The Reconstruction of Post-War West German New Music during the early Allied Occupation

393 Pages·2017·6.16 MB·English

The Reconstruction of Post-War West
German New Music during the early
Allied Occupation (1945-46), and its
Roots in the Weimar Republic and
Third Reich (1918-45)
PhD Submission, 2018
Cardiff University
Ian Pace

Abstract
This thesis is an analysis of the development of new music in occupied Germany from
the end of World War Two, on 8 May 1945, until the end of 1946, in terms of the
creation of institutions for the propagation of new music, in the form of festivals,
concert series, radio stations, educational institutions and journals focusing on such a
field, alongside an investigation into technical and aesthetic aspects of music being
composed during this period. I argue that a large number of the key decisions which
would affect quite fundamentally the later trajectory of new music in West Germany
for some decades were made during this period of a little over eighteen months. I also
argue that subsequent developments up to the year 1951, by which time the
infrastructure was essentially complete, were primarily an extension and expansion of
the early period, when many of the key appointments were made, and institutions
created. I also consider the role of new music in mainstream programming of
orchestras, opera houses, chamber music societies, and consider all of these factors in
terms of the occupation policies of the three Western powers –the USA, the UK and
France.
Furthermore, I compare these developments to those which occurred in during
the Weimar Republic and the Third Reich, of which I give an overview, and argue as
a result that the post-war developments, rather than being radically new, constituted in
many ways a continuation and sometimes distillation of what was in place especially
in the Weimar years. I conclude that the short period at the centre of my thesis is of
fundamental importance not only for the course of German new music, but that in
Europe in general.
The Reconstruction of Post-War West German New Music during
the early Allied Occupation (1945-46), and its Roots in the Weimar
Republic and Third Reich (1918-45)
Contents
Acknowledgments i
A Note on Style ii
Introduction: Aims, Objectives, Literature Review and Sources 1
Chapter 1 Music and Modernism during the Weimar Republic, and into the Third 17
Reich: institutions and aesthetics
Chapter 2 The Occupation of Germany: structure,denazification and music 103
policies
Chapter 3 New music in earlyWest German post-war musical life, 1945-46 143
Chapter 4 The newradio stations 210
Chapter 5 The first dedicated post-war institutions for new music 258
Chapter 6 The first post-war compositions 311
Chapter 7 The beginning of the Darmstädter Ferienkurse für neue Musik 342
Chapter 8 Conclusion: Towards post-war new music 360
Appendices
Appendix 1 Organisations for New Music in Weimar Germany and the Third A1
Reich
Appendix 2 First Licensed Post-War Concerts in the Three Western Zones, A3
1945-46
2a. American Zone
2b. British Zone
2c. French Zone
Appendix 3 Documentation relating to Allied Music Policy A11
US and French Lists of Composers to Promote in Germany
Appendix 4 Chronologies of New Music in Major German Cities, 1945-46 A13
4a. Berlin
4b. American Zone –Bavaria: Munich, Nuremberg
4c. American Zone –Hesse: Frankfurt, Darmstadt, Wiesbaden
4d. American Zone –Württemberg-Baden: Stuttgart, Heidelberg
and Mannheim
4e. British Zone –Hamburg
4f. British Zone –North-Rhine Westphalia: Cologne, Düsseldorf
4g. British Zone – Lower Saxony: Braunschweig
4h. French Zone – Baden-Baden, Freiburg, Konstanz, Tübingen
Appendix 5 Festivals and other New Music Programmes, 1945-51 A151
5a. Chronology of Festivals featuring New Music, 1945-1951
5b. The Trossinger Musiktage, 1945-1951
5c. Musica Viva, Munich, 1945-1951
5d. TheÜberlinger Kulturwoche1945, Konstanzer Kunstwochen
1946, the Tage moderner Musik within the Kunstwoche
Tübingen-Reutlingen1946,and the Konstanzer Musiktage
1947
5e. New music at the Haus am Waldsee, Berlin-Zehlendorf,
January-June 1946
5f. Eduard Erdmann's recital series, 1946
5g. TheZeitgenössische Musikwoche, Bad Nauheim, 1946, and
the Wochefür neue Musik, 1947-49 and 1951
5h. The Tage neuer Musik, Bremen, 1946
5i. Neue Musik Donaueschingen, 1946-47, andthe
Donaueschinger Musiktagefür zeitgenössische Tonkunst,
