Abstract

This project will examine specific aspects of military music in the Federal Republic of Germany today. Military music not only uniquely demonstrates performative characteristics of music, but it has also, unlike almost any other genre, experienced fundamental changes in meaning and reception. Because of this, a comparison of the present day with the time around 1900, the late period of the Kaiserreich, has also been planned. Alongside the causes of this change in meaning, the main points of this investigation will be military music as representation of the state and idiom in contemporary music as well as its transformation and arrangement practices, including variations on the German national anthem.

Although military music is an almost completely overlooked field of music and cultural history, its research is a musicological necessity. Its position on the sidelines of cultural life is even more surprising considering that it is a source of traditional ensemble music and was held in high esteem until the beginning of the 20th century. This project is committed to studying specific aspects of military music which fit the theoretical and practical objectives of this Sonderforschungsbereich. Military music lends itself particularly well to this research because its two customary modes of performance, either by marching and parading or by playing at open-air concerts, expand its possibilities for staging and presentation. Major issues within the current discussions regarding the Kulturen des Performativen will be touched on by the symbolization of violence, the remembrance of war and destruction, and the continuity of ritual, power, and state. Additionally, the cultural and historical comparison of the current situation in the Federal Republic with the situation in the Kaiserreich up to the First World War will focus this research. Methodologically, this project and its subprojects will engage in rigorous analysis of the semantic, aesthetic, and semiotic foundations (idioms) of military music as well as compositional technique and other specific elements (including instrumentation, repertoire, and participation of women). Ultimately, these efforts will contribute to the understanding of the relationship between music and state (democracy).


| oben | Projektliste | Homepage | SUCHEN | Stand: 7/14/08