An indispensable study of nineteenth-century German music, history and
nationalism.
Music played a central role in the self-conception of middle-class
Germans between the March Revolution of 1848 and the First World War.
Although German music was widely held to be 'universal' and thus
apolitical, it participated- like the other arts - in the historicist
project of shaping the nation's future by calling on the national
heritage. Compositions based on - often heavily mythologised -
historical events and heroes, such as the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest
or the medieval Emperor Barbarossa, invited individual as well as
collective identification and brought alive a past that compared
favourably with contemporary conditions.
History in Mighty Sounds mapsout a varied picture of these 'invented
traditions' and the manifold ideas of 'Germanness' to which they gave
rise, exemplified through works by familiar composers like Max Bruch or
Carl Reinecke as well as their nowadays little-known contemporaries. The
whole gamut of musical genres, ranging from pre- and post-Wagnerian
opera to popular choruses to symphonic poems, contributes to a novel
view of the many ways in which national identities were constructed,
shaped and celebrated in and through music. How did artists adapt
historical or literary sources to their purpose, how did they negotiate
the precarious balance of aesthetic autonomy and political relevance,
and how did notions of gender, landscape and religion influence artistic
choices? All musical works are placed within their broader historical
and biographical contexts, with frequent nods to other arts and popular
culture. History in Mighty Sounds will be indispensable reading for
anyone interested in nineteenth-century German music, history and
nationalism.
Barbara Eichner is Senior Lecturer in Musicology at Oxford Brookes
University.
