Music at World’s End by Árni Heimir Ingólfsson is out now, offering the first in-depth study of three musicians who escaped Nazi Germany and Austria and reshaped Iceland’s musical life. Set in the 1930s, when classical music in Iceland was only beginning to take root, the book follows Robert Abraham, Heinz Edelstein, and Victor Urbancic as they found refuge in a country with strict immigration policies and little familiarity with Jewish culture. Their arrival coincided with a pivotal moment, and their presence quickly altered the direction of Iceland’s developing music scene.
Ingólfsson traces their formative years, forced exile, and the complex realities of building new lives as conductors, performers, teachers, and scholars. Drawing on detailed research, the book shows how their work helped establish professional standards and long-term infrastructure for classical music in Iceland. Music At World’s End stands as a focused and compelling case study of musical exile, documenting how displacement and resilience shaped a national culture during a defining historical moment.