[Continued from "VPO & Racism (2/2)"]
In 1898 Gustav Mahler became the General Music Director of the Vienna
Philharmonic, replacing Hans Richter who had led the orchestra for the
previous 23 years. (The Vienna Philharmonic refers to the Richter years
as its golden age.) Mahler's tenure was troubled in part by a continual
pattern of anti-semitic harassment and he left the orchestra after three
years. Jerger, using his own words and quoting those of Max Kalbeck,
draws a comparison of Richter and Mahler that reveals the anti-semitic
attitudes Mahler confronted:
"A completely different type of personality entered with Mahler, 'as
there' -- to speak with Max Kalbeck's vivid words -- 'instead of the tall
blond bearded Hun, who placed himself wide and calm before the orchestra
like an unshakeable, solidly walled tower, there was a gifted shape
[begabte Gestalt] balancing over the podium, thin, nervous, and with
extraordinarily gangly limbs.' In fact, a greater contrast was really not
possible. There the patriarchal Hans Richter in his stolidity and
goodness, and his extremely hearty and collegial solidarity with the
orchestra, and here Gustav Mahler, oriented to the new objectivity [neue
Sachlichkeit] -- nervous, hasty, scatty, intellectualish [sic] -- the
music a pure matter of his over bred intellect."(14)
Unfortunately there is not space here to analyze the language
(intellectualish, over bred, new objectivity, gangly limbs, scatty vs.
blond, tall, stolid, wide, calm, solidarity) and how it expresses the
hallucinogenic ideologies of anti- semiticism and National Socialist
aesthetics. The transparent sub text is one of chauvinistic masculinity
and genetic superiority.
Jerger's book vividly illustrates how national cultural identity in
western art music can be intertwined with sexism, racism and chauvinistic
ethnocentricity. Though the Vienna Philharmonic is clearly no longer
fascist, much of the characteristic language used in Jerger's book about
the "central European soul", the "physiognomy of the orchestra",
"emotional unity", "masculinity", "ethnicity", etc. was evidenced long
before the Anschluss, and is still used to this day when the orchestra
speaks about itself.
The special regard the National Socialists had for the Vienna Philharmonic
stands in stark contrast to the plans the Nazis had for the rest of
Vienna. It was Hitler's goal to destroy Austria's independent national
identity by reducing its capital Vienna to provincial status and making
his home town of Linz the new cultural center of Austria. For example,
the "Reichs Bruckner Orchestra" of Linz was founded by the National
Socialists in 1942 and immediately became the only other orchestra in the
Reich with a status equal to the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics.
After the war the de-nazification of the Vienna Philharmonic was conducted
in a disinterested, half-hearted and careless manner. The reasoning was
that due to the war there were not adequate replacements for the many
National Socialists in the orchestra, and that due to its special
qualities the Vienna Philharmonic deserved special treatment.(15) The
orchestra argued with singular logic that it had lost so much through
"Aryanization" that it could not afford to lose anymore quality through
"de-nazification".
The government offered its "complete agreement for the position" and said
"the current condition would be bearable, since it was the view that in
the interest of the cultural mission of Austria, artists in general, and
especially the Vienna Philharmonic, would be subject to a different
evaluation than other professional groups."(16) Only five of the many
Nazis in the orchestra were fired. Later ten others were given an early
retirement whose ages were between 54 and 66. And of the 5 who were
actually fired 3 soon returned to the orchestra due to the Philharmonic's
common administration with the Volksoper where they had obtained work.
Thus only 2 National Socialists of some 60 in the orchestra were really
fired. These were Wilhelm Jerger, and a violist who the orchestra
resented, not because he was a National Socialist, but because he obtained
his position during the war without auditioning.(16)
The lax de-nazification of the Vienna Philharmonic had an affect on
orchestral policy. Toscanini refused to work with them because of the
Nazis who remained in the orchestra. In 1947 he was asked to conduct, but
said he would only do so if certain fascists were removed from the
orchestra. The Vienna Philharmonic refused.(17)
In 1949 the Vienna Philharmonic voted to take a pay cut in order finance
an apartment, pension, and chauffeur for Hans Pfitzner, a composer who is
considered to have been one of the most active anti-semitic spokesmen in
the music-world of the Third Reich. Among his many National Socialist
activities, he advised the regime on racial cleansing. In the horrific
language of National Socialism this was referred to as the "Entjudung"
("de-Jewing) of culture. Fulfilling a function similar to the Vienna
Philharmonic's, he was widely performed in the conquered countries in
order to "Germanize" them. He was held forth to the subdued peoples an
example of the "most German" [deutschester] composer. Nazi officials
"celebrated Pfitzner as one of National Socialism's most
related-in-character [wesenverwandten] German fighters and exhorters of
music."(18) It is thus informative that in 1949 the Vienna Philharmonic
elected Pfitzner to be an honorary member of the orchestra.(19)
In 1953 the orchestra caused international concern when it elected a
former SS Sargent and member of the the Sicherheitsdienst (which included
the Gestapo) as its Executive Manager (Geshaeftsfuehrer).(20) Actions such
as these made it difficult for the Vienna Philharmonic to leave behind its
reputation as a "Nazi Orchestra" in spite of its fine music-making. That
they continue to express the belief that gender and ethnic uniformity give
them aesthetic superiority has not helped their image.
