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Around the middle of the 19th century, Germany as a nation was highly developed and was excelling in all spheres like science, arts or culture. However, the universal law of gravity which states that what goes up must come down is applicable in case of this country as well and it was in 1850 that the first seeds of racism were sown. As luck would have it, it was none other than the great musician of his time Richard Wagner who laid the first foundation stone for the evolution of Nazi Military Music which was customized to suit the demands of the Third Reich. Till the end of the Second World War, this along with German Band Music accompanied the army on all its marches. Quoting a well known philosopher, ‘Music is the melody whose text is the world’ and in case of the Third Reich the text was Nazi Military Music which was designed with the intention of re-organizing the world’s culture in accordance with certain lines. Something that began as a personal onslaught against Jewish music composers in Germany soon took the shape of law and was the reason behind many talented composers fleeing for their lives. Added to this attack was the official attempt to purify German music wherein only inspirational German Band Music was considered as worthy of being played. Just prior to the beginning of the Second World War when Hitler annexed Austria in 1938, one of his first impositions on the natives of the country entailed replacement of European music with Nazi Military Music. As a result, many cultural centers in the capital city of Vienna were metamorphosed into conservatories wherein their focus was the spread of Nazi ideology like the Bayreuth festival. A new symphony orchestra was created to play German Band Music and this accompanied the marching Germany army in all its conquests across Europe. Evidence of Nazi Military Music is visible in the conquest of Czechoslovakia as well which took place six months prior to the outbreak of the war. German authorities imposed their culture, music and traditions on the indigenous population and new institutions to impart education on German music were established. Although the previous Czech orchestra was granted the permission to continue it was asked to dismiss and expel all its Jewish members and was also trained to play the German Band Music amongst other compositions. This extremism is cultural policy was particularly fierce in Poland where local musical organizations were totally disbanded and were replaced with new orchestras which specialized in Nazi Military Music. Adding insult to injury was the new Governor of Poland who considered himself as being the primary vehicle for spreading the German culture and music to every corner of the conquered territory. The consequence was a newly organized philharmonic orchestra comprising of talented musicians of ghettos which played German Band Music in as many as thirty performances. Something that is very obvious through these historical anecdotes is that Germany’s leaders of the Third Reich attached a lot of importance to music and were convinced of its veracity in popularizing their dogmas. Thanks to all this attention by political figures, a new genre of music named Nazi Military Music came into being and served as a propaganda vehicle for the regime to force its beliefs on others. Because it was a musician who held strong beliefs in this regard, German Band Music was one of the earliest harbingers of the harsh times to come. Wherever the German army went it carried with it the newly built legacy of Nazi Military Music which it imposed on the annexed nations. This resulted in the sprouting of new orchestras which were trained to play German Band Music in all their concerts held parallel to the war.
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Nazi Military Music, German Band Music,
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