Germany claims some of the most renowned composers, singers, producers and performers of the world. Germany is the largest music market in Europe, and third largest in the world.
German
classical music
Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...
is one of the most performed in the world; German composers include some of the most accomplished and popular in history, among them
Johann Sebastian Bach,
Georg Friedrich Händel,
Ludwig van Beethoven,
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sy ...
,
Johannes Brahms
Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped wit ...
,
Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...
.
Carl Maria von Weber,
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
and
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss (; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, and violinist. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, he has been described as a successor of Richard Wag ...
were among the composers who created the field of
German opera. The most popular composer alive and from Germany is probably film score composer
Hans Zimmer.
German popular music of the 20th and 21st century includes the movements of
Neue Deutsche Welle (
Nena,
Hubert Kah
Hubert Kah is a German synthpop band, led by Hubert Kemmler (born 22 March 1961 in Reutlingen). Kemmler is a German musician, composer, songwriter and producer.
Biography
Kemmler's career began as a member of a trio named Hubert Kah, consist ...
,
Alphaville),
disco
Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...
(
Boney M.
Boney M. was a German-Caribbean vocal group that specialized in disco and funk created by German record producer Frank Farian, who was the group's primary songwriter. Originally based in West Germany, the four original members of the group's o ...
,
Modern Talking,
Dschinghis Khan,
Milli Vanilli,
Bad Boys Blue),
metal/
rock
Rock most often refers to:
* Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids
* Rock music, a genre of popular music
Rock or Rocks may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...
(
Rammstein,
Scorpions,
Accept
Accept may refer to:
* Acceptance, a person's assent to the reality of a situation etc.
* Accept (band), a German heavy metal band
** ''Accept'' (Accept album), their debut album from 1979
* ''Accept'' (Chicken Shack album), 1970
* ACCEPT (or ...
,
Helloween),
punk (
Die Ärzte,
Böhse Onkelz,
Nina Hagen,
Die Toten Hosen
Die Toten Hosen (literally "The Dead Trousers", figuratively "The Deadbeats") is a German punk rock band from Düsseldorf.
History
The current members of Die Toten Hosen are Campino (Andreas Frege), Kuddel (Andreas von Holst), Vom (Stephe ...
),
pop rock (
Sandra,
Enigma,
Michael Cretu,
Herbert Grönemeyer
Herbert Arthur Wiglev Clamor Grönemeyer (born 12 April 1956) is a German singer, musician, producer, composer and actor, popular in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Grönemeyer starred as war correspondent Lieutenant Werner in Wolfgang Pete ...
) and
indie (
Tocotronic). Famous female singers were
Marlene Dietrich and
Hildegard Knef. German
electronic music gained global influence, with
Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk (, "power station") is a German band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk were among the first successful acts to popularize the ...
and
Tangerine Dream being pioneer groups in this genre. The
electro and
techno scene is internationally popular, namely due to the DJs
Paul van Dyk,
Scooter and
Cascada.
Germany hosts many large rock
music festival
A music festival is a community event with performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock, blues, folk, jazz, classical music), nationality, locality of musicians, or h ...
s. The
Rock am Ring and Rock im Park festival is among the largest in the world. Since around 1990, the new-old German capital
Berlin has developed a diverse music and entertainment industry.
Minnesingers and Meistersingers
The beginning of what is now considered German music could be traced back to the 12th-century compositions of mystic abbess
Hildegard of Bingen, who wrote a variety of
hymns and other kinds of
Christian music.
After Latin-language religious music had dominated for centuries, in the 12th century to the 14th centuries, Minnesinger (''love poets''), singing in German, spread across Germany. Minnesinger were aristocrats, traveling from court to court, who had become musicians, and their work left behind a vast body of literature, ''Minnelieder''. The following two centuries saw the Minnesinger replaced by middle-class
Meistersinger, who were often master craftsmen in their main profession, whose music was much more formalized and rule-based than that of the Minnesinger. Minnesinger and Meistersinger could be considered parallels of French
troubadours and
trouvère.
Among the Minnesinger, Hermann, a
monk from
Salzburg, deserves special note. He incorporated folk styles from the Alpine regions in his compositions. He made some primitive forays into
polyphony as well.
Walther von der Vogelweide and
Reinmar von Hagenau are probably the most famous minnesingers from this period.
Classical music of Germany
![3 Komponisten 1 small](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/3_Komponisten_1_small.jpg)
Germans have played a leading role in the development of
classical music
Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...
. Many of the best classical musicians such as Bach, Händel, Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms, Wagner, Mahler, or Schoenberg (a lineage labeled the "German Stem" by
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky (6 April 1971) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor, later of French (from 1934) and American (from 1945) citizenship. He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of the ...
) were German. At the beginning of the 15th century, German classical music was revolutionized by
Oswald von Wolkenstein, who travelled across Europe learning about classical traditions, spending time in countries like France and Italy. He brought back some techniques and styles to his homeland, and within a hundred years, Germany had begun producing composers renowned across the continent. Among the first of these composers was the organist
Conrad Paumann. The largest summer festival for classical music in Germany is the
Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival.
Chorale
Beginning in the 16th century,
polyphony, or the intertwining of multiple
melodies, arrived in Germany.
Protestant chorales predominated; in contrast to Catholic music, chorale was vibrant and energetic. Composers included
Dieterich Buxtehude,
Heinrich Schütz and
Martin Luther, leader of the
Protestant Reformation. Luther happened to accompany his sung
hymns with a lute, later recreated as the
waldzither that became a
national instrument of Germany in the 20th century.
Opera
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's ''
Die Zauberflöte'' (1791) is usually said to be the beginning of German
opera. An earlier starting date for German opera, however, could be
Heinrich Schütz's ''
Dafne'' from 1627. Schütz is said to be the first great German composer before
Johann Sebastian Bach, and was a major figure in 17th-century music.
In the 19th century, two figures were paramount in German opera:
Carl Maria von Weber and
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
. Wagner introduced devices like the
Leitmotiv, a musical theme which recurs for important characters or ideas. Wagner (and Weber) based his operas of German history and folklore, most importantly including the ''
Ring of the Nibelung'' (1874). Into the 20th century, opera composers included
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss (; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, and violinist. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, he has been described as a successor of Richard Wag ...
(''
Der Rosenkavalier'') and
Engelbert Humperdinck, who wrote operas meant for young audiences. Across the border in Austria,
Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...
innovated a form of twelve-tone music that used
rhythm and
dissonance instead of traditional melodies and harmonies, while
Kurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill (March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fru ...
and
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 ...
collaborated on some of the great works of German theater, including ''
Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny'' and ''
The Three-Penny Opera
''The Threepenny Opera'' ( ) is a "Play (theatre), play with music" by Bertolt Brecht, adapted from a translation by Elisabeth Hauptmann of John Gay's 18th-century English ballad opera, ''The Beggar's Opera'', and four ballads by François Vill ...
''.
Following the war, German composers like
Karlheinz Stockhausen and
Hans Werner Henze began experimenting
electronic sounds in classical music.
Germany is also very well known for its many subsidised
opera houses, such as
Semperoper,
Munich State Theatre and the
Bayreuth Festspielhaus.
Baroque period
Baroque music, which was the first music to use
tonality in the modern sense, is also known for its
ornamentation
An ornament is something used for decoration.
Ornament may also refer to:
Decoration
*Ornament (art), any purely decorative element in architecture and the decorative arts
*Biological ornament, a characteristic of animals that appear to serve on ...
and artistic use of
counterpoint
In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...
. It originated in Northern Italy at the end of the 16th century, and the style migrated quickly to Germany, which was one of the most active centers of early Baroque music. Early German Baroque composers included
Heinrich Schütz,
Michael Praetorius,
Johann Hermann Schein
Johann Hermann Schein (20 January 1586 – 19 November 1630) was a German composer of the early Baroque era. He was Thomaskantor in Leipzig from 1615 to 1630. He was one of the first to import the early Italian stylistic innovations into German ...
