AROUND THE WORLD

One Year after Unification: Cultural Notes from the Former GDR by Jurgen Schebera

Reunified Germany had its first birthday Now that has all changed. Art is no Now all ofthat is history. Today art has to on 3 October 1991. In reality, of course, longer needed as a substitute for life. Now adapt itself to the Jaws of the marketplace "Unification Day" was 1 July 1990, when the we derive our imagery for living directly that dominate the new Germany. Artistic Deutsche Mark was introduced as the offi­ from life itself. institutions are being restructured accord­ cial currency into what was then still the ing to West German norms, leading to a There is a second reason for the fact that pervasive withdrawal of state subsidies. As German Democratic Republic. From that art is now on the back burner. It has to do Saxony, Thuringia, Brandenburg, Saxony­ moment on, there was functional freedom with the former German Democratic Anhalt, Mecklenburg-Outer Pomerania, and for the citizens who had been formally liber­ Republic's "closed society." The powers­ unified Berlin have been integrated into the ated by the crumbling of the wall, because that-be of "socialism in the flesh" did not permit any outright criticism. Whoever federal structure, new subsidies must be they could travel where they wanted and sought from industry, foundations, and pri­ buy what they wished, so long as they had dared itwas either thrown in jail or, as was vate individuals. the money. Doubtless it will be difficult for the case with many dissidents, sent to live any reader of this newsletter already long in the West Therefore, art became the This restructuring is in many respects a accustomed to such freedoms to compre­ medium for intelligently cloaked criticism. complex procedure. First of all. the new hend this feeling. The theaters overflowed when the staging federal states do not function very well of a classical piece presented parallels to They are not yet solvent, and serious eco­ 1 July 1990 was an eruption, as if the lid relations in the GDR, or when GDR drama­ had been removed from a pot about to boil nomic and social problems - the transition tists (Heiner Millier, Volker Braun, to a market economy with the accompany­ over. We were finally able to fulfil) the Christoph Hein) conveyed encoded com­ desires we had dreamed of for so long. We ing failure of so many businesses and sky­ munications on stage. We waited impa­ rocketing unemployment - make it diffi­ traveled to Paris and Rome, we bought tiently for each new novel by Stefan Heym cult to attend to cultural problems. Second, ourselves long awaited video recorders and or Christa Wolf. Visitors thronged to exhi­ entirely different structures had existed in computers, and we began to consider the bitions of clearly allegorical paintings (for the former GDR A massive network of purchase of a Volkswagen, a Fiat. a Peugeot, instance, those by Wolfgang Mattheuer or institutions for artistic amateurs in the form oraJapanesecar, hopingtorenderobsolete Heidrun Hegewald). Even concertsofavant­ of theaters, orchestras, cinemas, and cul­ what we had all driven for so many years, garde music (when, for example, a musical tural societies. even in the least populated the "Trabbi" (a tiny two-cylinder car with a settiniof Gorbachev's words was premiered regions, had all been subsidized by the state. plastic chassis). by Rainer Bredemeyer, at a time when Third, and perhaps most important of all, Honecker was explicitly distancing himself In the wake of these newly-explored free­ the producers of cultural activities had had from the path of Perestroika) donned a to deal with political problems - especially doms, cultural needs and desires took a tribunal air. back-row seat and censorship-for forty years, but never with still do today - for In such financial ones. Suddenly they had to learn cases, artsub­ somethingcompletelynew,somethingwhich two reasons. Until was to Western eyes as simple as one-plus­ reunification it had sti tu ted for political dis­ one: fund-raising and the search for spon­ beenimpossiblefor sorship. Unfortunately, those are things ustoseeortoexpe­ course; it adopted the that cannot be learned and implemented rience "the world" overnight first-hand. Hence, tasks that had been banned we had to be satis­ Furthermore, the mentality of Germany's in thepolitical new rulers must be considered. Only one fied with imagery arena. 1n ad­ derived from works dictum was applied to all areas of GDR dition. art society (science, health care, education, etc.): of Western art, al­ functioned as beitavailablein lim­ "Whatever is incompatible with the system a medfom of has to go." And since cultural life has to do ited supply: each resistance. with thought and feeling, the issue became American film pro­ Abandoned Trabbis are common throughout• Both func­ former East Germany. Photo: Tamara Leuilz. more urgently a matter of "all that depends vided us with pieces tions (substi- on a German Democratic Republic identity of a mosaic of that tution and re­ has to go." inaccessible country, each exhibition of sistance) serve to explain the rapid sales of Western painting gave us. an inkling of the new editions of books and the unpreL'­ The most obvious instance ofthis attitude approach to life that lay behind it, each edented attendance at theaters and exhibi­ at themoment is the liquidation of the former novel by a French or British author offered tions, ofwhich GD Rofficials were always so radio stations and tl1e imminent demise of us possible insights into the psychology of proud. Art was, in fact, not just a commod­ GDR television, which will shut down at its people and their nation. A performance ity for an elite group of intellectuals, but year's end, despite undeniable internal im­ of West Side Story (there had been only rather in demand as daily fare for all citi­ provements and general acceptance by lis­ three productions in the entire GDR in zens and available at unusually low prices teners and viewers. The decision was made twenty years: one in Leipzig, one in Erfurt. through state subsidies. (The best seat at in the upper echelons of the government to and one in Berlin) became something of a the Leipzig Opera costs only the equivalent replace these media, so that we now have sensation. of$4.00.) the ''Mitteldeutsche Rundfunk" in Leipzig

