Friedrich Blume: Difference between revisions

'''Friedrich Blume''' (5 January 1893, in [[Schlüchtern]], [[Hesse-Nassau]] – 22 November 1975, in [[Schlüchtern]]) was professor of [[musicology]] at the [[University of Kiel]] from 1938–19581938 to 1958. He was a student in [[Munich]], Berlin and [[Leipzig]], and taught in the last two of these for some years before being called to the chair in Kiel. His early studies were on Lutheran church music, including several books on [[J.S. Bach]], but broadened his interests considerably later. Among his prominent works were chief editor of the collected [[Michael Praetorius|Praetorius]] edition, and he also edited the important [[Ernst Eulenburg (musical editions)|Eulenburg]] scores of the major [[Mozart Piano Concertos]]. From 1949 he was involved in the planning and writing of ''[[Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart|Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart]]''.

At the [[Musikmusschaftliches Tagung 1938]] symposium, within the framework of the [[Reichsmusiktage]], Blume read a [[position paper]] on 'Musik und Rasse' (Music and Race); Thethe lecture first appeared in ''Die Musik'' ('Music') under the title ''Musik und Rasse: Grundfragen einer musikalischen Rasseforschung'' (Music and Race: Fundamental questions of musical racial research), and later as the book ''Das Rasseproblem in der Musik: Entwurf zu einer Methodologie musikwissenschaftlicher Rasseforschung'' (The racial problem in music: Design for a methodology of musicological racial research).<ref>''Das Rasseproblem in der Musik. Entwurf zu einer Methodologie musikwissenschaftlicher Rasseforschung'', Kallmeyer Verlag, Wolfenbüttel / Berlin 1939 and 1944</ref> [[Fred K. Prieberg]] said "in fact Blume branded the Nazi racial doctrine as unscientific." Similar assessments have been expressed by, for example, the Nazi music experts [[Albrecht Dümling]], Gisela Probst-Effah (University of Cologne), [[Eva Weissweiler]], the French composer {{ill|Amaury du Closel|fr}} or the British musicologists [[Ernest Newman]] and Richard Freymann.<ref>See Fred K. Prieberg: ''Handbuch Deutsche Musiker 1933–1945'' (Handbook on German Musicians) a CD-ROM Lexicon, Kiel 2004, p.509; Albrecht Dümling: ''Das verdächtige Saxophon – „Entartete Musik im NS-Staat“'' (The suspicious saxophone – Degenerate music in the Nazi State), Berlin 2007, p.273; Gisela Probst-Effah: ''Der Einfluß der nationalsozialistischen Rassenideologie auf die deutsche Volksliedforschung'' (The Influence of National Socialist Rassenideology on German Popular Research), in Günter Noll's: ''Musikalische Volkskultur und die politische Macht'' (Musical Folk Culture and Political Power), Essen 1994, pp.161 f.; Eva Weissenweiler: ''Ausgemerzt – Das Lexikon der Juden in der Musik und seine mörderischen Folgen'' (Eliminated – The Lexicon of the Jews in Music and its Murderous Effects), Dittrich-Verlag, 1999, p.27; Amaury du Closel: ''Erstickte Stimmen – „Entartete Musik im Dritten Reich“'' (Choked voices – Degenerate music in the Third Reich), Böhlau Verlag, Vienna / Cologne / Weimar 2010, p.233 f .; To Newman and Freymann, see Pamela Potter: ''Die deutscheste der Künste'' (The most German of the Arts), Stuttgart 2000, pp.314 and pp.393 f.</ref>

The musicologist [[Michael Custodis]], on the other hand, thinks that Blume's writing (''Das Rasseproblem in der Musik'') (The Racial Problem in Music) can itself be regarded as "Nazi propaganda" with "few glances [...]" <ref>Michael Custodis, in: ''Traditionen – Koalitionen – Visionen: [[Wolfgang Steinecke]] und die Internationalen Ferienkurse in Darmstadt"'' (Traditions – coalitions – visions: Wolfgang Steinecke and the International Vacation Courses in Darmstadt), Saarbrücken 2010, p.59</ref> Pamela Potter speaks of Blume's "masterly lavishing on this question [music and race]", which on the one hand had given him praise from the ranks of the Nazi critics, but on the other hand: "Did not force them to suppress the speech or their extended version in the monograph after 1945".<ref>Pamela Potter: ''Die deutscheste der Künste'' (The most German of the Arts), Saarbrücken 2000, p.232 f.</ref>

After the end of World War II, ''The Racial Problem in Music'' was placed in the Soviet Occupation Zone on their banned book list,<ref>http://www.polunbi.de/ibliothek/1946-nslit-b.html{{Dead link|date=December 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> but not in West Germany, where it remained available in some large libraries. Against the backdrop of biological, ideological, as well as musicological influences, hasty attempts were made to infer from the person of the composer, tone systems, melody, rhythm, etc., their race-specific characteristics. Blume in his writing succinctly states: "Let us openly say that we have no reliable knowledge of the connection between music and race for the time being" <ref>Friedrich Blume: ''Das Rasseproblem in der Musik'', p.4 of the 1st edition of 1939 and p.12 of the 2nd edition of 1944</ref> and: "Researching race in and of itself is a matter for biology, in part for psychology. Exploring music is a matter of musicology" .<ref>Friedrich Blume: ''Das Rasseproblem in der Musik'', p.83 in 1st ed., p.97 in 2nd ed.</ref>