, and
Samuel Scheidt. The culmination of the Baroque era was undoubtedly in the works of
Johann Sebastian Bach and
Georg Friedrich Händel in the first half of the 18th century. Bach established German styles through his skill in
counterpoint
In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more musical lines (or voices) which are harmonically interdependent yet independent in rhythm and melodic contour. It has been most commonly identified in the European classical tradi ...
,
harmonic
A harmonic is a wave with a frequency that is a positive integer multiple of the ''fundamental frequency'', the frequency of the original periodic signal, such as a sinusoidal wave. The original signal is also called the ''1st harmonic'', the ...
and
motivic organisation, and adapted rhythms, forms, and textures from Italy and France. Bach wrote numerous works, including
preludes,
cantatas
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 t ...
,
fugue
In music, a fugue () is a contrapuntal compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject (a musical theme) that is introduced at the beginning in imitation (repetition at different pitches) and which recurs frequently in the c ...
s,
concerto
A concerto (; plural ''concertos'', or ''concerti'' from the Italian plural) is, from the late Baroque era, mostly understood as an instrumental composition, written for one or more soloists accompanied by an orchestra or other ensemble. The typi ...
s for harpsichord, violin and wind, orchestral suites, the
Brandenburg Concerto
The ''Brandenburg Concertos'' by Johann Sebastian Bach (BWV 1046–1051), are a collection of six instrumental works presented by Bach to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt, MacDonogh, Giles. ''Frederick the Great: A Life in Dee ...
s, ''
St Matthew Passion
The ''St Matthew Passion'' (german: Matthäus-Passion, links=-no), BWV 244, is a '' Passion'', a sacred oratorio written by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1727 for solo voices, double choir and double orchestra, with libretto by Picander. It sets ...
'', ''
St John Passion
The ''Passio secundum Joannem'' or ''St John Passion'' (german: Johannes-Passion, link=no), BWV 245, is a Passion or oratorio by Johann Sebastian Bach, the older of the surviving Passions by Bach. It was written during his first year as direc ...
'' and the ''
Christmas Oratorio''. Händel was a cosmopolitan composer that wrote music for virtually every genre of his time. His most famous works include the orchestral suites
Water Music,
Music for the Royal Fireworks and the oratorio
Messiah.
Another important composer was
Georg Philipp Telemann, one of the most prolific musicians in history.
Classical era
![Beethoven](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/Beethoven.jpg)
By the middle of the 18th century, the cities of
Vienna,
Dresden, Berlin and
Mannheim had become the center for orchestral music. The
Esterházy
The House of Esterházy, also spelled Eszterházy (), is a Hungarian noble family with origins in the Middle Ages. From the 17th century, the Esterházys were the greatest landowner magnates of the Kingdom of Hungary, during the time that it ...
princes of Vienna, for example, were the patrons of
Joseph Haydn
Franz Joseph Haydn ( , ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...
, an Austrian who invented the classic format of the
string quartet
The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists ...
,
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 ...
and
sonata
Sonata (; Italian: , pl. ''sonate''; from Latin and Italian: ''sonare'' rchaic Italian; replaced in the modern language by ''suonare'' "to sound"), in music, literally means a piece ''played'' as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian ''cant ...
. Later that century, Vienna's
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart emerged, mixing German and Italian traditions into his own style. Mozart was a prolific and influential composer who composed over 600
works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of
symphonic
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 ...
,
concertante,
chamber
Chamber or the chamber may refer to:
In government and organizations
*Chamber of commerce, an organization of business owners to promote commercial interests
*Legislative chamber, in politics
*Debate chamber, the space or room that houses deliber ...
,
operatic, and
choral
A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...
music. He is among the most popular of
classical composers, and his influence on subsequent Western
art music is profound;
Ludwig van Beethoven composed his own early works in the shadow of Mozart.
Romantic era
![Franz Schubert by Wilhelm August Rieder](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/Franz_Schubert_by_Wilhelm_August_Rieder.jpeg)
The following century saw two major German composers come to fame early—
Ludwig van Beethoven and
Franz Schubert. Beethoven, a student of Haydn's in Vienna, used unusually daring
harmonies
In music, harmony is the process by which individual sounds are joined together or composed into whole units or compositions. Often, the term harmony refers to simultaneously occurring frequencies, pitches ( tones, notes), or chords. However, ...
and
rhythm and composed numerous pieces for
piano,
violin,
symphonies
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 ...
,
chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...
,
string quartet
The term string quartet can refer to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two violinists ...
s and an
opera. Schubert created a field of artistic, romantic poetry and music called ''
lied
In Western classical music tradition, (, plural ; , plural , ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music to create a piece of polyphonic music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German, but among English and French s ...
''; his lieder cycles included ''
Die schöne Müllerin'' and ''
Winterreise''.
Franz Schubert was extremely prolific during his lifetime. His output consists of over six hundred secular vocal works (mainly
Lied
In Western classical music tradition, (, plural ; , plural , ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music to create a piece of polyphonic music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German, but among English and French s ...
er), seven complete
symphonies
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 ...
, sacred music,
operas,
incidental music
Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as t ...
and a large body of chamber and piano music. He is ranked among the greatest composers of the late
Classical era and early
Romantic
Romantic may refer to:
Genres and eras
* The Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement of the 18th and 19th centuries
** Romantic music, of that era
** Romantic poetry, of that era
** Romanticism in science, of that e ...
era.
Early in the 19th century, a composer by the name of
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
was born. He was a "Musician of the Future" who disliked the strict traditionalist styles of music. He is credited with developing ''leitmotivs'' which were simple recurring themes found in his operas.
Carl Maria von Weber was a
composer
A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music.
Etymology and Defi ...
,
conductor
Conductor or conduction may refer to:
Music
* Conductor (music), a person who leads a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra.
* ''Conductor'' (album), an album by indie rock band The Comas
* Conduction, a type of structured free improvisation ...
,
pianist,
guitarist
A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...
and
critic
A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or governmen ...
, one of the first significant composers of the
Romantic
Romantic may refer to:
Genres and eras
* The Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement of the 18th and 19th centuries
** Romantic music, of that era
** Romantic poetry, of that era
** Romanticism in science, of that e ...
school. His
operas ''
Der Freischütz'', ''
Euryanthe
''Euryanthe'' ( J. 291, Op. 81) is a German grand heroic-romantic opera by Carl Maria von Weber, first performed at the Theater am Kärntnertor in Vienna on 25 October 1823.Brown, p. 88 Though acknowledged as one of Weber's most important operas, ...
'' and ''
Oberon'' greatly influenced the development of the Romantic opera in Germany.
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sy ...
was a composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early
Romantic
Romantic may refer to:
Genres and eras
* The Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement of the 18th and 19th centuries
** Romantic music, of that era
** Romantic poetry, of that era
** Romanticism in science, of that e ...
period. He was particularly well received in Britain as a composer, conductor and soloist. He wrote
symphonies
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 ...
,
concerti
A concerto (; plural ''concertos'', or ''concerti'' from the Italian plural) is, from the late Baroque era, mostly understood as an instrumental composition, written for one or more soloists accompanied by an orchestra or other ensemble. The typi ...
,
oratorios, piano music and
chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...
.
Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...
was a composer and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the
Romantic
Romantic may refer to:
Genres and eras
* The Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement of the 18th and 19th centuries
** Romantic music, of that era
** Romantic poetry, of that era
** Romanticism in science, of that e ...
era. Schumann's published compositions were written exclusively for the piano until 1840; he later composed works for piano and orchestra; many
Lied
In Western classical music tradition, (, plural ; , plural , ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music to create a piece of polyphonic music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German, but among English and French s ...
er (songs for voice and piano); four
symphonies
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 ...
; an opera; and other orchestral,
choral
A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...
, and
chamber
Chamber or the chamber may refer to:
In government and organizations
*Chamber of commerce, an organization of business owners to promote commercial interests
*Legislative chamber, in politics
*Debate chamber, the space or room that houses deliber ...
works.