Kurt Weill Newsletter Volume 9 Number 2 6 THE FORMER GDR

for the states of Saxony and Thuringia, to who had received stipends and guaranteed As for the Berliner Ensemble, Cultural name just one example. So far so good, on performances. Many writers have found Senator Roloff-Momin requested a letter of the surface. But the leading positions in themselves without a publisher and with resignation from Director Manfred these organizations are being assigned to significantly fewer readers. Wekwerth, who had been President of the second-rate radio and television people from Clearly we are in the middle of a crisis. former East Berlin Akademie der Ki.inste West Germany instead of experienced me­ Culture and art are not a top priority, and andaCommunist-Partymember. Wekwerth clia people from the former GDR (I don't people have other needs that require atten­ mean the old party functionaries, but the agreed and quit his post in July 1991. It is creative and upright "Easterners" who re­ tion. TI1e transition is both painful and clear that the theater will continue to be joyful, and we in Germany are experienc­ subsidized by the city of Berlin, but two placed them in the process of democratiza­ ing both sensations. tion.) These imports know nothing about other matters are less clear. The first in­ regional characteristics nor are they One last word for those interested i.n volves the influence formerly exerted by empathetic with the psyche and mentality East Berlin's "Brecht scene.'' The Senate Barbara Brecht on the cultural goals of her of their viewers and listeners who are sub­ of the city of Berlin has made some clear­ father's theater. Roloff-Momin has explicitly stantiallydifferentfrom theirWestern coun­ cut decisions. The Brecht-Archiv (like all declared that he would be willing to continue terparts. The unification of these diverse divisions of the former East Berlin the Theater am Schi.ffbauerdamm without mentalities will prove to be the most te­ Akademie der Kilnste, which will be dis­ d.ious of all imaginable tasks. Brecht productions if the conflicts with Bar­ solved at the year's end-the official term bara Brecht proved i.nsoluble. This may be It is not simply a matter of colonization. is "abgewickeJt"). will become a branch of the case because Ekkehard Schall, her hus- but that is, in fact, the style the new Berlin Akadernie der Kunste, for- band, has quit his post as in which the alteration is interim director now, too. being pursued. Wherever The second concerns the one looks, 'Westerners" are appointment of a new di­ being enthroned. Quality rectorate. An interim com­ is no longer a consideration, rather former citizenship. mittee of three is now in Administrators of lesser charge: Serge Mund - a known West German tour­ theater administrator from ing theaters are being ap­ West Germany (ofcourse!) pointed heads of major who comes from Malta, has stages of the ex-GDR a Jesuit education, and (Erfurt, Halberstadt, Frank­ bases his experience on furt an der Oder). an assis­ work with a touring the­ tant musical director from ater in the West- and a the West Berlin radio sta­ director and an actress tion RIAS is to be the clirec­ tor of the state opera at from the company, the lat­ Unter den linden in former tertwo asasoptodemands East Berlin, the choreogra­ for democratic appear­ pher of the Hamburg ances. A fresh staging of Staatsoperwillbecomegen­ Brecht's Schweyk im eral director of the distin­ Zweiten Weltkrieg, directed guished Dresdner Semper by Manfred Wekwerth, in­ Oper, etc. Furthermore, the augurated the committee's state-supported cultural net­ 1991 offerings. And the work is beginning to be dis­ season's greatest drawing mantled, a necessary evolu­ tion but one that is painful Theater am Schiffbauerdamm. Original venue of Die Dreigroschenoper card? Despite, or more pre­ to its creators and to its pub­ and present home of the Berliner Ensemble. cisely, because of all this lic. A general demise of the turmoil, a threadbare, ten­ cinema in the East is al- year-old staging of Die ready a reality, the first orchestras have merly that of West Berlin. The archive will Dreigroscl,e,wperalong with a more than six­ remain accessible, although whether itwill already been disbanded (the year-old Weill evening "Vom Mecklenburgische Philharmonie in remain housed at 125 ChausseestraEe is Schiffbauerdamm zum Broadway." Schwerin), and esteemed presses oftheex­ still in question. The Senate has also taken GDR(VerlagderNationin Berlin,Seemann­ over the maintenance of the Brec;ht Haus, Beginning in 1992, a five-member collec­ Verlag in Leipzig) have given in to competi­ where the work space and living rooms of tive will manage the theater: Matthias tors or been swallowed up by larger West­ Brecht and Weigel will remain open to the Langhoff, Peter Palitzsch, Peter Zadek, Fritz ern companies. And this is only the begin­ public as a literary museum. The Brecht Marquardt, Heine Muller. Langhoff, along ning. Zentrum will become one of three facilities with Manfred Karge, began his directing for literary cliscussions and readings in career at the Berliner Ensemble with stag­ The situation for visual artists is espe­ ings of Der Brotladen and the spurious "Das cially critical. With the collapse of the old Berlin, along with the Literaturhaus on FasanenstraEe and the Literary Colloquium kleine Mahagonny." Both left the GDR to system of state commissions coupled with take up successful careers in tl1e West. the drastically increasing rents for stuclio on the Wannsee, although its activities will space, many painters and sculptors find no longer be centered on Brecht, but ex­ Quo vadis, East German culture? We shall themselves at the edge of an abyss. The panded to include all of contemporary Ger­ see. same is true for the majority of composers man literature. Translated by Peggy Meyer Sherry

