Music in Nazi Germany

Adolf Hitler (1932)

As with most other aspects of the governance of the Third Reich, the personal views and preferences of Adolf Hitler played a significant role in the Nazi control of music. Hitler's normal modus operandi was to create overlapping and competing agencies within both the Nazi Party and the German state apparatus, and allow the heads of those agencies to "work toward the Führer". Hitler would either make his preferences known, or, if he did not, the agency leaders would make assumptions about what they were, and then – usually without specific orders or guidance from Hitler – they would gear their decisions to what they believed he wanted. The overlapping of the various competencies would often lead to conflicts, which would then be brought to Hitler for ultimate settlement. Hitler, however, did not like to make these decisions, and often let the situations fester for long periods before he either made a snap decision, or one choice had become the most obvious one to select.[4][5] This was the case in the realm of music, where Nazi theorist Alfred Rosenberg and Goebbels were pitted against each other, and their somewhat differing goals and ideological viewpoints often lead to conflicts. Usually, after the creation of the Reich Chamber of Culture, Goebbels had the upper hand, but at times Rosenberg would prevail, or at least manage to throw a monkey wrench into Goebbels' plans.

In regard to music, Hitler had definite views as to what was acceptable and what was not. He was passionate about the music of Richard Wagner, but denounced most contemporary music – which featured atonality, dissonance, and disturbing rhythms in many cases influenced by what Hitler referred to as "nigger jazz" – as being "degenerate" (see below) and elitist. Soon after Hitler became Chancellor in 1933, contemporary music concerts, as well as Modernist and Expressionist scenic design and staging of operas were cancelled, and the music of Alban Berg, Hans Eisler, Paul Hindemith, Arnold Schoenberg, Anton von Webern, Kurt Weill, and other formerly prominent composers, as well as Jewish composers such as Felix Mendelssohn, Giacomo Meyerbeer, Jacques Offenbach and even George Gershwin and Irving Berlin, were no longer programmed or performed. At the beginning, this was not the result of a coordinated centralized program, but were uncoordinated spontaneous actions by local Nazi officials "working towards the Fuhrer", and generally reflected Hitler's often-expressed views on music.[6]

In one instance, Hitler himself complained about these local efforts. After Adolf Busch, a violinist, conductor, and composer, was forced to leave Germany, he said "It is really a shame that we do not have gauleiter in Dresden who knows anything about the arts. ... Busch would have been the best German conductor. But [Gauleiter] Mutschmann wanted to put old party comrades in the orchestra so as to introduce the National Socialist spirit." As a music aficionado who did not want Germany to lose talented musicians, Hitler was, in fact, less doctrinaire about the personal political backgrounds of musicians than were many Nazis, such as Rosenberg.[7] For instance, Hitler's fondness for the operettas of Franz Lehár took precedence over the negative facts about the composer discovered by Rosenberg's investigation. The same occurred with the partly Jewish Johann Strauss: Hitler's enjoyment of Strauss' compositions removed any impediments to their being performed, although Goebbels took steps to make sure that Strauss' heritage never became public knowledge.[8]

Hitler also lashed out at those Nazis who would ban Mozart's The Magic Flute because of its Masonic theme, or wanted to suppress Christian religious music, which he deemed to be part of "the German cultural patrimony". He also was willing, in the interest of foreign policy, to relax the general requirement of "Germanness" in concert music, allowing Italian operas, even Modernist ones, to be performed, and the music of Hungarian composer Zoltán Kodály and sometimes even those of the Hungarian anti-Nazi Bela Bartók. Foreign policy considerations entered into the decision to allow the works of Finnish composer Jean Sibelius to be performed, and performances of works by Russian composers dating from before the October Revolution, such as Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakov were sanctioned. Even Igor Stravinsky fell in and out of official favor.[9]

Hitler's direct, personal involvement in musical matters was generally limited to appointing conductors and awarding the title of "Professor" and other music-related honorifics, approving grants for both institutions and individuals, and ruling on the use of certain compositions such as the "Badenweiler March" – which could only be played in his presence – or the "Nibelungen March", which he deemed appropriate only for formal Nazi Party occasions. He also set the approved tempi for the "Deutschlandlied", the national anthem, and the "Horst-Wessel-Lied", the Party's anthem and later the co-national anthem. In most other instances, as was typical for Hitler, he allowed his paladins a free hand.[10]

