Monthly Archives: September 2016

I’ve started thinking a lot on the two converging pictures being painted of the German musical scene this week. First, we are shown in the Potter reading that a justification (among the many) behind the Nazi conquering of neighboring lands … Continue reading →

In the excerpt from “Speech on Culture,” Hitler notes that it is “totally impossible to express a worldview or intellectual matters musically” (185). Further, he draws a division between intellectual understanding and musical genius, affirming that great music is the … Continue reading →

Reflecting upon the previous weeks of this course, I found interesting in this week’s readings the importance of tonality and the “idea of major” (Potter, 216), as well as the constant dismissal of experimentation and atonality. The latter point was referred … Continue reading →

Stylistic distinction in music, and its political role, is a central theme in the material of all four texts we read for Wednesday. Bodek says that “Social Democratic cultural theorists…took pains to differentiate between what they believed was class-conscious proletarian … Continue reading →

Set somewhat curiously in Victorian London*, the film sets two Dickensian (I couldn’t help but think of Oliver Twist) gangs against one another: Peachum and his beggars, and Mack and his thieves. Peachum profits off the poor while Mack imitates and … Continue reading →

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaZDiKRT1is In his essay “Cabaret,” Hollaender notes that the seemingly innocuous show tune often contains latent social or political critiques. He writes, “Under the cover of an evening’s relaxing entertainment, cabaret, like nothing else, suddenly dispenses a poison cookie. Suggestively … Continue reading →