University of Southampton Research Repository Copyright © and Moral Rights for this thesis and, where applicable, any accompanying data are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis and the accompanying data cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder/s. The content of the thesis and accompanying research data (where applicable) must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holder/s. When referring to this thesis and any accompanying data, full bibliographic details must be given, e.g. Thesis: Author (Year of Submission) "Full thesis title", University of Southampton, name of the University Faculty or School or Department, PhD Thesis, pagination. Data: Author (Year) Title. URI [dataset UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON Faculty of Arts and Humanities History TUTUS AND JACKBOOTS BALLET MUSIC AT THE PARIS OPÉRA UNDER THE GERMAN OCCUPATION OF FRANCE, 1940-44 by ABAIGH MCKEE Thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy January 2020 ii RESEARCH THESIS: DECLARATION OF AUTHORSHIP Print name: Abaigh McKee Title of thesis: Tutus and Jackboots: Ballet music at the Paris Opéra Under the German Occupation of France, 1940-1944 I declare that this thesis and the work presented in it are my own and has been generated by me as the result of my own original research. I confirm that: 1. This work was done wholly or mainly while in candidature for a research degree at this University; 2. Where any part of this thesis has previously been submitted for a degree or any other qualification at this University or any other institution, this has been clearly stated; 3. Where I have consulted the published work of others, this is always clearly attributed; 4. Where I have quoted from the work of others, the source is always given. With the exception of such quotations, this thesis is entirely my own work; 5. I have acknowledged all main sources of help; 6. Where the thesis is based on work done by myself jointly with others, I have made clear exactly what was done by others and what I have contributed myself; 7. None of this work has been published before submission Signature: ................................................................ Date: 12 May 2020 iii iv UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON ABSTRACT FACULTY OF ARTS AND HUMANITIES HISTORY THESIS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY TUTUS AND JACKBOOTS: BALLET MUSIC AT THE PARIS OPÉRA UNDER THE GERMAN OCCUPATION OF FRANCE, 1940-1944 by ABAIGH MCKEE Though we know that ballet flourished during the German occupation of France (1940-1944), and that the Paris Opéra Ballet entertained both French and German audiences, this is the first in-depth study to discuss the company’s new ballets as a body of work and analyse the changing ballet repertoire at the Paris Opéra in its cultural and political context. This thesis shows how the Paris Opéra Ballet thrived during the German occupation both in spite and because of the restrictions placed on it, bringing together three historiographical fields: the history of Nazism and World War II, the interconnected histories of twentieth-century ballet and music, and the history of culture and everyday life during the German occupation of Paris. The new ballets discussed in this thesis were all choreographed by former Ballets Russes dancer Serge Lifar: composer Gabriel Grovlez’s La Princesse au jardin (1941), Philippe Gaubert’s Le Chevalier et la Damoiselle (1941), Francis Poulenc’s Les Animaux modèles (1942), Werner Egk’s Joan de Zarissa (1942), and André Jolivet’s Guignol et Pandore (1944). By delving deeper into the audience experience at the Paris Opéra during the occupation, this thesis argues that the Palais Garnier became a social space shared by both French and German audiences. I conclude that the Germans’ policy of ‘cultural seduction’ in Paris created space for the increased presentation of new French ballets. Maintaining the balance between the stipulations from the German authorities, the wishes of the French government in Vichy, and the needs of the audience was a significant challenge for the administration and directors of the Paris Opéra, one that was negotiated through repertoire. v The productions that performers and administrative staff presented channelled a cultural ‘Frenchness’ that was sufficiently open to sustain quite radically different interpretations on the part of their diverse audiences. To some, the ‘occupation ballets’ offered a subversive critique of foreign armies on French soil; others may have perceived them as in alignment with the Vichy government’s cultural and aesthetic ideological ideals. Though ballet has been associated with French culture since the seventeenth century, ballet music is largely missing from debates concerning twentieth-century music, cultural life in Paris and the National Socialists’ attitude towards French culture. This thesis takes research on twentieth-century dance and music in new directions by considering the ballet repertoire presented at