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The Regime's ‘Musical Weapon’ Transformed: The Reception of Johann Strauss Sr's Radetzky March Before and After the First World War

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2020

Zoë Lang
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Abstract

Johann Strauss Sr's most famous composition, his 1848 Radetzky March, was premièred during revolutionary times. The March soon became a standard piece for Habsburg bands in the nineteenth century and was considered ideal for fostering patriotic sentiments at the start of the First World War. After the Great War, however, commentators portrayed the work very differently. No longer a part of contemporary culture, the Radetzky March now belonged to a bygone era. Biographers of the Strauss family found this work to be proof of Strauss Sr's support for the conservatives during the Revolution, a claim not supported by evidence. More generally, treating the piece as a relic from another age transformed it into a marker of nostalgia in the 1930s, as is best demonstrated in Joseph Roth's novel, Radetzkymarsch (1932).

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Royal Musical Association , Volume 134 , Issue 2 , 2009 , pp. 243 - 269
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal Musical Association

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References

1 One exception occurred in 2005, when the Radetzky March was not played. According to an announcement made during the concert, it lacked the required solemnity to commemorate victims of the tsunami disaster of 26 December 2004. Strauss Jr's Blue Danube Waltz ended the concert instead; the irony of omitting the march while retaining a composition praising the tamed waters of the Danube seems to have gone unnoticed by those in charge of the event. A complete listing of programmes for the New Year's Concerts until 1996 can be found in Kurt Dieman-Dichtl, Wiens goldener Klang: Geschichten um die Wiener Philharmoniker und ihr Neujahrskonzert (Vienna, 1996).

2 Peter Kemp, ‘Johann (Baptist) Strauss (i)’, Grove Music Online, ed. Laura Macy, <http://www.grovemusic.com>, accessed 10 June 2008.

3 For clarity, I shall refer to the piece by its English title, and the novel as Radetzkymarsch, throughout this article.

4 The Radetzky March was originally issued in piano versions, including one for four hands (Haslinger no. 10966). While the ensemble at the première is likely to have been a standard military orchestra, it is difficult to know precisely which instruments were involved, since no full score has survived.

5 Wiener allgemeine Theaterzeitung (30 August 1848), 1.

6 For a general overview of Vienna in 1848, see Steven Beller, A Concise History of Austria (Cambridge, 2006), 124–31.

8 ‘Die vielen Tausend bunten Lampen bildeten die verschiedensten Fahnen und Siegestrophäen, mit den Devisen: “Hoch den tapfern Kriegern! Hoch Radetzky!” Der imposanteste Anblick jedoch war um 9 Uhr, die Enthüllung des großen Bildes, welches den Greisenhelden Radetzky zu Roß darstellt […]. Bei der feierlichen Enthüllung dieses Bildes spielten zu beiden Seiten die zwei Militär-Musikcorps die Volkshymne, welche mit Jubel aufgenommen wurde.’ Wiener allgemeine Theaterzeitung (2 September 1848), 851. All translations in this article are my own unless otherwise noted.

7 See Wiener allgemeine Theaterzeitung (2 September 1848), 851.

9 Little biographical information about Wiskoczil is available beyond his service in the army. During his career, he conducted the bands of three infantry reserve groups: 4, 15 and 37 (Emil Rameis, Die österreichische Militärmusik: Von ihren Anfängen bis 1918 (Tutzing, 1976), 179). The press coverage for the Wasserglacis concert in the Wiener allgemeine Theaterzeitung does not indicate which one played that evening.

10 Rameis, Die österreichische Militärmusik, 171.

11 Wiener allgemeine Theaterzeitung (2 September 1848), 851.

12 Leonhardt directed numerous regiments in the Austrian military during his career and was one of the most important conductors in this capacity during his time. Rameis, Die österreichische Militärmusik, 136.

