palestine with their families, saving nearly 1,000 people from what would become the Holocaust.
Toeplitz performed as a flutist at the orchestra's historic first concert on December 26, 1936, at the Levant Fair Hall in Tel Aviv. The world-renowned conductor Arturo Toscanini, who had refused to perform in fascist Italy and Nazi Germany as a political statement, travelled to Palestine to conduct this inaugural performance. The program included works by Rossini, Mendelssohn (whose music had been banned in Germany because of his Jewish ancestry), Brahms, and Schubert. The concert was a powerful symbol of cultural defiance against Nazism and was broadcast internationally. Teplitz wrote emotionally about this event:
Tears flow from the eyes of those of us to whom music is dearest. We have finally arrived at the realm of our dreams - to be an instrument in the hands of the greatest artist of our time.
The early days of the orchestra presented numerous challenges. Most of the musicians, including Toeplitz, were European-trained classical performers suddenly transplanted to the Middle East, where the climate, language, and culture were entirely different from what they had known. Many struggled with Hebrew and had to adapt to a much simpler lifestyle than they had been accustomed to in Europe.
Financial difficulties plagued the orchestra from the beginning. Musicians received minimal salaries—only 15 Palestine pounds per month, which was barely enough to survive on. To supplement their income, many orchestra members played in coffeehouses and hotels, which paid significantly better (about 50 pounds). Toeplitz was fortunate to avoid this by teaching flute students, allowing him to maintain his artistic integrity while making ends meet.
Rehearsal conditions were far from ideal. The orchestra initially had no permanent home and rehearsed in various locations, often in the early morning hours to accommodate the musicians' need to work other jobs in the afternoons and evenings. The humid coastal climate of Tel Aviv created additional problems for wooden instruments like Toeplitz's flute, requiring constant adjustments and maintenance.
Despite these difficulties, the orchestra quickly became a cultural cornerstone of Jewish Palestine. Within its first year, the Palestine Symphony Orchestra performed throughout the region, including concerts in Jerusalem, Haifa, and even Cairo and Alexandria in Egypt. These performances brought world-class classical music to audiences who had limited previous exposure to such repertoire and helped establish a cultural identity for the emerging Jewish society in Palestine.
Toscanini returned to conduct the orchestra again in 1938, shortly before the outbreak of World War II made international travel impossible. His continued support lent international legitimacy to the orchestra and helped it establish its reputation beyond Palestine.
During World War II, Toeplitz and the orchestra faced additional hardships. Communication with Europe was severely limited, leaving many musicians, including Toeplitz, anxious about the fate of family members left behind. The orchestra performed in a 700-seat hall with poor acoustics, making it difficult to achieve the sound quality they strived for. Yet despite these challenges, they continued to perform, providing cultural sustenance to a community under stress from world events.
Toeplitz also experienced personal anxiety during this period as he worried about his parents still in Nazi Germany. The limited information available from Europe and the growing awareness of Nazi atrocities added a heavy emotional burden to the already challenging professional circumstances.
Following the war and the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, Toeplitz and his colleagues in the orchestra found themselves in the midst of another conflict. As the newly declared state faced immediate invasion by neighbouring Arab countries, orchestra rehearsals were often interrupted by air raid sirens. The Tel Aviv harbour area, where rehearsals were frequently held, was a target for Egyptian bombers, forcing musicians to flee to inadequate shelters during attacks.
On the day Israel declared independence—May 14, 1948—Toeplitz participated in a deeply meaningful performance. He recalled: "We were in the (Tel Aviv) museum. The government was sitting downstairs at a big table and we were standing upstairs waiting until (Prime Minister David) Ben Gurion said 'Hatikvah' and we played 'Hatikvah' with very high spirits... We didn't know that some hours later the first Egyptian bombers would fly over Tel Aviv." This performance marked the transition of the Palestine Symphony Orchestra to what would soon become the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, paralleling the birth of the new nation.
The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
That memorable moment for Toeplitz, playing "Hatikvah," Israel's national anthem, marked the establishment of the Jewish state in 1948. He recalled it was a Friday afternoon:
"We were in the (Tel Aviv) museum. The government was sitting downstairs at a big table and we were standing upstairs waiting until (Prime Minister David) Ben Gurion said 'Hatikvah' and we played 'Hatikvah' with very high spirits... We didn't know that some hours later the first Egyptian bombers would fly over Tel Aviv."
