Seminar in 20th Century Music (455-0-2)
Topic
Music and the Holocaust
Instructors
Jesse Rosenberg
847/467-2033
j-rosenberg1@northwestern.edu
Meeting Info
RCMA 1-164: Tues 2:00PM - 4:50PM
Overview of class
This graduate seminar will introduce students to a variety of musical issues relating to the Holocaust, the systematic murder of millions of Jews at the hands of the German government and military from the late 1930s to the end of World War II (1945). We will deepen and extend our understanding of the confluence of music and the holocaust through required readings, listenings, viewings, and both oral and written discussions.
Learning Objectives
THEMES OF THE COURSE
The "racial" persecution of the Jewish population of Germany and those lands which came under German control, a policy conceived and carried out by the government of the Third Reich, culminated in the series of murders now commonly referred to as the Holocaust. It had, and continues to have, many musical manifestations, including vast repercussions on musical life, not only during the closing years of World War (from the Wansee conference through 1945), but for the following decades through the present day. Some of the overlapping musical issues which we will consider are:
• Effects of anti-Jewish persecution on musical life generally
• Musicians as victims of the Holocaust such as those confined to Terezín
• Musician as survivors of the Holocaust (Anita Lasker-Wallfisch 1925-2020)
• Musicians, Jewish or not Jewish, who sympathize or identify with victims of persecution and killing
• Music in the ghettos of Warsaw, Lodz, and other cities of Eastern Europe
• Music created or performed in concentration camps
• Music inspired by literary figures (poets, novelists, memoirists) who suffered persecution in the Holocaust: Nelly Sachs, Paul Celan, Elie Wiesel, Primo Levi
• Music in Terezín/Theresienstadt, the "artistic" ghetto set up in the Czech town of Terezín
• Music created in commemoration of the Holocaust
• Music associated with non-Jewish victims of Nazi persecution and murder (Sinti, Roma, homosexuals, etc.)
• Music banned by the Nazis
• Music approved or promoted by the Nazis during the Holocaust and the years leading up to it
• "Aestheticizing the Holocaust": is it ethical to use it as theme for an artword? Is it wrong to create "entertainment" (songs, movies, etc.) out of it?
• Does the Holocaust force us to re-think European cultural history, including the very considerable musical achievements of German-speaking Europe?
• Holocaust-related operas (Weinberg's The Passenger, Ullmann's Der Kaiser von Atlantis, Krasa's Brundibar, Rudolf Karel's Three Hairs of the Wise Old Man), Stefan Heucke's The Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz (2006) and oratorios (Ståle Kleiberg's Requiem for the Victims of Nazi Persecution)
• Holocaust music related to individual victims, including works inspired by the diaries of Anne Frank and their various artistic elaborations: Michael Tilson Thomas, From the Diary of Anne Frank; Oskar Morawetz, From the Diary of Anne Frank, Lukas Foss, Elegy for Anne Frank
• Holocaust music focused on specific historical episodes and atrocities (Kristallnacht, the destruction of the Warsaw ghetto), also music connecte to episodes with non-Jewish victims such as William Schuman's Symphony #9 "Le Fosse Ardeatine" and Bohusalv Martinu's Lidice.
• The use of music in soundtracks of films on Holocaust themes (Nuit et brouillard, Life is Beautiful, Schindler's List, and many others)
Evaluation Method
The principal expectation for all students is the submission of a final research paper approximately 20 pp. in length exclusive of title page and bibliography, double-spaced, in Chicago style. The research paper is due for submission (as a file upload to Canvas) no later than 9:00 AM on Friday, June 11; earlier submissions will also be accepted. This project will be worth 50% of the final grade. Some time during the last two sessions, each student will also give a 20-25 minute presentation on the research project (10% of the final grade) which will lead to the final paper. It is expected that the feedback you receive following this presentation will be incorporated into the final written project.
In addition, each student will lead class a half-hour discussion on several occasions (30% of the final grade, while others chime in as inspired) on a topic to be agreed upon in consultation of the instructor. A final 10% of your grade will be based on your contributions to those class discussions which you aren't leading.
Class Materials (Required)
COURSE MATERIALS: Materials will be made available through your Canvas course website. These include scores, readings, sound recordings, and videos. Students who need access to additional materials are encouraged to look for them on their own. Although the Northwestern Library remains closed, it is possible to make online request for specific library items that may be picked up in person at the Circulation Desk; this will be especially useful when writing your final research papers. Unfortunately it will only help those students who are close to campus.