# Resources regarding classical music in the Third Reich



## Gordontrek (Jun 22, 2012)

Hello all,
I must preface this with the usual "I'm not sure if this is in the appropriate forum," but anyway.
In one of my history classes this semester, the class theme is nationalism. Being the only music major in the class, I've chosen to write my research paper on classical music in Nazi Germany. My specific interest is how music was important to German nationalism (what they thought of Bach/Wagner/Mendelssohn, policies related to music, etc), and how composers and performers operated within Germany, whether supportive, resistant, or indifferent to the regime. I was wondering if you knew of any good resources, such as books, articles, or primary sources I might use in this regard. 
Thanks in advance!


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## Faustian (Feb 8, 2015)

_Hitler and the Power of Aesthetics_ by Frederic Spotts.


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## DBLee (Jan 8, 2018)

You may find this discussion of Furtwangler interesting and relevant: http://www.furtwangler.net/inmemoriam/data/nyt_en.htm


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Look in the opera ( Wagner) section and the 
Hitler and Wagner
keeps you buzzy for hours.


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## RICK RIEKERT (Oct 9, 2017)

“The Twisted Muse” by Michael Kater. Kater is great at giving the reader a sense of the ambiguities and contradictions of musical life in Nazi Germay. He analyzes the careers of Richard Strauss, Furtwängler (where he attempts to revise existing scholarship), von Karajan, Carl Orff (whose “Carmina Burana” is the only work of serious music composed in the Third Reich that has become part of the standard repertory), and Hans Pfitzer. He describes patterns of behavior determined by personality, ideology, aesthetic sensibility, and self-interest. Kater documents the many instances of musicians who were purged for artistic or “racial” reasons and discusses the readiness of many German musicians, both major and minor, to acquiesce or cooperate actively in the purge of their colleagues. Finally, Kater devotes a lot of space to German musicians who tried to buck Nazi trends, and to those who left the country. He gives us fascinating portraits of Klemperer, Weill, Bruno Walter, and Schönberg, among others.

Kater has also written a similar study of jazz under the Nazis.


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## mbhaub (Dec 2, 2016)

Music in the Third Reich by Erik Levi is something to look into. I don't know if it's still in print, but there was a paperback edition that was reasonably priced.


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## Nereffid (Feb 6, 2013)

Enrique Sánchez Lansch's documentary film _Das Reichsorchester_ is a fascinating look at the Berlin Philharmonic in the Nazi period.


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