Hearing Democracy in the Ruins of Hitler's Reich
American Musicians in Postwar Germany
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12888265 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Abby Anderton (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2016 |
| Volume | 13 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 215-231 |
| Publication date | 2016-06-01 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Comparative Critical Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1744-1854 • E-ISSN: 1750-0109 |
| Publisher | Edinburgh University Press (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.3366/ccs.2016.0200 |
| OpenAlex | W2461991580 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 1 |
During his 1947 visit to Berlin, American pianist Webster Aitken was shocked to find the Kroll Opera reduced to ‘tangles of twisted girders, resembling empty bird cages. Beyond the Brandenburger Tor, the blocks seem to be made of brown sugar that has gone hard in lumps and streaks’. 1 Aitken was one of dozens of artists invited by the American Military Government to concertize throughout postwar Germany to demonstrate the strength of American musical achievement. Between 1945 and 1949, American musicians visited the ruins of the Third Reich to perform for German audiences, and this article explores the efficacy their postwar concerts had for the reeducation programme. American cultural officers believed music could play a redemptive role in the service of Democracy to promote racial and religious tolerance among German audiences
Art · Cold war · Democracy · German · Government (linguistics · Linguistics · Literature · Musical · Nazi Germany · Nazism · Opera · Political science · Politics · Arts, Culture, and Music Studies · Communism, Protests, Social Movements · German History and Society · History · Law · Philosophy
| Highly cited | No |
|---|