Georgia State University ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University History Dissertations Department of History 12-16-2019 Unison and Harmony, Dissonance and Dissolution: German Choral Societies in an Age of Rising Nationalism, Mass Culture, and Social Conflict, 1870-1918 Ruth L. Dewhurst Ruth L. Dewhurst PhD Georgia State University Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/history_diss Recommended Citation Dewhurst, Ruth L. and Dewhurst, Ruth L. PhD, "Unison and Harmony, Dissonance and Dissolution: German Choral Societies in an Age of Rising Nationalism, Mass Culture, and Social Conflict, 1870-1918." Dissertation, Georgia State University, 2019. https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/history_diss/78 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of History at ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in History Dissertations by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks @ Georgia State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. UNISON AND HARMONY, DISSONANCE AND DISSOLUTION: GERMAN CHORAL SOCIETIES IN AN AGE OF RISING NATIONALISM, MASS CULTURE, AND SOCIAL CONFLICT, 1870-1918 By RUTH LITTLE DEWHURST Under the Direction of Joe Perry, PhD ABSTRACT This dissertation is a study of choral societies, emotions, and German national identity during the German Empire (1871-1918). Using journals, memoirs, letters, lyrics, banners, postcards, and festival programs, I argue that singing creating overlapping emotional communities in spite of palpable social, economic, and political tensions that intensified in the late nineteenth century. The choral movement that originated in the early nineteenth century was heavily influenced by the early Romantics. Theories of the nation that were wrapped up in the ancient poetry and songs of the Germanic people led to the development of the Lied—an art form that was believed to represent the nation itself. The Romantics also prescribed an aesthetics of music that elevated it to the highest art form. An embrace of the Lied and absolute music fostered the notion that Germans were “the people of music.” Themes of myth, history, nature, and a synthesis of all these with science and politics permeated the choral movement. Choral performances created unique bonds among singers but also drew in instrumentalists, conductors, audiences, and stage hands. Each performance created new emotional connections, and a movement that began in a narrow bourgeois realm gradually filtered into all layers of German society creating complex webs of connection. Over the course of a century, war and music created a German nation and a nation of Germans. INDEX WORDS: Emotional community, Material Culture, Musicking, Bildung, Myth, Heimat, Romanticism, “People of music” UNISON AND HARMONY, DISSONANCE AND DISSOLUTION: GERMAN CHORAL SOCIETIES IN AN AGE OF RISING NATIONALISM, MASS CULTURE, AND SOCIAL CONFLICT, 1870-1918 by RUTH LITTLE DEWHURST Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the College of Arts and Sciences Georgia State University 2019 Copyright by Ruth Little Dewhurst 2019 UNISON AND HARMONY, DISSONANCE AND DISSOLUTION: GERMAN CHORAL SOCIETIES IN AN AGE OF RISING NATIONALISM, MASS CULTURE, AND SOCIAL CONFLICT, 1870-1918 by RUTH LITTLE DEWHURST Committee Chair: Joe Perry Committee: Jared Poley Nick Wilding Electronic Version Approved: Office of Graduate Studies College of Arts and Sciences Georgia State University December 2019 iv DEDICATION I cannot adequately express my appreciation to my family and friends for their support as I worked my way through seminar courses, language study, comprehensive exams, research in Germany, and hours spent writing. Betsy and Andy along with Katherine, Evan, Dylan, Megan, and Robyn; Geoffrey and Nida; Emily and Sean with Mia, and Lucy—you are the greatest blessings to me. My Supper Club friends were beside me all the way and let me off the hook many weeks! Abundant thanks are due to Brett and Katie Edwards (Lydia, Calvin, and Ruby); Matt and Jamie Ross (Mac, Cici, and Charlie); Bill and Diane Hrubik; and Tyler Proffitt. Brett and Tyler offered technical support at moments of despair, and Matt was a ready support for footnote sources. Katie and Jamie—I love you for your constant encouragement! My sisters Ann and Ginnie supported me when I doubted my argument about choirs bringing people together in community. Ann and I sang together in choirs during all our growing- up years; Ginnie sang under the direction of Robert Shaw in the Atlanta Symphony Chorus and offered anecdotal and published sources that were valuable for my research. My brother and sister-in-law (Paul and Dianne) have often provided hours of fun and relaxation from the stresses of writing. My greatest, most inexpressible thanks go to my husband Ken for putting up with me as I have travelled this journey. He has supported my travels, time away from home, and all the hours I spent writing rather than socializing with family and friends. When all is said and done, it has been my own experiences singing in choirs which have served as the muse for this project. Therefore, I dedicate my dissertation to the Midway Presbyterian Church choir (under the direction of Judy Dodd) who teach me every week what it means to be part of a unique emotional community. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am greatly indebted to the entire history faculty at Georgia State University—so many professors challenged my thought processes and inspired my teaching strategies. My greatest thanks go to my committee members. The first course I ever took at Georgia State was a seminar about the history of science taught by Nick Wilding. Although I was never an enthusiastic student of science in high school or college, it was through Nick that I gained a profound interest in the subject—albeit through the lens of history. Jared Poley has been a perpetual encouragement to me—although he probably does not know it. More than anyone else, he challenged me to submit proposals for conferences and to participate in the broader world of academia. Marie Sumner Lott from the music department at Georgia State gave me much valuable advice about nineteenth-century music. Marie was the first to suggest that I look into the all-male choruses, and she led me to some necessary sources for general music history. And I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the invaluable help given to me by Alexander Arlt at the Feuchtwangen (Germany) Music Museum archives. He volunteered sources about the history of the city, and most importantly, suggested a number of helpful secondary sources—primarily those of Friedhelm Brusniak who created the museum and archive. My German tutor, Christine Scheffler Veiera, was a great help in translation—especially when a poem’s/song’s lyrics were tricky to comprehend. We spent quite some time discussing how to best interpret the poets’ meanings—and to put them into English. My greatest thanks go to Joe Perry. In the first seminar I took with him I was introduced to Celia Applegate’s Bach in Berlin—a topic that set me on a course to pursue the importance of music in German society. The other seminar I took with Joe concerned World War I—so you could say, he set the parameters for my own research. Beyond those temporal and topical matters, I am indebted to Joe for advice about navigating Berlin (and the archives), and for sources, and invaluable help with the mechanics of writing and articulating an argument—he made a number of indispensable contributions to my efforts at proper word choices. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................................ II LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................... V 1 INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................. 1 2 MOVEMENT I UNISON AND HARMONY ............................................................... 27 2.1 Chapter 1 German Singers ........................................................................................ 31 2.2 Chapter Two The Lied ............................................................................................. 43 2.3 Chapter 3 Women’s Narratives ................................................................................ 70 3 MOVEMENT II RITUAL OF PERFORMANCE AND FESTIVALS ................... 106 3.1 Chapter 4 Making a Joyful Noise: Festivals Large and Small ............................ 111 3.1.1 Materiality of Print and Advertising .................................................................... 117 3.1.2 Festival Spaces and Rituals ................................................................................. 123 3.1.3 Modern Spaces and Honored Symbols ................................................................ 129 3.1.4 The Main Event: Die Hauptaufführung ............................................................. 146 3.2 Chapter 5 Heterogeneity, Community, and Harmony ......................................... 170 3.2.1 Feuchtwangen: The Musical Life of a Small Franconian Town ...................... 173 3.2.2 Die tausendjährige Linde ..................................................................................... 179 3.2.3 Celebrating Holidays with the Gesang- und Musikverein .................................. 190 3.2.4 Feuchtwangen and its Neighbors