Kurt Weill Newsletter Volume 9 Number 2 7 AROUND THE WORLD

Archival Research in Former East Germany by Tamara Levitz

When the first images of the opening of the political climate changes. Documents Nachlasse, whereas the nature of the East the Berlin wall flashed across the television which were unflattering to the communist Berlin collection and the state of their ar­ screens of North America on 9 November ego of former East Germany and which chives remains difficult to determine. And 1989, few viewers s uspected the far reach­ were suppressed for over forty years can yet it is known that the East German Acad­ ing consequences the event would have for now come to light For the present, how­ emy does house importantco1Jections. such Europe and the rest of the world. As East ever, scholars will be permitted to see cata­ as a Hermann-Scherchen-Nachla.B which Germany continues to merge traumatically logs that list some material which is not includes materials from Scherchen's with West Germany, Germanson both sides available. In Merseburg, for example, al­ Weimar years. Cataloging in this archive are reexamining their own histories and most all documents pertaining to Leo seems fragmentary, however, and accessi­ identities. And, as Germany's split political Kestenberg and the activities of the Prus­ bility limited. 1 sian Minsterium fiir Kunst, Wissenschaft personality comes together and historical Culture in Weimar was not, however. documents that could not be discussed in und Volksbildung in the early 1920s appar­ ently have not survived. solely determined by public, governmental, cold-war Europe resurface, historians will and educational institutions, but rather by a recreate a more complete picture of the For researchers specifically interested in multitude of smaller private organizations Weimar Republic and its culture. For over the National Socialist Regime, the Berlin whose names and activities have often been forty years, East German scholarship had Documentation Center in West Berlin is an lost to history. Remarkable discoveries are been based on a restrictive official canon of invaluable source of information. Adminis­ being made in East Germany: recently the selected communist and socialist works, tered by the American government, the archives of the Allgemeiner Deutscher against which East German academics had Berlin Documentation Center has always Musikverein were unearthed in Weimar, established an intriguing culture ofopposi­ been an exclusive archive largely inacces­ for example, and scattered materials per­ tion. Across the border, West German sible to German citizens. With the end of taining to the Novembergruppe and the academics had always been considered the Allied occupation of Berlin, these docu­ Anbruckand Melos publications can now be "free." They established their own literary ments will eventually return to the German found in various East German libraries.2 and musical canon, their own left, and their government. But the course and timing of There is also rumor that the archives of the own opposition, the veryexistence of which, these changes is uncertain. At present, Singakademie have been rediscovered in however, depended entirely on the survival researchers who are not American will re­ Berlin. Other music-related collections ofthe German socialiststate. Germany had quire permission from their own govern­ are often found at city and state archives: a distorted double vision. Now that the wall ments to see these materials. Breitkopf & Hartel has deposited many has come down, the two Gennanies are materials at the Staatsarchiv in Leipzig, for Scholars seeking more specific informa­ forced to look each other in the eye, an example. Slowly, important documents are tion on cultural life in theWeimar Republic experience that is proving uncomfortable a1so being returned to Germany from Po­ for both. Scholarship, the canon, opposi­ will find it