Recommended books & documentaries on Third Reich music

[Marcus]

[Topic expanded, to include documentaries, by the section host, Ivan Ž.]

The idea of this sticky is to collect recommendations on good books [and documentaries] dealing with Third Reich music.

Please post the title, author and a short (or long) explanation as to why you feel that particular title deserves to be included.

/Marcus

If you buy through the below links you not only get the books you want but you also support the forum while shopping!
* AHF Bookstore
* Amazon.com (UK, Germany)

[Ivan Ž.]

HandbuchDeutscheMusiker.jpg (78.16 KiB) Viewed 37295 times

Fred K. Prieberg
Handbuch Deutsche Musiker 1933-1945
Auprés des Zombry 2004

Absolutely a number 1 must-have. The man wrote nearly 10000 pages (to be more precise: there are 9570 pages). An excellent book about German composers of the 1933-1945 period (plus all the relevant ones from earlier periods), including their biographies, lists of their compositions and often important or interesting notes on them. Nearly every single composer active in that period was covered in the book. The main focus is on the military & political music. The info is very much reliable with only a couple of mistakes, which is absolutely normal for such a huge work. A fantastic job by a rare, true professional.

Ivan Ž.

[Sdt]

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Horst Bergmeier; Rainer E. Lotz; Volker Kühn
Lili Marleen an allen Fronten
Ein Lied geht um die Welt
Das Lied, seine Zeit, seine Interpreten, seine Botschaften
Bear Family Records 2005

This book is sold with about 200 recordings of the song, in seven CDs. As you can see, this book is about the famous "Lili Marleen" song. It has 180 pages and and is in large format. The book follows a logical link, according to the performers of the song in the CDs. There is about one page for each performance of the song. Here is described the artist, the orchestra and the little background of each recording. There is always a photograph of the 78-RPM of each recording, which is a good thing for people who like accuracy. Most of the time, there is a photograph of the singer or the band. Several pictures of posters are also included. You will also find pictures of articles of newspapers, places, scores, lyrics etc. Since the format is large, the photographs are in high resolution.

The important periods of the song are detailed:
-when was it written ? by who ? in what context ?
-who composed the music ?
-who made the song become famous ?
-when did the song reach its peak ? how did it happen ? who were its main performers abroad ?
-how did the song become a propaganda tool in World War II ?
-what was its relationship with the Third Reich ?
-how did it become an international hit ?
-how did it remain famous after the war ?
-what are its variants ?

All the questions are answered in the book. Only negative point I can find is that the book is in German.

[Heinrich George]

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Michael H. Kater
Different Drummers
Jazz in the Culture of Nazi Germany
Oxford University Press 2003

http://www.amazon.com/Different-Drummer ... 0195165535

The author has written several other books on music in this period.

[Fallersleben]

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Thomas Freitag
Niel
Regia-Verlag 2014

Herms Niel (1888-1954). Er war Militärmusiker im 1.Weltkrieg, diente beim stolzen 1. Garde-Regiment zu Fuß in Potsdam, er erreichte aber als Musiker und Poet seine größte Popularität nach 1933. Weil Niel die Stimmung beim Militär genau kannte, singt er von „Front und Heimat“, „Soldat und Soldatenliebe“, „Lob und Treue des Vaterlandes“. Viele seiner Lieder wurden Hits im NS-Staat. Ab 1934 leitete Niel den Musikzug des RAD in Potsdam, entwickelte aus ihm ein Spitzenorchester und wurde Hauptmusikzugführer. Niels Musik erklang in den Wunschkonzerten des Reichsrundfunks, erschien auf Schallplatten und Millionen Liedpostkarten, er wurde eingesetzt bei der Truppenbetreuung. Wo er auftrat, kannten die Leute seine Lieder und sangen sie begeistert mit. Hitler machte ihn zum Professor. Die Erzählung „Niel“ lotet Leben und Werk des einstigen Musik-Stars, der über Jahrzehnte vergessen schien, aus. Die Witwe des Komponisten, Helene Niel, erzählt. Sie kann nach dem Berliner Mauerbau die Gräber ihrer beiden Männer in Potsdam nicht mehr besuchen, aber kurz vor ihrem Tod legt sie die Musikerkarriere ihres Mannes offen. Eine Erzählung über populäre Musik und deren Wirkungen im Dritten Reich.

