Politics and music in the first half of the 20th century. He describes how music can be a tool of outreach and xenophobia, depending on the Political Climate of the era. Good afternoon. Hello, everyone. Im amanda shondra. Its my pleasure to welcome you here today for Classical Music and American Foreign relations, a complicated duet. Thank you to our members. Its your support that keeps us going. Thank you so much. Were going deep into the december before the holidays. Its a pleasure to have you. If you are not yet a member, if you are curious about our membership levels or programs, talk to me or any of our volunteers just outside the doors. You can pick up a copy of the magazine if you dont have one already. Find us online at smithsonianassociates. Org. Please take a moment to silence any mobile devices or your cellstonecel cellphones. Good to doublecheck because we have cspan in the house. Your ring tone will be saved. Thank you. Just an additional note. Our exits we have one in the back and one to your right. Today, just use the right side door. You may have noticed we have a lot going on in the ripley center. That back door is blocked. Use this door to your right as you exit. I think thats all the announcements i have for you. Again, thank you to cspan for being here today. Finally, let me tell you about our guest today. Jonathan rosenburg. He teached ees at hunter colled the City University of new york. He focuses on the history of the United States. Before receiving his ph. D. In history from harvard, he worked as a Classical Musician. He is also the author of dangerous minds, Classical Music in america from the great war to the cold war. Its available for signing and sale at the conclusion of the program. Join me in welcoming jonathan rosenburg. [ applause ] thanks. Okay. Is my microphone on . I think it is. Very good. Well, thank all for coming out this afternoon. Its a pleasure to see you here. Its nice to be here in washington. Its heartening to see theres a group of people who are interested in Classical Music and want to hear someone discuss a book on the subject. I would like to begin by asking you to ponder a couple of questions. Does art matter . What about artists . As we reflect upon American Society today, it can seem that art and the artist have very little impact on our lives. But i would like to tell you about a time it wasnt all that long ago when art and artists were extraordinarily important. Im thinking specifically about Classical Music in the United States. I would like to take you back to the streets of new york city in the spring of 1958. May of that year. 100,000 new yorkers turned up to watch a ticker tape parade honoring van clyburn. He had recently won a competition. It was held in moscow. Cheers cass indicated down on clyburn as the parade snaked up broadway. Americas newest celebrity was sitting in the back seat of an open car waving to people, blowing kisses to the crowd. Women were reaching out to try to touch him. In moscow a few weeks earlier, premiere khrushchev was an enthusiastic participant in this emerging clyburn affair. Millions of americans read about the way he playfully chatted with the young peianoist. The gave clyburn a bear hug. When he got back to the United States, clyburnmania swept the country. He was invited to the white house to meet with dwight eisenhower. It must be said, eisenhower had no interest in Classical Music. When his press secretary was asked whether clyburn would play during the visit, he said, i dont think so. And he didnt. People read accounts of clyburns every move in newspapers and magazines. There were portraits, opinion pieces, discussions of his baptist roots. There were articles on whether his victory in moscow would transform the u. S. soviet relationship. Can one imagine such a thing today . Wi would the overseas accomplishments of a Classical Musician capture the attention of the political leaders or newspapers and magazines . Would we have a ticker tape parade that would attract 100,000 delirious fans held for an artist with a gift for playing tchaikovsky . I think we know the answer to that is no. In an earlier time, a pianists triumph coulds me myr s me meme American People. Its connection to the larger culture is tenuous. Magazines offer little coverage of the goings on in the world of Classical Music. Newspapers supply little more than short reviews of concerts and recite alz. For nearly all americans, the Classical Music landscape in the United States is alien terrain. Perhaps this group is an exception to that. This wasnt always so. Classical music occupied a prom meant place not only in the cultural life but in its political life as well. To tell that story, i explore the connection between the world of Classical Music in the United States and some of the crucial International Developments of the 20th century. Over many decades i argue in the book, Classical Music achieved a degree of significance that the music had never known before and which is it surely lacks today. Of course, the question is, why did Classical Music once command such attention . From world war i through the cold war, the Classical MusicCommunity NoticeUnited States became entangled in international affairs. It was bound up in the two world wars that the United States fought against germany with the soviet union an important ally in world war ii. It was entwined in the emergence of italian and german fascism. It