Sibelius & Swastikas
Sibelius (right) at his 70th Birthday Gala
Jessica Duchen penned a lovely little ode to Sibelius in today's Independent. She recaps the case for ranking Sibelius' among the greats, ostensibly "to restore Sibelius to his rightful status".
What could possibly affect his status (aside from the usual garden-variety musical snobbery)?
Nazi admiration, of course. Because the Germans gave him some medal and Adorno subsequently lumped the Finn in with the Fascists, apparently there's a taint on Sibelius.
Rehabilitating composers from their Nazi connections has become quite the cottage industry, and whether it's Soho the Dog wringing his hands over Webern or Dieter Borchmeyer deconstructing Wagner, even the slightest connection to the Third Reich in a composer's legacy inevitably leads to an overreaction.
As Mike Godwin pointed out almost 20 years ago, when any discussion can't free itself of the Nazi issue, it's probably outlived its usefulness. Hitler liked a lot of stuff, from stuffed squab to Siegfried. That shouldn't stop anyone from enjoying either.
Jessica Duchen penned a lovely little ode to Sibelius in today's Independent. She recaps the case for ranking Sibelius' among the greats, ostensibly "to restore Sibelius to his rightful status".What could possibly affect his status (aside from the usual garden-variety musical snobbery)?
Nazi admiration, of course. Because the Germans gave him some medal and Adorno subsequently lumped the Finn in with the Fascists, apparently there's a taint on Sibelius.
Rehabilitating composers from their Nazi connections has become quite the cottage industry, and whether it's Soho the Dog wringing his hands over Webern or Dieter Borchmeyer deconstructing Wagner, even the slightest connection to the Third Reich in a composer's legacy inevitably leads to an overreaction.
As Mike Godwin pointed out almost 20 years ago, when any discussion can't free itself of the Nazi issue, it's probably outlived its usefulness. Hitler liked a lot of stuff, from stuffed squab to Siegfried. That shouldn't stop anyone from enjoying either.
posted by jodru at 09:26
2 Comments:
This is why he would be associated with German sympathy.
"His early works were inspired by the folklore and scenery of his homeland; they quickly became a symbol of Finland's struggles for self-determination against the ever-encroaching Russia"
The Finnish supported German efforts against their own oppressor - Russia. These agreements had nothing to do with suporting ideoligy but for the practical concern of their dealing with Russia.
After stating that one lone source stated a link between Sibelius and the Nazi state, the article says this: "Nothing could have been further from the truth, as revealed in Erik Tawaststjerna's definitive five-volume biography of Sibelius: in his diary the composer lambasted anti-Semitism and declared the Nazis' race laws "the most complete hogwash". But the damage had been done."
All that was clear. The point simply was that it shouldn't matter as much as people tend to let it.
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