in the archives of individual institutions, schools, and concert organiza­ land and the Soviet Union, wherethey had tion, and archival research will necessarily been evacuated during World War II. change. These changes are of vital impor­ tions. In divided Germany many long-stand­ tance to Weill scholars in North America, ing institutions, such as theAkademie der Theatrical organizations and archives are for whom the demise ofthe German Demo­ Kilnste and the Akademie der Wissen­ even more pertinent to Weill's career. Es­ cratic Republic will also mean the rediscov­ schaften, were duplicated in order to meet sential repositories for any study of the ery of a world of archives, libraries, the needs ofthe two countries. Sometimes theaters in Weimar Berlin are the theater Nachliisse, historical documents, and arti­ historical records and coUections were also institutes of the Universit.at zu Koln, the facts, all of which can now be examined divided. Thus, when investigating these Freie Universitat in Berlin., and the theater without the difficulties and expense ofcroS&­ institutions, the researcher always had to collection at the Markisches Museum in ing the wall. determine in which branch items were lo­ East Berlin. The larger theatrical institu­ cated. Paradoxicalty, unification has com­ tions that were located in former East Ber­ The most important archive for informa­ plicated this situation further. The German lin, such as the Deutsche Staatsoper, also tion concerning the government, politics, government has recognized most West have their own extensive archives that have cultural and educational policies, theatrical German institutions as the legitimate heirs now become more accessible. organizations, and leading personalities of to their historical antecedents and has ap­ Nachllisse and archives ofindividual art­ the Weimar Republic is the Geheimarchiv pointed research commissions to investi­ ists often provide the most exciting mate­ Preul!ischerKulturbes itz. Divided between gate the "right to exist" of formerly East rial on cultural life the Weimar Republic. Westand East Germanyfor overforty years, German institutions. This process normally in The researcher must first locate these col­ the collections will be brought together involves sending research teams to East eventually, possibly in West Berlin. At Germany from as far away as Cologne to lections, however, and then gain access to them. Whereas published catalogs ease present, many pertinent items are housed interview established scholars and assess the search in West Germany,3 former East in Merseburg, a town outside Halle in the their capabilities within a few hours. This Germany's archiva1 territory is largely un­ most industrial area of former East Ger­ disturl>ing course of events affects the ar­ many. Atthis archive, researchers still face chival situation and will necessarily affect charted. The researcher is dependent on a problem prevalent in many archives in researchers travelling in the East. The an "oral" tradition of scholarship: only by Germany: selected documents from the Academy of Arts in West Berlin, for ex­ word of mouth does one learn where lesser 1920s, as well as many documents concern­ ample, is official, whereas the East Berlin known collections are housed and who is in ingvictimsofNazi persecution, havesimply Academy is undergoing examination and charge of them. The battle is not over once disappeared. Although these documents scrutiny; there are repeated threats of its the collection has been found: often, it will have long been presumedl ostor destroyed, closing. The West Berlin Academy houses be uncataloged and unavailable to the pub­ it is now assumed in Germany that some of most documents pertaining to the history of lic. Sometimes, the researcher will con­ them will resurface in the next few years as the Academy, as well as many important front archivists who were omnipotent in

