Composers of the Nazi Era Eight Portraits [Paperback]

How does creativity thrive in the face of fascism? How can a highly artistic individual function professionally in so threatening a climate?

Composers of the Nazi Erais the final book in a critically acclaimed trilogy that includesDifferent Drummers(OUP 1992) andThe Twisted Muse(OUP 1997), which won the Wallace K. Ferguson Prize of the Canadian Historical Association. Here, historian Michael H. Kater provides a detailed study of the often interrelated careers of eight prominent German composers who lived and worked amid the dictatorship of the Third Reich, or were driven into exile by it: Werner Egk, Paul Hindemith, Kurt Weill, Karl Amadeus Hartmann, Carl Orff, Hans Pfitzner, Arnold Schoenberg, and Richard Strauss. Kater weighs issues of accommodation and resistance to ask whether these artists corrupted themselves in the service of a criminal regime--and if so, whether this may be discerned from their music. After chapters discussing the circumstances of each composer individually, Kater concludes with an analysis of the composers' different responses to the Nazi regime and an overview of the sociopolitical background against which they functioned. The final chapter also extends the discussion beyond the end of World War II to examine how the composers reacted to the new and fragile democracy in Germany.

Preface
1. Werner Egk: The Enigmatic Optimist
2. Paul Hindemith: The Reluctant Emigr?
3. Kurt Weill: A Survivor on Two Continents
4. Karl Amadeus Hartmann: The Composer as Dissident
5. Carl Orff: Man of Legend
6. Hans Pfitzner: Magister Teutonicus Miser
7. Arnold Schoenberg: Musician of Contrasts
8. Richard Strauss: Jupiter Compromised
Conclusion
Notes
Index

With this volume, Kater has completed a remarkable trilogy of books about music during the Nazi era....Kater...is rigorous in his attention to detail; his research is up-to-date, and his conclusions are persuasive. This book--indlÓj