October 1, 2010: Jewish Music, Handel, and the Berlin Jewish Culture League

Guest Speaker

Lily E. Hirsch
Assistant Professor of Music History

Cleveland State University

Location: Humanities 1641

The Berlin Jüdischer Kulturbund, or Jewish Culture League, was a closed cultural organization created by German Jewish luminaries in cooperation with the Nazi government. This presentation examines the organization's debate on "Jewish music" and its culmination, represented by the Jewish Culture League Conference in 1936. To further access this debate in practice, the presentation specifically focuses on Handel's popularity in League performance. However, Handel's standing in the League's repertoire may further confound, rather than clarify, this inquiry. After all, Handel, of German origins, was quite popular in the League in part because of his music considered Jewish. Despite or maybe because of contradictions like this one, this paper is able to shed light on the complicated process of defining "Jewish music" in Nazi Germany. It also offers a glimpse into the internal operation of this unique organization, a product of collaboration between Jews and Nazis, and, for many, a place of both salvation and damnation.