A National Acoustics: Music and Mass Publicity in Weimar and Nazi Germany

292 Pages·2006·12.151 MB·English

by  Brian Currid

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PAUMNBUDLSI CINCIAT AYZN I IDNG E MWRAEMSIAMSNAYR
BRIAN CURRID
MUinninveearspiotyli so f• MLionnndeosnota Press
Portions of chapter 2 were previously published as “‘A Song Goes Round
the World’: The German Schlageras an Organ of Experience,” Popular
Music19 (2000): 147–80. Reprinted with permission.
Copyright 2006 by the Regents of the University of Minnesota
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without
the prior written permission of the publisher.
Published by the University of Minnesota Press
111 Third Avenue South, Suite 290
Minneapolis, MN 55401-2520
http://www.upress.umn.edu
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Currid, Brian.
A national acoustics : music and mass publicity in Weimar and Nazi
Germany / Brian Currid.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8166-4041-6 (hc)
ISBN-10: 0-8166-4041-6 (hc : alk. paper)
ISBN-13: 978-0-8166-4042-3 (pb)
ISBN-10: 0-8166-4042-4 (pb : alk. paper)
1. Music and state—Germany—History—20th century. 2. National
socialism and music—Germany—Weimar (Thuringia). 3. Mass media
and public opinion—Germany. I. Title.
ML3917.G3C87 2006
780.943'09043—dc22
2006001059
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
The University of Minnesota is an equal-opportunity educator and
employer.
12 11 10 09 08 07 06 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Für Wilhelm
Der Augenblick der Wahrheit, wenn im
Spiegel das Feindbild auftaucht.
The moment of truth: when the face of
the enemy appears in the mirror.
—Heiner Müller
TThhiiss ppaaggee iinntteennttiioonnaallllyy lleefftt bbllaannkk
Contents
Acknowledgments
ix
Introduction: German Sounds, Sounding German,
and the Acoustics of Publicity
1
1. Radio, Mass Publicity, and National Fantasy
19
2. The Schlagerand the Singer Film: Organs of
Experience and the History of Subjectivity
65
3. “Musik” and “Musick”: “Opus Music”
and Mass Culture
119
4. “Songs the Gypsy Plays for Us”: Racial Fantasy,
Music, and the State
171
Notes
217
Bibliography
253
Index
269
TThhiiss ppaaggee iinntteennttiioonnaallllyy lleefftt bbllaannkk
Acknowledgments
This book has been a long time in the making. Needless to say, many
have helped bring it to completion.
I would like to thank the following for Wnancial support during the
research and completion of this project: German Academic Exchange
Service, Chicago Humanities Institute (Franke Institute), the Depart-
ment of Music and the Division of the Humanities at the University
of Chicago, the Social Sciences Research Council (Berlin Program),
and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft.
Many audiences and colleagues have been subjected to parts of this
book at various stages. I thank them all for patient listening and
insights. Thanks to Romana Swallisch in Berlin and Mary Carbine,
along with the staff of the University of Chicago Film Studies Center,
for help with video stills. I am grateful to the archives and archivists
that played a role in this project, in particular Herr Tau at the Freie
Universität Berlin and the Berliner Philharmoniker Archives.
My appreciation goes especially to Richard Morrison at the Uni-
versity of Minnesota Press, for his interest in this project and for his
patience.
Finally, I thank my friends in Berlin and Chicago and my family
in the United States and in Germany for productive distraction and
input.
ix