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The 1929 New York Stock market Crash and resulting Depression led to the advent of the Third Reich. This ended the turmoil
of conflicting values that swirled during the Weimar era. Germany was placed in the hands of Adolf Hitler who never told the
German people that he envisioned a radical revolution to remake the German nation as well as Europe. In a climate of lawlessness
masked by quiet on the streets, Hitler methodically reduced all opposition. And he not only had a political agenda, but also a
very definite opinion about the arts. The Arts needed to be a kind of propaganda for the sacred cause. Richard Wagner became
the ultimate in music. He wrote a tetralogy narrating how the good, even with the gods, is always victory Since the German
Weltanchaung is based on the Nietzche's Will of Power, all the ingredients are there to win a war. Then, any music which doesn't follow Wagner precepts and that of Beethoven and other producers of 'good German music' was classified as 'entarte'--degenerate. As a Jew and a degenerate, Schoenberg fled to California where he lived with Stravinski. Hindemith follows the same exile and Bela Bartok from Hungary too. Many musicians, among the less talented, were honored by the regime. Much of the music created during the NAZI era was frantic and pompous music. There were also musicians of talent. Perhaps the most prominant was Karl Orff whose 'Catmina Burana' is still celebrated everywhere in the world. Wilhem Furwangler, head of the Berlin Philharmonic, continued to present Beethoven symphonies to the Nazi intelligentsia. Richard Strauss, who lived through the NAZI and World War II period, kept on working and creating beautiful music. He composed "Vier letzte Lieder" ("Four Last Songs") after the War when he was well in his 80s. Some experts see this as some of his most beautiful music he made. But Strauss and others were educated and trained before the NAZIs seized power. What of the Germans educated duing the NAZI era and the post-War era? How many world famous composers emerged from Germany. The NAZI attack on creativity has never been fully assessed. We also wonder what the impact of the Hitler Youth was which made it difficult for children to devote time to music? Or what the impact was of terminating the role that many talented Jewish music instructors was? Jews were a very small part of the German population, but they were a much greater part of the music world. Before the NAZI era, many German children were taught to play musical instruments by talented, dedicated Jewish music instructors. Usually accounts of the Holocaust understandably focus on the horendous impact on the Jews. We have not seen any careful study of the impact of the Holocaust on Germany.
The 1929 New York Stock market Crash and resulting Depression led to the advent of the Third Reich. This ended the turmoil
of conflicting values that swirled during the Weimar era. Germany was placed in the hands of Adolf Hitler who never told the
German people that he envisioned a radical revolution to remake the German nation as well as Europe. In a climate of lawlessness
masked by quiet on the streets, Hitler methodically reduced all opposition.
Hitler not only had a political agenda, but also a very definite opinion about the arts. The Arts needed to be a kind of propaganda for the sacred cause. Hitler himself in the best German tradition, was an ardent lover of music and had very defenite tastes. He of course was a devotee of Wagner, but he enjoyed many other composers. Goebbels propaganda machine as in others areas trumpeted the work of noted German composers. Unsaid at the time is the fact that the great muscians of the NAZI era were all men who had beem educated an trained in the era before the NAZIs seized power and began to remake Germany. No muscicians of eminance arise during the NAZI era. And the 12 years the regime lasted was to short to train its own generation of muscians.
Many compsers and musiscians, especially if they were Jewish, left Germany. Ifthey remained they were unable to work in the music industry. Several noted composers remained in Germany and had varying experiences.
Richard Wagner became the ultimate in music. He wrote a tetralogy narrating how the good, even with the gods, is always victory Since the German Weltanchaung is based on the Nietzche's Will of Power, all the ingredients are there to win a war.
