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Music and German National Identity
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Music and German National Identity Hardcover - 2002

by Celia Applegate; Pamela Potter


From the publisher

Is it merely a coincidence that the three Bs of classical music--Bach, Beethoven, Brahms--are all German composers? Why do concert halls all over the world feature mostly the works of German and Austrian composers as their standard repertoire? Over the past three centuries, supporters of German music ranging from music scholars to politicians have nurtured the notion that the German-speaking world possesses a peculiar strength in the cultivation of music. This book explores the questions of how music came to be associated with German identity, when and how Germans came to be regarded as the people of music, and how music came to be designated as the most German art. Drawing on the expertise of leading scholars in German history, musicology, and German literature, the essays assembled here examine philosophy, literature, politics, and social currents, as well as the creation and performance of folk music, art music, church music, jazz, and pop to explore the ways in which music has continued to play a central role in the German national imagination and in shaping German identity.

First line

For musical audiences today, the words "German" and "music" merge so easily into a single concept that their connection is hardly ever questioned.

Details

  • Title Music and German National Identity
  • Author Celia Applegate; Pamela Potter
  • Binding Hardcover
  • Edition 1st Edition 1st
  • Pages 329
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher University of Chicago Press, U.S.A.
  • Date August 1, 2002
  • Illustrated Yes
  • ISBN 9780226021300 / 0226021300
  • Weight 1.28 lbs (0.58 kg)
  • Dimensions 9.34 x 6.12 x 0.92 in (23.72 x 15.54 x 2.34 cm)
  • Library of Congress subjects Music - Germany - History and criticism, Music - Social aspects - Germany
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 2001007534
  • Dewey Decimal Code 780.943

About the author

Celia Applegate is an associate professor of history at the University of Rochester. She is the author of A Nation of Provincials: The German Idea of Heimat. Pamela Potter is an associate professor in the musicology and German departments at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. She is the author of Most German of the Arts: Musicology and Society from the Weimar Republic to the End of Hitler's Reich.