| Unit name | Music, Politics and Culture in Weimar Germany, 1918-1933 (Optional split-level history unit) |
|---|---|
| Unit code | MUSI20136 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | I/5 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
| Unit director | Dr. Heldt |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
None |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | Department of Music |
| Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
The years between 1918 and 1933 were some the most eventful, troubled and intriguing in German political, social, cultural $� and musical $� history: The new German republic, yet much more so the devastation of the hyper-inflation of the early 1920s and the depression after 1929 brought massive changes in social hierarchies and audience structures. Radio, electric recording and sound film transformed the media landscape and the way people experienced music in their daily lives. The political and social instability of the Weimar experiment drew music, like all culture, into the struggle between radically different versions of modernity and regression. Berg&�s Wozzeck, Weill&�s Threepenny Opera and Leh�r&�s The Land of Smiles, cabaret songs, communist parables, Nazi marches and jazz bands $� the brutal clashes typical for Weimar culture, musical or otherwise, make it not only a fascinating object of study in itself, but also a microcosm of much that it is crucial to understand for the study of 20th-century music.