A very famous composer who walked a dangerous path during the NAZI era was Richard Strauss. He was a musician’s son and a rare prodigy who managed to surpass the expectations which developed around him as a boy. He curried favor with the NAZIs, inorder for his career and German Music to flourish. And because Hitler liked his music and had the composer had an esteemed international reputation, he had a degree of independence that no other German muscian had. Hitler was first exposed to Strauss' work when as a young man he attended a performance of 'Salome' (1907). He was much impressed. Strauss himself was no supporter of the NAZIs. He wrote in his private journal, " I consider the Streicher-Goebbels Jew-baiting as a disgrace to German honour, as evidence of incompetence – the basest weapon of untalented, lazy mediocrity against a higher intelligence and greater talent." [Kennedy, p. 274.] He was not active politically nor was he outspoken publically. Thus he could continue his career after the NAZIs seized power. Like most Germans, he did not fully appreciate the nature of the NAZIs. He attempted to resist the politicization of German music and even the campaign against Jewish muscicans. Some criticize him for dealing with the NAZIs, but this seems unfair. Few Germans could avoid dealing with the NAZIs unless they emigrated. Muscicians who wanted to work had to come to terms with the regime. Strauss and others hoped that Hitler could be convinced to promote the arts, in his case music. This meant dealing with Propaganda Minister Josef Goebbels who controlled recording, publication, and broadcast. Strauss attempted to ingratiated himself with Goebbels, dedicating an orchestral song, 'Das Bächlein' to him. Goebbels was not impressed. Goebbels unlike Hitler did not admire Strauss. He wrote in his diary, "Unfortunately we still need him, but one day we shall have our own music and then we shall have no further need of this decadent neurotic." We are not sure, however, to what degree Goebbels disliked Strauss' music rather than his politics and resistance to dismissing Jews from positions in the music industry. Strauss never joined the NAZI Party and refused to give the NAZI salute when he greeted people. Strauss because of his eminense it the music world was appointed president of the Reichsmusikkammer (November 1933). Almost certainly Hitler would have been consulted on this appointment. He did not prove to be, however, a compliant NAZI tool. He decided to accept the post, but to administer the agency apolitically. This of course was impossible in the NAZI Reich. He attempted to simply ignore NAZI bans on performances of foreign and Jewish composers (Debussy, Mahler, Mendelssohn, amd others). Such open defiance would have meant instant dismissal even arrest for individuals of lesser status. The turning point for the regime was his work on the comic opera, 'Die schweigsame Frau'. The problem was that he was working with a Jewish friend and associate--the librettist Stefan Zweig. The opera was premiered in Dresden (1935). Strauss defied Goebbels orders that that Zweig's name not appear in the theatrical billing. This was an act of considerable courage. The NAZIs were outraged. Hitler and Goebbels refused to attending the premiere which was expected for a major work of Germany's most estemmed libing comppser. After only a few performances, the opera was banned. Strauss wrote to Zweig, "Do you believe I am ever, in any of my actions, guided by the thought that I am 'German'? Do you suppose Mozart was consciously 'Aryan' when he composed? I recognise only two types of people: those who have talent and those who have none." Zweig was able to emograte to America, but depressed by the NAZI victories in the beginning phase of World War II committed suiside with his wife in Brazil (1942). The Gestapo read his private journak and he was cautioned. Another concern for Strauss was that his beloved grandchildren were part-Jewish. He managed to protect them and his Jewish daughter-in-law. Strauss continued to work in Germany during World War II creating beautiful music. He composed "Vier letzte Lieder" ("Four Last Songs") after the War when he was well in his 80s. Some experts see this as some of his most beautiful music he made.
Another composers who had his ups and down with the regieme was Carl Orff who wrote Carmina Burana. One of the most prominant composers during the NAZI era was Karl Orff whose 'Catmina Burana' is still celebrated everywhere in the world.
Hans Pfitzner was a German composer born in Moscow during the Tsarist era. He was hailed like a second Beethoven in the beginning of the NAZI government, but he showed them that he had an independent mind and so he fell out of favor. His opera "Palestrina" (written in 1917) was staged and performed with Bruno Walter as the conductor. Walter was a Jew and the NAZIs tried to end the relationship with Pfitzner. Walter later went to America and Pfitzner stayed in Germany.
Any music which didn't follow Wagner precepts and that of Beethoven and other producers of 'good German music' was classified as 'entarte'--degenerate. Of course famed composers like Mahler and Mendelssohn were well within the German tradition. Their music was classified as entarte simoly because they were Jewish. As a Jew and a degenerate, Schoenberg fled to California where he lived with Stravinski. Hindemith follows the same exile and Bela Bartok from Hungary too.
Many singers and theater people also lost their jobs and were forced to leave the country, because they were Jewish. Tenors like Richard Tauber and Joseph Schmidt were able to get away, but a man like Tauber never regained his fame when he started to sing in English. The case of Joseph Schmidt was exceptionally tragic. He was a very small Jewish man, born in Romania. However, he had a fantastic voice and he was especially popular in Holland where he sang quite often. He died in a camp in Switzerland, 39 years of age. We wonder what the impact was of terminating the role that many talented Jewish music instructors was? Jews were a very small part of the German population, but they were a much greater part of the music world. Before the NAZI era, many German children were taught to play musical instruments by talented, dedicated Jewish music instructors. Usually accounts of the Holocaust understandably focus on the horendous impact on the Jews. We have not seen any careful study of the impact of the Holocaust on Germany.
There was music in Germany during the NAZI period (1933-45). One could not expect a total vacuum in a country with such a rich musical culture and of course the NAZIs wanted to show case that wonderful tradition.
Many musicians, among the less talented, were honored by the regime. The dismissal of Jews created many openings for musscians who could not earn the posts on their talents. There were of course also musicians of talent.
Except for the dismissal of the Jews. Life went on as usual, especially in the beginning of the Third Reich. Wilhem Furwangler, head of the Berlin Philharmonic, continued to present Beethoven symphonies to the Nazi intelligentsia.
Much of the music created during the NAZI era was frantic and pompous music.
