This is a groundbreaking study of the prestigious Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics during the Third Reich. Making extensive use of archival material; including some discussed here for the first time; Fritz Truuml;mpi offers new insight into the orchestrasrsquo; place in the larger political constellation.Truuml;mpi looks first at the decades preceding National Socialist rule; when the competing orchestras; whose rivalry mirrored a larger rivalry between Berlin and Vienna; were called on to represent ldquo;superiorrdquo; Austro-German music and were integrated into the administrative and social structures of their respective citiesmdash;becoming vulnerable to political manipulation in the process. He then turns to the Nazi period; when the orchestras came to play a major role in cultural policies. As he shows; the philharmonics; in their own unique ways; strengthened National Socialist dominance through their showcasing of Germanic culture in the mass media; performances for troops and the general public; and fictional representations in literature and film. Accompanying these propaganda efforts was an increasing politicization of the orchestras; which ranged from the dismissal of Jewish members to the programming of ideologically appropriate repertorymdash;all in the name of racial and cultural purity.Richly documented and refreshingly nuanced; The Political Orchestra is a bold exploration of the ties between music and politics under fascism.
#1669945 in eBooks 2016-10-21 2016-10-21File Name: B01M6158Z6
Review