the Paris Opéra during the German occupation from interdisciplinary perspectives in order to gain a deeper understanding of how culture was affected by the occupation, and how French composers, artists, choreographers and cultural institutions reacted in the political circumstances. Whereas existing literature tends to address cultural life in Paris more generally, or treats ballet as secondary to the discussion of French opera and the visiting German companies, this thesis combines analytical musical commentary, quantitative analysis and the discussion of a single institution to place the Paris Opéra Ballet at the centre of its description and analysis of occupation cultural life, deepening understanding of cultural life in German-occupied Paris, and offering new, interdisciplinary perspectives on Nazism, the Second World War, and twentieth-century dance and music. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract v Table of Contents vii List of Figures xi List of Musical Examples xiii List of Graphs and Tables xv Acknowledgements xvii Acronyms and Abbreviations xix INTRODUCTION | THE ‘BALLET PROBLEM’ 1 CHAPTER ONE | ‘WILL THERE BE MUSIC OF WAR?’: THE PARIS OPÉRA, FRENCH BALLET, AND FRANCO-GERMAN CULTURAL RELATIONS BEFORE 1939 35 Constructing French identity through ballet and music: From the Sun King to the Somme 37 French music and ballet in the inter-war years 47 The Paris Opéra Ballet on the eve of war 54 Concluding thoughts: The Paris Opéra, French ballet, and Franco-German cultural relations before the German occupation of France 59 CHAPTER TWO | ‘IST DAS BALLETT DEUTSCH?’: GERMAN DANCE, NAZI IDEOLOGY AND CULTURAL POLICY 63 Germanness and gender in national socialist cultural ideology: Masculinity, feminism and German dance 67 ‘We do not belong anywhere’: German dance in the Reichskulturkammer 75 ‘No Intellectual Games, Please!’: Dance in Nazi Germany after 1936 83 Concluding thoughts: German dance, Nazi ideology and cultural policy 88 CHAPTER THREE | ‘THE BOOTS IMPOSE THEIR RHYTHM’: REPERTOIRE AND AUDIENCE AT THE PARIS OPÉRA DURING THE GERMAN OCCUPATION 91 Cultural life in occupied Paris: The Paris Opéra 97 Cultural resistance in Nazi Paris 107 The Paris Opéra: a microcosm of occupation society? 110 Interpreting repertoire: A night at the opera, December 1940 113 The impact of censorship on repertoire at the Paris Opéra 116 The Paris Opéra’s occupation ballet repertory 122 Occupiers as tourists 130 The Palais Garnier at the centre of Parisian life 135 vii Sharing space at the Palais Garnier 140 Concluding thoughts: Repertoire and audience at the Paris Opéra during the German occupation 146 CHAPTER FOUR | THE OCCUPATION BALLETS 149 Music and Meaning 156 CASE STUDY ONE | IMPRESSIONISM AND ALLEGORY IN LA PRINCESSE AU JARDIN (1941) 161 Allegory in La Princesse au jardin 163 Musical Frenchness 165 Reception and concluding thoughts 166 CASE STUDY TWO | MEDIEVAL PASTICHE IN LE CHEVALIER ET LA DAMOISELLE (1941) 173 Musical anachronism 176 Concluding thoughts 179 CASE STUDY THREE | IDENTITY, ALLEGORY AND QUOTATION IN LES ANIMAUX MODELES (1942) 185 Imagery and allegory in the fables 189 Musical allegory and quotation 197 Concluding thoughts 202 CASE STUDY FOUR | STYLE AND QUOTATION: MUSICAL MEANING IN GUIGNOL ET PANDORE (1944) 205 Tradition in Guignol et Pandore 207 Imagery and self-quotation 209 Using harmonic language to create meaning 214 Concluding thoughts 218 THE OCCUPATION BALLETS | CONCLUSIONS 221 CHAPTER FIVE | THE PARISIAN PREMIERE OF WERNER EGK’S JOAN DE ZARISSA 225 Werner Egk’s Joan von/de Zarissa 228 Joan von/de Zarissa’s French roots 232 Berlin to Paris 234 Musical commentary 235 Changes to the score 1940-1942: Changing the ballet’s identity 240 Concluding thoughts: A German ballet in Paris? 250 CONCLUSION | BATTLE FOR THE OPÉRA 253 Ballet and ballet music at the Paris Opéra under the German occupation of France 257 Finale 262 viii BIBLIOGRAPHY 265 Archives 265 Newspapers, magazines and periodicals 267 Published primary sources 269 Secondary sources 273 Unpublished theses and dissertations 302 Musical scores 304 Films, DVDs and CDs 305 Online resources 306 APPENDICES 307 Appendix A: Ballet scenarios and programme details 307 Appendix B: Ballets performed by the Paris Opéra during the Second World War 319 Appendix C: Frequency of ballet and opera performances at the Palais Garnier, 1937-47 325 Appendix D: List of presentations at the Palais Garnier, 1939-45 333 Appendix E: Comparison of performance frequencies by year, time period and day 367 ix x LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Photograph of Albrecht Knust’s movement choir Götzendienst, 1928. 75 Figure 2: La Semaine details the Paris Opéra’s gala evening for the Secours National, 26 December 1940. 115 Figure 3: Front cover of L’Illustration, 28 December 1940. 116 Figure 4: The cast and creative team celebrate the premiere of Les Animaux modèles, August 1942. 129 Figure 5: Photographs from La Semaine’s photo article celebrating the premiere of Le Chevalier et la Damoiselle, July 1941.