History in Mighty Sounds: Musical Constructions of German National Identity, 1848-1914

311 Pages·2012·5.964 MB·English

by  Barbara Eichner

HistoryMightySoundsv.2_PPC 08/08/2012 15:57 Page 1
MUSIC IN SOCIETY AND CULTURE HISTORY
H Barbara Eichner
I
S
Music played a central role in the self-conception T
of middle-class Germans between the March O
Revolution of 1848 and the First World War. R IN MIGHTY
Although German music was widely held to be
Y
'universal' and thus apolitical, it participated –

like the other arts – in the historicist project of I
shaping the nation's future by calling on the N
national heritage. Compositions based on – often

SOUNDS
heavily mythologised – historical events and heroes, M
such as the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest or the
I
medieval Emperor Barbarossa, invited individual as G
well as collective identification and brought alive a
H
past that compared favourably with contemporary
conditions. T
Y Musical Constructions
History in Mighty Soundsmaps out a varied picture

of these ‘invented traditions’ and the manifold S
ideas of ‘Germanness’ to which they gave rise, of German
O
exemplified through works by familiar composers
U
like Max Bruch or Carl Reinecke as well as their National Identity
nowadays little-known contemporaries. The whole N
gamut of musical genres, ranging from pre- and
D 1848–1914
post-Wagnerian opera to popular choruses to
S
Cover design of the programme of the third symphonic poems, contributes to a novel view of
imperial singing competition for German male the many ways in which national identities were
choirs, Frankfurt am Main, 1909 (Festbuch zum 3.
constructed, shaped and celebrated in and through
Gesang-Wettstreit Deutscher Männer-Gesangvereine,
music. How did artists adapt historical or literary
Frankfurt am Main, 1909).
B
sources to their purpose, how did they negotiate the
a
precarious balance of aesthetic autonomy and
r
political relevance, and how did notions of gender, b
a
landscape and religion influence artistic choices?
r
All musical works are placed within their broader a
historical and biographical contexts, with frequent E
nods to other arts and popular culture. History in i
c
Mighty Soundswill be indispensable reading for h
anyone interested in nineteenth-century German n
e
music, history and nationalism.
r
BARBARA EICHNERis Senior Lecturer in
Musicology at Oxford Brookes University.
An imprint of Boydell & BrewerLtd
PO Box 9, Woodbridge Suffolk, IP12 3DF (GB) and
668 Mt Hope Ave, Rochester NY 14620-2731 (US)
www.boydellandbrewer.com
History in
MigHty sounds
Musical Constructions of
German National Identity
1848–1914
Mighty Sounds.indb 1 21/09/2012 10:47
Music in Society and Culture
issn 2047-2773
Series Editors
vanessa agnew, katharine ellis, jonathan glixon,
david gramit & jeffrey jackson
Consulting Editor
tim blanning
This series brings history and musicology together in ways that will embed social
and cultural questions into the very fabric of music-history writing. Music in
Society and Culture approaches music not as a discipline, but as a subject that can
be discussed in myriad ways. Those ways are cross-disciplinary, requiring a mastery
of more than one mode of enquiry. This series therefore invites research on art and
popular music in the Western tradition and in cross-cultural encounters involving
Western music, from the early modern period to the twenty-first century. Books
in the series will demonstrate how music operates within a particular historical,
social, political or institutional context; how and why society and its constituent
groups choose their music; how historical, cultural and musical change interrelate;
and how, for whom, and why music's value undergoes critical reassessment.
Proposals or queries should be sent in the first instance to the series editors
or Boydell & Brewer at the addresses shown below.
