Patronage and reception history of American experimental music in West Germany, 1945-1986.

Abstract

In the United States, composers who challenged established definitions of classical music by developing unconventional sounds and sound sources, musical structures, and performance practices often had difficulty finding patronage. Beginning in the 1950s, however the avant-garde music community in West Germany---especially state-funded radio stations and contemporary music festivals---has provided opportunities for American experimental composers that they have not enjoyed in the United States. This dissertation documents the roots, history, and influence of West German support of American experimental composers from 1945 until 1986. Chapter One describes early performances of American music following the zero hour in 1945, the United States' reeducation program during the occupation of West Germany, the establishment of a state-supported network of radio stations, and cultural exchange between the two countries. The second chapter examines early interaction with American music through lectures and performances at the Holiday Courses for New Music in Darmstadt (IFNM) between 1950 and 1958. The idea of American experimental music as it was understood in both the United States and in West Germany is probed in the third chapter. Chapter Four describes changes at IFNM between 1959--1970 when a controversial new director took over its leadership. The fifth chapter describes alternative venues for performance of American music in West Germany during the 1960s in Cologne, Bremen, Munich, and West Berlin. Chapter Six considers widely publicized performances of American experimental music in 1972 in Bremen, Berlin, and Darmstadt, and the arrival of minimalism through Steve Reich's performances in several cities. Finally, Chapter Seven tells the story of Morton Feldman's rise to the status of a cult figure in West Germany between his first residency in West Berlin in 1971--72 and his successes at IFNM in 1984 and 1986. The dominant canon of American music in Germany today has emerged from intense interaction with American experimental music since the fifties, and from attitudes held in Germany about American culture in general. This investigation of American composers' relationship to the West German cultural infrastructure draws on archival documents and correspondence, concert and festival programs, interviews, reviews, and secondary literature on postwar music history.