Johannes Brahms
Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped wit ...
honored the music pioneered by Mozart and Beethoven and advanced his music into a
Romantic idiom, in the process creating bold new approaches to harmony and melody.
The later 19th century saw Vienna continue its elevated position in European classical music, as well as a burst of popularity with Viennese
waltzes. These were composed by people like
Johann Strauss the Younger
Johann Baptist Strauss II (25 October 1825 – 3 June 1899), also known as Johann Strauss Jr., the Younger or the Son (german: links=no, Sohn), was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed ove ...
.
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss (; 11 June 1864 – 8 September 1949) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, and violinist. Considered a leading composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras, he has been described as a successor of Richard Wag ...
was a leading composer of the late
Romantic
Romantic may refer to:
Genres and eras
* The Romantic era, an artistic, literary, musical and intellectual movement of the 18th and 19th centuries
** Romantic music, of that era
** Romantic poetry, of that era
** Romanticism in science, of that e ...
and early
modern
Modern may refer to:
History
* Modern history
** Early Modern period
** Late Modern period
*** 18th century
*** 19th century
*** 20th century
** Contemporary history
* Moderns, a faction of Freemasonry that existed in the 18th century
Phil ...
eras. He is known for his
operas, which include ''
Der Rosenkavalier'' and ''
Salome
Salome (; he, שְלוֹמִית, Shlomit, related to , "peace"; el, Σαλώμη), also known as Salome III, was a Jewish princess, the daughter of Herod II, son of Herod the Great, and princess Herodias, granddaughter of Herod the Great, an ...
''; his ''
lied
In Western classical music tradition, (, plural ; , plural , ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music to create a piece of polyphonic music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German, but among English and French s ...
er'', especially his ''
Four Last Songs''; and his
tone poems. Strauss, along with
Gustav Mahler
Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...
, represents the late flowering of
German Romanticism after
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
, in which pioneering subtleties of
orchestration
Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orc ...
are combined with an advanced
harmonic
A harmonic is a wave with a frequency that is a positive integer multiple of the ''fundamental frequency'', the frequency of the original periodic signal, such as a sinusoidal wave. The original signal is also called the ''1st harmonic'', the ...
style.
20th century
![Carl Orff](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/Carl_Orff.jpg)
The first half of 20th century saw a split between German and Austrian music. In Vienna,
Arnold Schoenberg
Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...
and his pupils
Alban Berg
Alban Maria Johannes Berg ( , ; 9 February 1885 – 24 December 1935) was an Austrian composer of the Second Viennese School. His compositional style combined Romantic lyricism with the twelve-tone technique. Although he left a relatively sma ...
and
Anton Webern moved along an increasingly avant-garde path, pioneering
atonal music in 1909 and
twelve-tone music
The twelve-tone technique—also known as dodecaphony, twelve-tone serialism, and (in British usage) twelve-note composition—is a method of musical composition first devised by Austrian composer Josef Matthias Hauer, who published his "law o ...
in 1923. Meanwhile, composers in Berlin took a more populist route, from the cabaret-like socialist operas of
Kurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill (March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fru ...
to the
Gebrauchsmusik
() is a German term, meaning "utility music", for music that exists not only for its own sake, but which was composed for some specific, identifiable purpose. This purpose can be a particular historical event, like a political rally or a militar ...
of
Paul Hindemith. In Munich there was also
Carl Orff, who was influenced by the French
Impressionist
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brush strokes, open composition, emphasis on accurate depiction of light in its changing qualities (often accentuating the effects of the passage ...
composer
Claude Debussy
(Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...
. He began to use colorful, unusual combinations of instruments in his
orchestration
Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orc ...
. His most popular work is ''
Carmina Burana''.
Many composers emigrated to the United States when the
Nazi Party came to power, including Schoenberg, Hindemith, and
Erich Korngold. During this period, the Nazi Party embarked on a campaign to rid Germany of so-called
degenerate art, which became a catch-all phrase that included music with any link to Jews, Communists, jazz, and anything else thought to be dangerous. Some figures such as
Karl Amadeus Hartmann remained defiantly in Germany during the years of Nazi dominance, continually watchful of how their output might be interpreted by the authorities.
After the defeat of
Nazi Germany, musicians were also subjected to the Allied policy of
denazification
Denazification (german: link=yes, Entnazifizierung) was an Allied initiative to rid German and Austrian society, culture, press, economy, judiciary, and politics of the Nazi ideology following the Second World War. It was carried out by remov ...
. But here, the supposed non-political nature of music was able to excuse many, including
Wilhelm Furtwängler and
Herbert von Karajan (who had actually joined the Nazi Party in 1933). They both claimed to have concentrated mainly on music and to have ignored politics, but also to have conducted pieces in ways that were meant to be "gestures of defiance."
In West Germany in the second half of the 20th century, German and Austrian music was largely dominated by the avant-garde. In the 60s and 70s, the
Darmstadt New Music Summer School was a major center of European modernism; German composers such as
Karlheinz Stockhausen and
Hans Werner Henze and non-German ones such as
Pierre Boulez
Pierre Louis Joseph Boulez (; 26 March 1925 – 5 January 2016) was a French composer, conductor and writer, and the founder of several musical institutions. He was one of the dominant figures of post-war Western classical music.
Born in Mont ...
and
Luciano Berio all studied there. In contrast, composers in
East Germany were advised to avoid the avant-garde and to compose music in keeping with the tenets of
Socialist Realism. Music written in this style was supposed to advance party politics as well as be more accessible to all.
Hanns Eisler and
Ernst Hermann Meyer
Ernst Hermann Ludimar Meyer (8 December 1905 – 8 October 1988) was a German composer and musicologist, noted for his expertise on seventeenth-century English chamber music.
Life
Meyer was born in Berlin. He received his first piano lessons ...
were among the most famous of the first generation of GDR composers.
More recently, composers such as
Helmut Lachenmann and
Olga Neuwirth
Olga Neuwirth (born 4 August 1968 in Graz) is an Austrian classical composer, visual artist and author. She gained fame mainly through her operas and music theater works, which often deal with topical and decidedly political themes of identity, ...
have extensively explored the possibilities of
extended techniques. Hans Werner Henze largely dissociated himself from the Darmstadt school in favour of a more lyrical approach, and remains perhaps Germany's most lauded contemporary composer. Although he had lived outside the country since the 1950s and until his death in 2012, he remained influenced by the Germanic musical tradition.
Folk music
Germany has many unique regions with their own folk traditions of music and dance. Much of the 20th century saw German culture appropriated for the ruling powers (who fought "foreign" music at the same time).
In both East and West Germany, folk songs called "volkslieder" were taught to children; these were popular, sunny and optimistic, and had little relation to authentic German folk traditions. Inspired by American and English
roots revivals, Germany underwent many of the same changes following the 1968 student revolution in West Germany, and new songs, featuring political activism and realistic joy, sadness and passion, were written and performed on the burgeoning folk scene. In East Germany, the same process did not begin until the mid-70s, where some folk musicians began incorporating revolutionary ideas in coded songs.
Popular folk songs included emigration songs from the 19th century,
work songs and songs of apprentices, as well as democracy-oriented folk songs collected in the 1950s by
Wolfgang Steinitz
Wolfgang Steinitz (28 February 1905 – 21 April 1967) was a German linguist and folklorist.
Through his rediscovery of hidden social commentary in traditional folk songs, he was an important pioneer of the German folk-revival in both East a ...
. Beginning in 1970, the ''Festival des politischen Liedes'', an East German festival focusing on political songs, was held annually and organized (until 1980) by the
FDJ (East German youth association). Musicians from up to thirty countries would participate, and, for many East Germans, it was the only exposure possible to foreign music. Among foreign musicians at the festival, some were quite renowned, including
Inti-Illimani
Inti-Illimani (; from Quechuan ''Inti'' and Aymara ''Illimani)'' are an instrumental and vocal Latin American folk music ensemble from Chile. The band was formed in 1967 by a group of university students and it acquired widespread popularity in C ...
