The Symphony Concert in Nazi Germany / Neil Gregor.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Gregor, Neil, Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Symphony--Germany--20th century.

Symphony.

Concerts--Germany--History--20th century.

Concerts.

National socialism and music.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (384 pages) : illustrations

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Chicago : University of Chicago Press, 2025.

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

A new history of how the musical worlds of German towns and cities were transformed during the Nazi era. In the years after the Nazis came to power in January 1933 and throughout the Second World War, all aspects of life in Germany changed. Despite the social and political upheaval, gentile citizens continued to attend concerts. In this book, historian Neil Gregor surveys how the classical concert scene was impacted in Nazi Germany. Taking the perspective of the audience, rather than institutions or performers, Gregor delves into the cultural lives of ordinary Germans under conditions of dictatorship. Did the ways in which Germans heard music in the period change? Did a Nazi way of listening emerge? For audiences, Gregor shows, changes to the concert experience were small and often took place around the edges. This, combined with the preserved idea of the concert hall as a space of imagined civility and cultivation, led many concertgoers and music lovers to claim after the war that their field and their practice had been innocent—a place to retreat from the vicious violence and racism of the Nazi regime. Drawing on untapped archival sources, The Symphony Concert in Nazi Germany reveals that the true history was one of disruption but also of near seamless adaptation. Through countless small acts, the symphony concert was reframed within the languages of strident nationalism, racism, and militarism to ensure its place inside the cultural cosmos of National Socialist Germany.

Contents:

Frontmatter

CONTENTS

FIGURES

1. Introduction: Locating Listening Historically

2. Many Orchestras, Many Histories

3. Audiences

4. Canon and Repertoire

5. Listening through Reading: Concert Programs

6. Time and Space

7. Sight and Sound

8. Body and Soul

9. Reading about Listening: Concert Reviews

10. Locating Historical Listeners

11. Epilogue

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

NOTES

INDEX

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 23. Apr 2025)

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

0-226-83911-7

OCLC:

1514489776