Transcript presentation file

Beethoven During Weimar
• The Weimar Republic was created as a
result of Germany losing World War I.
• It was a full-fledged democracy.
• Lots of newly empowered groups formed
political parties.
• Lots of people began voting.
• Change was the order of the day.
• There were eight elections during the
Weimar years.
• The dates of these elections are 6 June
1920, 15 April 1924, 11 July 1924, 20 May
1928, 14 September 1930, 31 July 1932, 11
November 1932, and 5 March 1933.
• As can be seen by some of the close spacing
of the elections, politics were rough and
tumbly during that period.
• Major groups that began to organize politically in
strength during the Weimar years were:
1. Workers who were drawn to the SPD (socialist)
and the Communist Party.
2. Bourgeoisie (the middle class, often
tradespeople) who were drawn to newly formed
parties, such as the DVP, DDP
3. Catholics, especially the peasantry, supporting
the Catholic Center Party.
4. The Protestant peasants and the disaffected
bourgeoisie who supported the Nazi Party
5. The conservative aristocracy who supported the
conservative DNVP.
• All groups used music to assist them in
gaining support from the Weimar voters.
• Beethoven was the favorite composer for
virtually everyone.
• Nearly all German people had a deep
affection for the music of Beethoven. It
represented something cultural, something
connected to their heritage.
• The basic strategy for all groups using
music to assist in developing and
maintaining membership organizations was
to create an association between
Beethoven’s music and their political
themes.
• Since there were so many groups trying to
do the same thing with the same composer
during the Weimar years, there was fierce
debate regarding Beethoven’s “real”
politics.
• Thus developed various versions of a
“Beethoven myth.”
• Few of these myths had any strong
historical grounding in fact with regard to
Beethoven’s actual political views. But all
pointed to aspects of Beethoven’s life and
music that seemed to “prove” their case.
• The goals of “Beethoven myth-making”
during the Weimar period:
1. To create a link in the minds of voters
between particular musical pieces that
seemed to best represent a “true” German
tradition.
2. Create supportive stories about
Beethoven and his ideas that promoted the
idea that the composer was “one of them,”
ideologically and culturally.
• After creating a “Beethoven myth,” political
organizers would have certain musical pieces
performed in order to create the correct ambience
in an audience.
• Guidance with respect to ideological and political
behavior offered by the political elite could be
emotionally anchored by the music in the minds
of voters to help create a desired level of
motivation.
• It worked like chorales work in churches (See
David Dennis, p. 97-8)
• Leftists worked especially hard a promoting
a “republican” Beethoven ideology.
• Catholic Center Party organizers argued that
it was Beethoven’s inner Christian faith that
gave him the courage and strength to create
such beautiful music under such hardship.
His many religious pieces were evidence of
his core faith.
• Conservatives argued that Beethoven was a
counterrevolutionary and nationalistic hero.
• All groups found evidence somewhere in
Beethoven’s complex life to support their own
particular interpretations of the composer and his
music.
• For example, leftists who supported the Weimar
Republic argued that Beethoven’s original
dedication of the Symphony No. 3 to Napoleon
was truly an embrace of revolutionary republican
politics. On the other hand, conservatives argued
that Beethoven accepted the “old social order” and
even sought and found employment there.
• The extreme right-wing groups of the
Weimar period tended to emphasize the
counterrevolutionary interpretation of
Beethoven’s life combined with a portrait of
Beethoven’s thorough “Germanness.”
• Some groups even sought to portray
Beethoven as physically corresponding with
a racist ideology, emphasizing their
perception of his “Nordic” features. Some
of the arguments about his physical
characteristics were quite wild.
• Nazi propagandists were particularly
enthusiastic about creating a “Beethoven
myth.” They argued,
1. Beethoven hated the French.
2. He supported authoritarianism.
3. He disliked social disorder characteristic
of revolutions.
4. Beethoven’s music was vigorous, and
thus symbolic of the vigor of the Nazi
movement.
• (See Dennis, p. 133)
• Rightists “seriously” evaluated all evidence
of Beethoven’s racial origin.
• Nazi propagandists went to great lengths to
discount negative (to them) interpretations
of Beethoven’s racial characteristics.
• Some theorists even argued that even if
Beethoven had some mixed blood, he
fought to conquer it to produce the most
pure Nordic music. His struggle led to him
raising himself beyond his limitations to
achieve a status of a Nordic hero.
• But the Nazis were not able to fully
compete with the other groups in Weimar
for producing a dominant “Beethoven
myth.”
• The Nazis used concerts less effectively
than other groups, relying more heavily on
written propaganda that made arguments
supportive of their Beethoven
interpretations, and which argued against
other interpretations.
• All this changed after Weimar.