Socialist laments : musical mourning in the German Democratic Republic / Martha Sprigge.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sprigge, Martha, author.

Series:

New cultural history of music

The New cultural history of music

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Music--Political aspects--Germany (East).

Music.

Music--Political aspects.

Germany (East).

Musical landmarks--Germany (East).

Musical landmarks.

Cemeteries--Germany (East).

Cemeteries.

Bereavement--Psychological aspects.

Bereavement.

Physical Description:

xx, 354 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Oxford University Press, [2021]

Summary:

"Antifascist and socialist monuments pervaded the landscape of the former German Democratic Republic (1949-1989), presenting a distorted vision of the national past. Official commemorative culture in East Germany celebrated a selective set of political heroes, seeming to leave no public space for mourning those who were excluded from the country's founding myths. Socialist Laments: Musical Mourning in the German Democratic Republic examines the role of music in this nation's memorial culture, demonstrating how music facilitated the expressions of loss within spaces of commemoration for East German citizens. Music performed during state-sponsored memorial rituals no doubt bolstered official narratives of the German past. But it simultaneously provided an outlet for mourning in highly politicized environment. Socialist Laments presents both a history and theory of musical mourning in East Germany. Using a site-specific approach to analysis, author Martha Sprigge demonstrates how the multiple semantic networks opened up by these musical works facilitated many memorial associations without necessitating the overt articulation of a mourned subject. Throughout the country's forty-year existence, music offered East German citizens an audible outlet for working through traumatic losses-both collective and individual-that was distinct from other artistic expressive possibilities. The book reveals the ways that East Germany's extensive commemorative repertoire helped composers, performers, and audiences navigate between the inevitable need to mourn on the one hand, and the seeming impossibilities of mourning on the other"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

The Ruin

The Socialists' Cemetery

The Church

Concentration Camp Memorials

The Artists' Cemetery.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Sprigge, Martha, Socialist laments

ISBN:

9780197546321

0197546323

OCLC:

1198016998

Publisher Number:

99988831931