Despite their courage, Furtwängler did not act out of pure altruism. Almost everything he did was intended to preserve the integrity of Germanic music. But since Furtwängler himself was regarded as the most important example of this art, its activity was used to consolidate their status and ego gratification. Furtwängler hardly be compared to Raoul Wallenberg, Oskar Schindler and other heroes who had nothing to gain and who acted purely as a matter of conscience, ultimately sacrificing all they had to oppose the Nazi genocide. Focused exclusively in the art, simply Furtwängler himself was not concerned by the wider social context.
This limited approach produced mixed results. Inextricably linked to each of the laudable objectives and achievements of Furtwängler, there was an unwanted inconvenience. Despite valid cultural intentions unwittingly strengthened the German war effort.
For example, Furtwängler accepted the vice presidency of the union, compulsory, artists, and served on a committee to approve all programs of public concerts. He assumed these positions of leadership to maximize their impact on the preservation of cultural integrity and to ensure exposure to composers and artists of quality. But their constant visibility also served to legitimize and lend credibility to the Nazi regime, not only in the eyes of foreign observers, but also to the public: after all, how could the Nazis be the most barbaric and depraved if someone like Furtwängler could coexist with them?
Similarly, after the war many said they Furtwängler concert served to bring together members of the Resistance. These events brought together a group of cultural leaders for a postwar Germany that would boast of humanism over militarism. Even outside of Germany, many immigrants were inspired by Furtwängler as a symbol of dissent.
Thus Furtwängler activities during the War may have produced lasting humanitarian benefits. But nevertheless, in the short term, had the opposite effect.
As Sam Shirakawa, biographer, points out quite rightly, Furtwängler could have offered their art for the sake of "true Germans", but had no control over its dissemination. Therefore, their concerts were broadcast to boost the morale of the troops. And what is worse, Hitler and his top henchmen often attended concerts Furtwängler to wallow in their musical balm. That same balm may have lulled the frustration of the intellectuals and artists and putting them led to the indifference and diverted their energies in active opposition to war and genocide.
only saw his music as a force for moral redemption. Once told Toscanini: "Human beings are always free to interpret Wagner and Beethoven, and if they are not free at first, are released while listening to these works." But the hearts of Nazi soldiers are not melted, and the souls of their leaders proved to be insensitive to the aesthetic redemption. Those responsible for (or, at best, indifferent to) the extermination of millions of innocent people, are they really the right to have their consciences be released from the glory of music?
Nor the personal views of Furtwängler was free of paradox. In fact, even his attitude toward Jews was inconsistent. One of the axioms of Nazi social engineering was that Jews were incapable of being true German spirit, and therefore were less than fully human and social pollution. Nowhere in the absurdity of this assumption was more evident than in classical music, as many of the best artists of Germany were Jews. In fact, the pianist Arthur Schnabel, a Jew, was universally acclaimed as the ultimate exponent of Mozart, Schubert and Beethoven in particular, the quintessence of German music. And yet although it was ideally equipped to reject the racist Nazi point of view, Furtwängler often made distinction between two kinds of Jews.
one hand, strongly supported the Jews who had reached the pinnacle of their musical careers, artistic, scientific or academic. Furtwängler vehemently opposed to Nazi efforts to deport such people, since it had become an integral and significant contributors of German culture. The vast majority of Jews who helped Furtwängler were professionals (or their families or acquaintances).
On the other hand, Furtwängler apparently believed that the Jews out of these exalted ranks were potentially subversive and, therefore, expendable. Approved of attacks on the alleged Jewish domination of newspapers because, from their point of view, this replaced the development of a press truly "Germanic." Similarly, the boycott seemed to allow businesses to Jews, protesting only foreign adverse publicity and the threat of flooding that could deplete the arts.
Even in May 1945 Furtwängler did not seem to fully understand the consequences of Nazi racism. From the geographical and historical perspective of his sanctuary in Switzerland, had ample time to reflect on the past decade.
However, his main concern became the fear that following the defeat of the atrocities public now be blamed entirely on the German people, ignoring cultural greatness and nobility interior . Despite everything he had witnessed, Furtwängler simply could not accept that the culture that had ever occurred to Goethe and Beethoven had rotted now in a quagmire of military boots and crematoria.
Prieberg Fred calls this a myth of protection that Furtwängler was created to protect itself from liability in a real world where civilizations fall, in which people are responsible of their leaders, and in which art can not be so conveniently insulated from politics. Furtwängler's tragedy was that she had to believe this illusion of permanent German cultural merit to justify the work of his life. Prieberg concludes: "Furtwängler was sacrificed to his own fiction."
In recent years, we were treated to a pathetic parade of elderly German artists claiming an innocent ignorance of the Holocaust. Furtwängler had been "one of them? Apart from a few expressions of shame after the war, no evidence that Furtwängler has ever taken a stand against the terrible culmination of his casual tolerance of anti-Semitism. Indeed, it seems inconceivable that a man who spent much of his time studying closely the political leaders and social trends have been genuinely ignorant of this cornerstone of the Nazi policy and activities. Or, knowing, Did you see the world through artistic blinders and just not care?
Speculation about Furtwängler's mental state are confusing and inconclusive. But luckily there is a more reliable index of his conscience. When we hear performances during the war of Strauss, Böhm, von Karajan, Krauss, Mengelberg, and other moralists Axis directors heard fully at peace with themselves, happily oblivious to the horrors around them, comfortably located in their insular worlds of satisfaction abstract art.
But Furtwängler production this season has a completely different dimension, reaching far beyond the limits of the classical tradition accepted distended brutally twisted structures, tempos outrageous, irregular phrasing, balance bizarre and violent dynamics. This is not simply the expression of a cold-hearted Nazi. But, clearly and irrefutably denotes a sensitive and deeply troubled man, plagued by internal conflicts and doubts of his soul hurt, always about to explode in agony.
The debate on political conceptions of wartime Furtwängler may continue to rotate among academics, historians and social philosophers, but his art gives the proof of his fundamental humanity. There is no room for subtleties or doubts. Possibly one that is sensitive to the interpretation of the music can be confused .-
Translated:
Peter Gutmann: Wilhelm Furtwangler, Genius Forged in the Cauldron of War / in: Classical Notes
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