(
Chile),
Billy Bragg
Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer-songwriter and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic themes. His music is ...
(England),
Dick Gaughan
Richard Peter Gaughan (born 17 May 1948) is a Scottish musician, singer and songwriter, particularly of folk and social protest songs. He is regarded as one of Scotland's leading singer-songwriters.
Early years
Gaughan was born in Glasgow's Roy ...
(
Scotland),
Mercedes Sosa
Haydée Mercedes Sosa (; 9 July 1935
at BrainyHistory.com – 4 October 2009), sometimes known as ' ...
(
Argentina) and
Pete Seeger (United States), while German performers included, from both East and West, Oktoberklub,
Wacholder and
Hannes Wader
Hannes Wader (born Hans Eckard Wader on 23 June 1942) is a German singer-songwriter (" Liedermacher"). He has been an important figure in German leftist circles since the 1970s, with his songs covering such themes as socialist and communist resis ...
.
Oom-pah is a kind of music played by the
brass bands; it is associated with
beer hall
A beer hall () is a large pub that specializes in beer.
Germany
Beer halls are a traditional part of Bavarian culture, and feature prominently in Oktoberfest. Bosch notes that the beer halls of Oktoberfest, known in German as ''Festzelte'', ...
s.
Bavaria and Swabia
Bavarian folk music is likely the best known outside of Germany.
Yodeling and
schuhplattler dancers are among the stereotyped images of German folk life, though these are only found today in the southernmost areas. Bavarian folk music has played a role in the ''Alpine New Wave'', and produced several pioneering
world music groups that fuse traditional Bavarian sounds with foreign styles.
Around the turn of the 20th century, across Europe and especially in Bavaria, many people became concerned about a loss of cultural traditions. This idea was connected to the ''
Heimatschutz'' movement, which sought to protect regional identities and boundaries. What is considered Bavarian folk music in modern Germany is not the same as what Bavarian folk music was in the early 20th century; like any kind of folk or popular music, styles and traditions have evolved over time, giving birth to new forms of music.
The popularity of the ''Volkssänger'' (''people's singer'') in Bavaria began in the 1880s, and continued in earnest until the 1920s. Shows consisting of duets, ensemble songs, humor and parodies were popular, but the format began changing significantly following World War I.
Bally Prell
Bally Prell (born Agnes Pauline Prell; 14 September 1922 – 20 March 1982) was a German performer, humorous singer, and folk singer, who performed mainly in Bavarian language.
Life
Prell was the daughter of folk singer and composer Ludwig ...
, the "Beauty Queen of
Schneizlreuth
Schneizlreuth is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality in the district of Berchtesgadener Land in Bavaria in Germany.
History
In 1285 an estate in the area was called Schnaezenreut. This is the earliest the town's name can be traced.
The m ...
", was emblematic of this change. She was an attractive
tenor who sang
lieder
In Western classical music tradition, (, plural ; , plural , ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music to create a piece of polyphonic music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German, but among English and French sp ...
,
chanson and
opera and
operetta
Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...
.
Swabia
Swabia ; german: Schwaben , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany.
The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of ...
n folk music is most popularly represented by acts like Saiten Fell and Firlefanz and the singer-songwriter (and player of the
hurdy-gurdy and
guitar) Thomas Felder.
Christmas carols
Some Christmas carols familiar in English are translations of German Christmas songs (''Weihnachtslieder''). Pastoral ''Weihnachtslieder'' are sometimes called ''Hirtenlieder'' (shepherd songs). Three well-known examples are "
O Tannenbaum" ("O Christmas Tree"), from a German folksong arranged by
Ernst Anschütz; "
Silent Night" ("Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht"), by the Austrians
Franz Xaver Gruber and
Joseph Mohr; and "
Still, still, still", an Austrian folksong also from the Salzburg region, based on an 1819 melody by Süss, with the original words, slightly changed over time and location, by G. Götsch.
Early popular music
![Marlene Dietrich in No Highway (1951) (Cropped)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/Marlene_Dietrich_in_No_Highway_%281951%29_%28Cropped%29.png)
Between World War I and World War II, German music branched out to form new, more liberal and independent styles.
Kabarett
The first form of German
pop music is said to be
cabaret, which arose during the
Weimar Republic in the 1920s as the sensual music of late-night clubs.
Marlene Dietrich and Margo Lion were among the most famous performers of the period, and became associated with both humorous satire and liberal ideas.
Swing Movement
The strict regimentation of youth culture in
Nazi Germany through the
Hitler Youth led to the emergence of several underground protest movements, through which adolescents were able better to exert their independence.
One of these consisted mainly of upper middle class youths, who based their protest on their musical preferences, rejecting the völkisch music propagated by the Party in place of American jazz forms, especially
Swing
Swing or swinging may refer to:
Apparatus
* Swing (seat), a hanging seat that swings back and forth
* Pendulum, an object that swings
* Russian swing, a swing-like circus apparatus
* Sex swing, a type of harness for sexual intercourse
* Swing rid ...
. While musical preferences are often a feature of youthful rebellion—as the history of rock and roll shows—jazz and especially Swing were particularly offensive to the Nazi hierarchy: not only did they promote sexual permissiveness, but they were also associated with the American enemy and worse, with the African race they considered inferior.
On the other hand,
Joseph Goebbels
Paul Joseph Goebbels (; 29 October 1897 – 1 May 1945) was a German Nazi politician who was the ''Gauleiter'' (district leader) of Berlin, chief propagandist for the Nazi Party, and then Reich Minister of Propaganda from 1933 to 19 ...
assembled some of the now jobless musicians from Germany and conquered countries into a big band called
Charlie and His Orchestra.
Popular music from West Germany
After World War II, German pop music was greatly influenced by music from USA and Great Britain. Apart from Schlager and Liedermacher, it is necessary to distinguish between pop music in
West Germany and pop music in
East Germany which developed in different directions. Pop music from West Germany was often heard in East Germany, had more variety and is still present today, while East German music has had little influence.
In West Germany, English-language
pop music became more and more important, and today most songs on the radio are English. Nevertheless, there is great diversity in German language pop music. There is also original English-language pop music from Germany, some having international success (for instance the
Scorpions and
James Last), but little with enduring broad success in Germany itself. There was very little English pop music from East Germany.
Germany has also had a thriving English-language pop scene since the end of the war, with several European and American acts topping the charts. However, Germans and German-oriented musicians have been successful as well. In the 1990s and the first decade of the 21st century such European pop acts were popular as well as artists like
Sarah Connor,
No Angels and
Monrose who performed various types of mainstream pop in English. Many of these acts have had success all over Europe and Asia.
Schlager and Volksmusik
Schlager is a kind of vocal pop music, frequently in the form of sentimental
ballads sung in German, popularized by singers such as
Gitte Hænning and
Rex Gildo in the 1960s, though not without a wide range within the style (Modern Schlager, Schlager-Gold, ). Schlager is strictly separated from international pop music and is only played on special format radio stations (sometimes mixed with international
Oldie
Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music (broadly characterized as classic rock and pop rock) from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as wel ...
s).
An important part of Schlager is ''
volkstümliche Musik'', a Schlager-like interpretation of traditional German folk themes that is very popular in German speaking countries, especially among the older generation.
Schlager has a wide variety, and the artists with many different styles for example
Heino,
Katja Ebstein,
Wolfgang Petry
Wolfgang "Wolle" Petry (born 22 September 1951 as ''Franz Hubert Wolfgang Remling'') is a German schlager musician and songwriter from Cologne, Germany. In 1997, he was named the leading German language musician in terms of chart figures for th ...
,
Guildo Horn
Horst Heinz Köhler (born 15 February 1963), known under his stage name Guildo Horn (), is a German Schlager singer. He is best known for his eccentric stage persona, which includes outrageous clothes and extroverted antics.