Kurt Weill Newsletter Volume 9 Number 2 8 THE FORMER GDR former East Germany, and who still treat as yet unearthed and uncataloged. Even the collections as their own possessions librarians are only partially aware of them. and hide them from the public eye. Certain The researcher must have a clearly formu­ NOTES archives, such as that of Hanns Eisler, are lated strategy, as well as specific questions 1 Other educational institutions ofinterestto in danger because their ownership is nowin - not to mention determination and pa­ Weill scholars are the Hochschule der Ktinste in question; other collections, such as that of tience - to uncover the hidden sources. West Berlin and the Humboldt University in East Paul Dessau, are threatened because fig­ Berlin. Both archives are well organized and Any researcher planning to work in East ures central to East German culture have accessible; however, both are missing documents Germany should write to every repository from the 1920s. now fallen into disfavor. Thus, the entire in advance of the visit. Travelling in former search and research process is slow and 2 Major libraries are in Leipzig, Dresden, cumbersome, productive only if the re­ East Germany can be very disturbing be­ cause the country's identity is rapidly being Weimar and Berlin. See Musik-forum 72 Oune searcher plans an extended stay in former 1990) for a list of addresses of libraries and ar­ swallowed by the West. There is enormous East Germany. chives in former East Germany. unemployment, discontent. social unrest Unification has opened a treasure chest and, often, prejudice against foreigners. 3 See for example: Mommsen, Wolfgang. of contemporary newspapers and journals Prices are unexpectedly high and accom­ Die Nach/asse in den deutschen Archiven I// Teile. Verzeichnis derschri/tlichen Nach/asse in deutschen which provide invaluable sources of infor­ modation can be difficult to find in cities Archiven und Bibliotheken. Schriften des mation on the less prominent people and which were never oriented towards tour­ Bundesarchivs 17/I I. Boppard am Rhein: H. Boldt organi7..ations oft he Weimar Republic. Not ists.4 It will be difficult to remain oblivious Verlag, 1983. only are rare socialist and communist peri­ to the changes and insensitive to the diffi­ odicals and newspapers still intact at the culties many former East Germans are now 4 Considerprivate housing (Privat-quartier): Deutsche Staatsbibliothek in East Berlin, experiencing. Thus a research trip to the in most former East German cities, families have opened their homes to tourists for $15-30 dollars a but also a large variety of art, music, and East may inevitably become a difficult les­ night literary journals, as well as North German son in world history. and Berlin newspapers. That collection is now accessible, but unfortunately not on microfilm, and thus not reproducible. The fate of the remarkable collections at the Deutsche Staatsbibliothek has been radically changed by the unification of the two Germanies. In 1991 the library became Selected Archives part of the Staatsbibliothek PreuBischer Kulturbesitz in West Berlin and must now confonn to its laws and statutes. Whereas Akademie der KOnste Berlin Hochschule der K0nste West German librarians have full job secu­ Bundesallee 1-12 Hanseatenweg 10 rity, the differently-trained East German W-1000 Berlin 26 W-1000 Berlin 21 librarians are threatened constantly with or: losing their jobs. The organization of the FasanenstraBe 1 East German library is changing daily to Berlin Documentation Center W-1000 Berlin 12 conform to its West German neighbor and Wasserkefirsteig 1 eventually the music departments of the W-1000 Berlin 47 lnstitut fur Theaterwissenschaft two libraries will merge completely. The Fachbereich 11, Wissenschaftliche West Berlin building will house thegeneral Deutsche Staatsbibliothek Einrichtung 8 collection, and the East Berlin division will Freie Universitat Berlin Musikabteilung keep all vault material (Nachlasse, manu­ RiemeisterstraBe 21-23 scripts, etc). These plans are still in the Unter den Linden 8 1000 Berlin 37 rudimentary stages, however, and it is un­ 0-1086 Berlin likely that they will be realized in the next five years. Nevertheless, the situation is Deutsche Staatsoper Archiv Markisches Museum Theater­ already tense, and it affects any researcher Unter den Linden 5-7 geschichtliche Sammlung working in the East German branch of the 0-1 086 Berlin Am Kollnischen Park 5 library. 0-1020 Berlin Once they have located the archive that interests them, North American research­ Geheimes Staatsarchiv PreuBischer Staatsarchiv Leipzig ers in former East Germany may confront Kulturbesitz, Abteilung Merseburg Dimitroffmuseum an archival situation with which they are [Formally Zentrales Staatsarchiv] Dimitroffplatz 1 not familiar. Archives and state collections Kbnig-Heinrich-StraBe 37 ' 0-7010 Leipzig were bound for over forty years to the rigid 0-4200 Merseburg (East) Germany security precautions characteristic of the (East) Germany East German state, and although this situa­ Theatermuseum des lnstituts fur Theater­ tion has now relaxed, the process is slow in Film- und Fernsehwissenschaft der changing; insecurity and wariness about Geheimes Staatsarchiv Universitat zu Koln the drastic changes being imposed byWest Preussischer Kulturbesitz SchloB Wahn Germany remain. The researcher may of­ ArchivstraBe 12/14 w-sooo Kain 90 ten feel out of place in such circumstances, W-1000 Berlin 33 Germany and it is necessary to proceed with great care and sensitivity. Unquestionably, the archives and librar­ ies in East Germany contain vasttreasures,

