Music and performance during the Weimar Republic

Following the collapse of the Wilhelmine Empire in Germany, a new generation of artists found a fresh environment where they might flourish. Their optimism was accompanied by an equally powerful distrust of the immediate past, for post-romanticism, and ultimately expressionism, served as symbols of a bygone era.

Composers, performers, and audiences alike sought to negate their recent post in various ways: by affirming modern technology (electronic or mechanical music, sound recordings, radio, and film), exploring music of a more remote past (principally Baroque music), and celebrating popular music (particularly jazz). The essays contained in this volume address these fundamental themes.

Examining the way in which German music was performed, staged, programmed, and received in the 1920s not only offers deeper insights into Weimar culture itself but sheds light on our contemporary musical world.