Collaboration, Dissemination, and Emigration:
How World War II Shaped Western Art Music
Kimberly C. Harris
Department of Music
In my music appreciation classes, we spend a great deal of time discussing the
historical and social context in which the music we study was written. During each
musical period, I stress that none of the composers were working in a vacuum: where
they worked and for whom they worked, played a role in what they wrote. All my life, I
have had (a somewhat morbid—according to one past professor) fascination with World
War II and more specifically, the Holocaust.
I am applying for a study grant so that I might be able to build on my love of music in
history.
Composers, performers, music libraries, and the canon were all forever altered by the
events of World War II. I would like to concentrate my study of the effects World War II
had on Western European and American Art music to specifically three areas: (1)
composers who collaborated (or appeared to collaborate) with the Nazis as well as
composers, although dead, whose music was used by the Nazis, (2) dissemination and
loss of music manuscripts due to the destruction of libraries, and (3) how American Art
music benefited from the emigrant composers and performers forced to flee Europe.
Western European Art music played an important role in the idea of “nationalism” for
Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party. Hitler used the music of Beethoven, Wagner, and others
as propaganda leading up to the war as well as during the war. It is interesting that
Beethoven’s reputation has gone unscathed while Wagner’s legacy has been quite
different. Hitler also chose to exploit the music of contemporary German composers
such as R. Strauss. I would like to spend weeks 1-6 reading books and articles that speak
to Hitler’s friendship with the Wagner family, his fascination with Beethoven, as well as
how the Strauss family fared during the war. Also, how has the music of these gentlemen
been received by later generations, especially in countries like Israel?
Untold numbers of music manuscripts were either lost or destroyed due to allied
bombing and/or Nazi book burnings. How does this effect scholarship and performance
today? I would like to spend weeks 7-9 reading articles regarding the dissemination of
music due to the loss of so many manuscripts. How, if at all, does dissemination (or lack
thereof) affect the canon, performance practice and complete works editions?
Finally, I would like to study the benefits of the war on the art music “scene” in
America. The United States, historically, has been considered to be the less talented,
always somewhat behind, little brother so to speak compared to Europe regarding all
things art music. American composers and performers who wanted to be taken seriously,
always studied in Europe. World War II forced major European composers like
Stravinsky and Schoenberg to flee to the United States. How did their arrival (as well as
others) change the landscape of American Art music? I would like to spend weeks 10-16
reading biographies, articles and books that focus on how emigrant composers made a
living in the United States. Also, many of these composers were also conductors; how
does the canon change in the United States due to their influence?
I believe that this study grant would allow me to bring the connection of Western
Classical Art music and history to a place where my students can better understand how
all aspects of society are connected. Yes, we discuss in class the effects of the Hundred
Years War and the Thirty Years War on music; however, it is difficult to bring that into a
perspective they really understand because (1) those wars are so far in the past and (2)
those wars have no direct connection to the United States in the manner that World War
II does. I believe that I would be able to better show how global events affect cultures on
a very basic level. After completing the study, I would like to present a lecture as a
Visiting Scholar for S.A.I.L.
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