Kurt Weill Newsletter Volume 9 Number 2 9 Drops in the Dreigroschen Ocean by Stephen Hinton Since publication of the Cambridge Opera Handbook Kurt Weill: The Threepenny Opera last year, two items have surfaced that I would liked to have included had I been aware of them earlier. One is Bernard Shaw's reaction to the 1930 Russian premiere of Die Dreigroschenopercited in the final volume of Michael Holroyd's new and definitive biography. (The premiere itself is discussed in chapter 3 of the Handbook.) According to Holroyd, the production was "the only thing he hated about Moscow"; in Shaw's words: "an amazing and at points disgusting perversion of the Beggar's Opera'' ( Bernard Shaw, vol 3: The Lure of Fantasy, 1918-1950 [London, 1991 ]). As other reports contained in the Handbook show, the reaction was typical in Britain at the time. The other item is the short essay by Hans Keller on "The Harry Lime Theme," published under the rubric "Film Music" in the British journal Music Survey in 1951. Keller's observations on the added­ sixth chord, on its "inhibitory" function, and its use in Weill's "Moritat vom Mackie Messer" are literally identical to those in his later piece on The Threepenny Opera, which he wrote for another British journal, The Music Review, on the occasion of Sam Wanamaker's London production in 1956 (and which is reprinted in the Handbook). Both essays train psychoanalytical searchlights on reactions such as Shaw's; and both place the issue of perversion squarely at the feet - or rather, ears - of the listener. But the earlier piece, reprinted here, is much more explicit about sexual matters. In this, it reflects a brash, often rather smug outspokenness characteristic of the short-lived Music Survey · as opposed to the primmer scholarly tone of The Music Review. A question arises: Did The Music Review cut any material from Keller's submission? In any event, the first essay represents a type of theorizing that has become quite fashionable, even academically respectable, in recent years. By equating the tonally functional musical cadence (or lack of it) with certain male forms of sexual expression, Keller appears to be pioneering a method of inquiry such as that pursued four decades later by musicologist Susan McClary. In the collection of essays Feminine Endings: Music, Gender, and Sexuality (Minnesota, 1991 ), Professor Mcclary writes of "tonality ... instilling expectations and subsequently withholding promised fulfillment until climax" and of "compositions [which] whip up torrents of libidinal energy that are variously thwarted or permitted to gush." Yet McClary, a feminist, would no doubt have plenty to take issue with in Keller's Freudian analysis, any "adult altruism" notwithstanding.

Film Music: The Harry Lime Theme* by Hans Keller For well over two years, the Harry which I think 1 got from Benjamin Frankel, Jenee, because its opposition to the tonic is Lime tune (from Carol Reed's production points to the commercial propaganda behind based on the strongestpossible measure of The Third Man) has pestered the diatonic and in front of the tune. Both pointers are agreementorterlium comparationis, includ­ world; a recent visit to the Continent bas right; neither is an explanation. ing as only the submediant triad does the shown that itis in fact becoming a classic: Not only are there plenty of sufficiently tonic third: hence the arch-inhibition, the other tunes already quote it, and people banal tuneswhich have flopped despite heavy interrupted cadence V-Vl. Hence, too, the who love it are even learning to whistle it. commercial backing, but I have seen many added sixth familiar jazz device is the Almost all popular hits seem vulgar, people being struck bythe HarryLime Theme rightest "wrong" note, a harmonic non­ harmonic note producing but since not all vulgarity is popuJar, the without having been subjected to any kind of (ceteris pan'bus) success of the tune asks for an explana­ conditioning, without even having seen the the mostprimitive kind ofdissonant chordal tension. tion, all the more because one does not film and heard its zither. When I first heard remember a previous instance of a hit­ the music, I at once detested it-as ifitwere When I drew a colleague's attention to songwhich the light-music lover cannot importantenoug h to be detested. As soon as the fact thatthe Harry Lime Themewas not sing, ofa tune that is no tune atall. So far, I detest something I ask myself why I like it. much more than a figured added sixth, two kinds of explanations have come my ParticuJarly when l am shocked to find using this degree instead of everything, way, the circumstantial and the economi­ myself whistling it It is, in fact, time that one including the tonic, he very sensitively re­ cal. The circumstantial, which is found turned one's curiosity to the music itself and marked that the piece had the feel ofa coitus among highbrows who pride themselves tried to find an intrinsic explanation for its interruptus-more precisely, of a prolonged on their lowbrow practicality, has first appeal. The striking, indeed the only feature coitus. In fact, just as the latter may be been given by Anthony Hopkins at last about this Mtune" is its submediant obsession regarded as both the most elementary and year's International Ftlm Music Congress which, avoiding any Aeolian insinuation, cre­ the most elemental application, in adultlife, in Florence, and later also in the pages of ates an extended appoggiatura, a suspense by of what Prof. J. C. Flugel (Men and Their Sight & Sound. It says that these notes a prolonged suspension, enhanced by the Motives) has called the "principle of in­ have caught on because in the film they tonic-dominant bass as well as by the alterna­ crease of satisfaction through inhibition," were playedon the unusual instrument of tion of tonic chord and dominant seventh. partially regressing as it does to the the zither. The economical explanation, The sixth is the inhibitory degree par excel- unorgastic, fore-pleasurable sexual activi-