It was Hitler's goal that music in Germany should be as important as he imagined it was in ancient Greece, and should serve the public good. Thus composers should write music that was aesthetically pleasing to most people, and the state should make that music available to the people. Such music would also help promote the state by providing its credibility, both culturally and politically, and distract the world from the Nazi street terrorism which was helping to create the totalitarian Führer state. Despite Germany being, in general, a sophisticated musical culture, the "co-ordination" (Gleichschaltung) of German music took less effort than any of the other arts, with fewer non-Jewish musical personalities choosing to emigrate into exile.[11] It was also a factor that once Hitler took power, he showed less interest in music than he did on controlling painting and sculpture. In those fields, ideologically impure artists were sometimes threatened with being sent to a concentration camp. Ideologically suspect composers were, for the most part, allowed to continue writing music, and even at times managed to be them performed, unlike suspected painters and sculptors who had their works and material confiscated.

Competing Nazi entities separately claimed control of all musicians and publications of musical material, each hoping to eventually become the administration of all culture, including music, in Nazi Germany.[12] Alfred Rosenberg, who saw himself as the Party's chief ideologue, played a key role in the early days before Hitler came to power, spawning many sub-organizations such as the Party's Militant League for German Culture (Kampfbund für deutsche Kultur). This organization had departments for music, cinema, visual arts, and radio. In hopes of strengthening "suppressed" Aryan artists and eliminating "degenerate" artists, such as Jewish and jazz artists, Rosenberg's institutions published many inflammatory brochures warning citizens of non-German nationalist music.[13] His institution funded Aryan musicians and even went as far as to disrupt concerts, threaten Jewish performers and intimidate audiences.[14] These practices were the beginning of the overarching political intervention of concert halls and orchestras of the 19th century.

In March 1933 Hitler appointed Joseph Goebbels to be the Minister of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda. It was Goebbels' intention to have his ministry take control of all German culture, but he ran up against Rosenberg's already-existing Party infrastructure. Fortunately for him, Rosenberg's activist stance had caused considerable disruption, which had become politically inconvenient for Hitler. This allowed Goebbels to convince the Führer to sign a decree creating the Reich Chamber of Culture (Reichskulturkammer) on September 22, 1933, with Goebbels as President. Within the Chamber were divisions for each of the arts, including the Reich Chamber of Music (Reichsmusikkammer), to which all musicians and composers were required to belong if they wished to work; those rejected were effectively professionally banned. Goebbels used the Chambers not only to regulate the arts, but also to improve pensions and get rid of unqualified and untrained artists. The ministry controlled the Chambers through the senior artists involved, who ran them on a daily basis. By 1937, the Reich Chamber of Music had 95,600 members.[15][16]

Joseph Goebbels

Alfred Rosenberg

The creation of the Chamber of Culture set up a long-term struggle between Goebbels and Rosenberg for control of the culture of Nazi Germany, including music. Rosenberg directly attacked some of the artists picked by Goebbels to head up the constituent Chambers, for instance calling the appointment of Richard Strauss as head of the Chamber of Music a "cultural scandal", because the libretto of his comic opera Die schweigsame Frau ("The Silent Woman") was written by a Jew. Goebbels was furious, and pointed out that librettist was not Arnold Zweig, as claimed by Rosenberg, but a different person, the Austrian Jew Stefan Zweig. Eventually, the Gestapo intercepted a damning letter from Strauss to Stefan Zweig which forced Goebbels to ask Strauss to resign. Rosenberg also attacked Paul Hindemith (see below).[17]

Eventually, though, Rosenberg could not win against Goebbels, who was both Minister of Propaganda for the German state and the head of propaganda for the Nazi Party, giving him a great deal more power than Rosenberg, who held only Party positions. Rosenberg's Fighting League was renamed the "National Socialist Cultural Community" and hung on until 1937, overshadowed by Goebbels' organization, and Rosenberg himself received the grandiloquent title "Representative for the Führer for the Overall Philosophical and Intellectual Training and Education of the National Socialist Party."[18] Goebbels' advantage over Rosenberg was that he had the frequent ear of the Führer, which Rosenberg did not, as Hitler did not have great respect for him; he considered the ideologue to be weak and lazy, and kept him at arm's length. Rosenberg's advantage was that his personal taste in music was closer to Hitler's than Goebbels' was: Goebbels had appreciation for some Modern music, which Hitler definitely did not share. Nevertheless, by 1939, Rosenberg had for the most part abandoned the cultural field to Goebbels and concentrated instead on foreign policy.[19]