A composer of light music, Norbert Schultze, wrote a love song in 1938 that became very popular during the War when the "Soldatensender Belgrad" started to broadcast it every evening. The singer was Lale Andersen who was also heard by the allied troups in the Mediterranean area. She became an instant hit. The name of the song was "Lili Marleen". Many singers and stars tried to sing it, Perry Como recorded it in 1944 and Marlene Dietrich after the War, but nobody could do it like Lale Andersen. It was also the time that the Beer Barrel Polka ("Roll out the Barrel") became famous all over the world. The wonderful thing about music is that it only comes to life when it can be heard.
The NAZIs dismissed Jews, but not necesarily foreigners. Foreign composers were avoided if not banned, but foreigner performers were tolerated. This depended somewhat on their ethnicity and status of the performer before the NAZIs seized power. The NAZIs were ultra-Nationalists, but they saw nationalism in racial terms. Thus Hitler and the SS wanted to add Nordic blood to the German nation. Thus the Dutch, Flemish, and Scandinavians were looked on in favorable terms. Slavic performers were for the most part not tolerated, although there were a few exceptions for individuals with international reputations. Almost all of the foreigners who worked in the music and entertainment industry were non-Slavs. Once the War began, Goebbels propaganda was to paint the German war effort as a European movement against British and American capitalism (which were suposedly dominated by the Jews). Later of course it became an anti-Bolshevik (also associated with the Jews) crusade. In that atmosphere there was room in Germany for foreign artists. And German had European allies (Bulgaria, Croatia, Finland, Hungary, Italy, Romania, and Slovakia) as well as friendly relations with Portugal and Spain and trading relations with Sweden and Switzerland.
So Goebells could make a case for a NAZI-led European crusade. A popular Romanian was Maria Cebotari, who was not Jewish and performed as an opera singer in Germany before and during the war. Other famous opera singers were Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Marcel Wittrisch (born in Belgium) and Julius Patzak. They all stayed and worked in Nazi-Germany and had to be "entnazifisiert" after the collapse in 1945. Most of them were allowed to sing in public again after a few years, as was the case of conductors Wilhelm Furtwängler, Karl Böhm and Herbert von Karajan who were invited to conduct in the United States not long after the war. It is interesting to note that in the field of popular entertainment quite a few non-German artists were prominent and very well-liked by the German public. The Hungarian Marika Rökk was an excellent dancer and singer and performed all during the War till the end. The same about two Swedish filmstars: Zarah Leander and Kristina Söderbaum and Dutchman Johannes Heesters, who at this moment is the oldest theater performer in the world at 106 years. Another singer of popular songs was Rosita Serrano from Chile who was famous for her Spanish accent. A Dutch reader writes, "There were numerous bands in Nazi-Germany, even a Gypsy orchestra, Barnabas von Geczy. We heard them often when we still had a radio. A well-known Dutch band were "The Ramblers" who (I am amazed) kept their English name and gave songs not only in Dutch, but also in French. Their lead singer was from Belgium: Marcel Tielemans. Another band during that time was Boyd Bachmann. Somehow music could not be silenced." [Stück]
There were some exceptions to the NAZI racial mania. The Gypseys of course was one of the groups targeted by the Holocaust. Barnabas von Geczy was a "salon" orchestras" organized by a Hungarian violinist. Their music was popular German music with a Gypsey sound, at least how the public envisioned Gypsey music. The muscians, however, were not ethnic Gypseys. Goebbels' had a Czech mistress. Tge Czechs were Slavs. She was Lida Baarová, a star in many German movies at the time. Another Slavonic filmstar was Olga Tschechowa. Before the war popular singers were Jan Kiepura and Martha Eggerth, a husband and wife team, but they managed to get out to the United States.
Strauss and others were educated and trained before the NAZIs seized power. It is not quite accurate to descrtibe them as examples of NAZI music. What of the Germans educated duing the NAZI era and the post-War era? How many world famous composers emerged from Germany. The NAZI attack on creativity has never been fully assessed.
We also wonder what the impact of the Hitler Youth was which made it difficult for children to devote time to music? Many German boys like the Hitler Youth. Opinions varied. Others found it tedious or the concentration on physical fitness very demanding. Boys with an artistic bent often fell in that category. And artistic boys unadept at sports and physical activities could become the butt of hazing. After the Hitler Youth was made compulsory, there was no way bof avoiding it. Some boys with musiucal abilities found a degree of relief from the physical grind by becoming muscians in their HJ unit. We have never seen an assessment of the HJ's impact on German music and the development of music talent in Germany. A reader writes, "I don't know anything about music in and by the Hitler Jugend. I assume they had their brass bands and perhaps they sang around the campfire. I know that some sections of the Wehrmacht and Luftwaffe had bands. They sometimes gave open-air concerts, both in Germany and the occupied countries as well.". we knjow of no statistics on the subjec, but blieve ghat fewer boys studied music during the NAZI era. The photographic record shows relatively few boys playing instruments other than the ones that the Hitker Youth used for their pagentry. We are less sure about the girls.
Kennedy, Michael. Richard Strauss, Man, Musician, Enigma.
Stück, Rudi. E-mail message, August 22, 2010.
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