Kurt Weill Newsletter Volume 9 Number 2 10 LETTERS ties of childhood, so the prolonged melodic-harmonic structure, in that the submediant inhibition, the insistent sus­ tune apotheosizes that submediant which pension of the jazzy sixth, represents the we bear in certain blues in place of the continued from page 5 most primitive application of this principle leading note and with a Vl7 implication: by in the sphere of dissonant chordal forma­ an extreme inhibition of the tonic, the tions. (In chordal progressions, the conse­ submediant here downright usurps it. quences of the interrupted cadence V-VI Owing to the quality oft he melodicline, we 3) Thatleads directly to Hamilton's ques­ are, of course, the prototypical example of are no longer disgusted at the primitive tion ofw hether we could find "any clues as to such an increase of satisfaction.) inhibition, though in order to fully appease who theot her singers are" in the Mahagonny It is imaginable thatthe musical primitiv­ our unconscious conscience we may have Querschnitt of Electrola, which only indi­ ity ofthis hannonic maneuver corresponds to murmur something about the decadent cates Lotte Lenya on the label. I am quite to a relatively unsublimated amount of, per­ German twenties. Decadent the tune cer­ sure that the singers are Trude Hesterberg haps, infantile sexual energy behind it; this tainly wishes to be, an aim which itachieves (Begbick) and Heinrich Gretler (AJaskawolfjoe) from the original Berlin the­ ater cast; I am not sure who sings Johann Ackermann (probably not Harald Paulsen) but all this is speculation, until perhaps one day we find original documents from the r;-r, ,;-,-, recording session. Obviously there were 1J ,J)J ),J. )1 substitutions from the stage cast of the The­ ater am Kurfilrstendamm because Hans Sommer conducts rather than Alexander von Zemlinsky. The field ofWeill shellacs remains a thrill­ J~ I 11 ing experience. Just recently we discovered two Japanese recordings from 1932-33 (ex­ cerpts from Kleine Dreigroschenmusik far Blasorchesterwith the Tokyo New Symphonic "The Third Man" Words by Walter Lord. Based on music composed and arranged Orchestra, Hidemaro Konoe, conductor; and by Anton Karas. two Dreigroschenoper songs "Moritat'' and "Ballade von angenehmen Leben," sung by Copyright i:l 1949 & 1950 by British Lion Pilms Limited. London. Copyrights Renewed, Chapp

