Forgetting Аbout Тraumatic Past? On the Position of Film Music Composers in Post-WWII Germany Cover Image

Forgetting Аbout Тraumatic Past? On the Position of Film Music Composers in Post-WWII Germany
Forgetting Аbout Тraumatic Past? On the Position of Film Music Composers in Post-WWII Germany

Author(s): Anna G. Piotrowska
Subject(s): History, Fine Arts / Performing Arts, Music, Recent History (1900 till today), Interwar Period (1920 - 1939), WW II and following years (1940 - 1949), Sociology of Art, History of Art
Published by: Muzikološki institut SANU
Keywords: film music composer; NS film music; German music after WWII

Summary/Abstract: This paper presents selected German film music composers who were active in Germany during the inter-war period as musicians trying to regain their position and renegotiate their role in the German post-war society marked by trauma and transition processes. Film music composers were believed to have stayed above politics and associated with a “harmless” type of music; therefore, they could adapt to the new situation comparatively more easily, particularly since the Allies had already treated musicians ambivalently. While pinpointing the reasons behind such a lenient attitude towards film music composers, the paper also touches on those rare cases when film music composers were actually accused of supporting the Nazi system.

  • Issue Year: 1/2024
  • Issue No: 36
  • Page Range: 45-61
  • Page Count: 17
  • Language: English
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