At the Eurovision ...
,
Roland Kaiser,
Helene Fischer
Helene Fischer ( /heˈleːnə ˈfɪʃɚ/; German: eˈleːnə ˈfɪʃɐ born Jelena Petrovna Fischer, 5 August 1984) is a Russian-born German singer. Since her debut in 2005, she has won numerous awards, including 17 Echo awards, four "Die Kron ...
and many others.
Liedermacher
Liedermacher
A singer-songwriter is a musician who writes, composes, and performs their own musical material, including lyrics and melodies. In the United States, the category is built on the folk-acoustic tradition, although this role has transmuted th ...
(Songwriter) has sophisticated lyrics and is sung with minimal instrumentation, for instance only with acoustic guitar. Some songs are very political in nature. This is related to American Folk/
Americana and French
Chanson styles.
Famous West German Liedermacher are
Reinhard Mey,
Klaus Hoffmann
Klaus Hoffmann (born 26 March 1951, Berlin) is a German singer, songwriter and actor.
Career
Klaus Hoffmann started his career as a singer-songwriter during the late 1960s in the alternative Berlin club culture. After travelling to Afghanist ...
,
Hannes Wader
Hannes Wader (born Hans Eckard Wader on 23 June 1942) is a German singer-songwriter (" Liedermacher"). He has been an important figure in German leftist circles since the 1970s, with his songs covering such themes as socialist and communist resis ...
and
Konstantin Wecker
Konstantin Alexander Wecker (born 1 June 1947, Munich) is a German singer-songwriter; he also works as a composer, author, and actor.
Life and work
Classically educated at the Wilhelmsgymnasium, Wecker got one of his first jobs as a songwriter a ...
. A famous East German Liedermacher was
Wolf Biermann
Karl Wolf Biermann (; born 15 November 1936) is a German singer-songwriter, poet, and former East German dissident. He is perhaps best known for the 1968 song "Ermutigung" and his expatriation from East Germany in 1976.
Early life
Biermann was b ...
.
Herman van Veen from the Netherlands was also very popular in Germany. Several Liedermacher artists also record special albums for children.
Rock
The US military radio station
American Forces Network
The American Forces Network (AFN) is a government television and radio broadcast service the U.S. military provides to those stationed or assigned overseas. Headquartered at Fort George G. Meade, Maryland, AFN's broadcast operations, which i ...
(AFN) had a great impact on German postwar culture, starting with
AFN Munich in July 1945, which was formative for the further development of German rock and jazz culture.
Bill Ramsey, a senior producer at
AFN Frankfurt in 1953 who came from
Ohio, later became famous as a jazz and Schlager singer in Germany (while remaining almost unknown in the US).
Prior to the late 1960s however, rock music in Germany was a negligible part of the
schlager genre covered by interpreters such as
Peter Kraus
Peter Kraus (born 18 March 1939) is an Austrian-German singer and actor.
Born Peter Siegfried Krausenecker in Munich, Germany, Kraus was popular especially in the 1950s, notably in those musical comedy films where he played opposite Cornelia F ...
and
Ted Herold
Harald Walter Bernhard Schubring (9 September 1942 – 20 November 2021), stage name Ted Herold, was a German rock and roll singer.
Life
He was born in Berlin-Schöneberg, Brandenburg, Prussia, Germany. Besides an extensive discography, Herold ...
, who played rock 'n' roll standards by Little Richard or Bill Haley, sometimes translated into German.
Genuine German rock first appeared around 1968, just as the
hippie
A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...
countercultural explosion was peaking in the US and UK. At the time, the German musical avant-garde had been experimenting with
electronic music for more than a decade, and the first German rock bands fused
psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a rock music Music genre, genre that is inspired, influenced, or representative of psychedelia, psychedelic culture, which is centered on perception-altering hallucinogenic drugs. The music incorporated new electronic sound ...
from abroad with electronic sounds. The next few years saw the formation of a group of bands that came to be known as
Krautrock
Krautrock (also called , German for ) is a broad genre of experimental rock
Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments ...
or
Kosmische Musik groups; these included
Amon Düül, who later became the world music pioneers
Dissidenten
Dissidenten are a German rock band known for their collaborations with Middle Eastern, African and Indian musicians. In a 1988 article for ''The New York Times'', music critic Stephen Holden acknowledged the band as being among the leaders of wha ...
,
Tangerine Dream,
Popol Vuh,
Can
Can may refer to:
Containers
* Aluminum can
* Drink can
* Oil can
* Steel and tin cans
* Trash can
* Petrol can
* Metal can (disambiguation)
Music
* Can (band), West Germany, 1968
** ''Can'' (album), 1979
* Can (South Korean band)
Other
* C ...
,
Neu! and
Faust.
Neue Deutsche Welle
Neue Deutsche Welle (NDW) is an outgrowth of British
punk rock and
new wave which appeared in the mid-to late 1970s. It was arguably the first successful unique German form of Pop music, but was limited in its stylistic devices (funny lyrics and surreal composition and production). Though it was a huge success in Germany itself in the 1980s, this was not long-lasting mostly due to over-commercialization. Some artists became famous internationally like
Nena,
Trio,
Falco (from Austria) and
Joachim Witt.
Popular artists
In the 1980s and 1990s most German-language popular music was sung by male solo artists. Very popular singers are
Udo Jürgens,
Udo Lindenberg,
Herbert Grönemeyer
Herbert Arthur Wiglev Clamor Grönemeyer (born 12 April 1956) is a German singer, musician, producer, composer and actor, popular in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Grönemeyer starred as war correspondent Lieutenant Werner in Wolfgang Pete ...
,
Marius Müller-Westernhagen,
Peter Maffay and
BAP.
Udo Jürgens has maintained a large following since the late 60s and still sold out entire soccer stadiums during concerts in 2012.
Grönemeyer also has managed to maintain his success up to today. Maffay developed from Schlager to rock and has a large but delimited fan base—he is seldom played on the radio. BAP, who sing in
Kölsch, the dialect of their hometown
Cologne, enjoy success nationwide.
Hamburger Schule
Hamburger Schule
The ''Hamburger Schule'' (German for 'Hamburg School') is a music movement current in Germany during the 1980s and early 1990s. With some active bands and artists it is still present. It took up traditions of Neue Deutsche Welle and combined them w ...
(School of Hamburg) is an underground music-movement that started in the late 1980s and was still active till around the mid-1990s. It has similar traditions as
Neue Deutsche Welle and mixed all that with
punk,
grunge
Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the in the American Pacific Northwest state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of p ...
and experimental
pop music. Hamburger Schule has been an important part of Germany's youth and gave the term "Pop" a new definition, as now it was "ok" (or "cool") to sing in the German language. Hamburger Schule also includes intellectual lyrics with postmodern theories and social criticism. Important artists are
Blumfeld
Blumfeld () was an indie pop band from Hamburg, Germany, formed by singer and songwriter Jochen Distelmeyer. The name of the band was taken from the main character of the short story "Blumfeld, ein älterer Junggeselle" by Franz Kafka. Blumfeld a ...
,
Die Sterne
Die Sterne is a two/three/four-piece indie pop band, from Hamburg, Germany. They were formed in 1991 and have released twelve studio albums, the most recent in 2022.
Members
The band consists of Frank Spilker (vocals and guitar), Thomas Wenzel ...
and
Tocotronic.
Popular music from East Germany
''Ostrock''
By the early 1970s, experimental West German rock styles had crossed the border into
East Germany and influenced the creation of an East German rock movement referred to as ''Ostrock''. On the other side of the
Iron Curtain
The Iron Curtain was the political boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The term symbolizes the efforts by the Soviet Union (USSR) to block itself and its s ...
, these bands tended to be stylistically more conservative than in the West, to have more reserved engineering, and often to include more classical and traditional structures (such as those developed by
Kurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill (March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fru ...
and
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 ...
in their 1920s Berlin theater songs). These groups often featured poetic lyrics loaded with indirect double-meanings and deeply philosophical challenges to the status quo. As such, they were a style of
Krautrock
Krautrock (also called , German for ) is a broad genre of experimental rock
Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments ...
