Figure 1.--Fewer German boys during the NAZI era studied musuc. The HJ movement took up an increasing portion of children's time. We are less sure asbout trends in the post-War era and how they may hve vasries in East ahnd West Germany.

The most notable impact of the NAZIs in the field of music was that Germany after the War no longer dominated the world of music. Music actually never stopped in Germany. The "Prague Symphony Orchestra" that consisted nearly exclusively of Sudeten German musicians. The Czechs deported them after the War. They regrouped in Bamberg, Bavaria, and became famous as "Die Bamberger Symphoniker". We do not mean to say that Germany was no longer important, it is to say that Germany no longer dominated the world of music as it did before the War. A reader writes, "It is true that many non-German composers became more prominent in the concert halls of the world in the 20th century. Artists like Debussy, Grieg, Bartok and the Russians wanted to get away from German musical dominance." Anotger reader writes, "I believe I myself am very musical, although I don't play any instruments. I have been president of the Redwood Empire Sänger Chor in Petaluma for 7 years. We sing mostly German Volkslieder. Some of the melodies are beautiful, because they are composed by famous composers like Brahms, Mendelssohn, Schubert, etc. We perform several concert per year, sometimes as a guest choir." Notably our reader focuses on German music before and not after the NAZIs. (This same trend in Germany can be seen in other areas, especially science.) Nature abhors a vacuum. Those Many composers and artists who fled the NAZIs came to the United States. Their impact was much the same as the physicists who worked on the Manhattan Project and created the atomic bomb. They performed and gave lessons in universities and opened the mind of a lot of students. For example, Stravinsky exerted a real influence on American composers like Aaron Copland or Leonard Bernstein or foreigners living in the United States like Edgar Varèse Even if Schoenberg remained relatively unknown, his influence is clearly visible in what we call Minimalism . Some well-known composer like John Cage, Steve Seich Morton Feldman or Philip Glass were significantly influenced. This was not only the case in classical music. Influences can be noted in Folk-Rock music like in 'Echoes' by the Pink Floyd. A new generation of composers emerged in Germany after the War such as Karheinz Stochausen and many others in electro-acoustic music. But what is very fascinating is the fact that at this moment, music is becoming an international movement where a lot of musicians coming from a lot of countries are working together. Conferences and concerts present musical works simultaneously in Italy, France, Germany and many more. We are far from this impoverishment of Arts during the Third Reich. where there was no freedom of expression, there was no creativity. This was also true of the Soviet Union, although the Soviets trained large numbers of technically competent musicians. (The same was true in dance.) We believe that fewe boys studied music during the NZI era. We are less sure about trends in East and West Germany zfter the War.

Created: 4:13 AM 7/19/2012
Last updated: 4:13 AM 7/19/2012