1950-51
5j. The Darmstädter Ferienkurse, 1946-51
5k. The concerts of the Sinfonieorchester des Südwestfunk,
Baden-Baden, 1946-51
5l. The Abende zeitgenössischer Musik of the Kulturbund in
Berlin, 1946-49
5m. The Wittener Kammermusiktage 1947-48, 1950
5n. The Bayreuther Wochen –Neue Musik, 1947, Tagung für
Neue Musik und Musikerziehung, Bayreuth, 1948-50, and
Darmstadt, 1951
5o. The Berliner Musiktage, 1947-48, and Englische Musiktage
Berlin, 1947
5p. The Kulturwoche "Lebendige Kunst", Koblenz, 1947
5q. The Zeitgenössischer Stuttgarter Musiktage, 1947 andTage
zeitgenössischer Musik, Stuttgart, 1950-51
5r. The Godesberger Musiktage, 1947-48
5s. The Speyerer Kulturwoche, 1947
5t. The Woche moderner Kunst, München-Gladbach, 1947
5u. The Nürnberger Woche neuer Musik, 1947
5v. The Tage der neue Musik, Mainz University, 1947
5w. The Homburger zeitgenössischer Musiktage, Bad Homburg,
1947
5x. The Tage moderner Musik, Krefeld, 1948
5y. The Musiktageand Musica Viva, Heidelberg, 1948-51
5z. Wandlung der modernen Musik, Regensburg, 1948
5aa. The Zeitgenössisches Musikfest,Coburg, 1949
5ab. The Festtage zeitgenössischer Musik, Bochum, 1949
5ac. The Werkwoche, Düsseldorf, 1949-50
5ad. The Festliche Tage für Neue Kammermusik, Braunschweig,
1949-51
5ae. das neue werk, Hamburg, 1951
5af. The Konzerte Neuer Musik and Musik der Zeit, Cologne, 1951
Appendix 6 New Music at other majorfestivals, 1945-1951 A336
6a. The Niederrheinisches Musikfest, 1946-51
6b. The Schwetzinger Festspiele, 1946
6c. The Pyrmonter Musikwochen, 1948
6d. The Berliner Festspiele, 1951
6e. The Freiburger Musikwochen, 1951
Appendix 7 Radio commissions of new works, 1945-1951 A349
7a. Nordwestdeutscher Rundfunk.
7b. Südwestfunk
7c. Saarländischer Rundfunk
7d. Radio Frankfurt/Hessischer Rundfunk
7e. Radio Stuttgart/Süddeutscher Rundfunk
7f. Radio Munich/Bayerischer Rundfunk
7g. Radio Bremen
7h. Rundfunk im amerikanischen Sektor
List of Abbreviations A354
Bibliography A357
Acknowledgements
This thesis has been a long process, which has involved many trips around the breadth
of Germany, endless hours spent reading through old newspapers on microfilm, and
also many hours studying scores and listening to recordings. There are many people
with whom I have discussed ideas during the course of study, and who I would like to
acknowledge: Franklin Cox, Barbara Eichner, Roddy Hawkins, Björn Heile, Martin
Iddon, Beate Kutschke, Alexander Lingas, Shay Loya, Larson Powell, Peter Tregear,
Erwin Warkentin are just a few of these.
The staff at many different libraries and archives have been unfailingly helpful,
especially those at the British Library, the London School of Economics Library, the
National Archives in Kew, the Staatsbibliotheke in Hamburg, Berlin and Munich, the
Institut für Zeitgeschichte in Munich,the Archives Diplomatiques in Paris, the
Bundesarchiv in Berlin, the Akademie der Künste in Berlin, the Technische
Universität Berlin, the Haus am Waldsee in Berlin, the International Musikinstitut
Darmstadt, the Institut für Neue Musik und Musikerziehung, also in Darmstadt, the
state archives in Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Wiesbaden, Darmstadt, Freiburg and Munich,
the land archives in Berlin and Karlsruhe, the town archives in Cologne, Bonn,
Bochum, Bielefeld, Dortmund, Wuppertal, Frankfurt, Darmstadt, Heidelberg,
Überlingen, Konstanz, Tübingen, Nuremberg, Bayreuth, and the radio archives of
Norddeutscher Rundfunk, Westdeutscher Rundfunk, Hessischer Rundfunk,
Südwestfunk, Süddeutscher Rundfunk, and Bayerisches Rundfunk.
Thanks to my supervisors, Caroline Rae and David Beard, for many helpful
suggestions. To Chris Sheppard for his immense patience when copy-editing my text
for submission. And above all to my wife Lindsay, for everything I could possibly ask
for.
i
A Note on Style
Throughout this thesis, I make many references to institutions, concepts and other
terms in German, French and occasionally other languages. In order to avoid the type
of mystique which some German terms (especially those associated with the Third
Reich) can attain when continuously presented in italics, I have usually only italicised
them when first used, or when they have not appeared for some time in the text.
Capitalisation of the names of German institutions follows German practice, i.e.
capitalisation of all nouns.