Professor Vanessa Agnew, University of Michigan, German Department,
3136 MLB, 812 East Washington Street, Ann Arbor, mi 48109-1275, USA
email: [email protected]
Professor Katharine Ellis, Department of Music, Royal Holloway,
University of London, Egham, Surrey, tw20 0ex, UK
email: [email protected]
Professor Jonathan Glixon, School of Music, 105 Fine Arts Building,
University of Kentucky, Lexington, ky 40506-0022, USA
email: [email protected]
Professor David Gramit, Department of Music, University of Alberta,
3-82 Fine Arts Building, Edmonton, Alberta, t6g 2c9, Canada
email: [email protected]
Professor Jeffrey Jackson, Department of History, Rhodes College,
2000 North Parkway, Memphis, tn 38112, USA
email: [email protected]
Boydell & Brewer, PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk, ip12 3df, UK
email: [email protected]
Mighty Sounds.indb 2 21/09/2012 10:47
History in
MigHty sounds
Musical Constructions of
German National Identity
1848–1914
Barbara Eichner
THE BOYDELL PRESS
Mighty Sounds.indb 3 21/09/2012 10:47
© Barbara Eichner 2012
All Rights Reserved. Except as permitted under current legislation
no part of this work may be photocopied, stored in a retrieval system,
published, performed in public, adapted, broadcast, transmitted,
recorded or reproduced in any form or by any means,
without the prior permission of the copyright owner
The right of Barbara Eichner to be identified as the author of this work
has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78
of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
First published 2012
The Boydell Press, Woodbridge
isbn 978 1 84383 754 1
The Boydell Press is an imprint of Boydell & Brewer Ltd
PO Box 9, Woodbridge, Suffolk ip12 3df, UK
and of Boydell & Brewer Inc.
668 Mt Hope Avenue, Rochester, ny 14620-2731, USA
website: www.boydellandbrewer.com
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library
The publisher has no responsibility for the continued existence
or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites
referred to in this book, and does not guarantee that any content
on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
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Printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, cr0 4yy
Mighty Sounds.indb 4 21/09/2012 10:47
Contents
List of Illustrations vi
List of Music Examples vii
Acknowledgements ix
Abbreviations xi
Introduction 1
1 The Pure Mirror: National Epic as National Opera 41
2 Germanic Heroes for Modern Germans: Gender and the Nation 81
3 Lost in Transfiguration: Redemption Operas in the Fin de siècle 117
4 The Sacred Nation and the Singing Nation: The Choral Movements 163
5 Symphonic Visions from the Periphery 229
Bibliography 273
Index 291
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Illustrations
0.1 Otto Gussmann, Ragnarök. Ceiling of the memorial of the German student
fraternities near Eisenach (destroyed). Archiv und Bücherei der Deutschen
Burschenschaft, Koblenz 26
1.1 Heinrich Salomon as Siegfried in Heinrich Dorn’s Die Nibelungen. Eduard
Bloch’s Album der Bühnen-Costüme: Mit erläuterndem Texte von F. Tietz,
vol. 1 (Berlin, [1859]), n.p. 53
1.2 Carl Amand Mangold, ‘Horand’s Lied’ from Gudrun. Illustrirte Zeitung
16 no. 415 (14 June 1851). Bayerische Staatsbibliothek München,
2 Per. 26–16/17 74
2.1 Heinrich Hofmann, Armin: Heroische Oper in 4 Aufzügen: Dichtung von
Felix Dahn, op. 40 (Berlin, [1877]). Title page. Bayerische Staatsbibliothek
München, 4 Mus. pr. 2592 89
2.2 Heinrich Gudehus as Siegmund in Carl Grammann’s Thusnelda. Ferdinand
Pfohl, Carl Grammann: Ein Künstlerleben (Berlin, Leipzig, 1910), n.p. 92
2.3 Paul Bulss as Germanicus in Carl Grammann’s Thusnelda. Ferdinand Pfohl,
Carl Grammann: Ein Künstlerleben (Berlin, Leipzig, 1910), n.p. 97
2.4 The dancer Mathilde Zinck in Carl Grammann’s Thusnelda. Ferdinand
Pfohl, Carl Grammann: Ein Künstlerleben (Berlin, Leipzig, 1910), n.p. 103
3.1 Peter Candid, Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (1620).
Erzbischöfliches Ordinariat München, Kunstreferat (Photo: Wolf-Christian
von der Mülbe) 136
3.2 Heinrich Vogl as Siegfried in Götterdämmerung. Deutsches Theatermuseum
München, Inventory No. 21793 143
3.3 Heinrich Vogl, Der Fremdling: Oper in 3 Aufzügen: Dichtung von Felix
Dahn: Scenische Anordnung vom Komponisten (Leipzig, [1899]), pp. 186–7.
