Critical Voices: The University of Guelph Book Review Project Vol 7, no. 1 (2021)

Rubble Music: Occupying the Ruins of Postwar Berlin, 1945–1950, by Abby Anderton. Indiana: Indiana University Press, July 2019. [v, 194, ISBN 9780253042422, 70$.] Music examples, illustrations, bibliography, index.

Dawson MacPhee Undergraduate Student (Second Year) Bachelor of Computer Science (Minor: Music) University of Guelph, Canada

Ever since the fall of the Third Reich in 1945, discussion surrounding the reality of Germans’ quality of life during and after Hitler’s reign has been avoided and labeled taboo by many scholars. Traversing the waters of the blame, guilt, anger, and suffering experienced by this country’s people is a difficult topic to explore. Abby Anderton’s Rubble Music: Occupying the Ruins of Postwar Berlin, 1945–1950 shows post war German society from a perspective rarely considered: a musical one. In 194 pages and 5 chapters, Anderton explores the creation of music following urban disasters in a way that showcases captivating narratives about allied-occupied . She argues that there are “audible tensions and resonances between German and Jewish suffering.”1 The book contains in-depth historical information about the rebuilding of a culture that had long depended on music for public entertainment and expression. The historical analysis allows Anderton to take a close look at the idea of rubble as both a physical and

1 Abby Anderton, Rubble Music: Occupying the Ruins of Postwar Berlin, 1945-1950 (Indiana: Indiana University Press, 2019), 13. ______Critical Voices: The University of Guelph Book Review Project is part of the curriculum at the School of Fine Art and Music, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

8

Critical Voices: The University of Guelph Book Review Project Vol 7, no. 1 (2021) psychological influence on music played and produced during the time period in question. Anderton investigates the orchestras, operas, and radio stations of Berlin, as well as the tricky denazification processes of all involved in these operations. The fall of Hitler’s government led to the division of Germany into different political sectors; the differences between these sectors influenced culture in such varied ways that Anderton is required to cover a large amount of territory. The war reduced both German buildings and its culture to rubble—forcing the entire country to live with defeat and remain forbidden (rightly or wrongly) from expressing their hardships. That said, Rubble Music chooses not to place judgement on the ethics of the situation, instead it analyzes the musical climate of this defeated country and in doing so answers questions about musical trends that emerged out of destruction. Chapter one of Rubble Music, entitled “Berlin Soundscapes of Defeat and Occupation,” focuses on the occupiers of Germany after the war. Anderton opens the book by establishing a historical baseline that includes information on the division of Berlin, the implementation of new music policies, and the denazification processes of each occupier. The book begins with a brief section about the transition of power from the Third Reich to allied occupation—focusing on how the music scene in Berlin never ceased operation and continued to perform concerts even during the city’s surrender. The follow section of the chapter splits off into subsections providing detailed accounts of the daily operations of each occupier and their sector of Berlin. Anderton portrays the Russian sector as the more brutal and careless of all the occupiers, a view shared by many observer recollections and diaries written during this time period.2 After gaining control over parts of Germany, the Soviets raped tens of thousands of women across the country while also rounding up many of the able- bodied men and conscripting them into work camps in Russia. The Soviet denazification process was very lenient and “did not bar musicians who had been former [Nazi] party members… believing these artists should be integrated into the city’s socialist fabric.”3 On the other hand, Anderton portrays the American sector as the strictest. American policies focused on “promot[ing] democracy in postwar Germany through strict regulation of all forms of mass media.”4 These goals led to many composers and musicians being banned from performing in the American sector and forced to find work in a different one. The British sector experienced many difficulties establishing

2 A Woman in Berlin: Eight Weeks in the Conquered City (London: Picador, 2017). 3 Abby Anderton, Rubble Music: Occupying the Ruins of Postwar Berlin, 1945-1950 (Indiana: Indiana University Press, 2019), 33. 4 Ibid., 36. ______Critical Voices: The University of Guelph Book Review Project is part of the curriculum at the School of Fine Art and Music, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