Though the Vienna Philharmonic maintains gender and ethnic uniformity
among its members, they allow for outside influence through guest
conductors and soloists. They have found it beneficial to consciously use
these guests to rehabilitate the orchestra's public image, while at the
same time quietly denying rank and file membership to women and racial
minorities(21). This has been an effective public relations tool for
resisting change, and fits with sociological models which suggest that
isocratic groups form controlled relationships with outsiders to mutually
enhance their image and status.
In summary, the orchestra's ethnic and racial ideologies allowed it to
concentrate and institutionalize beliefs that were common in Germany and
Austria decades before the Anschluss, and this made the Philharmonic an
easy and willing target for National Socialist appropriation. Due to the
lax effort in de-nazification, combined with the general post-war
atmosphere in Austria as a whole, the orchestra still maintains views that
cause discomfort in the international community. What are these "racist
and sexist irritations" that are an essential part of "the noble
character of Viennese culture" and why do they ask us to tolerate them?
Why is it important that "white men perform music by white composers for
white people?" Why would the Vienna Philharmonic be damaged if some
members were visibly of other races such as Asians? What do they mean by
the "Soul" and why is it affected by race and not just education?
A great deal of dialog and documentation is still necessary. These
concerns are not just finger pointing at an orchestra in Austria. The
Vienna Philharmonic is central to the identity western culture, and to
look at that orchestra is to look at ourselves. One need only listen to
Walter Cronkite moderating with his epic tones the yearly broadcast of the
Vienna Philharmonic's New Year' s concert, which is broadcast to an
estimated audience of one billion people, or to see the diplomats,
Cardinals, and heads of state sitting in the honored seats in the front
rows of its concerts, to know how close the Vienna Philharmonic is to all
of us. And the Vienna Philharmonic claims to be the best selling
recording orchestra in the world. So now, fifty years after the war, the
people in and surrounding this orchestra must begin an honest dialog. We
must look at how we deal with "the other", and at the deep-seated
brutality and denial that seems to lie at the heart of much of western
culture.
William Osborne
100260.243@compuserve.com
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NOTES
(1) Ostleitner, Elena, _Liebe, Lust, Last und Lied_ (Wien,
Bundesministerium fuer Unterricht und Kunst, 1995): 6.
(2) For the number of foreigners see: Ostleitner, 1995, 45. For their
racial appearance see their photos in: Hellsberg, Clemens, _Demokratie der
Koenige: Die Geschickte der Wiener Philharmoniker_ (Zurich: Schweiyer
Verlagshaus: Wien: Kremayr & Scheriau; Mainz: Musikverlag Schott, 1992)
624-650. Hellsberg is a first violinist in the Vienna Philharmonic, vice-
chairman of the orchestra, and the orchestra's archivist. His book was
written for the 150 year anniversary of the orchestra.
(3) Ostleitner, 1995, 44.
(4) Ibid. 46.
(5) Osborne, William, "Art Is Just An Excuse: Gender Bias in International
Orchestras", _Journal of the International Alliance for Women in Music_
(Vol. 2, No. 3, October 1996) 6. The interview material was transcribed
and translated from: "Wie so geh'nei so," broadcast by the West German
State Radio, February 13, 1996. See also: Girtler, Roland, "Mitgliedsaufnahme
in den Noblen Bund der Wiener Philharmonicer Als Mannbarkeitsritual",
_Sociologia Internationalis_ (Beiheft 1, Berlin 1992).
(6) Osborne, 1996, 6.
(7) "Von Tag zu Tag", broadcast by Austrian National Radio and Television,
December 11, 1996, 4:05-4:45pm. Thanks to Regina Himmelbauer for bringing
this to my attention.
(8) One of the most common of these publications is _Die National Zeitung_.
(9) Hellsberg, 1992, 464. See also his endnote number 17, page 672.
(10) Ibid. 505.
(11) Ibid. 464.
(12) Ibid. 464.
(13) Jerger, Wilhelm, _Erbe und Sendung_ (Wien: Wiener Verlag Ernst Sopper
& Karl Bauer, 1942) 87. Copies of this book are rare. Thanks to Manuela
Schreibmaier for finding and making a copy available to me.
(14) Ibid. 57.
(15) Hellsberg, 510.
(16) Ibid. 510.
(17) Ibid. 518.
(18) Ibid. 549-551.
(19) Kroll, Erwin, "Der Warthegau huldigt Pfitzner. _Allgemeine
Musikzeitung, Leipzig_ (LXIX/10, September 18, 1942; as quoted in:
Prieberg, Fred K., _Musik im NS-Staat_ (Frankfurt am Main: Fischer
Taschenbuch Verlag, 1982) 224.
(20) Ibid. 514.
(21) During the Waldheim affair in the late 1980's the Austrian government
made plans to send the Vienna Philharmonic to Israel with Bernstein. The
orchestra unsuccessfully used this occasion to try to force the government
to give them a permanent tax break. See Hellsberg, page 560.
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