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The author would like to thank Samantha Wray, Chui Chun Kit, Wong Chun Man and Chan Hin Lung for their comments and suggestions.
Bruckner and the Third Reich
Anton Bruckner (1824-1896), the Austrian composer famous for his monumental and sophisticated symphonies, has never been among the most popular composers in the English-speaking world. However, the fact that his works became the favourites of the Nazis before and during WWII has been the subject of an ongoing scholarly debate since the 1990's. Not only did Hitler show personal approval of the symphonist (see figures 1 and 2), the National Socialist Party used the orchestral music of Bruckner to accompany a number of important party events. For example, in the 1939 video footage of Hitler's 50th birthday celebration, we hear the final climax of the Fifth Symphony accompanying images of the Führer. After the German radio announced the death of Hitler on 1st May 1945, the Adagio of the Seventh Symphony was played, perhaps as a kind of funeral music for the Nazi dictator.
Figure 1.
German Chancellor Adolf Hitler placing a wreath at the bust of Austrian composer Anton Bruckner at the Walhalla temple in Bavaria, Germany, 6 June 1937. (Photo: Ullsteinbild, used with permission.)
Figure 2.
Hitler with a bust of Bruckner. (Photo: Ullsteinbild, used with permission.)
What this phenomenon means is of course a matter of debate. Due to the fact that Bruckner had died decades before the Nazis seized power, one could easily make the point that what happened was simply a kind of Nazi 'appropriation' or 'annexation' of Bruckner's music. As Bruckner had no control over how his music was used after his death, the Nazis' interest in Bruckner could be taken as just a peculiar fact in history. Although it is tempting to subscribe to this view, it seems unable to do justice to such a complex phenomenon. In a recent article, the President of the International Bruckner Society, Thomas Leibnitz, argues that we could also try to understand the relationship between Bruckner and the Third Reich with reference to the immanent qualities of Bruckner's musical works. Leibnitz points out that the way people listen to Bruckner's music is itself an interesting phenomenon. For, a...