9

Critical Voices: The University of Guelph Book Review Project Vol 7, no. 1 (2021) policies, with the governing officials stating that Germans were “unequalled in music.”5 Finally, the French sector focused on infusing French musical traditions into Germany’s music culture.6 The final section of this lengthy chapter examines attempts made to standardize the denazification process across all sectors. The quadripartite denazification of music lends itself to the comparison of each sector, highlighting the widening divisions between them. Anderton’s work clearly shows that allies outright refused to agree on anything when it came to culture. Chapter two of Rubble Music, entitled “Occupied Music,” focuses on the rubble music performed by Berlin’s orchestral companies. This intriguing chapter features historical recollections and narratives about the lives of orchestral musicians in Berlin during allied occupation. This is the chapter where the book begins to dive into a detailed look at “rubble music.” In the very first sentence of the chapter, Anderton introduces Leo Borchard, a German conductor who grew up in Russia. “Borchard was uniquely qualified to play a leading role in the city’s reconstruction” and serves as an important figure in this section.7 After befriending a high-ranking Russian Commander, Borchard is appointed as the general music director of the . Only 5 days after Germany’s surrender, Borchard rounded up all the musicians he could find— only 40 of the ensemble’s original 110 remained—and immediately began rehearsals. With their original theatre bombed to rubble, they performed their first postwar concert in a movie theatre. This concert purposefully included works banned by the Nazi Regime, such as pieces by Felix Mendelsohn and other Jewish composers.8 Unfortunately for the Russians, when the other allies arrived and began drawing out sectors, the United States seized operating control of the orchestra. Anderton points out that Borchard, however, continued as the ensemble’s musical director until August 1945. Around the middle of the chapter, Anderton informs us that Borchard was killed in an accidental shooting, which left the orchestra in the temporary hands of conductor Rudolph Dunbar. This situation became problematic because of Dunbar’s dark complexion, and eventually a Romanian composer by the name of was appointed. After about a year had passed, the original conductor of the ensemble, Wilhelm Furtwangler, requested to return to his post. He was promptly denied by the

5 William Henry Beveridge, An Urgent Message from Germany (London: The Pilot Press, 1946), 21. 6 Roger Gilmore, France’s Postwar Policies and Activities in Germany, 1945-1956 (PhD diss., University of Geneva, 1971). 7 Abby Anderton, Rubble Music: Occupying the Ruins of Postwar Berlin, 1945-1950 (Indiana: Indiana University Press, 2019), 64. 8 Berlin Philharmonic Programs, May 26, 1945, and March 11, 1935, Berlin Philharmonic Archive. ______Critical Voices: The University of Guelph Book Review Project is part of the curriculum at the School of Fine Art and Music, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

10

Critical Voices: The University of Guelph Book Review Project Vol 7, no. 1 (2021) American denazification process. For years, Furtwangler petitioned the courts for his job, eventually gaining permission to conduct some concerts, but he was only allowed to regain his position two years before his death. Anderton wraps up this informative chapter by discussing the events which led to the severing of Eastern and Western Germany as well as how the musicians became torn apart between the separate districts. Chapter three of Rubble Music, entitled “Rubble Opera After 1945,” focuses on rubble music performed by Berlin’s different opera companies. Anderton formats this chapter in a manner similar to the last one, only changing the genre discussed. When it comes to the opera houses of Berlin, there were two main companies: the Russian sector’s Staatsoper and the British sector’s Stadtische Oper. The chapter opens with a discussion on the chaotic state of the opera houses following the Berlin bombings. With many cast, crew, and executive members killed, imprisoned, or labeled as Nazi Sympathizers, there would be a long road to reconstruction and reopening. Furthermore, the physical nature of Opera Houses, more so than orchestral venues, has a significant impact on a performance—performing an opera typically calls for elaborate sets, costumes, and props. Bombings during the war, the redrawing of Germany’s border, and post war pillaging all led to the destruction of many of these essentials in Berlin’s opera houses. Anderton takes an intricate look at what remained of Berlin’s opera scene by first examining the Russian sector’s Staatsoper, which reported a loss of 53 million dollars’ worth of costumes, props, scores, and set pieces.9 These losses put the Staatsoper in a very stressful situation with “the Soviets want[ing the] opera houses to produce operas as quickly as possible.”10 After managing to scrape together enough money to set up a new venue, the company’s first return performance raised controversy because at least 25% of the cast were previously members of the Nazi party. Anderton then looks at the British sector’s Stadtische Oper, which dealt with many of same issues. Repeating an argument discussed in previous chapters, the British had poor policies in place governing music in their sector and gave very little attention to the ongoings of the Stadtische Oper. This meant that no denazification process was required for any performers in this company and, according to Anderton’s sources, previous Nazi party members could be found throughout. Following this section, Anderton takes a closer look at the “rubble women” of the opera industry. During this time period, there are many accounts of gendered violence

