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Blume, son of a tax inspector, studied from 1911 to 1914 at the universities of [[Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München|Munich]], [[University of Leipzig|Leipzig]] and [[Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin|Berlin]]. Initially studying medicine, he then applied himself to musicology, art history and philosophy. After military service and captivity during World War I, he continued his studies in Leipzig in 1919 and was awarded a doctorate in 1921 with ''Studies on the history of the orchestral suite in the 15th and 16th centuries''. From 1921, Blume worked as an assistant of [[Hermann Abert]] at the University of Leipzig, and after 1923 at the University of Berlin, where he gained his [[habilitation]] with the treatise ''The Monodic principle in Protestant church music'' in 1925. From 1927 to 1929 he was the head of the Institute of Musicology.
Blume belonged to the ''Kampfbund für deutsche Kultur'' (or patriotic league for German culture) and after its dissolution in 1934 to the National Socialist cultural community.<ref name="Prieberg">[[Fred K. Prieberg]]: ''Handbuch Deutsche Musiker 1933–1945'', CD-Rom-Lexikon, Kiel 2004, p.504–509.</ref> In 1934 he became a member of the [[Rotary Club]], which was similarly suspicious of the leading Nazi-cultural politicians as were the [[Freemasons]].<ref>Pamela Potter: ''Die deutscheste der Künste. Musikwissenschaft und Gesellschaft von der Weimarer Republik bis zum Ende des Dritten Reichs'', Stuttgart 2000, p.190; [[Eva Weissweiler]]: ''Ausgemerzt – Das Lexikon der Juden in der Musik und seine mörderischen Folgen'', Dittrich-Verlag, 1999, p.26 f.; Blume-file in the Berlin Federal Archives: R 4901/24251 (Sig. 5760).</ref> After the seizure of power by the [[National Socialism|
Blume was appointed a member of the State Institute for German Music Research in 1935, which entrusted him with the "German Heritage of Music" series in 1939 and the publication of the magazine "Deutsche Musikkultur" until 1944. In 1942 he took over the chairmanship of the [[New Schütz Society]].
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Blume was not part of the [[Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei|National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP)]]. At the University of Kiel, he was first employed as a non-employee Professor and would finance his position there every year through scholarships, which were recommended by the Kiel-based NS lecturer, Eggers, as well as the dean of his faculty. After a restrictive introduction ("I hardly know him"), Eggers, in his recommendation to his deputy Prof. Fiedler, introduced Blume as "politically perfect character". Eggers also noted that Blume was "neither a member of the NSDAP nor of a structure or of a federation of the NSDAP".
Nevertheless, he regarded his "probable" involvement as an active
At the [[Musikmusschaftliches Tagung 1938]] symposium, within the framework of the [[Reichsmusiktage]], Blume read a [[position paper]] on 'Musik und Rasse' (Music and Race); The 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
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
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>
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