Acknowledgements
This book was published first in German in 2020, and its origins go well back into the previous decade. I had a number of reasons for writing this book. But without the continuous, stimulating and friendly support of Jürgen Osterhammel it would never have seen the light of day. He took me on as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Konstanz in April 2011. Though we hadnât met before, our common interest in music â his knowledge of the classical repertoire and performers is nothing short of encyclopaedic â connected us beyond history from the very beginning. He led his department in a pleasingly unpretentious manner, was always on hand as a source of advice and let me do my own thing. For this, for countless insights and for much more besides, I offer him my sincere thanks.
Thanks to a DFG research grant, I wrote part of this book at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. I have fond memories of a rich exchange of views at the German History Seminar. In David Blackbourn, Helmut Walser-Smith, Meike Werner, Stephen R. Press, Patrick Anthony and especially Celia Applegate I found hugely inspiring interlocutors. Furthermore, their open-mindedness and passion for German (music) history showed me a lived culture of scholarship that made a lasting impression on me. Beyond Nashville, Harry Liebersohn provided me with further opportunities to present my project and forge new contacts through several invitations to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. I would like to thank all of them for their generous hospitality.
Celia Applegate and Jürgen Osterhammel also acted as assessors of my habilitation, which was accepted by the University of Konstanz and forms the basis of this book. The other requisite assessments were undertaken by Sven Reichardt and Wolfgang Seibel, for which I am very grateful. In Konstanz, the âGlobal Processesâ DFG Leibniz Prize Research Group (DFG-Leibnizpreisforschungsstelle âGlobale Prozesseâ) furnished me with a fertile environment for my project. I benefited greatly from intensive discussions with Cornelia Escher, Franz L. Fillafer, Stefanie Gänger, Lisa Korge, Jan C. Jansen, Pascale Siegrist, Martina Steber, Alexandre Bischofberger and many others. Wibke Rhein was a great help when it came to literature research and acquisition, while Heidi Engelmann ensured the cohesion of both chair and research unit in organizational terms and beyond.
Outside the University of Konstanz, the opportunity to present and discuss my project in research colloquia led by Hans-Joachim Hinrichsen, Birthe Kundrus, Alexander Nützenadel and Jörn Leonhard provided me with a great deal of valuable stimulation. Individual chapters were read, commented on and thus improved by Boris Barth, Jan C. Jansen, Isabella Löhr, Klaus Nathaus, Kiran Klaus Patel, Laura Rischbieter, Nina Schläfli, Pascale Siegrist, Claudius Torp, Martin Urmann, Heike Wieters and Hansjakob Ziemer â my huge thanks to all of them. David Bruder proofread the entire German manuscript and provided me with reliable advice and support on tricky language issues.
The same holds true for Alex Skinner who did an excellent job in translating the manuscript with great care and wit. Special thanks go to the editors Celia Applegate and David M. Luebke who kindly agreed to include this book into the SCEH series. The translation was generously supported by funds made available by the Centre for Cultural Inquiry (ZKF) at the University of Konstanz as well as by the German Research Foundation. Luisa Pfeifer was greatly helpful during the editing process. Many thanks are also due to Alessandra Giliberto from Brill and the production team, Loreta RuzgieneÌ, AusÌra KundreckaiteÌ and Kȩstutis Vizbaras from VTeX, for their patience, advice and very good work.
The staff of the archives and libraries I visited went out of their way to help me track down sources. Special thanks are due to the executive director of the German Orchestra Union, Gerald Mertens, and his colleagues, who so helpfully facilitated my access to relevant documents. For the original German bookâs inclusion in the series Kritische Studien zur Geschichtswissenschaft, I thank the editors and especially Hans-Peter Ullmann for his close reading and outstanding stewardship.
When I arrived in Constance, I did not expect to put down roots. I made a number of good friends among my new colleagues, for which I am truly grateful, while Sebastian Eichhorn, Rolf Exner, Michael Koss, Philip Topolovac and my siblings Tobias, Julia and Clara could always be relied upon when I wanted to âget awayâ. It was their conviviality and the diversion they provided, but above all my shared lakeside life with Nina, that enabled me to finish this book in such a positive frame of mind. Well, Iâm still here, and now that there are three of us I know more than ever before why, and how much I owe her and our daughter Marla.
My parents Antje and Burkhard Rempe awakened my interest in music and ensured that it filled my childhood, while always showing great interest in history as well. They were quite simply always there. I dedicate this book to them.
Martin Rempe
Kreuzlingen, February 2023