All quotation marks, including those which are parts of book or article titles, are given
in British format. The references to archival files use the ‘signature’ indicated by the
archives in question.
Where institutions have had a succession of different names at different points in
time, I have attempted to make this clear. For composers who have themselves used
Anglicised versions of their original names (e.g. Schoenberg and Krenek) I have
referred to them as such, except where quoting another reference which uses their
original forms, or (as in the case of Schoenberg/Schönberg) when referring to books
and articles which do the same.
It is impossible to avoid employing some Nazi terminology, but I hope context will
make it clear that in no sense does this imply an endorsement of this language.
ii
Introduction
Aims, Objectives, Literature Review and Sources
This thesis investigates the roots and emergence of post-war West German new
music, both the music composed and performed and the institutions supporting it. The
central focus concerns the period from May 1945 to the end of 1946, about which
relatively little is known. Primary source material relatingto this period is not only
extremely patchy but also scattered around many archives, newspapers,and some
obscure printedsources. The finding and subsequent close examination of these
materials, some for the first time, has been one of the main, most intensive and time-
consuming aspects of this research project. The programming of new music by
mainstream musical institutions, the appointment of key advocates of new music to
important positions, the creation of new radio stations and their role in promoting new
music, the emergence of a range ofdedicated new music festivals, concert series and
other institutions during the first year after the end ofhostilities, and how this related
to, are dealt with in a comprehensive, comparative and scholarly fashion for the first
time. These investigations have revealed significant new information regarding
decision-making, organisation and programming, and shed valuable new light on their
relationship to compositional developments and the subsequent evolution of new
music in Western Germany. To provide a context for these developments, the thesis
also considers roots going back to the Weimar Republic and Third Reich, and argues
in contrast to many previous scholars that many post-1945 developments were
foreshadowed in these earlier periods, and that the upheavals in German music after
1918 were, in aesthetic terms, of a greater magnitude and significance than that which
followed 1945.
Fundamental Questions of Interpretation
The impetus for this research arosefrom questions which interested me as a performer
of new music. Through my performing activities, I knew not only the extensive and
elaborate nature of the contemporary (late twentieth-/early twenty-first century) realm
of new music in Germany (especially in former West Germany), but also how a range
of festivals, concert series and other institutions (especially those in Darmstadt,
1
Donaueschingen, Munich and Cologne), many with an international focus, had
attained a prominent status by the 1950s, or at least were regarded as having done so
in most histories of post-1945 music. Notwithstanding growing interest in new music
in other countries, these developments significantly pre-dated the consolidation of
new music cultures of comparable scale and scope in Austria, France, Belgium, the
Netherlands, Finland and elsewhere.
With this in mind I arrived at my most fundamental research question: how
and why did such a new music culture and infrastructure grow in Germany in this
relatively short period, and so rapidlyafter comprehensive defeat in World War Two,
when many of the major cities in Germany were left in rubble in 1945 -the so-called
Trümmerzeit? Should this be seen as a somewhat inevitable, even organic process?
Was it the result of a good deal of chance and contingency, or did it arise from
concerted and deliberate decision-making? If the last of these, then who were the
individuals responsible, and how did they come to be in a position to make such
decisions? More broadly, what if any role did the four occupying powers –the USA,
Great Britain, France and the Soviet Union –play in the shaping of musical life
during the occupation period, 1945-49, and what were the longer-term consequences?
If they did play a part, who were the officials charged with decisions relating to music
and culture within the occupied zones, and how did their decisions interact with the
aims and objectives of German citizens –including local and state politicians
concerned with culture – who sought to present, perform, compose and educate about
new music?
One interpretive model, which has informed a significant amount of writing on
new music in Germany after 1945, provides one possible answer to my first question.
This is the Stunde null or zero hourmodel, whereby following the surrender on 8 May
1945, Germany had no choice but to build itself anew, as if from nothing. Whilst used
frequently, the term Stunde null has long been contested in its wider historical sense,
not least by Bundespräsident Richard von Weizsäcker in 1985.1 Significantly, the
term is not to befound in German documents during the first years after the war,2
1Weizsäcker proposed the contentious term Tag der Befreieunginstead; see the speech at
http://www.bundespraesident.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/DE/Reden/2015/02/150202-RvW-Rede-8-
Mai-1985.pdf(accessed 15 October 2017), and his later Drei Mal Stunde Null? 1949 -1969-1989
(Berlin: Siedler Verlag, 2001).
2See Stephen Brockmann, ‘German Culture at the “Zero Hour”’, in Brockmann and Frank Trommler
(eds.), Revisiting Zero-Hour 1945: The Emergence ofPostwar German Culture, Vol. 1 (Washington,
DC: American Institute for Contemporary German Studies, 1996), p. 12.
2