was caught up in the unending cold war. These three countries, germany, italy and the soviet union, were wellsprings of rich musical traditions and the birthplaces of distinguished musical figures. Americans had long admired both those traditions and the musicians who embodied them. It was difficult for people in the United States to separate americas relations with germany, italy and the soviet union from the music and musicians of those three lands. As a result, the Classical Music community in the United States was drawn into the swirl of International Politics and the intersection between the Music Community and unfolding overseas events supplied Classical Music with a degree of political significance that i think is now difficult to comprehend. Dangerous melodies is filled with stories about singers, conductors and composures along with the tales of the work of important musical institutions in the United States. Orchestras and Opera Companies. It also looks at how listenering understood and responded to Classical Music. A key point in the book is that over many decades, americans imbued the music with political and ideological meaning. It helped americans grapple with questions in the life of the count country. It helped them decide what was worth fighting for and why. It helped illuminate the meaning of democracy, freedom and patriotism. It supplies insight into the nature of tyranny and oppression. Classical music and the work of Classical Musicians helped americans reflect upon the countrys purpose in what was a dangerous century. What role would the United States play in the world . According to one musicologist, music is not just something, quote, nice to listen to. He writes, it is what we make it and what we make of it. People think through music, he writes. They use it to decide who they are. I would suggest to you that for many decades, the American People did a great deal of thinking through music and their reflections on Classical Music and on the work of musicians and performing institutions allowed them to achieve a deeper understanding of americas place in the world. As i conducted research for this book, i came across some striking things that i didnt expect to find, that is almost inevitable when you are doing research on a book. I really was struck by a couple of things that were utterly unexpected. The first concerns an enduring debate on the relationship between art and politics in the United States. It was a bitter debate and it pitted those who viewed Classical Music in highly nationalistic terms against those possessing a more idealistic perspective. I call them the musical nationalists and the musical universalists. The musical nationalists saw the world as a perilous place. Thef they were convinced listening to pieces by certain composers or attending performances could somehow contaminate the country or even perhaps endanger the American People. At those moments when the country felt particularly vulnerable, the musical nationalists favored banning the music of certain composures or preventing certain artists from performing in the nations concert halls and opera houses. Unlike the musical nationalists, the universalists were convinced that art transcended politics and national rivalries. They believes music could act as a unifier, a force for uplift, perhaps even a catalyst for global cooperation. The musical universalists not surprisingly saw Classical Music as a universal language which could speak to all the humanitys hopes and dreams. To many years, the debate between the musical nationalists and was in newspapers, magazines. The passion that characterized this public wrangling heightened Classical Musics political significance across the country. A couple of other things i didnt expect to find as i researched dangerous melodies. Its a book about the history of Classical Music. What i in a sense uncover ee eee two vital aspects of 20th century u. S. History. The activist around the world and its anxiety over antidemocratic regimes. Consequently, its not just a history of Classical Music in the United States, it also reveals how the United States became more assertive in World Politics in the 20th century. How the American People experienced a growing sense of distress over the threat posed by antidemocratic rulers. Mussolini, stalin, hitler. I would like now to turn to sort of the meat of the book and look at a couple of important episodes in this history that i have written. I would like to begin by turning to the First World War, which began in the summer of 1914. The u. S. Entered the war in 1917. Wars can do peculiar things to societies. Word war one was no exception. It caused unsavory attitudes to bubble to the surface of american life. The german state and its people were portrayed in barbaric terms. Germanamericans and all things german ultimately would be scorned in this country. The german language was no longer taught in schools. German books were removed from library shelves. There were book burnings in america of german language books. More trivially, sauerkraut became liberty cabbage. German measles, well, yes, liberty measles. More seriously, germans were tarred and feathered. They were beaten. A drunken mob lynched a german laborer ein a small town in illinois. German music and musicians did not escape the fury. The concert hall became a battleground. A battleground upon which ethnic animosity and patriotic aspirations