Kurt Weill Newsletter Volume 9 Number 2 11 FROM THE ARCHIVES

News From the Weill-1.enya Research Center

Oral History Program A New Cataloging Initiative rent file for Aujstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny includes seventy-five differ­ In 1991, the Research Center under­ At the end of July the Weill-Lenya Re­ ent performances in over a dozen coun­ took a more extensive Oral History Pro­ search Center became a member of the tries and comprises over one-thousand gram (Project Director David Farneth, Research libraries Group (RLG) and a items. Researchers may request copies of Project Manager Margaret Sherry). contributor the RLG's national biblio­ portions of the finding aid relevent to their Interviewees include authorial and artis­ graphic database, "RUN" (the acronym research interest for "Research Library Network"). The tic collaborators, business associates, Workroom Redesigned performers, family members, and friends, staff selected RLG because its systems as well as contemporaries of Weill and provide on-line access to holdings, excel­ The general archives area was rede­ Lenya who are able to offer specific con­ lent searching capabilities, and full imple­ signed to accommodate larger office and textual information with research value. mentation of the standard archives cata­ processing space. The new layout fea­ Interviews are tape-recorded and con­ logingformat as defined by the Library of tures a custom-made worktable complete ducted on a formal basis with prepared Congress and thearchival profession. The with storage cupboards constructed to questions in order to be of use to re­ Research Center's affiliation with RLG accommodate Hollinger boxes as well as searchers with precise historical inter­ brings numerous benefits: 1) biblio­ oversize preservation materials. New ests. All interviewees grant future re­ graphic recordsfor theResearch Center's shelving has increased the room's storage searchers full access to their interviews. holdings will be accessible to research­ capacity by one-hundred linear feet. A After each tape is transcribed, it is in­ ers via terminals intheir local libraries or special catalogiog workspace now accom­ dexed and abstracted; eventually a cata­ by direct-dial access to RLG's main com­ modates the activities of the Center's new loging record for the interview will be puter located in California; 2) cataloging cataloging project. Non-print musical of published materials (books, record­ materials (audiotapes, videotapes, films) entered into the RLIN database. Addi­ were transferred to theirown storage space tional funding for the project is being ings, printed music, etc.) will be accom­ plished at much lower costs due to the in a roomwhich is typicallycoolerthan the soughtfrom the National Endowment for general archives area. the Humanities and the Memorial Foun­ shared-cataloging nature of the system; dation for Jewish Culture. 3) staff will be able to provide more effec­ tive reference service; and 4) staff can Performance Materials for One Interviewees who have participated this readily determine the locations of related Touch of Venus Edited year include.Agnes de Mille (One Touch materials. The Research Centerwill main­ Music arranger and editorLarry Moore o[Venus), Todd Duncan (Lost in the Stars), tain finding aids and a traditional card is correcting the existing materials used Jean Dalrymple (One Touch of Venus), catalog of its holdings until it acquires a for stock and amateur performances of Michael Bamberger (relative of Peter suitable computerized archival manage­ One Touch o[Venus. This process involves Bing), Michael Wager (Brecht on Brecht ment system, which eventually will ac­ a comparison between the orchestra parts and son ofMeyerWeisgal), Kurt Drabek commodate all of the cataloging records and thepiano-conductorscorewith Weill's (conductor ofDer Jasager), Bobby Lewis made with the RLIN system. manuscript scores, while taking into ac0 (Johnny Johnson) , Saul Bolasni (costumer count markings in the original Broadway Performance History for the Blitzstein Threepenny Opera), Dino parts. New scores and orchestraparts will Yann apoulos (The Shah has his Photo­ Documentation be copied for any missing music. The new graph Taken), and Helen Hayes (Candle The documentationfor the various pro­ edition will be available for performances in the Wind and Mine Eyes Have Seen the ductions of Weill's stage works has been from the Rodgers & Hammerstein The­ Glory). Ms. Sherry was in Los Angeles at reorganized into a new series of "perfor­ atre Library. the beginning of October to interview mance history" files. Student intern Amy Hesper Anderson (the playwright's daugh­ Daken began work on this project last Acquisition of Published Materials ter), StellaAdler (GroupTh eater), Nanette January. Photos.programs, and clippings In addition to collecting manuscripts Fabray (Love Life), Danny Daniels (Street are being brought together and arranged and other unpublished materials, the Re­ Scene), Michael Kidd (Love Life), Anne alphabetically by title. Under each title, search Center strives to acquire published Jeffreys (Street Scene), and David Raksin documentation for individual perfor­ materials relevant to Weill and Lenya in (Where Do We Go From Here?). Yet to mances is arranged according to date, addition to those with an emphasis on come this Fall are interviews with Sylvia geographical location, and producing or­ m usic in the Weimar Republic and the Fine Kaye (Lady in the Dark), Sidney ganization. Folders are cross-referenced American musical theater. Thus far in Lu.met (Eternal Road and The Appoint­ to indicate if a recording or a poster is 1991, the Center has acquired 105 books, ment, Lenya's 1969film with Omar Sharif), filed in other locations. The computer 19 recordings, and 42 journal articles. and Mrs. Sam Coslow (You and Me). inventory for each folder provides the Because the Research Center cannot director's name as well as a listing of purchase a wide selection of international If you know ofpeople who were associ­ individual press clippings by journal and ated with Weill's work in the '30s and '40s periodicals, itrelies on researchers to send author, when deemed significant for re­ copies of their articles for deposit All and who might be able to assist the Re­ search. The initial volume of this series articles are cataloged using a Procite data­ search Center with documentation either occupies twenty cubic feet, but it will base, which permits full-text search of the through a taped interview or by providing grow quarterly as new materials are bibliographic record and access by topical copies ofperson al papers, please call Ms. accessioned. Just to give an example of subject headings. The file now includes Sherry at (212) 50~5240. the range of any one subseries, the cur- over 400 articles.

Kurt Weill Newsletter Volume 9 Number 2 12