Musicians and Composers of World War II Essay - 1492 Words

Musicians and composers during World War II Music is loved by nearly everyone around the world; learning about composers and what they have been through can develop your understanding of music today. World War II certainly helped sculpt the face of music and of the composers of that time. The war affected German, American and French composers and musicians; causing them to write hateful music, or live with fear of writing any music at all. While many countries in Europe were celebrating the freedom to listen to any music they wanted, the Nazi Party was taking over Germany. The music that was listened to in Germany had to be approved by the Nazis. According to Adolf Hitler good German music was that of Beethoven, Wagner and Bruckner.†¦show more content†¦Beethoven believed that strength is the morality of the man who stands out from the rest (â€Å"Nazi Approved Music†). Elly Ney, a piano prodigy that hated Jews, was the daughter of an army sergeant in the Nazi Party. Because of the hatred towards Jewish people, they lost their jobs and gigs, so there were many musician jobs not being filled. When Elly Ney would get offered to fill in for a Jew, she would be very offended that she was doing a Jew’s job, but she would just try to concentrate on the music to get her by. Just because she was raised with hatred towards Jewish people caused her to hate any music involved with Judaism (â€Å"Nazi Approved Music†). The Third Reich was also a great factor in German composers and musicians getting jobs. Any German musician was forced to join the Reich. Music that was not accepted by the Third Reich was called â€Å"Jewish Degenerate†. Hundreds of talented composers and musicians did not have jobs because their music was not accepted in the Reich; Mhaler, Mendelssohn and Schoenberg all fall into that category, even though they are geniuses of music. Anton Webern agreed with Hitler’s ideas, but just because he was friends with S choenberg, his music was listed as degenerate (â€Å"Degenerate’Show MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Martin Heideggers Memorial Address1314 Words   |  6 PagesMartin Heidegger’s â€Å"Memorial Address† is more than a commemorative speech honoring composer, Conradin Kreutzer. Heidegger takes this opportunity to bring to light a pressing issue. The philosopher concerns over the societal imbalance between calculative thinking and meditative thinking, favoring the prior. This topic at this given event holds so much significance because he is speaking to an audience who is currently experiencing the issue he speaks of, and could easily apply it to their veryRead MoreModern Composers : John Cage1251 Words   |  6 PagesModern Composers: John Cage Music is a very peculiar term. 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