13 Eugen Brixel, Gunther Martin and Gottfried Pils, Das ist Österreichs Militär Musik: Von der ‘Türkischen Musik’ zu den Philharmonikern in Uniform (Vienna, 1982), 167–8.

14 The accordion arrangement was included in the series Bunte Reihe, no. 252. The version for male-voice choir is Haslinger no. 10811.

15 Marsch-Album für Pianoforte und Violin, 2 vols. (Leipzig, n.d.). The first volume is difficult to date because most of the pieces were popular marches that had been in circulation since the early nineteenth century. The second volume in this collection must have been published after 1865, since it includes August Söderman's ‘Bröllopsmarsch’ from his operetta Bröllopet på Ulfåsa (1865); however, there may have been a considerable gap between the publication of the two volumes.

16 Historische Märsche und sonstige Compositionen für das kaiserliche und königliche Heer (Vienna, 1895). Rameis lists all of the towns with military bands in Die österreichische Militärmusik, 151–62.

17 Philip V. Bohlman, The Music of European Nationalism: Cultural Identity and Modern History (Santa Barbara, CA, 2004), 153–4.

18 A comprehensive history of the series Musik für Alle has yet to be published; the magazine ran from 1904 to 1937 and was published by the Berlin-based Ullstein Verlag. While issues were grouped into Jahrgänge, these did not match the calendar year and the issues were not always published on a regular monthly basis; for instance, Jahrgang X (to which these four war volumes belong) had 13 issues.

19 The editor of Musik für Alle was Bogumil Zepler, whose main musical achievements were as a composer for Ernst von Wolzogen's Überbrettl cabaret in Berlin; earlier volumes of Musik für Alle contained a pot-pourri of musical compositions, including works from Wolzogen's establishment. Werner Bollert, ‘Zepler, Bogumil’, Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart: Allgemeine Enzyklopädie der Musik, ed. Friedrich Blume, (Kassel, 1968), cols. 1243–4.

20 In her study The Rhine as Musical Metaphor: Cultural Identity in German Romantic Music (Boston, MA, 1996), Cecelia Hopkins Porter discusses several of these songs (Die Wacht am Rhein on pp. 164–6 and Lützows wilde Jagd on p. 103).

21 Musik für Alle, 118 (1914), 20. A Gabelfrühstück is best translated as ‘breakfast to go’, deriving from the French ‘déjeuner à la fourchette’ because it was food that required only a fork to be eaten.

22 Music books did circulate among soldiers, but these volumes often comprised arrangements for male-voice choir (perhaps for obvious reasons) rather than piano and voice. Bohlman documents one such source in The Music of European Nationalism, 147–8.

23 The concept of total war and entertainment during the first months of the First World War is discussed in Maureen Healy, Vienna and the Fall of the Habsburg Empire: Total War and Everyday Life in World War I (Cambridge, 2004), 92–7.

24 ‘Du lieber Herrgott gib mir drei Stunden blos frei / Oesterreichs Soldaten steh'n im Kampfe, ich wäre gern dabei / Allmächtiger! Erwecke mich und mach’ mir diese Freud / Hier ist für mich jetzt nicht der Ort, ich fühle Grabesleid.’ Karl Lewen, Radetzkys Grabesleid: Soldatenmärchen in Reimen im Zeichen des Weltkrieges 1914 (Vienna, 1914).

25 For a comprehensive history of the military during this time, see István Deák, Beyond Nationalism: A Social and Political History of the Habsburg Officer Corps 1848–1918 (New York, 1990), 43–77.

26 ‘Feierte Haydns Hymne den Kaisergedanken, so machte der Radetzkymarsch die Armee populär […]. Von den vielen Märschen des Vormärz blieb der Radetzkymarsch der einzige, der in den Nachmärz lebte […] in ihm erhielt sich die Soldatenromantik, der Ton des alten versunkenen Reichs. Er war ihr klingendes Wappen.’ Ernst Decsey, Johann Strauß: Ein Wiener Buch (Stuttgart, 1922), 53.