9 Legal, Report to the Magistrate, March 27, 1947, and May 3, 1946, C Rep. 120, Nr. 1639, Landesarchiv. 10 Abby Anderton, Rubble Music: Occupying the Ruins of Postwar Berlin, 1945-1950 (Indiana: Indiana University Press, 2019), 99. ______Critical Voices: The University of Guelph Book Review Project is part of the curriculum at the School of Fine Art and Music, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

11

Critical Voices: The University of Guelph Book Review Project Vol 7, no. 1 (2021) between German women and their occupiers. Opera houses allowed many women to overcome this violence and still make their mark on society. This perspective is interesting and enlightening, especially when you consider that the opera repertoire of the time consisted of mainly tragic women-led performances. In the final section of the chapter, Anderton expands in detail on the early performance repertoire of post war opera houses. This subsection also covers information on the reconstruction of their original venues. Chapter four of Rubble Music, entitled “Embodied and Disembodied Voices,” focuses on Berlin’s radio stations and the popular programming that aired after the war. This chapter takes a turn away from examining musical ensembles and begins to look at performance mediums in postwar Berlin. Typically, people listened to radio by themselves in the comfort of their own home, but with windows blasted out from the bombings, auditory privacy did not exist. Anderton opens this chapter by piecing together haunting accounts of the experience of wandering the streets of Berlin as a mix of different sounds swirled around you—“[like] muted echoes of a battered city” according to George Clare.11 Multiple stations serviced the city, most of them either Russian or American controlled. Radio became essential to the reconstruction of culture in Berlin, providing entertainment before music venues could reopen. According to Anderton, these stations “created re-educational programming… [and] included everything from programs promoting new music to news bulletins.”12 Broadcasting companies in Berlin typically made their money with the support of subsidies provided by the government, which meant a lot of catering to whichever ally occupied the sector in which a specific station resided; this incentivized playing Soviet music in the Russian sector, American music in the American sector, and so on. With this funding, some radio stations endeavored to commission composers in the city to write new music for their broadcasts. The last section of the chapter speaks about “rubble concerts”, which were events purposely held in the midst of destruction, using the backdrop as a form of inspiration and expression. Anderton devotes a subsection to Jewish ruins, a portion of the book which considers the remains of the Jewish infrastructure in the city and notes the “rich symbolic meaning” of the religious ceremonies and performances held there. The final chapter of Rubble Music, entitled “Toward a Ruin Aesthetic in Music,” focuses on the composition of post war music in Berlin. Anderton claims that rubble

11 George Clare, Before the Wall: Berlin Days 1946-1948 (New York: E. P. Dutton, 1990), 18. 12 Abby Anderton, Rubble Music: Occupying the Ruins of Postwar Berlin, 1945-1950 (Indiana: Indiana University Press, 2019), 133 - 134. ______Critical Voices: The University of Guelph Book Review Project is part of the curriculum at the School of Fine Art and Music, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

12

Critical Voices: The University of Guelph Book Review Project Vol 7, no. 1 (2021) became “romanticized in both musical genre and textual context.”13 In the music programming discussed in this book, some very obvious themes arise. On one hand, a great deal of music played was meant to defy the old rules of the Third Reich. Composers who had been banned saw a rapid increase in interest in their works, and musical styles labeled as too abstract now resurfaced. On the other hand, mixed in with this celebratory defiance were overwhelming themes of sadness, suffering, and anger. Even though many Germans hated the Nazis, living in a defeated country meant a low sense of national pride and widespread depression. To publicly express this suffering in words would be to defy the new government, and so many of these emotions only appeared in the music discussed by Anderton in this book. Composers throughout the city devoted themselves to expressing the emotions of the country in ways that would not get them in trouble; playing sad music did not expose you to scrutiny as a Nazi sympathizer. Anderton expertly examines how this loophole created a music scene that was “beyond the reach of the Allied occupiers.”14 Next in this chapter, Anderton examines reconstruction efforts and draws many links between postwar music and the Romantic era of the nineteenth century. The final form of music she discusses in the book is Rubble Lieder, aka German song cycles that follow the same rubble romanticism ideas. To examine Rubble Lieder in more depth, Anderton looks at four specific artists known for the genre—Butting, Schmidt, Tiessen, and Hoffer. Anderton pieces together how Butting joined the Nazi party during the war and later managed to pass the Soviet’s poor denazification process by claiming that he only joined the party under duress. After the war, he joined a radio station in Berlin and entered the most productive part of his compositional career. Schmidt played an influential role in Germany’s cabaret scene until the war forced him into a concentration camp. Interestingly enough, he still composed while in the camp, and once liberated he proceeded to write many satirical rubble songs. Tiessen worked as a teacher in a conservatory during the Nazi reign, unfortunately this meant that after the war the allies removed him from his position. In his time away from teaching, Tiessen turned to composing lieder. Finally, Anderton shows how Hoffer also worked as a teacher in a conservatory during the Nazi reign and also lost his position after the war. He, too, wrote a lot of lieder, before being offered the director position at the conservatory that had originally fired him. Lieder had lyrics, making it a much more dangerous form of expression; the songs written by these composers received mixed reviews from Berlin