Unfortunately not a single photo in this book...

[Ivan Ž.]

Thanks for posting, Frank. I didn't have the time to read the complete book yet, but I took a quick look and read a couple of excerpts - and so far it looks very nice to me. Although there are no photos, nor much details about the songs, nevertheless I find it quite interesting and pleasant to read. There seem to be a lot of other interesting details.

Cheers,
Ivan

[Bill Medland]

Anyone interested in Dutch collaborationist songs should obtain the following book....

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Gerard Groeneveld
Zo zong de NSB
Liedcultuur van de NSB 1931-1945
Uitgeverij Vantilt 2007

Although the book is in Dutch, it contains a lot of colour pictures of Hitler Youth songbooks etc.

The main reason for recommending the book it comes with a CD containing 25 NSB songs! (lasting 77 minutes).

Cheers, Bill.

[Annelie]

Has anyone here bought this DVD?

What was your opinion of it?

Thanks

DasReichsorchester.jpg (81.75 KiB) Viewed 6799 times

Enrique Sánchez Lansch
Das Reichsorchester
Die Berliner Philharmoniker und der Nationalsozialismus
2007

[Ivan Ž.]

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Deutsches Rundfunkarchiv; Marion Gillum; Jörg Wyrschowy
Politische Musik in der Zeit des Nationalsozialismus
Ein Verzeichnis der Tondokumente (1933-1945)
Verlag für Berlin-Brandenburg GmbH, Potsdam, 2000

A discographical list of the most important and the most interesting political recordings of the Third Reich, straight from the German Radio Archive - with basic info on each recording: title, genre, opening line, author (+ date of birth/death if known), recording date, number of stanzas recorded, performer, duration + occasional notes. Excellent and reliable material for a discographical research (which was also the main reference material for the recording-info in the aforementioned Prieberg's book). Clear, nicely sorted, with very helpful indexes. Over 200 pages.

Ivan Ž.

[Ivan Ž.]

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Joachim Toeche-Mittler
Musikmeister Ahlers
Ein Zeitbild unserer Militärmusik 1901-1945
W. Spemann, Stuttgart, 1981

A flawless biography of the bandleader of the number one Reichswehr and Third Reich band, by one of the most respected authors on the German military music. An excellent work on 147 pages, with 105 photos (featuring also the German military music celebrities such as Hermann Schmidt, Oskar Hackenberger, Paul Haase, Hans Felix Husadel, Bendix Tumforde, Heinrich Dippel, Adolf Berdien), including band's concert programs and some additional period documents. A true must-have for a military music fan.

Ivan Ž.

[Bill Medland]

Thanks, that some good publications to look out for

Cheers, Bill.

[Ivan Ž.]

Cheers, Bill, and thanks for recommending "Zo zong de NSB", I second it

Ivan

[Ivan Ž.]

Has anyone here bought this DVD?

What was your opinion of it?

Enrique Sánchez Lansch
Das Reichsorchester
Die Berliner Philharmoniker und der Nationalsozialismus
2007

A well made documentary! I highly recommend it (and sorry for the late reply, Annelie). It includes interviews with surviving members of the orchestra and their descendants, and reports on the expelled Jewish and (after the war) Nazi members. Many good quality period clips too. A rather fair portrait of the orchestra during the Third Reich period in my humble opinion, maybe just a bit too much denazified (for example, there was no mention of them recording Nazi propaganda songs). But the overall picture of the orchestra seems about right, with a healthy dose of criticism.

Cheers,
Ivan

[Annelie]

Thank you Ivan.

Shall go ahead and order it.

Annelie

[Ivan Ž.]

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Horst Bergmeier; Rainer E. Lotz
Hitler's Airwaves
The Inside Story of Nazi Radio Broadcasting and Propaganda Swing
Yale University Press 1997

As the book description says, it is a book about the nazi radio broadcasting and propaganda swing - and particularly the unique band "Charlie and his Orchestra". An amazingly well researched and awarded work (1998 award for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research). The book has 384 pages, many previously unpublished photographs, lyrics, and also comes with a matching CD with propaganda songs and broadcasts. Highly recommended.

Ivan Ž.