Open AccessEvangelist or Socialist: Johann Sebastian Bach in the Cold War and Other Periods of National Uncertainty
Author(s) -
Marie-Agnes Dittrich
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
muzikološki zbornik/muzikološki zbornik
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.108
H-Index - 4
eISSN - 2350-4242
pISSN - 0580-373X
DOI - 10.4312/mz.43.2.277-284
Subject(s) - cold war , german , ideology , empire , art history , art , history , ancient history , economic history , classics , political science , law , archaeology , politics
At the Bach Conference 1950 in Leipzig, the socialist image of Bach in East Germany competed with the conservative and theological one of West Germany. During the Cold War both served to legitimize rival ideologies. Once again, Bach was interpreted as an orientation, as in other periods of national incertainty, like the Napoleonic Wars (Forkel, 1802) or just before the Prussian-German Empire (Wagner, 1870).