13 Ibid., 22. 14 Abby Anderton, Rubble Music: Occupying the Ruins of Postwar Berlin, 1945-1950 (Indiana: Indiana University Press, 2019), jacket blurb. ______Critical Voices: The University of Guelph Book Review Project is part of the curriculum at the School of Fine Art and Music, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

13

Critical Voices: The University of Guelph Book Review Project Vol 7, no. 1 (2021) audiences. The conclusion of this chapter briefly discusses the difficulties of trying to write music that catered to the audiences of multiple city sectors, which according to Tiessen was “like living in foreign countries that are close together.”15 Anderton’s book presents a fascinating and fresh perspective on a portion of history that I had never considered in great depth. There is not much literature out there that dares to look at this time period, especially when it comes to examining German perspectives. Dealing with such a sensitive and fairly recent situation is extremely challenging. Anderton however, does a wonderful job throughout the book of avoiding offense and doing justice to the topics she discusses. She accomplishes this by presenting a great deal of factual information and primary source recollections such as interviews, anecdotes, and autobiographies. Anderton avoids discussing the morality of the situation, and instead focuses on the reality of the events covered. Careful thought is put into describing events from both the perspectives of the German people and oppressed minorities. These stories are all incredible to read and are presented very eloquently, establishing a relevant historical narrative while also supporting the larger arguments Anderton makes about the audible connections between German and Jewish suffering. The sources used in this book are unique, including stories of musicians hiding in terror in their basements, anonymous diaries detailing postwar conditions in Berlin, and many references made directly to specific programs and advertisements about shows performed so as to examine the repertoire selected.16 The presentation of all of these stories and facts leads to one of the only downfalls of this book: it begins to feel a little bit like a textbook and some sections lack in-depth analysis and connection to the original argument. Rubble Music comes across as being quite dense when it comes to facts and information. Each chapter looks at a different part of the musical scene in Berlin, describing what the people went through during the rebuilding of the city. All of these chapters are very relevant and important to the main topic of the book, however not all chapters feature the author’s opinion or an explanation of their connection to the topic. Many of these connections are left for the reader to make themselves, which in my opinion adds a somewhat unnecessary complexity to the reading experience. The introduction and conclusion contain some of the only major analysis sections found throughout the book. The analysis given in those

15 Quoted in Elizabeth Janik, Recomposing German Music: Politics and Musical Tradition in Cold War Berlin (Leiden: Brill, 2005), 209. 16 Ruth Andreas-Friederich, Berlin Underground: Diaries, 1945-1948 (New York: Paragon House, 1984); Anonymous, A Woman in Berlin: Eight Weeks in the Conquered City (London: Picador, 2017); Schlӧvogt, Dienstbuch 335, January 1945 to December 1945, Berlin Philharmonic Archive. ______Critical Voices: The University of Guelph Book Review Project is part of the curriculum at the School of Fine Art and Music, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

