| Series |
California studies in twentieth-century music ; 4
California studies in 20th-century music ; 4. ^A473908
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| Contents |
West Germany and the American experimental tradition. The American occupation and agents of reeducation (1945-1950). Henry Cowell and the office of war information ; The zero hour and American music in postwar Berlin ; Reeducation and information control ; The radio broadcasting system ; Music officers and America houses ; Military support for new music in Darmstadt ; Hans Heinz Stuckenschmidt in America, 1949 ; Edgard Varese in Darmstadt, 1950: a question of Kultur -- Debuts (1950-1954). New music on the radio: educational commitments ; Herbert Eimert's musical night program ; "Everything is going on in Germany" ; The growth of festival culture ; Darmstadt, Wolfgang Rebner, and American music ; John Cage and David Tudor in Donaueschingen ; Cologne: WDR and Karlheinz Stockhausen ; American orchestral music in Baden-Baden -- Ambassadors for the American avant-garde (1955-1958). Stefan Wolpe and David Tudor in Darmstadt, 1956 ; Tudor, the Pied Piper from New York ; Henry Cowell's 1956 tour ; Awaiting "Still the most desired pianist anywhere" ; Cage and Tudor in Darmstadt, 1958 ; Cologne galleries and Musik der Zeit ; Does modern music in the USA begin and end with Cage? -- Musics of change: action after Cage (1959-1961). After Darmstadt in 1958: Cagean repercussions ; Darmstadt, 1959 ; Steinecke's Beitrage, 1960 ; Mary Bauermeister's Cologne studio ; Fluxus in West Germany ; Darmstadt 1961: Tudor's night program ; Steinecke's death: the end of an era -- Changing of the guards (1962-1970). Propaganda and polarization ; Ernst Thomas's Darmstadt ; Bremen: Hans Otte and pro musica nova ; Munich: musica viva and Josef Anton Riedl ; The well-funded island of West Berlin ; Generational conflicts ; Free jazz in Donaueschingen and Berlin -- The pluralism paradigm (1970-1974). Music and ideology ; Darmstadt's crisis, 1970 ; 1972: a breakthrough ; "Europe needs Cage": pro musica nova, 1972 ; Berlin, Walter Bachauer, and the Munich Olympics ; Darmstadt between revolution and restoration ; Minimalism ; Metamusik, 1974 -- New allies and old heroes (1975-1990). State funding and market considerations after 1976 ; Bachauer's Berlin and after ; Ernstalbrecht Stiebler and Frankfurt's radio landscape ; Walter Zimmermann's Desert Plants ; The beginner studio and Cologne venues ; "Europe needs Nancarrow" ; Morton Feldman: "My biggest fans are Germans!" ; Falling walls -- Conclusion. From Darmstadt to Halberstadt. |
| Abstract |
This book documents how American experimental music and its practitioners came to prominence in the West German cultural landscape between the end of the Second World War in 1945 and the reunification of East and West Germany in 1990. Beginning with the reeducation programs implemented by American military officers during the postwar occupation of West Germany and continuing through the cultural policies of the Cold War era, this broad history chronicles German views on American music, American composers' pursuit of professional opportunities abroad, and the unprecedented dissemination and support their music enjoyed through West German state-subsidized radio stations, new music festivals, and international exchange programs. Framing the biographies of prominent American composer-performers within the aesthetic and ideological contexts of the second half of the twentieth century, the author follows the international careers of John Cage, Henry Cowell, Earle Brown, Morton Feldman, David Tudor, Frederic Rzewski, Christian Wolff, Steve Reich, Pauline Oliveros, Conlon Nancarrow, and many others to Donaueschingen, Darmstadt, Cologne, Bremen, Berlin, and Munich. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references (pages 301-325) and index. |
| LCCN | 2005023759 |
| ISBN | 0520247558 (cloth : alk. paper) |
| ISBN | 9780520247550 |