. The best-known of these bands were
The Puhdys
The Puhdys () were a German rock band, formed in Oranienburg (Brandenburg), GDR, in 1969, although by then they had been performing together—with various lineups—as the Puhdys since 1965. Although they are especially popular in their nativ ...
,
Karat,
City
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
,
Stern-Combo Meißen
Stern Meißen (formerly Stern Combo Meißen or Stern Combo Meissen) is a German rock band founded in 1964 in Meißen, East Germany.
History
The group was formed by Martin Schreier, Norbert Jäger and Bernd Fiedler in 1964 in Meißen, East Ge ...
and
Silly
Silly may refer to:
Places
* Silly, Belgium, a town
* Silly Department, a department or commune of Sissili Province in southern Burkina Faso
Music
* Silly (band), an East German rock group from the 1970s
* The Sillies, an American punk rock ...
.
Only a few individual songs, such as "Am Fenster" by
City
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
and "Über sieben Brücken mußt Du geh'n" by
Karat, found wide popularity outside the
GDR
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
. There was also a wide diversity of underground bands. Out of this scene later grew the internationally successful band
Rammstein (see Neue Deutsche Härte below).
Popular music from reunified Germany
Modern popular music
![Silbermond, Donauinselfest 2009f](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Silbermond%2C_Donauinselfest_2009f.jpg)
In the 1990s, German-language groups had only limited popularity, and only a few artists managed to be played on the radio, for example
Nena,
Herbert Grönemeyer
Herbert Arthur Wiglev Clamor Grönemeyer (born 12 April 1956) is a German singer, musician, producer, composer and actor, popular in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Grönemeyer starred as war correspondent Lieutenant Werner in Wolfgang Pete ...
,
Marius Müller-Westernhagen,
Die Ärzte,
Rammstein,
Rosenstolz or
Die Prinzen
Die Prinzen ("The Princes") is a German band, that is made up of former members of the Thomanerchor (the choir of the Thomaskirche in Leipzig, Germany, where Johann Sebastian Bach was music director for many years) and a former member of the Dr ...
.
In the mid-2000s the German band
Wir sind Helden
Wir sind Helden (, German for "We are heroes") was a German pop rock band that was established in 2000 in Hamburg and based in Berlin. The band was composed of lead singer and guitarist Judith Holofernes, drummer Pola Roy, bassist Mark Tavassol ...
found success with a new style of German-language
pop-rock. This success was followed by several other bands and artists that led to a new boom of German-language music and a broader acceptance of existing German-language recording artists, such as:
*
Sportfreunde Stiller
*
Juli
*
Silbermond
*
Kraftklub
Kraftklub are a German band from Chemnitz. Their music combines rock music, rock / indie rock, indie and Sprechgesang with German lyrics and is generally considered to be a mixture of rap and indie rock, indie.
History
Founding and early ye ...
*
Klee
Paul Klee (; 18 December 1879 – 29 June 1940) was a Swiss-born German artist. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. Klee was a natural draftsman who experimented wi ...
*
MIA.
MIA. (alternative spelling: Mia.) is a German Punk music, punk/New Wave music, new wave/Rock music, rock/Pop music, pop band from Berlin.
Biography
MIA. originally formed in 1997 when TV host Sarah Kuttner introduced schoolmates Mieze Katz ( ...
*
Polarkreis 18
Polarkreis 18 was a German rock music, rock band from Dresden, Saxony. The bandmembers met at school, where they formed the Jack of all Trades ensemble in 1998. In 2004, they renamed their band ''Polarkreis 18''. Its musical style can be describe ...
*
2raumwohnung
2raumwohnung (; meaning "2-Room Apartment") are a German electro-pop duo that was formed in 2000 in Berlin. Its two members are singer, Inga Humpe, and her life partner, Tommi Eckart. They reached the high point of their career to date with the ...
*
Revolverheld
Revolverheld (German for "gunslinger") is a German rock band from Hamburg, Germany.
Originally formed under the name Manga in 2002, the band renamed in 2004 to "Tsunamikiller" and later decided upon the current name after the 2004 Indian Ocea ...
*
Annett Louisan
*
Tim Bendzko
*
Andreas Bourani
Andreas Bourani (formerly Stiegelmair; 2 November 1983) is a German singer-songwriter.
Career
Bourani was born to Egyptians, Egyptian parents and adopted as an infant by a German family in Augsburg, in the southwest of Bavaria. As a youth, he a ...
*
Mark Forster
*
Philipp Poisel
Philipp Poisel (born 18 June 1983 in Ludwigsburg) is a German singer-songwriter.
Biography
Early life and career beginnings
Philipp Poisel has produced music since he was a child when he started to play drums and guitar. He recorded his co ...
Indie and alternative rock
Popular anglophone alternative rock and crossover bands from Germany that managed to find success domestic and abroad include
Beatsteaks
The Beatsteaks are a German rock band from Berlin, formed in 1995.
History
Peter Baumann, Stefan Hircher, Alexander Rosswaag and Bernd Kurtzke founded Beatsteaks in 1995. Shortly afterwards, Arnim Teutoburg-Weiß joined the band as singer and ...
,
Donots,
Blackmail
Blackmail is an act of coercion using the threat of revealing or publicizing either substantially true or false information about a person or people unless certain demands are met. It is often damaging information, and it may be revealed to fa ...
,
Reamonn,
H-Blockx,
Itchy Poopzkid
ITCHY (formerly Itchy Poopzkid) is a German punk rock band formed in 2001. The group consists of Sebastian Hafner (vocals, guitar, bass), Daniel Friedl (vocals, guitar, bass) and Max Zimmer (drums).
They have released seven albums, all of whic ...
,
Guano Apes
Guano Apes are a German rock band formed in 1994 in Göttingen. The band consists of Sandra Nasić (vocals), Henning Rümenapp (guitars, backing vocals), Stefan Ude (bass, backing vocals), and Dennis Poschwatta (drums, backing vocals).
AllMusic ...
and
Die Happy
Die Happy is a German alternative rock band from Ulm. The group was founded in 1993 by Czech singer Marta Jandová and Thorsten Mewes. Even though the band is based in Germany, their songs are written and performed almost exclusively in English. ...
.
The Notwist, an
indie rock band, had great critical and commercial success with their album ''
Neon Golden''.
Euro disco
![Boney M 1981](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c8/Boney_M_1981.jpg)
*
Boney M.
Boney M. was a German-Caribbean vocal group that specialized in disco and funk created by German record producer Frank Farian, who was the group's primary songwriter. Originally based in West Germany, the four original members of the group's o ...
*
Chilly
*
Dschinghis Khan
*
Mike Mareen
Uwe-Michael Wischhoff (born 9 November 1949), known by his stage name Mike Mareen, is a German singer, songwriter and musician.
His first musical success was with the band Cemetery Institution who played at Hamburg's Star-Club. Mareen later becam ...
*
Fancy
Fancy may refer to:
Places
* Fancy, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, a settlement
* Fancy River, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Music Albums
* ''Fancy'' (Bobbie Gentry album), 1970
* ''Fancy'' (Idiot Flesh album), 1997
* ''Fancy'' (video ...
*
Silent Circle
Silent Circle is a German Eurodisco band formed in West Germany in 1985. The band consists of vocalist Martin Tychsen (Jo Jo Tyson), keyboardist & composer Axel Breitung, and drummer Jürgen Behrens (CC Behrens).
History
Silent Circle first ...
*
Goombay Dance Band
*
London Boys
*
Lian Ross
*
Arabesque
*
Silver Convention
*
Penny McLean
Gertrude Wirschinger, better known as Penny McLean (born 4 November 1948), is an Austrian vocalist who initially gained acclaim with the disco music act Silver Convention, but also had exposure as a single recording artist. As a solo singer, she i ...