Bodleian Library Oxford, Harding Mus. A 2851 144
3.4 Cyrill Kistler, Baldurs Tod: Musikdrama in 3 Akten: Dichtung von Frhrr. v.
Sohlern, 2nd edn (Bad Kissingen, n.d.), pp. 179–80. Bodleian Library
Oxford, Harding Mus. A 1411 156
4.1 Gedenkbuch des in der Stadt Nürnberg 1861 begangenen Großen Deutschen
Sängerfestes (Nuremberg, 1861), n.p. Bayerische Staatsbibliothek München,
4 Bavar. 785 193
4.2 Banner of the Deutscher Sängerbund. Die Gartenlaube: Illustrirtes
Familienblatt (1865), no. 30, p. 473 200
4.3 Float ‘Frisch auf mein Volk, die Flammenzeichen rauchen’. 8. Deutsches
Sängerbundesfest Nürnberg 1912: Der Festzug (Nuremberg, [1912]), n.p. 202
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Music Examples
1.1 Heinrich Dorn, Die Nibelungen: Große Oper in 5 Acten von E. Gerber
(Berlin, [1854]), Act 1, no. 10, Duettino, bars 1–12 56
1.2 Heinrich Dorn, Die Nibelungen, Overture, bars 84–95 58
1.3 Heinrich Dorn, Die Nibelungen, Act 4, Finale, bars 32–41 60
1.4 Heinrich Dorn, Die Nibelungen, Act 4, no. 4, Quartet (and Chorus),
bars 36–53 and 80–5 64
1.5 Carl Amand Mangold, Gudrun: Grosse Oper in vier Acten (Darmstadt,
[1851]), Act 2, no. 16 C: Romanze 76
2.1 Carl Grammann, Thusnelda: Grosse Oper in 3 Aufzügen: Dichtung von
H. Dickmann, op. 29 (Leipzig, [1881]), Act 1, scene 2, Siegmund’s ‘aria’,
bars 1–13 and 24–32 95
2.2 Carl Grammann, Thusnelda, Act 2, scene 3, Germanicus’ monologue,
bars 19–29 and 51–4 99
2.3 Heinrich Hofmann, Armin: Heroische Oper in 4 Aufzügen: Dichtung von
Felix Dahn, op. 40 (Berlin, [1877]), Act 3, scene 1: Fulvia’s monologue,
bars 30–7 and 68–75 109
2.4 Heinrich Hofmann, Armin, Act 2, scene 1: Thusnelda’s monologue,
bars 93–100 115
3.1 Benedicamus Domino for Lauds, Feasts of the First Class. Liber Usualis
(Tournai, New York, 1961), p. 124 151
3.2 Cyrill Kistler, Baldurs Tod: Musikdrama in 3 Akten: Dichtung von Frhrr.
v. Sohlern, 3rd edn (Bad Kissingen, [1906]), Act 3, Baldur’s farewell,
rehearsal numbers 66–7 153
4.1 Max Bruch, Arminius: Oratorium für Chor, Solostimmen und Orchester:
Dichtung von J. Cüppers, op. 43 (Berlin, [1877]), no. 4, Recitative, and no. 5,
Chorus and Duet, bars 1–16 177
4.2 Max Bruch, Arminius, no. 6, bars 166–83 180
4.3 Friedrich Silcher, ‘Barbarossa’, 150 Männerchöre: Gekürzte, verb. Ausgabe
d. Ersten Gesamtausgabe (Stuttgart, 1940) 207
4.4 Franz Abt, Siegesgesang der Deutschen nach der Hermannsschlacht
(Leipzig, n.d.), p. 267, bars 9–31 210
4.5 Max Bruch, Frithjof: Szenen aus der Frithjof-Sage von Esaias Tegnér, op. 23
(Leipzig, n.d.), scene 3, ‘Frithjof’s revenge. Temple in flames. Curse’, bars
34–52 216
4.6 Fritz Volbach, Am Siegfriedbrunnen: Ein Stimmungsbild für Männerchor
und Orchester, op. 31 (Leipzig, 1906), bars 131–40 221
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viii History in Mighty Sounds
5.1 Carl Reinecke, Symphonie (No. 2 Cmoll) für grosses Orchester, op. 124
(Leipzig, [1875]), first movement Allegro, first theme, bars 17–47. Short
score prepared by Barbara Eichner and Philippa Beckford. 244
5.2 Carl Reinecke, Symphonie (No. 2 Cmoll), second movement Andante,
main theme, bars 14–21. Short score prepared by Barbara Eichner and
Philippa Beckford. 245
5.3 Carl Reinecke, Symphonie (No. 2 Cmoll), third movement Intermezzo:
Allegro moderato, bars 9–32. Short score prepared by Barbara Eichner and
Philippa Beckford. 247
5.4 Siegmund von Hausegger, Barbarossa: Symphonische Dichtung in drei
Sätzen für grosses Orchester (Berlin, [1901]), second movement Der
Zauberberg, bars 209 ff., ‘Barbarossa’ theme. With permission from Ries
& Erler, Berlin. 261
5.5 Siegmund von Hausegger, Barbarossa, second movement Der Zauberberg,
bars 250–7, ‘Glory’ theme. Short score prepared by Barbara Eichner. With
permission from Ries & Erler, Berlin. 262
5.6 Siegmund von Hausegger, Barbarossa, second movement Der Zauberberg,