27 Ludwig Scheyrer, Johann Strauß's musikalische Wanderung durch das Leben (Vienna, 1851), 85.

28 Ludwig Eisenberg, Johann Strauß: Ein Lebensbild (Leipzig, 1894), 80.

29 Fritz Lange, Josef Lanner und Johann Strauß: Ihre Zeit, ihr Leben und ihre Werke (Vienna, 1904). Lange (1873–1933) taught music and composed in Vienna; this biography was one of many works he would write about the waltz and its most famous family.

30 ‘Strauß hielt sich allen politischen Kundgebungen mit, besonderer Ängstlichkeit ferne.’ Fritz Lange, Josef Lanner und Johann Strauß: Ihre Zeit, ihr Leben und ihre Werke (Vienna, 1904). Lange (1873–1933) taught music and composed in Vienna; this biography was one of many works he would write about the waltz and its most famous family. 141.

31 ‘Strauß hielt sich allen politischen Kundgebungen mit, besonderer Ängstlichkeit ferne.’ Fritz Lange, Josef Lanner und Johann Strauß: Ihre Zeit, ihr Leben und ihre Werke (Vienna, 1904). Lange (1873–1933) taught music and composed in Vienna; this biography was one of many works he would write about the waltz and its most famous family, 141–5.

32 Various selections chronicling the phenomenon of ‘Old’ Vienna in literature can be found in Sehnsucht nach Alt-Wien: Texte zur Stadt, die niemals war, ed. Arnold Klaffenböck (Vienna, 2005).

33 See Carl Schorske, Fin-de-siècle Vienna: Politics and Culture (New York, 1981), 36–46.

34 See the exhibition catalogue Johann Strauß-Gedächtnis-Ausstellung (Vienna, 1925), 3.

35 ‘Im Gegensatz zu seinem Sohn war Vater Strauß Gegner der Revolution, er schuf damals seinen berühmten “Radetzkymarsch”. Es war das musikalisch-künstlerische Bekenntnis des Alt-Österreichers, der berühmteste, bis heute noch populäre Marsch des Wiener Revolutionsjahres.’ Karl Kobald, Johann Strauß (Vienna, 1925), 40.

36 ‘Anders der Vater. Er ist Altösterreicher. Und bleibt es. Nur gezwungen macht er mit. Ende 1845 war er, ein Zeichen kaiserlicher Gunst, k.k. Hofballmusikdirektor geworden. Man findet unter seinen Werken auch solche mit Revolutionstiteln: “Freiheitmarsch”, “Marsch der Studentenlegion”, “Deutsche Jubellaute” oder “Schwarz–Rot–Gold”. Aber das kam nicht von Herzen.’ Decsey, Johann Strauß, 51.

37 It is possible that Decsey considered the titles were betrayed by aspects of the musical content. For example, in the 1848 March of the Unified Germany (Marsch des einigen Deutschlands), op. 227, there is a highly unusual chord progression for a composer who normally limited himself to conventional harmonic language. The harmony quickly moves from an Amajor to an E major chord at bars 12–13; this brief excursion then moves straight back to Awith no transition. Except for this musical oddity, however, most of the 1848 marches are similar in design, harmony and melody.

38 ‘Zwischen diesen Schritt für Schritt historienreichen Orten, Straßen, Plätzen, Windungen, G'denksäulen, Monumenten – sie alle immer wieder unterbrochen von gepflegten Gärten, innen umsäumt von der Ringstraße, sie alle stumme und doch redende Zeugen der Jahrhunderte und ihrer Schicksale im alten Kaiserreich der buntesten Monarchie, die je existierte […] sind diese unsere Österreichischen Märsche entstanden. Sie repräsentieren im kategorischen Gegensatz zu den Wiener Walzern, die ja den Menschen auf der ganzen Erde längst in die Beine gefahren sind, weniger die liebenswürdig-gemütvolle, melancholische, aus der holden Landschaft gespiegelte Wiener Seele – sie stellen vielmehr den Reflex der gelenkigsten “Feschheit”, die in Europa früher zu finden war.’ Rudolf Kastner, ‘Österreichische Märsche’, Musik für Alle, 285 (1930), [1]. This was the fourth publication of the Radetzky March in the series, a level of interest possibly unmatched by any other piece.