In 1939 Blume was commissioned to publish an account of the work of German musicology for the anthology ''Deutsche Wissenschaften: Arbeit und Aufgabe'' (German Science: Work and Task), a ''Festschrift'' for Hitler's 50th birthday. His three-page survey also touches on the "intricate questions about the interrelationship between [Blume's] 'Music and Race'". He concludes his brief excursion on the subject with the following: "Here, the National Socialist orientation of music research places the clear task of laying the foundation on which the construction of a musical racial research can be built. In a few years, great success has been achieved. Comprehensive work requires a longer start-up time. The planned work has been achieved, the view has been directed towards new goals".<ref>Friedrich Blume: ''Deutsche Wissenschaften: Arbeit und Aufgabe'', Leipzig 1939, p.18</ref> In 1944 Blume repeated in the 2nd edition of his book ''Das Rasseproblem in der Musik'' his statement of 1939,: "daß wir von dem Zusammenhange zwischen Musik und Rasse wissenschaftlich vorläufig keinerlei gesicherte Kenntnis haben" (that we have no scientific knowledge of the relationship between music and race for the time being).<ref>Friedrich Blume: ''Das Rasseproblem in der Musik'', 2nd ed. 1944, p.12</ref>

In the 2004 collection ''Handbuch Deutsche Musiker 1933–1945'' (Handbook to German Musicians), Fred K. Prieberg published the following Blume -quote from a preface to the [[Schleswig-Holstein]] Choral Festival in April 1939: "The men and women who come together to the 'Schleswig-Holstein choral festival' in [[Flensburg]] with German choirs from the ceded territories, do not only want to demonstrate their artistic aspiration and ability, but rather to pay homage to the overarching and binding thoughts of the German People's Community and the German state as a whole. They want to make a faithful confession to leaders and empire, to the unity of blood and culture, and they want to dress it in the form of the highest state-forming art power that we know: in the form of music".<ref>Ferd K. Prieberg: ''Handbuch Deutsche Musiker 1933–1945'', CD-ROM Kiel 2004, p.505, with reference Priebergs reprinting of Blume's introductory words in the ''Zeitschrift für Musik'', CV/6 June 1938. p.651</ref> Prieberg, however, only interprets these sentences as a lip service and explains a few pages further in his ''Handbook'' explicitly that he does not consider Blume a "Nazi".<ref>Fred K. Prieberg: ''Handbuch Deutsche Musiker 1933–1945'', CD-ROM 2004, p.509</ref>

In 1942 Blume took up the suggestion of [[Karl Vötterle]], the founder of the [[Bärenreiter-Verlag]], to become their editor for the preparation of the encyclopaedia ''[[Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart]]'' (Music in History and Present). This lexicon appeared as 14 volumes between 1949 and 1968 under Blume's leadership (the supplementary volumes and an index book were later published by his daughter Ruth Blume 1973–86from 1973 to 1986). From 1947 to 1962, he was also a major figure in the reconstruction of German musicology as president of the Society for Music Research.

In 1948 he was elected to the presidency of the newly founded [[International Musicological Society|Internationalen Gesellschaft für Musikwissenschaft]], where from 1958 to 1961 he worked as its president. He was also an organizer of the Internationale Vereinigung der Musikbibliotheken, Musikarchive und Musikdokumentationszentren (International Association of Music Libraries, Music Archives and Music Documentation Centers), and [[Répertoire International des Sources Musicales |RISM]], as President of the International Heinrich Schütz Society and Chairman of the Joseph Haydn Institute. He was awarded numerous honors and distinctions for his work.

* ''"Die formgeschichtliche Stellung der Klavierkonzerte [[WolfgangMozarts," Amadeus Mozart|Mozarts]]'', Mozart-Jahrbuch'' 1924, p.&nbsp;81–107.

* ''"Eine unbekannte Violinsonate von J. S. Bach,''" in ''[[Bach-Jahrbuch]]'' 25, 1928, p.&nbsp;96–118.

* ''"[[Max Bruch]]''," in: ''Deutsches Biographisches Jahrbuch'', Volume 2: 1917–1920, Stuttgart 1928, p.&nbsp;505–509.

* ''"[[Hermann Abert]] und die Musikwissenschaft''," in ''Festschrift für Hermann Abert'', ed. by Friedrich Blume, Halle 1928, p.&nbsp;18–30.

* ''Fortspinnung und Entwicklung'', in ''Jahrbuch 36 der Musikbibliothek Peters'', Leipzig 1929, p.&nbsp;51–71; Nachdruck in ''Syntagma Musicologicum 1'', p.&nbsp;504–525.

* ''"[[Josquin des Prez|Josquin des Prés]]''," in: Der ''Drachentöter. Jahrbuch des Kallmeyer-Verlags'', Berlin: Wolfenbüttel 1929, p.&nbsp;52–69.

* ''"[[Heinrich Schütz]] in den geistigen Strömungen seiner Zeit''," in ''Musik und Kirche'' 11/1930, p.&nbsp;245–254.

* ''"[[Joseph Haydn]]s künstlerische Persönlichkeit in seinen Streichquartetten''," in ''Jahrbuch 38 der Musikbibliothek Peters'', Leipzig 1931, p.&nbsp;24–48; Nachdruck in ''Syntagma musicologicum 1'', p.&nbsp;526–551.

* ''"[[Johann Sebastian Bach|Bach]] und [[GeorgGeorge FriedrichFrideric HändelHandel|Händel]]''," in ''Die Musikpflege'' 5, 1934/35, p.&nbsp;400–407.

* ''"Heinrich Schütz''," in: ''Die Großen Deutschen'', ed. by W. Andreas and Wilh. by Scholz, Vol. 1, Berlin 1935, p.&nbsp;627–643.

[[Category:18941893 births]]

[[Category:Academic staff of the Humboldt University of Berlin faculty]]

[[Category:Academic staff of Leipzig University faculty]]

[[Category:Academic staff of the University of Kiel faculty]]

[[Category:20th-century German musicologists]]