Music among the Ruins: Classical Music, Propaganda, and the American Cultural Agenda in West ...

288 Pages·2012·5.31 MB·English

Music among the Ruins: Classical Music, Propaganda, and the
American Cultural Agenda in West Berlin (1945–1949)

by

Abby E. Anderton

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
(Music: Musicology)
in the University of Michigan
2012

Doctoral Committee:

Professor Jane Fair Fulcher, Chair
Professor Steven M. Whiting
Associate Professor Charles H. Garrett
Associate Professor Silke-Maria Weineck
To my family

ii
Acknowledgements

While writing this dissertation, I have been so fortunate to have the
encouragement of many teachers, friends, and relatives, whose support has been
instrumental in this process. My first thanks must go to my wonderful advisor, Dr. Jane
Fulcher, and to my committee members, Dr. Charles Garrett, Dean Steven Whiting, and
Dr. Silke-Maria Weineck, for their engaging and helpful feedback. Your comments and
suggestions were the lifeblood of this dissertation, and I am so grateful for your help. To
the life-long friends I made while at Michigan, thank you for making my time in Ann
Arbor so enriching, both academically and personally. A thank you to Dennis and to my
family, whose constant encouragement has been invaluable. Lastly, I would like to thank
my mom and dad, who always encouraged my love of music, even if it meant sitting
through eleven community theater productions of The Wizard of Oz. I am more grateful
for your help than I could ever express, so I will simply say, “thank you.”

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Table of Contents

Dedication ........................................................................................................................ ii

Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................ iii

List of Figures ................................................................................................................. vi

List of Tables ................................................................................................................ viii

List of Musical Examples .............................................................................................. ix

List of Appendices ........................................................................................................... x

Abstract ........................................................................................................................... xi

Introduction ..................................................................................................................... 1

Chapter I
The American Military
and Classical Music Culture in Berlin (1945–47) ........................................................... 16

Chapter II
The Germans as a Kulturvolk?:
The Visiting Artists Program and German Musical Reorientation (1947-49) ................ 56

Chapter III
From Horst Wessel Lied to Stars and Stripes Forever:
The Berlin Philharmonic and the American Military Government ................................ 98

Chapter IV
The Ruin as an Artistic Catalyst in the Compositions of
Boris Blacher, Karl Amadeus Hartmann, and Richard Strauss .................................... 150

Chapter V
Radio in the American Sector and
Re-educational Musical Programming ......................................................................... 212
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Conclusion ................................................................................................................... 239

Appendices ................................................................................................................... 246

Bibliography ................................................................................................................ 256

v
List of Figures
Figure
1.1 Die Bekanntmachung (Announcement) .................................................................... 26
1.2 Berlin, 1 September 1945 ......................................................................................... 32
1.3 Beethoven’s Fidelio, Deutsche Oper, September 1945 ............................................ 38

2.1 “Five O’Clock Gentlemen” ....................................................................................... 65

2.2 Travers’s Concert Program Cover, Munich .............................................................. 81

2.3 John Bitter, Ralph Kirkpatrick, and H.H. Stuckenschmidt ....................................... 83

2.4 The Kulturbund’s Tenth Evening of Contemporary Music ...................................... 92

3.1 Die alte Philharmonie, 1944 ..................................................................................... 98
3.2 Berlin Philharmonic Program, 1943 ....................................................................... 105
3.3 First Postwar Program, Berlin Philharmonic, 1943 ................................................ 111
3.4 Sergiu Celibidache and the Berlin Philharmonic, 4 December 1945 ..................... 121
3.5 John Bitter’s First Philharmonic Concert, 10 December 1945 ............................... 126
3.6 John Bitter Conducts the Berlin Philharmonic, 1949 ............................................. 129
3.7 Klemperer Rehearses with the Berlin Philharmonic ............................................... 147

3.8 Klemperer’s Return Program, 3 May 1948............................................................. 148
vi
4.1 Karl Hofer, Ruinennacht (1947) ............................................................................. 156
4.2: Celibidache and the Berlin Philharmonic (1950) .................................................. 159
4.3 Die letzten Tage von Berlin..................................................................................... 164
4.4 Dachau Prisoners during their Evacuation March, April 1945 ............................... 178
4.5 Strauss entertains American Soldiers...................................................................... 203

vii
List of Tables
Table
1.1 Berlin’s Theaters and Concert Venues (1945-55) .................................................... 33
2.1 Menuhin’s Concert Schedule .................................................................................... 63
3.1 Berlin Philharmonic Postwar Concerts ................................................................... 139
4.1 Blacher, Ornamente Nr. 1 ....................................................................................... 169
4.2 Blacher, Ornamente Nr. 6 ....................................................................................... 173

viii
List of Musical Examples
Musical Example
4.1 Blacher, Ornamente op. 37, Nr. 1, mm. 1-10 ......................................................... 167
4.2 Blacher, Ornamente op. 37, Nr. 6, mm. 1–30 ......................................................... 172
4.3 Hartmann, Sonate 27. April 1945, I. Bewegt, mm. 1-15 ......................................... 182
4.4 Hartmann, Sonate 27. April 1945, II. Scherzo, mm. 97-112 ................................... 184
4.5 Chopin, Sonata no. 2 op. 35, mm. 1-10 .................................................................. 186
4.6 Hartmann, Sonate 27. April 1945, III. Marcia funebre, mm. 1-6 ........................... 186
4.7 Hartmann, Sonate 27. April 1945, IV, Allegro furioso, mm. 77-81 ....................... 188

ix
List of Appendices

Appendix A
National Archive and Records Administration (NARA II)
Musica Viva Program .................................................................................................... 246

Appendix B
John Bitter, Private Collection, University of Miami
John Bitter Program ...................................................................................................... 247

Appendix C
Berlin Philharmonic Archive,
Program and Photographs ............................................................................................. 250

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