Comments on: Toward Entartete Musik http://danajohnhill.com/dana/2010/02/03/toward-entartete-musik/ Hard Times Come Again No More Tue, 22 May 2012 05:37:04 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Aja Fereday http://danajohnhill.com/dana/2010/02/03/toward-entartete-musik/comment-page-1/#comment-2077 Aja Fereday Wed, 29 Dec 2010 22:01:38 +0000 http://danajohnhill.com/dana/?p=1343#comment-2077 I lately came across your blog and have been learning along. I thought I would leave my very first comment. I do not know what to say except that I've loved reading. Fine weblog. I will preserve visiting this blog really normally. I lately came across your blog and have been learning along. I thought I would leave my very first comment. I do not know what to say except that I’ve loved reading. Fine weblog. I will preserve visiting this blog really normally.

]]> By: Dana http://danajohnhill.com/dana/2010/02/03/toward-entartete-musik/comment-page-1/#comment-927 Dana Thu, 11 Feb 2010 19:23:19 +0000 http://danajohnhill.com/dana/?p=1343#comment-927 What is important to remember is that the Third Reich had a state-sanctioned arts policy in a way the United States never has or ever will. That policy was a reaction against the perceived excesses of the period immediately preceding the Nazi's rise to power. In that time, adventurous music (and painting, sculpture, and film) was judged to be part and parcel of a regime (the Weimar Republic) that had sold out "true" German culture, and Germany itself. The situations you describe would have been unimaginable in Germany from the mid-1930s until the end of the Second World War, not just because those styles of music didn't exist, but because, as in any totalitarian state, the nail that sticks out gets hammered in. Are we what we listen to? I don't know. I doubt it. Most people don't think too deeply about the forms of entertainment they consume. If it "sounds good" that's what they like. There is more variety today than ever before. There are also more jerks. I think that explains a lot. American culture is as diverse as any that ever existed anywhere at any time. That's bound to cause friction on occasion. But I wouldn't trade it for the alternative if that alternative looks anything like Germany in the years preceding the Entartete Musik exhibition. Thankfully, I don't ever see anything like that ever happening here. What is important to remember is that the Third Reich had a state-sanctioned arts policy in a way the United States never has or ever will. That policy was a reaction against the perceived excesses of the period immediately preceding the Nazi’s rise to power. In that time, adventurous music (and painting, sculpture, and film) was judged to be part and parcel of a regime (the Weimar Republic) that had sold out “true” German culture, and Germany itself.

The situations you describe would have been unimaginable in Germany from the mid-1930s until the end of the Second World War, not just because those styles of music didn’t exist, but because, as in any totalitarian state, the nail that sticks out gets hammered in.

Are we what we listen to? I don’t know. I doubt it. Most people don’t think too deeply about the forms of entertainment they consume. If it “sounds good” that’s what they like. There is more variety today than ever before. There are also more jerks. I think that explains a lot.

American culture is as diverse as any that ever existed anywhere at any time. That’s bound to cause friction on occasion. But I wouldn’t trade it for the alternative if that alternative looks anything like Germany in the years preceding the Entartete Musik exhibition. Thankfully, I don’t ever see anything like that ever happening here.

]]> By: uncle tom http://danajohnhill.com/dana/2010/02/03/toward-entartete-musik/comment-page-1/#comment-921 uncle tom Sun, 07 Feb 2010 19:33:52 +0000 http://danajohnhill.com/dana/?p=1343#comment-921 Holy crap! what a post. But can you draw me a parallel to the polarizing effects of music in today's America? If history repeats itself, what can you see happening here? Surely, I don't get it. Have you ever heard hard core urban thump-rap coming from a 4X4 monster truck with a gun rack and rebel flag decals? Or George Jones moaning from a limegreen bubble with 24s and a Malcolm X sticker? Are we what we listen to? Cause or effect? All my best to you and Mrs. Hill. Happy Valentines Day. Holy crap! what a post. But can you draw me a parallel to the polarizing effects of music in today’s America? If history repeats itself, what can you see happening here? Surely, I don’t get it. Have you ever heard hard core urban thump-rap coming from a 4X4 monster truck with a gun rack and rebel flag decals? Or George Jones moaning from a limegreen bubble with 24s and a Malcolm X sticker? Are we what we listen to? Cause or effect? All my best to you and Mrs. Hill. Happy Valentines Day.

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