Other high-ranking Nazis with an interest in German music included Hermann Göring, who, as Minister-President of Prussia controlled many cultural institutions in that state; Bernhard Rust, the Minister of Education, who was in charge of overseeing music conservatories and music in German schools; Robert Ley, the head of the German Labour Front, whose usurping of the trade unions brought in many musicians;[20] and Baldur von Schirach, the head of the Hitler Youth, who controlled music in Vienna.[10]

Although these other powerful Nazis were in some respect in competition with Goebbels,[notes 1] they nevertheless were all in agreement about the desired result, which was the removal of Jewish musicians and composers and the suppression of their music. Although it took longer than it might have, because of objections from the Economics Ministry about the possible damage to the economy, by mid-1935 Jews had been effectively removed from German culture – including music – through suppression, censorship and emigration.[21] All musical organizations, from local chorals to professional symphonies, including the Berlin Philharmonic, had been purged of Jewish members. This was largely made possible by the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service, which dated from April 1933. This law essentially dismissed hundreds of Jewish citizens from civil service, including musicians and composers – who were civil servants – from German orchestras and concert halls.[22] More than any other law, this one pushed Jewish musicians out of German culture at large.

Because of the multiplicity of authorities involved in controlling music, there was often confusion about what was and was not allowed to be performed. To help alleviate this problem, in June 1935, Richard Strauss, who headed the Reich Music Chamber, published a register of three categories of operas that were permitted, and later in the year a list of 108 compositions which were "under no circumstances to be performed." Berlin Radio also distributed an error-filled list of 99 composers whose works were forbidden, which was later corrected.[23]

In 1937, Goebbels transferred the authority of the Music Chamber to the Ministry of Propaganda, in order to more directly control the realm of music in Nazi Germany, through the Reich Music Censorship Board (Reichsmusikprüfstelle), whose remit included all music publication, programming, broadcasting, and recording. This board also disseminated lists of proscribed works.[23]

Within the music realm Goebbels initially focused on the rapidly expanding concert hall industry. With the increase of both music publications and instrument production, a public sphere of music emerged.[24] German citizens were able to exchange music unlike ever before, increasing circulation of all genres of music. Since the performance of Jewish or Romani music was prohibited by the state, this expanding circulation of sheet music was problematic. In an effort to regain control of this industry, and eliminate degenerate music, Goebbels soon instituted a harsh purge of Jewish musicians.

The Chamber of Culture specifically promoted art produced by "Aryans" whose views were consistent with Nazi ideologies.[25] The organization blacklisted many Jewish musicians and composers from performing live in concert halls. The Chamber of Culture famously banned Jewish composer, conductor and pianist Bruno Walter from performing in public in 1933. Walter's performance in Leipzig was cancelled due to "threats of violence." Four days later Walter was officially blacklisted when Richard Strauss replaced him at the Berlin Philharmonic Hall.[26][notes 2]

Being German or "Aryan" was not the sole consideration in determining whether a composer's music would be allowed to be presented in Nazi Germany. Modernist or atonal music was discouraged even when the composers were German or Austrian. Arnold Schönberg's pupils, for instance, such as Anton von Webern and Alban Berg, adhered to twelve-tone techniques and were therefore singled out by the regime for suppression.[notes 3] Winfried Zillig, on the other hand, used the same techniques, but in a more tonal way, and his works depicted the self-sacrificing heroism of German peasants and other subjects close to Nazi ideology, so he was allowed to have his music performed and continued to conduct.[27]