Synthpop, Eurodance, Pop
![ESC2013 - Germany 05](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/ESC2013_-_Germany_05.jpg)
In the late 1980s (prior to
reunification) and the 1990s,
Synthpop
Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...
and
Eurodance
Euro-Dance (sometimes referred to as Euro-NRG, Euro-electronica or Euro) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s in Europe. It combines many elements of hip hop, techno, Hi-NRG, house music, and Euro-Disco. This ...
became popular throughout Germany. Often, different styles were mixed in between these to attract a broad variety of audiences. Successful representatives of these styles were:
*
George Kranz
*
Culture Beat
*
Modern Talking
*
Sandra
*
Sarah Connor
*
Hubert Kah
Hubert Kah is a German synthpop band, led by Hubert Kemmler (born 22 March 1961 in Reutlingen). Kemmler is a German musician, composer, songwriter and producer.
Biography
Kemmler's career began as a member of a trio named Hubert Kah, consist ...
*
The Underdog Project
*
Mousse T.
Mustafa Gundogdu ( tr, Mustafa Gündoğdu ; born 2 October 1966), best known under his stage name Mousse T., is a German-Turkish DJ, record producer, film composer and judge on season 15 of '' Deutschland sucht den Superstar'', the German vers ...
*
Milli Vanilli
*
Groove Coverage
*
Haddaway
*
Captain Hollywood Project
Captain Hollywood Project is a German eurodance music project best known for the hits “ More and More," " Only with You" and " Flying High." At the peak of its success in the 1990s, the project achieved ten top-20 hits on European music charts. ...
*
E-Rotic
*
Monrose
*
No Angels
*
Mr. President
*
Fun Factory
*
Sash!
Sash! (; stylised as SASH!) is a German DJ/production team, fronted by Sascha Lappessen (born 10 June 1970) who works in the recording studio with Ralf Kappmeier, Karl Xander, and Thomas "Alisson" Lüdke. They have sold over 22 million albums w ...
*
Jeanette Biedermann
*
Captain Jack
*
Lou Bega
David Lubega Balemezi (born 13 April 1975), better known by his stage name Lou Bega, is a German singer. His 1999 song " Mambo No. 5", a remake of Pérez Prado's 1949 instrumental piece, reached number 1 in many European countries and was ...
*
Bad Boys Blue
*
Alphaville
*
R.I.O.
R.I.O. is a German DJ-duo (formerly trio). The members are DJ Manian and Yann Peifer, who originally founded the band in 2007. Until 2012, Tony T. was part of the group. Their biggest hit was the song "Turn This Club Around", which charted in th ...
*
Cascada
*
Real McCoy
"The real McCoy" is an idiom and metaphor used in much of the English-speaking world to mean "the real thing" or "the genuine article", e.g. "he's the real McCoy". The phrase has been the subject of numerous false etymologies.
History
The phr ...
*
Snap!
*
Camouflage
*
A Touch of Class (''British based'')
*
Antique
An antique ( la, antiquus; 'old', 'ancient') is an item perceived as having value because of its aesthetic or historical significance, and often defined as at least 100 years old (or some other limit), although the term is often used loosely ...
(''Greek-Swedish based'')
Reggae, dancehall, ska
Popular bands and performers include
Culcha Candela
Culcha Candela is a dancehall, hip hop, house and reggae group from Berlin, Germany. Sources say they formed at different times but in the range of 2001–2003. Their lyrics range from political issues, such as "Una Cosa" or "Schöne, neue Welt" ...
,
Dr. Ring-Ding
Dr. Ring Ding (Richard Alexander Jung) is a German reggae, ska and dancehall artist.
In the more than 20 years of his musical activity, he has become an integral part of the international music scene.
Jung lives in Germany, but spent a part of ...
,
Gentleman
A gentleman (Old French: ''gentilz hom'', gentle + man) is any man of good and courteous conduct. Originally, ''gentleman'' was the lowest rank of the landed gentry of England, ranking below an esquire and above a yeoman; by definition, the ra ...
,
Hans Söllner,
Jan Delay,
Mamadee
Mamadie Wappler (born 12 September 1979), known professionally as Mamadee, is a German reggae singer.
Family
Mamadee grew up with her parents, two sisters, and her grandparents in a small village called Altrottmannsdorf, near Zwickau as the y ...
,
Milky Chance,
Oceana,
Patrice Patrice is a given name meaning '' noble'' or '' patrician'', related to the names Patrick and Patricia.
In English, Patrice is often a feminine first name. In French, it is used as a masculine first name.
Popularity
In the United States, the pop ...
,
Peter Fox and
Seeed.
R&B, soul, funk
![1 Live Krone 2013 Milky Chance 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/1_Live_Krone_2013_Milky_Chance_1.jpg)
Notable
R&B,
Soul and
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...
artists include
Ayọ
Joy Olasunmibo Ogunmakin (born 14 September 1980), known professionally as Ayọ, is a German singer, songwriter and actress. She uses the Yoruba translation Ayọ or Ayo. of her first name ''Joy''.
Her debut album '' Joyful'', released in 2006, ...
,
Cassandra Steen
Cassandra Steen (born 9 February 1980) is a German-American singer who rose to fame as the lead singer of the pop/soul trio Glashaus. After a series of commercially successful releases with the group, she released her moderately successful solo ...
,
Denyo
Dennis Lisk (born 1977 in Hamburg), also known as Denyo, Denyo 77, Dennis Deutschland and Dennis Dubplate, is a German soul and hip hop musician and radio presenter. He was also host of the German television series '' Cover My Song''.
Music ...
,
Miss Platnum,
Nadja Benaissa
Nadja Benaissa (born 26 April 1982) is a German singer and television personality. She rose to fame in late 2000 when she auditioned for the German adaption of the reality television show ''Popstars'' and became a member of the girl group No An ...
,
Nneka
Nneka is an Igbo It can also be a shortened version of the Igbo name Nnemkadi. The following people have the name:
* Nneka (singer) or Nneka Egbuna, Nigerian-German singer and songwriter
* Nneka Egbujiobi, Nigerian-American lawyer
* Nneka Abulokw ...
,
Söhne Mannheims
Söhne Mannheims (German: zøːnə ˈmanhaɪms ''Sons of Mannheim'') is a German pop and soul band founded 1995 in Mannheim by Xavier Naidoo and others.
History
The Group was founded in 1995 by Xavier Naidoo, Claus Eisenmann, Robbee Maria ...
and
Xavier Naidoo.
Hip hop
Hip hop in Germany arrived in the early 1980s, and
graffiti and
breakdancing became well-known quickly, even in socialist
East Germany. German hip hop "started out as a transnational youth subculture. The commercial success started in 1992 with the hit "Die Da" from
Die Fantastischen Vier from
Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
. The
Rödelheim Hartreim Projekt
The Rödelheim Hartreim Projekt ("Rödelheim Hard-Rhyme Project"), for short RHP, was a mid-1990s German rap group from Rödelheim, a part of Frankfurt. The group comprised two members, Moses P. (Moses Pelham) and Thomas H. (Thomas Hofmann). They w ...
tried to establish a "gangster" rap. An early influential group was
Advanced Chemistry
Advanced Chemistry is a German hip hop group from Heidelberg, a scenic city in Baden-Württemberg, South Germany. Advanced Chemistry was founded in 1987 by Toni LLinguist Gee-One, DJ Mike MD (Mike Dippon) and MC Torch. Each member of the group ...
including
Torch. They sparked an interest in speaking out for the immigrants and used rap as a way to defend themselves.
Fettes Brot
Fettes Brot () is a German hip hop group that formed in 1992.
