Emil Kornsand was born on February 12, 1894, in the Alsatian city of Colmar to Karl Kornsand, a Jewish merchant, and his wife Luise Kornsand, born Lutzweiler, a painter. He grew up in Karlsruhe, where in 1911 he began studying music at the local conservatory with the great violinist Rudolf Deman, future husband of opera singer Frida Leider. He furthered his studies at the Stern Conservatory in Berlin until he was drafted into the military in 1914. After the war, Kornsand continued his studies at the Academy of Music in Berlin from 1919 until 1921.
Having already played viola in the string quartet of Wladyslaw Waghalter, concertmaster of the Städtische Oper in Berlin, as a student, he became a permanent member of the ensemble after completing his studies and eventually went to the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in 1924. In addition to his orchestral work, he was also a member of various chamber ensembles, including the string quartet of his former teacher, Rudolf Deman, with whom he performed and recorded throughout Europe.
With the Nazis’ seizure of power in 1933, Emil Kornsand was designated a “half-Jew”. However, his status as a “front-line fighter” in the First World War allowed him to keep his job for the time being. This was no longer the case after August of 1935, though the violinist managed to obtain special permission from the Reich Chamber of Culture, the Nazi’s government agency for cultural affairs, which could be revoked at any time. Two years later, the 53-year-old was forced into retirement, effective December 31, 1937.
Without the possibility of performing and with his pension sitting in a savings account, leaving him largely without means, Kornsand fled Germany. On July 11, 1938, he reached New York via Southhampton on the SS Normandie before settling in Boston in spring of 1939. He was hired at the Boston Symphony Orchestra as a violist in October of that year and joined the first violins in 1950. He also composed a series of orchestral works.
The musician spent the final years of his life as a pensioner in the town of Dennis, south of Boston on Cape Cod, where he occasionally worked as a guest conductor. Emil Kornsand died in June of 1973 in the Boston suburb of Brookline.
1894 Colmar
1973 Brookline, Massachusetts