Goebbels was also well aware of diplomatic and foreign policy considerations, so the works of Hungarian modernist composer Béla Bartók were not banned, because Hungary was Germany's ally – even though Bartók himself was anti-Fascist. When his publisher was Aryanized, he switch to another one, he declared solidarity with banned composers, and protested when his music was not included in the "Degenerate Music" Exhibition (see below). Igor Stravinsky, on the other hand, did have his works included in the show, but nevertheless, despite attacks by Rosenberg, it continued to be performed in Germany, and Stravinsky collected the royalties in Paris.[28]

These factors and the banning of Jewish influences produced a music industry based on Aryanism and focused primarily on classical German composers. Goebbels believed that music could create a public emotional and spiritual experience competitive with religion. Concert halls with their darkened auditoriums and formal settings exposed the audience to an experience similar to that of going to church. The music of Bruckner and Wagner were the centerpiece of the new "Aryan" spirituality, aiming to attain the same "impact generated by traditional Christian religious ecstasy and devotion".[29] Goebbels strongly believed music could bring about national pride through cultural identification.

Paul Hindemith

Wilhelm Furtwängler

Conflict between Goebbels and Rosenberg had not ended with the creation of the Chamber of Culture. For instance, they battled over the composer Paul Hindemith. As an enfant terrible Hindemith had composed in a modernist style, but changed to a neo-Classical style in 1930. Goebbels wished to keep Hindemith in Germany because his international recognition was second only to Strauss'. He was appointed to the governing council of the Chamber of Music's Composers' Section and his new compositions were given prestigious premieres. Unlike Goebbels, however, who appreciated more modern music, Rosenberg's tastes were strictly old-fashioned, more in line with Hitler's, and he launched a series of attacks on Hindemith's previous musical style and his earlier political affiliations. That his wife was half-Jewish did not help his case. Rosenberg pressured radio stations not to play Hindemith's works and concert halls not to program them.[30]

The noted conductor Wilhelm Furtwängler defended Hindemith in an article in a daily newspaper, but did so in a way that denigrated political criteria being used to judge art, and defending artistic freedom. While Furtwängler received a very positive response from the audience when he took the rostrum to conduct that night, Goebbels was in the audience, as was Göring, and he subsequently closed ranks with Rosenberg to counter the implicit criticism of the regime's cultural policies. The Propaganda Minister forced Furtwängler out of all his numerous official positions, but did not ban him from working. Goebbels subsequently relented somewhat, but kept the conductor on a short leash, telling him that if he accepted a guest conductor opportunity with the New York Philharmonic, he would not be allowed back into Germany.[30]

Hindemith, meanwhile, took an indefinite leave of absence from his teaching job in Berlin, but stayed in Germany. He made efforts to distance himself from his previous musical styles, worked on musical education, and swore an oath of allegiance to Hitler. His works were performed in small concert venues, but the attacks on him continued and were sufficient to discourage major music institutions from hiring him or programming his music. In 1936, responding to a speech by Hitler urging that the regime increase its efforts to purify the arts, the Propaganda Ministry banned performances of Hindemith's music. Hindemith emigrated to Switzerland in 1938, and from there to the United States.[30]

In May 1938, as part of the first Reich Music Rally, Hans Severus Ziegler assembled in Düsseldorf an exhibition of "Degenerate Music" (Entartete Musik). Ziegler, the manager of the national theatre in Weimar, was inspired by the tremendously popular "Degenerate Art Exhibition" which had been presented the year before in Munich. The exhibition featured sections on Jewish composers and conductors, modernist and atonal music, jazz, and other subjects. Ziegler positioned the show as presenting examples of Cultural Bolshevism, saying at the opening ceremony:

What's been gathered together in [this] exhibition constitutes the portrayal of a true witches' sabbath and the most frivolous spiritual-artistic cultural bolshevism and a portrayal of the triumph of subhumanity, of arrogant Jewish insolence and total spiritual senile dementia.[31]

Booths had been installed where attendees could listen to specially made records with excerpts of "Degenerate Music". However, long lines at the booth for Kurt Weill's Threepenny Opera showed that not all of the music presented at the exhibition was disliked by the public.[32]

Ziegler had mounted the show with help from Rosenberg's staff, so it was perhaps inevitable that Goebbels would not totally approve of it. He wrote in his diary that the exhibition was "getting a lot of criticism. I get the objectionable parts removed." Goebbels' disapproval may account for the exhibition running only for three weeks.[32]