Richard Strauss's Friedenstag: a political statement of peace in Nazi Germany
After the conclusion of World War II, Richard Strauss’s activities and compositions came under intense scrutiny as scholars tried to understand his position with respect to the National Socialist regime. Their conclusions varied, some describing Strauss as a Nazi sympathizer, some as a victim of Naz...
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ndltd-uvic.ca-oai-dspace.library.uvic.ca-1828-29772017-07-11T06:00:59Z Richard Strauss's Friedenstag: a political statement of peace in Nazi Germany Moss, Patricia Josette Goldman, Jonathan Richard Strauss Friedenstag Nazi National Socialist Third Reich operas UVic Subject Index::Humanities and Social Sciences::Communication and the Arts::Music UVic Subject Index::Humanities and Social Sciences::History::Europe--History After the conclusion of World War II, Richard Strauss’s activities and compositions came under intense scrutiny as scholars tried to understand his position with respect to the National Socialist regime. Their conclusions varied, some describing Strauss as a Nazi sympathizer, some as a victim of Nazism, with others concluding that Strauss was neither a sympathizer nor a victim, merely politically naïve. Among the latter was Strauss’s friend and biographer, Willi Schuh, who ardently defended the composer’s activities during the Nazi period. While Schuh asserted that Strauss’s music had no direct political ties to the “Third Reich”, Strauss’s 1938 opera, Friedenstag, demonstrates that he was, in fact, politically aware and capable of composing a work replete with conscious political overtones. The correspondence between Strauss and his Jewish librettist, Stefan Zweig, shows that Strauss deliberately chose to compose Friedenstag in the face of his disillusionment with the Nazi government. Although initially hailed as the first Nazi opera, elements of Friedenstag’s political message resist appropriation by Hitler’s regime. While addressing the pro-Nazi implications through a close study of the libretto and score, this thesis will argue that Friedenstag was composed as a tribute to peace and a response to the increasingly hostile political climate. 2010-08-26T17:47:29Z 2010-08-26T17:47:29Z 2010 2010-08-26T17:47:29Z Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/1828/2977 English en Available to the World Wide Web application/pdf |
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Richard Strauss Friedenstag Nazi National Socialist Third Reich operas UVic Subject Index::Humanities and Social Sciences::Communication and the Arts::Music UVic Subject Index::Humanities and Social Sciences::History::Europe--History |
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Richard Strauss Friedenstag Nazi National Socialist Third Reich operas UVic Subject Index::Humanities and Social Sciences::Communication and the Arts::Music UVic Subject Index::Humanities and Social Sciences::History::Europe--History Moss, Patricia Josette Richard Strauss's Friedenstag: a political statement of peace in Nazi Germany |
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After the conclusion of World War II, Richard Strauss’s activities and compositions came under intense scrutiny as scholars tried to understand his position with respect to the National Socialist regime. Their conclusions varied, some describing Strauss as a Nazi sympathizer, some as a victim of Nazism, with others concluding that Strauss was neither a sympathizer nor a victim, merely politically naïve. Among the latter was Strauss’s friend and biographer, Willi Schuh, who ardently defended the composer’s activities during the Nazi period. While Schuh asserted that Strauss’s music had no direct political ties to the “Third Reich”, Strauss’s 1938 opera, Friedenstag, demonstrates that he was, in fact, politically aware and capable of composing a work replete with conscious political overtones.
The correspondence between Strauss and his Jewish librettist, Stefan Zweig, shows that Strauss deliberately chose to compose Friedenstag in the face of his disillusionment with the Nazi government. Although initially hailed as the first
Nazi opera, elements of Friedenstag’s political message resist appropriation by Hitler’s regime. While addressing the pro-Nazi implications through a close study of the libretto and score, this thesis will argue that Friedenstag was composed as a tribute to peace and a response to the increasingly hostile political climate. |
author2 |
Goldman, Jonathan |
author_facet |
Goldman, Jonathan Moss, Patricia Josette |
author |
Moss, Patricia Josette |
author_sort |
Moss, Patricia Josette |
title |
Richard Strauss's Friedenstag: a political statement of peace in Nazi Germany |
title_short |
Richard Strauss's Friedenstag: a political statement of peace in Nazi Germany |
title_full |
Richard Strauss's Friedenstag: a political statement of peace in Nazi Germany |
title_fullStr |
Richard Strauss's Friedenstag: a political statement of peace in Nazi Germany |
title_full_unstemmed |
Richard Strauss's Friedenstag: a political statement of peace in Nazi Germany |
title_sort |
richard strauss's friedenstag: a political statement of peace in nazi germany |
publishDate |
2010 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/1828/2977 |
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AT mosspatriciajosette richardstrausssfriedenstagapoliticalstatementofpeaceinnazigermany |
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1718495812491673600 |