''Deutsche Sinfonie'', Op. 50, is a composition for soloists, chorus and orchestra by Hanns Eisler. Despite the title, it is considered to be more in the style of a

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning of ...

than a

symphony A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...

. Principally composed between 1935 and 1947, but not completed until 1957, it is an eleven-movement setting of poems by

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a pl ...

, drawn mainly from Brecht's ''Songs, Poems and Choruses'' of 1934, and by

Ignazio Silone Secondino Tranquilli (1 May 1900 – 22 August 1978), known by the pseudonym Ignazio Silone (, ), was an Italian political leader, novelist, and short-story writer, world-famous during World War II for his powerful anti-fascist novels. He was no ...

, adapted by Eisler. It was premiered in its full form at the

Berlin State Opera The (), also known as the Berlin State Opera (german: Staatsoper Berlin), is a listed building on Unter den Linden boulevard in the historic center of Berlin, Germany. The opera house was built by order of Prussian king Frederick the Great from ...

East Berlin East Berlin was the ''de facto'' capital city of East Germany from 1949 to 1990. Formally, it was the Allied occupation zones in Germany, Soviet sector of Berlin, established in 1945. The American, British, and French sectors were known as ...

, on 24 April 1959. Brecht had died in 1956. Eisler's theme was the advance of

Nazism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

in Germany. Yet the composer encountered difficulties in both reception and performance of the work throughout its long period of composition and development. When the first two movements (at this stage subtitled ''An Anti-Hitler Symphony'') won a prize at the 15th Festival of the International Society for Contemporary Music, gaining a promised performance of them at the 1937 Paris World Exhibition, the Nazi regime persuaded the French government to have the performance cancelled.Phleps, Thomas (1995) ''Deutsche Sinfonie: An Anti-Fascist Cantata'', Decca 448 389-2 And it was not until 1995 that the work was finally given a studio recording, with soloists and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra under Lothar Zagrosek; this was released in

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

' ''

Entartete Musik Degenerate music (german: Entartete Musik, link=no, ) was a label applied in the 1930s by the government of Nazi Germany to certain forms of music that it considered harmful or decadent. The Nazi government's concerns about degenerate music were a ...

'' series.

Movements

#Präludium #An die Kämpfer in den Konzentrationslagern concentration camps">Nazi concentration camps">concentration camps#Etüde für Orchester #Erinnerung (

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...

)

emory Emory may refer to: Places * Emory, Texas, U.S. * Emory (crater), on the moon * Emory Peak, in Texas, U.S. * Emory River, in Tennessee, U.S. Education * Emory and Henry College, or simply Emory, in Emory, Virginia, U.S. * Emory University ...

#In Sonnenburg #Intermezzo für Orchester #Begräbnis des Hetzers im Zinksarg urial of the trouble-maker in a zinc coffin#Bauernskantate: A. Mißernte, B. Sicherheit, C. Flüstergespräche, D. Bauernliedchen easant Cantata: A. Crop failure, B. Security, C. Dialogue in whispers, D. Sickle song#Arbeiterkantate ong of the class enemy#Allegro für Orchester #Epilog

References

{{Authority control Compositions by Hanns Eisler 1957 compositions Cantatas