would be contested. Its worth keeping in mind that in this period, late 19th and into the early 20th century, the culture of Classical Music in the United States was really quite teutonic. Rehearsals of u. S. Orchestras in this period took place in german. The majority of repertoire performed was german. Most conductors were german, a large number of musicians were german. It got drawn drawn into all of this antigerman sentiment in the country, music did. Many believe that the american war effort could be fortified by dictating who could conduct, who could perform and what could be played. Id like to turn to boston, which was the home at that time of one of the finest symphony orchestras in the United States. And it still is. The bostons music director at that time was german born and one of the most celebrated conductors. His problems began when it was alleged that he had refused to play the star spangled banner at a concert in providence, rhode island, this was october of 1917. The fact was that he was not informed of the request to play the piece. The orchestra did not have the music with them, they werent prepared to play it and it wasnt played. Things quickly spiraled downward. The muck affair became a national phenomenon. It was widely covered in the press for a considerable period of time. In philadelphia, Theodore Roosevelt told a crowd any man who refuses to play the star spangled banner should be forced to pack up and return to the country he came from. In baltimore, a boston sim gone in that concert, they were on the road doing a little tour, a symphony concert was canceled when it was feared that riot might erupt. There was no concert. A large rally was held anyway, it was head by a former politician there. Cries of kill munk rang out. It was a vicious scene and i describe it in the book. In new york, he became the target of a Toxic Campaign to keep him off the stage. The effort failed. He performed a few concerts there, they were well reviewed, there were Police Officers stationed in the concert hall. Munks fate was hardly secure though. Back in boss on the night of march 25, 1918, he was arrested. He wasnt charged with any crime, he was hauled off to the local jail and a few weeks later he would be shipped off to a fort in georgia which was a place that held german prisoners. Not necessarily war prisoners, most of these people were germans who lived in the United States. The u. S. Government labeled karl munk a dangerous enemy alien and he would spend the rest of the war in this prison camp in georgia along with several other thousand german aliens, a number of whom were musicians. The book has much more on the karl munk saga including his love affair with a young singer which became Public Knowledge after his arrest and further inflamed the situation. Still more troubling, the authorities accused karl munk of espionage. There are a number of allegations against him. He was said to have signaled german vessels at sea from a Summer Seaside cottage that he had on the main coast. There is no credible evidence to support any of these allegations. He was no spy. He was a faithless husband, but not a spy. He war, he was deport never to return to the United States. Throughout the country, german music and german musicians were the object of antigerman hatred. In new york city, in the 1917 1918 concert season, no german opera would be performed. German singers were fired. The opera house had become an extension of the battlefield. A ban was also placed on ork december tral pieces by living german pose e german composers. Some thought that was foolish. These were mainly the musical universalists. One publication said this notion of banning the music by all living german composers was absurd. After all, if strauss were to die tomorrow, his music would suddenly become inis able. How silly was that. These sorts of bans though were nationwide. The music of living german composers was a special target. Wagner operas were also banned. In pittsburgh, all german music completely was procescribed. Cincinnati had a man who was imprisoned, the same chris k. Poli prison camp of munk. He committed no crime. K. Prison camp of munk. He committed no crime. It was reported that he said antiamerican things. And several musicians were dismissed in chicago, again charged with no crimes. The chicago symphony had a very distinguished cellist, he was dismissed after he was accused of adding obscene lyrics to the star spangled banner. He also failed to stand up during a performance. He was asked why. He said i couldnt stand and continue to play my cello. The end of the war in 1918 did not mean an end to antigerman hostility in the country. I wont go in to it in detail, but the book details this goes dg goes into it in considerable detail. One year after the war, gunfire rang out on the east side of new york city when violent proceeds erupted over performances of german operand by a new opera company, that company was soon forbidden from offering new yorkers german opera. In effect there were riots on the streets of new york over this, this was a year after the end of the war. Gradually over time, over the next few year, german music would be heard again, germany had been tamed in the war and its music again soothed and inspired the American People. By the 1930s, developments in germany again aroused concern. In 1936, the most famous conductor in the country decided that he was going to s