bars 284–7, theme ‘The German people’. Short score prepared by Barbara
Eichner. With permission from Ries & Erler, Berlin. 263
5.7 Siegmund von Hausegger, Barbarossa, first movement Die Noth des Volkes,
introduction, second theme, bars 17–24. Short score prepared by Barbara
Eichner and Philippa Beckford. With permission from Ries & Erler,
Berlin. 265
The author and publishers are grateful to all the institutions and individuals
listed for permission to reproduce the materials in which they hold
copyright. Every effort has been made to trace the copyright holders;
apologies are offered for any omission, and the publishers will be pleased to
add any necessary acknowledgement in subsequent editions.
Mighty Sounds.indb 8 21/09/2012 10:47
Acknowledgements
his study into German national identity was born in Italy, in Settignano above
T
Florence, when in November 2000 I discussed the beginnings of an idea with
Margaret Bent, Elizabeth Eva Leach, Christian Thomas Leitmeir and Stephen
Lovell. A month earlier, my interest in compositions with Nordic, Germanic or
medieval subject matter had been kindled by a presentation which Jürgen Heidrich
delivered at the annual conference of the Gesellschaft für Musikforschung
in Würzburg. This gave me the impetus to unearth more such musical works,
uncovering a hardly remembered repertoire from a culture that passionately –
and sometimes desperately – cared about its national history.
My first thanks are due to Roger Allen, who accompanied this project from
its very beginnings with his profound knowledge of German music and culture
and his enthusiasm for discovering little-known musical works. In addition
to his constant support in all matters academic and practical he deepened my
understanding of the music and thoughts of Richard Wagner, played Siegmund
von Hausegger’s Barbarossa Symphony in a memorable piano performance
and patiently improved my Teutonic syntax. Peter Franklin, Julian Johnson and
Reinhard Strohm read preliminary versions of several chapters and gave me much
food for further thought, and Robert Pascall provided meticulous and thought-
provoking feedback.
Several musicologists have added their expertise to particular topics: Claudia
Breitfeld (Kistler), Friedhelm Brusniak (male choirs), Christian Detig (Schillings),
Jürgen Heidrich and Linda Maria Koldau (oratorios), Katherine Leiska (Swedish
music), Peter Pachl (Cornelius), Katrin Seidel (Reinecke), Roger Skarsten
(Arminius operas) and Jutta Toelle (opera and politics in the nineteenth century).
My research also brought me in contact with descendants of two composers,
who liberally made available unpublished material about their ancestors: Klaus
Kistler, the great-grandson of Cyrill Kistler, and Stefan Schönknecht, great-
great-grandson of Carl Reinecke. Discussions with, among others, Sean Curran,
Jeanette Gallant, Veronika Halser, Estelle Joubert and Barbara Titus helped me to
focus my argument and to revive the sometimes flagging spirit. I am especially
grateful to Rebecca Grotjahn not only for her advice on German symphonies and
gender studies, but for the opportunities she offered me to present my research to
scholarly and popular audiences, notably as part of the 2000-year anniversary of
the ‘Battle of the Teutoburg Forest’ in 2009. My most sincere thanks go to Sean
Curran and Emanuele Senici, whose repeated reading of drafts and generous
advice was invaluable for transforming this project into a book. They unerringly
spotted flaws in the argument and method, and I can but hope that my response
to their suggestions does justice to their painstaking labour. In recent years I could
also draw on the support and encouragement of my colleagues at Goldsmiths,
University of London, and Oxford Brookes University, especially Anthony Pryer,
Jan Butler, Paul Whitty and Alexandra Wilson.
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