Music in the GDR
In the GDR, the Association of German Composers and Musicologists, founded in 1951, began to put into practice the theory of socialist realism developed in Soviet art. It was about the popular character and comprehensibility of the musical statement against so-called formalistic tendencies (formalism debate) in the West, which manifested itself particularly in mass songs, choirs and cantatas. The leaders were P. Dessau, a committed advocate of a socialist music and theater culture even before the war, as well as H. Eisler with his film – and theater music. Since the 1970s there have been increasing efforts to reduce the cultural-political resentment towards modernity (2nd GDR Music Congress 1972, Schönberg honor in 1974 by the Academy of Arts, reception of the writings of H. Eisler and T. W. Adorno), which were also able to institutionalize in the 1980s, most recently in the “Dresden Center for Contemporary Music” (since 1986). This was accompanied by an increasing cultural opening of the inner-German borders in the form of orchestral and ensemble guest performances, but also through personal composer contacts at international festivals, such as the Berlin Music Biennale. The central event in German musical life after 1989 was the artistic and cultural-political convergence of the musical cultures of the two German states. It was possible to build on the existing bridges, because composers like P.-H. Dittrich, J. Herchet, S. Matthus, U. Zimmermann with his operas, T. Medek and R. Zechlin were no longer unknown in the Federal Republic of Germany.
Musical life in Germany
In a European comparison, Germany continues to hold a leading position in terms of the number of academic training centers, subsidized orchestras, opera houses and broadcasters. Initiatives such as the concert series ” Musica viva ” in Munich, the Donaueschinger Musiktage or the Darmstadt summer courses for new music play a prominent role. This musical infrastructure made the Federal Republic of Germany increasingly a country of immigration for foreign composers such as M. Kagel , born in Argentina, the Korean I. Yun, and G. Ligeti, who came from Hungary. Since the opening to the East, many other Eastern European composers have moved their sphere of activity to Germany (e.g. S. Gubaidulina , A. Hölszky , V. Dinescu , K. Meyer, A. Pärt, until his death in 1998 also A. Schnittke). In addition, there are world premieres of (commissioned) works by foreign composers such as Y. Pagh-Paan , B. Ferneyhough, T. Takemitsu or P. Vasks an integral part of German concert life, not least thanks to the nationwide development of festivals, concert cycles and initiatives to promote contemporary music that began in 1980. The centers of modern music in Germany are the “International Summer Courses for New Music” and the “Donaueschinger Musiktage”, which take place annually in Darmstadt, as well as the “Studio for Electronic Music” ”in Cologne.
A large number of special instrumental ensembles, which react to the constantly increasing interpretive demands of the latest music with a variety of instrumentation-related variations (up to 20 highly qualified soloists), are symptomatic of the current compositional development towards chamber music works that are deliberately individually elaborated. Of the approximately 80 ensembles for new music (including vocal groups) in Germany today, almost all were founded after 1980. At the same time, historical performance practice has established itself as a specialty of numerous renowned ensembles since the 1950s; The pioneer here was the Cappella Coloniensis in 1954, and Musica Antiqua Cologne in 1973 and 1987 respectively and founded the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra.
While z. For example, in the Anglo-Saxon or Eastern European countries, female composers had been co-determining the concert repertoire for a long time, until the end of 1970 composing seemed to be especially in German-speaking countries, with exceptions such as Ilse Fromm-Michaels (* 1888, † 1986), R. Zechlin , G. von Zieritz apart from being traditionally a male domain. There are now a number of initiatives and archives, including in Kassel (“International Working Group on Women and Music” since 1978, in Frankfurt am Main since 2001; women’s music publishing house “Furore” since 1986), Heidelberg, Berlin and Bremen (“Sophie Drinker Institute for Musicological Women and Gender Studies” since 2002), the Comprehensively document the works of women composers of the past and present and promote their performance through annual festivals. Younger female composers who have a permanent place in the general concert repertoire include: Renate Birnstein (* 1946), Christina Kubisch (* 1948), Carola Bauckholt (* 1959), Patricia Jünger (* 1951), Susanne Erding (* 1955), Babette Koblenz (* 1956), I. Mundry , Annette Schlünz (* 1964) and Charlotte Seither (* 1965).
In addition to the composers who worked in exile from 1933, whose works were defamed by the National Socialists as ” degenerate music “, v. a. In recent years some of those composers who were deported to concentration camps and murdered have been rehabilitated long overdue by re-performing their works, some of which were believed to have been destroyed. B. V. Ullmann, Pavel Haas (* 1899, † 1944), Hans Krása (* 1899, † 1944) and Gideon Klein (* 1919, † 1945) who worked in Theresienstadt.
Musical centers with institutions steeped in history are located in Berlin (Philharmonic, German and Komische Oper, State Opera), Dresden (State Orchestra, Semperoper, Kreuzchor) and Leipzig (Gewandhausorchester, Thomanerchor). The series »Music in Germany 1950–2000«, edited by the German Music Council, documents the development of contemporary music in both German states up to 1990 and in the unified Germany on 130 CDs. In addition to the traditional genres, areas such as applied and popular music are also included.
