Chapter 34 - The Era of National Socialism

Summary

While there is an extensive body of literature on the German reception of Brahms up to World War I, until recently, few scholars have shown an interest in the ways in which National Socialists dealt with this composer. In German publications, there seems to be little acknowledgement of the possible complexities in Brahms reception caused by political influences; most post-war German literature on the composer has simply skirted the issue. Some writers have even suggested that Brahms was not much used for political purposes by the Nazis. Such suggestions are typically supported through direct comparisons with the long-acknowledged appropriations of other composers, notably Wagner.

Indeed, statistics such as those of the Berlin Philharmonic show no change in the frequency of performances of Brahms’s works during Hitler’s rule, even despite the straitened circumstances towards the end of the war. It seems that with concert-goers the composer’s popularity was never in question.