Germanic Composers and Musicians

[NormanBlood]

Here is a thread for us to discuss our favourite Germanic musicians, composers and anything else related to Germanic music.

To start off, what do you all think of Teutonic composers such as Edvard Grieg, Richard Wagner(actually Wagner is a very interesting figure...perhaps a good starting point to an interesting conversation?), Ludwig van Beethoven and others?

Also, what do you think of the essay Wagner wrote "Judaism(or Jewry) in Music"? Judaism in Music What do you think of his opinion on Mendelssohn?

[Pomor]

I personally love Grieg, much more than I do Wagner. An incredibly beatiful and spiritually rich music, very Northern :-). Skryabin and Rachmaninov go after him.

[friedrich braun]

Nice article on music in the Third Reich

Wilhelm Furtwängler and Music in the Third Reich

Antony Charles

Not only during his lifetime, but also in the decades since his death in 1954, Wilhelm Furtwängler has been globally recognized as one of the greatest musicians of this century, above all as the brilliant primary conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic orchestra, which he lead from 1922 to 1945, and again after 1950. On his death, the Encyclopaedia Britannica commented: "By temperament a Wagnerian, his restrained dynamism, superb control of his orchestra and mastery of sweeping rhythms also made him an outstanding exponent of Beethoven." Furtwängler was also a composer of merit

Underscoring his enduring greatness have been several recent in-depth biographies and a successful 1996 Broadway play, "Taking Sides," that portrays his postwar "denazification" purgatory, as well as steadily strong sales of CD recordings of his performances (some of them available only in recent years). Furtwängler societies are active in the United States, France, Britain, Germany and other countries. His overall reputation, however, especially in America, is still a controversial one.

Following the National Socialist seizure of power in 1933, some prominent musicians -- most notably such Jewish artists as Bruno Walter, Otto Klemperer and Arnold Schoenberg -- left Germany. Most of the nation's musicians, however, including the great majority of its most gifted musical talents, remained -- and even flourished. With the possible exception of the composer Richard Strauss, Furtwängler was the most prominent musician to stay and "collaborate."

Consequently, discussion of his life -- even today -- still provokes heated debate about the role of art and artists under Hitler and, on a more fundamental level, about the relationship of art and politics.

http://64.143.9.197/jhr/v17/v17n3p-2_Charles.html

[Julius]

Wagner, Beethoven, Bach, Grieg (Norway), et al. are all great!

Some less known or less recognized composers:

Carl Orff 1895-1982 (Germany)



His work Carmina Burana is quite good. I'm not sure about his real political conviction, but he never left the Third Reich. In fact, Carmina Burana was introduced there in 1937.

Wilhelm Peterson-Berger 1867-1942 (Sweden)



Our Swedish Wagner. He was a Nietzschean racialist but a member of the Social Democratic Workers Party. Influenced by Wagner, Beethoven and Grieg he wrote perhaps the most typical Swedish music.

Hugo Alfvén 1872-1960 (Sweden)



"Few Swedish composers have achieved such widespread popularity both at home and abroad as Hugo Alfvén, and his compositions have come to stand out as the most typically representative examples of national romanticism in Swedish music.

Nevertheless, strictly speaking, his reputation rests on relatively few but often performed works such as Midsommarvaka (Midsummer Vigil), Festspel (Festival), Elegy, Vallflickans dans (The Shepherd-girl's Dance), Sveriges Flagga (Sweden's Flag) and Roslagsvår (Spring in Roslag) together with a few songs, such as Skogen sover (The Forest Sleeps) and Du är stilla ro (You are Tranquil Peace), and several well-known folk song arrangements for choir."

[...]

The darknes in our temperament and in the Swede's melancholic character

Alfvén is often regarded as a "festival" composer, and it is true to say that it is the display of colour in his orchestra works, and the "Great-Swedish" magnificence of many of his vocal works that have made the greatest impression on the public. But even if he willingly accepted this as his role during the later years, and in addition often stressed the importance of trying to give people light and warmth in his music - as stated in an interview in 1942 - nevertheless, the real basis of his music is something quite different. Throughout his whole output, under the surface there is a stream of anxiety, and he stressed continually, either directly or indirectly, that the counterpart of life is death.It is almost as if in his striving after beauty and technical perfection, he wanted to invoke perishableness. The hymn, I walk towards death, wherever I walk, which is used in the second symphony in the 1890's played a similarly large role in the fifth symphony fifty years later."

(source: The Hugo Alfvén Society)


I recommend this FAQ as an introduction to classical music in general.

[NormanBlood]

Julius, Alfven was a great composer! Funny you should mention his "Midsummer Vigil" just as I finished listening to it lol


Other good Germanic composers are: Johan Halvorsen, Wilhelm Stenhammer and Carl Nielsen.

Wend, Grieg was indeed amazing. His "Elfin Dance", "Norwegian Dance", "In the Hall of the Mountain King" and "Death of the Ase" are all very beautiful. He definetly deserves(ed) more credit.

[Mac Seafraidh]

I enjoy listening to Wagner,Beethoven,Mozart,etc.

HEIL NSBM -/-

[The Blond Beast]

I enjoy listening to Wagner,Beethoven,Mozart,etc.

HEIL NSBM -/-

What about Mendelssohn? ; )

[Dr. Solar Wolff]

Wagner's music is so far above any other composer or music that comparing Wagner to other German composers is like comparing Germanic music to rap music. Wagner invented whole instruments when he needed a particular sound. Wagner invented the Lietmotiv. Most importantly, Wagner's music reaches deep down to the DNA and resonates emotionally to one's entire being if he or she is attuned to it. Wagner is like a test. He lets you know who you are. He is unashamedly playing to the Germanic soul. I can't believe that anyone with a drop of Germanic blood in his veins can't hear this call.

[NormanBlood]

Dr. Solar Wolff, I agree with you. Its unfortunate, the bad name that is put on him today by many an "intellectual" which only serves in driving people away from his music. What did you think of his article 'Judaism In Music'? At one point he stated that a Jew, such as Mendelssohn, do not have the capability, nomatter the amount of technical skill, to create music truly FOR the European people. And I do agree. And how could Mendelssohn be expected to? Wagner created what was in his own soul, and therefore what is in the soul of the Germanic.

[Dr. Solar Wolff]

I fully agree NormanBlood. Wagner was able to reach deep within himself and to tap his soul as well as the souls of his people going back into time. When we hear music intended to depict the forest, we can see it in our mind's eye. It is the same as the Gods go over the rainbow bridge to Valhalla or any scene Wagner "paints" in music. Wagner also paints emotion. His Lietmotiv carry the idea of a person or thing but also carry the emotion built up in the course of the story concerning that person. His music is beautiful, by anyone's standard and that beauty also carries an emotional impact.

Wagner hated Jews and was loved by Adolf Hitler. That double whammy makes his very name an obscenity among "intellectuals" or, more probably, anyone trying to impress Jews. And that is exactly what I ask anyone who says anything against Wagner---if he honestly dislikes Wagner's music or is he being "Jewish Correct". I don't recommend this behavior, but I am at a point in life where impressing others has no meaning, personally or financially.