That same year, guest conductor Leonard Bernstein named Toeplitz first flute of the orchestra—an honour that led to solo and chamber music appearances, as well as a steady stream of students for the flutist. Toeplitz expressed "a special affection for Bernstein," noting that "Bernstein was really great" and that "his greatness is slowly being recognized."
A significant development for the orchestra came in 1957 with the opening of the IPO's new hall, funded by American Jewish donors. At the inaugural concert, Bernstein conducted, Toeplitz played flute, and Isaac Stern was the guest violinist.
Toeplitz was instrumental in bringing Zubin Mehta to conduct the orchestra and served for a long time on the orchestra's board. When the orchestra decided, at Mehta's initiative, to play works by Wagner and Richard Strauss in concerts, Toeplitz wrote an article in its program about "the importance of Wagner," which generated controversy among the audience and press. When Mehta became the musical director, he determined that Toeplitz "was not a good enough flutist," which led to Toeplitz's departure from the orchestra. Although this was "painful" for him, it allowed him more time for teaching and other pursuits.
After studying in France with Marcel Moyse, Toeplitz adopted his flute playing methods and became a flute teacher at the Tel Aviv Academy of Music. He trained numerous students who became renowned flutists in Israel and abroad, including Uri Shoham, Avner Biron, Moshe Aharon Epstein, Bezalel Aviram, and Yossi Arnheim.
Uri Shoham, who became Principal Flute of the Israel Philharmonic from the 1960s until his retirement in 1997, began studying with Toeplitz at age 12 in 1943. According to Lior Eitan, one of Shoham's students, Toeplitz "knew how to give his students enough freedom to allow them to flourish as individuals," rather than creating "clones of himself."
After retiring from the orchestra in 1970, Toeplitz pursued academic degrees, enrolling in university for his B.A., master's, and Ph.D. At age 65, he received his doctorate "with the highest marks, summa cum laude," writing his doctoral dissertation on the woodwinds of Mozart. This work was later published in German as "Die Holzbläser in der Musik Mozarts und ihr Verhältnis zur Tonartwahl."
Toeplitz remained active in Israel's musical community in various capacities. He saved the Israel Chamber Ensemble from being disbanded, mediated conflicts between the ensemble and conductor, and transformed the small Haifa chamber music orchestra (40 members) into a full-fledged symphony orchestra with over 60 players. He also served as administrator of the International Youth Orchestra, noting, "I knew the soul of the musicians; what they needed; what had to be done."
In 1992, Toeplitz published "The Story of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra" in Hebrew, and in 1999, he published his autobiography and family story in German, titled "Und Worte reichen nicht: von der Mathematik in Deutschland zur Musik in Israel: eine jüdische Familiengeschichte, 1812-1998."
The Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality honoured him with the title of Yakir (Distinguished Citizen) of the city. About a year before his death, "Flute Day" was held for the first time in Tel Aviv, initiated by the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra and the Keynote Program, dedicated to him in appreciation of his contributions.
Toeplitz was married twice. With his first wife, Ellen, he had a daughter named Gabriella. With his second wife, Ruth (who died in 1993), he had two sons, Gideon and Ron (Roni). Gideon Toeplitz became the general manager of the Pittsburgh Orchestra.
In his later years, Toeplitz resided at a senior citizens home in Kfar Saba, Israel. Despite declining eyesight and hearing, he continued to listen to music and attend concerts. His son Gideon noted that "the love of music in Israel is not to be compared to any other place," and the honours bestowed on his father throughout his lifetime reflected that enduring appreciation.
Uri Toeplitz died in 2006 and was buried next to his wife Ruth in the regional cemetery of the Gederot Regional Council. His private sheet music collection is preserved and cataloged at the Felicia Blumenthal Music Centre.
Sources
From Frankfurt to Israel, The Judische Kulturbund Project, accessed Feb 2025.
The first flutist of the Philharmonic, Uri Toeplitz Obituary, Haaretz, 24 Oct 2006 (Accessed Feb 2025)
Portrait of Uri Toeplitz, flutist of the Philharmonic Orchestra, 1969. Meitar Collection, The Pritzker Family National Photography Collection, The National Library of Israel