39 ‘Aber er geht uns heute noch prickelnd in die Glieder, wenn er gleich mit den Einleitungstakten das fesche “Zusammenreißen” der Marschierenden markiert und erst recht zur kleinen Trommel um das verzierte fis herum seine D-dur-Melodie schlenkert – tönende Photographie des ungemein populären, menschlich netten Feldherrn Radetzky, Inkarnation eben jenes feschen Disziplingeistes, der oft ein falsches Urteil über den österreichischen Soldaten hervorrief. Aber das Trio in A-dur: das ist das ganze alte Österreich, wie es liebte und lebte, den lieben Herrgott für alles sorgen ließ – mit seinen etwas “böhmakelnden” Terzschleifern nach oben.’ ‘Zwischen diesen Schritt für Schritt historienreichen Orten, Straßen, Plätzen, Windungen, G'denksäulen, Monumenten – sie alle immer wieder unterbrochen von gepflegten Gärten, innen umsäumt von der Ringstraße, sie alle stumme und doch redende Zeugen der Jahrhunderte und ihrer Schicksale im alten Kaiserreich der buntesten Monarchie, die je existierte […] sind diese unsere Österreichischen Märsche entstanden. Sie repräsentieren im kategorischen Gegensatz zu den Wiener Walzern, die ja den Menschen auf der ganzen Erde längst in die Beine gefahren sind, weniger die liebenswürdig-gemütvolle, melancholische, aus der holden Landschaft gespiegelte Wiener Seele – sie stellen vielmehr den Reflex der gelenkigsten “Feschheit”, die in Europa früher zu finden war.’ Rudolf Kastner, ‘Österreichische Märsche’, Musik für Alle, 285 (1930), [1]. This was the fourth publication of the Radetzky March in the series, a level of interest possibly unmatched by any other piece

40 J. M. Coetzee, ‘Emperor of Nostalgia’, New York Review of Books, 49 (2002), <http://www.nybooks.com/articles/15143>, accessed 19 November 2003.

41 The perceived importance of language as defining ethnicity (and ethnicity as just cause for nationhood) has been explored by Jeremy King in ‘The Nationalization of East Central Europe: Ethnicism, Ethnicity, and Beyond’, Staging the Past: The Politics of Commemoration in Habsburg Central Europe, 1848 to the Present, ed. Maria Bucur and Nancy Wingfield (West Lafayette, IN, 2001), 112–52 (pp. 123–30).

42 For more on the Jewish conceptualization of the Habsburg Empire during the inter-war period, see Malachi Haim Hacohen, ‘Dilemmas of Cosmopolitanism: Karl Popper, Jewish Identity, and “Central European Culture”’, Journal of Modern History, 71 (1999), 105–49 (pp. 110–20).

43 Deák, Beyond Nationalism, 46–8.

44 Joseph Roth, The Radetzky March, trans. Joachim Neugroschel (New York, 1996), 23–4.

47 Joseph Roth, The Radetzky March, trans. Joachim Neugroschel (New York, 1996), 76.

45 Joseph Roth, The Radetzky March, trans. Joachim Neugroschel (New York, 1996), 74.

46 Joseph Roth, The Radetzky March, trans. Joachim Neugroschel (New York, 1996), 76.

48 Joseph Roth, The Radetzky March, trans. Joachim Neugroschel (New York, 1996), 98.

49 Joseph Roth, The Radetzky March, trans. Joachim Neugroschel (New York, 1996), 101.

50 Roth, The Radetzky March, 320.