Potter and Dumling Convergence

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 had to do with the musical influence Germany had. As Moser concluded, the entire system of tonality was a German invention among folk musicians (Potter, 216). Thus, every territory that also happened to use the tonal system (basically all of them) was already under at least some German influence, meaning their assimilation to the Third Reich would be that much easier. Second, in the Dumling article, the term “subversive internationalism” (Dumling, 46) pops up as a motif among major political and musical thinkers. Any and all musical processes that are not overtly “German” (ex. American Jazz) are deemed to be diminishing forces to German culture. With these two concepts in mind, it seems that a message of “if you’re not already with us you are part of the problem” was abundantly clear within the musical political sphere.