Post-war German composers
Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra at the March 2, 1916 American premiere of Mahler's 8th Symphony. Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
For German composers of the Nazi period, there seemed to be three possible roles to play between 1933 and 1945: hero, victim, or émigré. And after the war, in 1945, you might face a denazification hearing. For composers such as Karl Amadeus Hartmann, Boris Blacher, and Werner Egk, the post war period was a difficult time, to take up one’s career again, to gain performances, and to find one’s way onto phonograph records.
On this week's Classics of the Phonograph, Saturday at 11 am on WILL-FM, we will hear music of Hartmann, Blacher, and Egk.
Playlist:
Boris Blacher | Variations on a Theme of Paganini: Vienna Phil., conducted by Georg Solti
Karl Amadeus Hartmann | Symphony No. 6: London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Leon Botstein
Werner Eck | French Suite after Rameau Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, conducted by the composer