14

Critical Voices: The University of Guelph Book Review Project Vol 7, no. 1 (2021) sections though, is quite dense itself, and even though the sections seem short, they do a wonderful job of summarizing everything Anderton wants to say. As a reader, I would have loved to have had more analysis of the content throughout to better understand the significance of what the author is presenting. In particular, during the middle section of the book, where Anderton dives deeply into specific events, it can be easy to lose sight of the overarching thesis established in the introduction. Even though Rubble Music may be dense, the word choice makes it quite accessible and reader friendly. In my experiences as a music student, I know that musicology books can struggle with language that limits audience appeal. Anderton does an excellent job of avoiding jargon and produces an approachable read; the book presents more like a study on music history and events,than a study on music theory. From the beginning, Anderton goes to great lengths to establish the book’s premise, and you do not really need to have background knowledge in musicology or in history to enjoy and understand her text. Rubble Music is by no means light reading, but if you are interested in the topic, this is an amazing book for gaining a general knowledge about music in Berlin after World War II. To the general, nonacademic reader, who may not be actively looking for a book covering this topic, I would be tentative when recommending it. My reasoning for this stems from the richness and density of the information provided. For those research in this area, the organization of this book’s chapters makes them easy to navigate. Overall, five major topics are discussed, one for each chapter. And the subject matter is broken down into multiple subsections that cover the different aspects and viewpoints of that discipline in great detail. These sections and subsections greatly decrease the time it takes to access a specific part of the book. On the topic of further research, it feels as though, for this specific niche topic, Anderton covers her subject in such detail that little is left to the imagination. By the time I finished the book, I was left with an excellent and in-depth understanding of post war “rubble music” in Berlin. Anderton teaches you the meaning of “rubble music” very early on and how it came to thrive in the fragile state of post war Germany. This idea of music being influenced by destruction and rubble is a topic ready for further research. After all, rubble’s influence on other parts of culture has been acknowledged for a while, with terms such as “rubble films, rubble photographs, rubble art, and rubble literature”

______Critical Voices: The University of Guelph Book Review Project is part of the curriculum at the School of Fine Art and Music, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

15

Critical Voices: The University of Guelph Book Review Project Vol 7, no. 1 (2021) being used as early as 1947.17 I would love to learn more about rubble music occurrences in different locations and cultures around the world. After all, there have been many other wars that have led to the destruction of many other places. How does the “rubble music” in Berlin compare to the “rubble music” elsewhere? What specific compositional techniques emerged out of the formation of “rubble music”—if any? These are questions—among many others—that remain to be answered. I find rubble music a very interesting topic, and I know that there is a lot of room for this idea to be expanded upon. Overall, I quite enjoyed reading Abby Anderton’s Rubble Music: Occupying the Ruins of Postwar Berlin, 1945–1950. I would recommend this book as incredibly informative and vividly written to anyone interested in the topic. It may be a bit too dense in some sections, but the text more than makes up for it in captivating firsthand accounts provided by some amazing sources. Anderton covers challenging topics in a way that does not offend while also presenting a great deal of information. There are many ways of expanding the ideas of “rubble music” presented in this book, and it will be interesting to see how this topic expands in future research.

For further reading:

Andreas-Friederich, Ruth. Berlin Underground: Diaries, 1945-1948. New York: Paragon House, 1984.

Anonymous. A Woman in Berlin: Eight Weeks in the Conquered City. London: Picador, 2017.

17 Abby Anderton, Rubble Music: Occupying the Ruins of Postwar Berlin, 1945-1950 (Indiana: Indiana University Press, 2019), 17; Andreas Huyssen, Nostalgia for Ruins, Grey Room 23 (Massachusetts: MIT Press, 2006). ______Critical Voices: The University of Guelph Book Review Project is part of the curriculum at the School of Fine Art and Music, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

16

Critical Voices: The University of Guelph Book Review Project Vol 7, no. 1 (2021) Clare, George. Before the Wall: Berlin Days 1946-1948. New York: E. P. Dutton, 1990.

Huyssen, Andreas. “Nostalgia for Ruins,” Grey Room 23, (2006).

Janik, Elizabeth. Recomposing German Music: Politics and Musical Tradition in Cold War Berlin. Leiden: Brill, 2005.

Kater, Michael H. The Twisted Muse: Musicians and Their Music in the Third Reich. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.

Moeller, Robert G. “Germans as Victims?,” Thoughts on a Post-Cold War History of WWII's Legacies, History & Memory 17, no. 1 (2005): 147–94.

Thacker, Toby. Music After Hitler. Oxfordshire: Routlegde, 2007.

______Critical Voices: The University of Guelph Book Review Project is part of the curriculum at the School of Fine Art and Music, University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

17