Germany is considered a lauded land of music: outstanding composers, celebrated performers and famous orchestras exert great international appeal. Since the 19th century, the foundation of this reputation has been the broad mass of musicians who sat in orchestra pits, played in ensembles for dances or provided the musical background in silent movie theatres. Martin Rempe traces their lives and working worlds, including their struggle for economic improvement and societal recognition. His detailed portrait of the profession âfrom belowâ sheds new light on German musical life in the modern era.
Martin Rempe, Ph.D. (2010), Humboldt University, Berlin, is a senior researcher at the University of Konstanz. He specializes in the social history of music and the history of European-African relations. Among many other publications, he has co-edited Musicking in Twentieth Century Europe: A Handbook (De Gruyter, 2021).
Contents Preface to the English translation Acknowledgements List of Figures and Tables Abbrevations Introduction
Part 1: Lifeworlds in the Nineteenth Century
1 Wilhelm Wieprecht or On the Life of the Musician in the Sattelzeit
â1âMunicipal Pipe Bands
â2âMunicipal Theatre
â3âCourt Orchestras
â4âMilitary Bands
â5âMusiciansâ Lives in the Sattelzeit
2 The Discovery of the Social: Musiciansâ Organizations between Art and Labour
â1âLiszt, Wagner and the Allgemeiner Deutscher Musikverein
â2âA Rendezvous with Hirsch and Schulze-Delitzsch
â3âThe General German Musiciansâ Union
â4âPutting the Class Struggle on Hold
3 Musiciansâ Plight: Education and Everyday Working Life around 1900
â1âThe Hell of Apprenticeship and Little Old Men Painting Pictures
â2âHungry Dogs Make Good Hunters
â3âVersatile, Mobile, Flexible: Lifeworlds
â4âSombartâs Insights
4 In a Different World: Women in Musical Life
â1âRole Models
â2âPianomania
â3âFour Life Paths
â4âBorn to Play
Part 2: Projects of Professionalization, 1890â1930
5 A Circuitous Route into the Bourgeoisie: Self-Civilizing and Lobbying
â1âEducation Is Power
â2âKnowledge Production as an Aid to Self-Help
â3âMusiciansâ Movement and Trade Unions
â4âMusicians as Workers: Social Legislation
â5âSocial Democratic Terrorism: The Munich Orchestra Scandal
â6âReconciliation of Interests and Municipalization
â7âDavid and Goliath: Against Military Competition
â8âNietzscheâs Freak Show
6 War Profiteers: Musicians at the Front and at Home
â1âPrivileges at the Front
â2âLimited and Unlimited Solidarity
â3âGood Prospects
â4âEssential to the War Effort: Orchestral Musicians
â5âRelative War Profits
7 Squabbling Professions: Musicians, Composers and Music Teachers
â1âPerspectives on a Unified Chamber of Musicians
â2âTurf Wars
â3âA Search for Lost Unity: The Musikergemeinschaft
â4âVanity Fair
8 An Era of Experiments: New Media, Fashions and Musicians in the Cultural and Welfare State
â1âWar and Peace: Continuities
â2âMusical Empire: The Cultural State
â3âCurse and Blessing: The Welfare State
â4âThe Ephemeral Job Description of âSilent Film Musicianâ
â5âA Playground for Conductors and Composers: Radio
â6âJazz, or the Emergence of Popular Music as an Independent Genre
â7âEmancipation in the Workplace
â8âMusicians for the âPeopleâs Bodyâ (Volkskörper): Occupational Hygiene
â9âIn the Middle of Society
Part 3: Crisis, Collapse, Continuities, 1930â1960
9 Neglected Muse: Nazi Music Policy
â1âCutback Fever: The World Economic Crisis
â2âThe Reich Chamber of Music: Right-Wing Staff â¦
â3â⦠and Left-Wing Reforms
â4âExclusions: Jews and Opponents of the Regime
â5âCivil Decline â¦
â6â⦠and Remilitarization
â7âUnited in Discord: The Music of the Volksgemeinschaft
â8âBeyond Instrumentalization
10 Forced Migrations: Lifeworlds in Times of War and Violence
â1âGlobal Refugee Movements
â2âA Provincial Terminus: Exile in the United States
â3âMusic as Avenue of Escape? Deportations
â4âScattered by War
â5âManaging Lack in the Reich
â6âTwilight of the Musicians?
11 The Day of the Orchestral Musician: Ascent and Exit in West Germany
â1âFlourishing Musicians in a Time of Rubble
â2âOrchestral Revolution amid the Jobs Crisis
â3âMoney, Money, Money: Wage Agreements and Royalties
â4âWinners and Losers
â5âAt the Crossroads
Conclusion: Musiciansâ Lives as Creative Work Appendix: Statistics on the Music Profession in Germany Bibliography Index
The book aims at historians, musicologists and cultural sociologists. It will attract interest of both students and academics and will be of relevance for every library, academic or non-academic, given a broader audience is addressed as well, including music lovers, practitioners, composers, and further members of the creative industries.