History
Band name
Fettes Brot means ''fat bread'' in German. "Fett" is a German slang term for "excellent" and brot is slang for "hash". The band took the name from a fan who ca ...
from Hamburg, has been successful since their beginning. They sing about funny topics, such as infidelity and boasting about their prowess with women. Whereas hip hop had a peak of success in the early first decade of the 21st century,
gangster rap became a controversial part of German music and youth culture just as late as 2004 with
Aggro Berlin. Some of Germany's hip hop artists are:
Cro,
Kool Savas
Savaş Yurderi (born 10 February 1975), known by his stage name Kool Savas, is a German rapper. Along with Taktlo$$, he formed the highly influential German rap duo Westberlin Maskulin (1997–2000). He was also a founding member of the German r ...
,
Sido,
Samy Deluxe,
Bushido
is a moral code concerning samurai attitudes, behavior and lifestyle. There are multiple bushido types which evolved significantly through history. Contemporary forms of bushido are still used in the social and economic organization of Japan. ...
,
Marteria,
Eko Fresh,
Bonez MC,
Gzuz
Kristoffer Klauß (; born 29 June 1988), better known by the stage name Gzuz (), is a German rapper. In addition to his solo career, he has had success as part of Hamburg hip hop crew 187 Strassenbande.
Biography
After his parents divorced, K ...
,
Samra,
Capital Bra,
Trettmann
Stefan Richter, better known by the stage name Trettmann, is a German rapper. Since his breakthrough in 2016, he works with the producer collective KitschKrieg.
Biography
Richter grew up in East Germany prior to the fall of the wall. His hometo ...
, and
Afrob. Gzuz gained recognition worldwide after two of his music videos were posted by
Worldstar Hip Hop
WorldStarHipHop is a content-aggregating video blog. Zurawik, David.Worldstarhiphop.com makes a name for itself with shocking viral videos". ''The Baltimore Sun''. March 23, 2012. Retrieved on April 22, 2012Alternate link to the same article fro ...
on
YouTube.
Punk
Punk music in Germany has a long and diverse history. When bands like the
Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they were one of the most groundbreaking acts in the history of popular music. They were responsible for ...
and
The Clash became popular in West Germany, a number of Punk bands were formed, which led to the creation of a German punk scene. Among the first wave of bands were Male, from
Düsseldorf, founded in 1976, PVC, from
West Berlin, and
Big Balls and the Great White Idiot, from
Hamburg. Early German punk groups were heavily influenced by UK bands, often writing their lyrics in English. The main difference is that German punk bands hadn't yet become political.
Beginning in the late 1970s and early 1980s there were new movements within the German punk scene, led by labels like
ZickZack
ZickZack Schallplatten is a German record label based in Hamburg. Founded by former "Sounds" magazine journalist Alfred Hilsberg in 1980, it mainly distinguished itself by releasing acts from the underground side of Neue Deutsche Welle, a term co ...
Records, from Hamburg. It was during this period that the term
Neue Deutsche Welle (New German Wave) was first coined by Alfred Hilsberg. Many of these bands played experimental
post-punk, often using synthesizers and computers. Among them were
The Nina Hagen Band, as well as
Fehlfarben
Fehlfarben is a Neue Deutsche Welle music band from Düsseldorf, Germany, that was formed in 1979. Its founding members were Peter Hein (vocals), former member of the Band ''Mittagspause'' ("lunch break"), Thomas Schwebel (guitar, former Mit ...
and
Abwärts
Abwärts ("Downwards") is a German post-punk band from Hamburg. Members FM Einheit and Mark Chung would leave the group in the early 1980s to join West Berlin band Einstürzende Neubauten
(, 'Collapsing New Buildings') is a German experiment ...
, from Hamburg. Both are still active, though they've changed their style several times. Other bands played a more aggressive style of punk rock with a clear leftist political direction influenced by earlier political rock bands like
Ton Steine Scherben
Ton Steine Scherben () was one of the first and most influential German language rock bands of the 1970s and early 1980s.
Well known for the highly political and emotional lyrics of vocalist Rio Reiser, they became a musical mouthpiece of ...
- bands like
Slime
Slime may refer to:
Biology
* Slime mold, a broad term often referring to roughly six groups of Eukaryotes
* Biofilm, an aggregate of microorganisms in which cells adhere to each other and/or to a surface
* Slimy (fish), also known as the pony ...
,
Toxoplasma
''Toxoplasma gondii'' () is an obligate intracellular parasitic protozoan (specifically an apicomplexan) that causes toxoplasmosis. Found worldwide, ''T. gondii'' is capable of infecting virtually all warm-blooded animals, but felids, such as d ...
, or
Vorkriegsjugend are still relevant in the German punk scene. There is a still existing scene with many only locally known independent bands that confine themselves from the bigger and more popular groups (that are often branded as "Kommerzpunk").
Punkrock was outlawed in the GDR. Bands like Schleim-Keim or L'Attentat were observed and persecuted by the
Stasi
The Ministry for State Security, commonly known as the (),An abbreviation of . was the Intelligence agency, state security service of the East Germany from 1950 to 1990.
The Stasi's function was similar to the KGB, serving as a means of maint ...
and couldn't perform in the public. Music was produced in underground and exchanged on Tape, an attempt to release a split-vinyl of "Schleimkeim" and "Zwitschermaschine" failed since the latter was undercut by government agents.
Nonpolitical punkrock that is also listened to by skinheads is termed as
Oi!
Oi! is a subgenre of punk rock that originated in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The music and its associated subculture had the goal of bringing together punks, skinheads, and other disaffected working-class youth. The movement was p ...
. Thematically, Oi! songs are often about alcohol, relations, and/or violence. While some Oi! Bands like "Loikaemie" did antifascist songs, there are many cases with an affliction to
neonazis
Neo-Nazism comprises the post–World War II militant, social, and political movements that seek to revive and reinstate Nazi ideology. Neo-Nazis employ their ideology to promote hatred and racial supremacy (often white supremacy), attack r ...
, with fluid borders toward right-extremist rockmusic ("Rechtsrock") within the Oi!-Scene.
There are few German language bands who managed to be successful for a longer period. The best known are the punk bands
Die Ärzte and
Die Toten Hosen
Die Toten Hosen (literally "The Dead Trousers", figuratively "The Deadbeats") is a German punk rock band from Düsseldorf.
History
The current members of Die Toten Hosen are Campino (Andreas Frege), Kuddel (Andreas von Holst), Vom (Stephe ...
. Both were formed in the early 1980s but have very different approaches to punk. As successful as those two bands in number of sales and number one albums but much lesser accepted by the public and normally not played by German media because of their affiliation with right-wing politics but with a huge fan community were the Oi!-Band
Böhse Onkelz.
Digital hardcore band
Atari Teenage Riot
Atari Teenage Riot (ATR) is a German band formed in Berlin in 1992. Highly political, they fuse left-wing, anarchist and anti-fascist views with punk vocals and a techno sound called digital hardcore, which is a term band member Alec Empire use ...
is particularly well known in the
United Kingdom and
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
as well as in German
autonomist circles.
Heavy metal
![Scorpions - 01](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/Scorpions_-_01.jpg)
Germany has a long and strong history with
heavy metal. It is considered by many to be one of Europe's heaviest contributors to the scene. The genre is quite popular and mainstream within the country. Early
hard rock
Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...
/heavy metal was brought to German soil with the success of
Scorpions and
Accept
Accept may refer to:
* Acceptance, a person's assent to the reality of a situation etc.
* Accept (band), a German heavy metal band
** ''Accept'' (Accept album), their debut album from 1979
* ''Accept'' (Chicken Shack album), 1970
* ACCEPT (or ...
. Germany is today known for its large metal festivals including
Wacken Open Air and
Summer Breeze Open Air
Summer Breeze Open Air is an annual German heavy metal music festival. It was first held in 1997. The festival had been held in Abtsgmünd until 2006 when it was moved to its new location of Dinkelsbühl, Bavaria. The festival draws around 40,00 ...
.
Germany has a strong tradition of
speed metal and
power metal. Early speed metal bands include
Running Wild,
Grave Digger
A gravedigger is a cemetery worker who is responsible for digging a grave prior to a funeral service.
Description
If the grave is in a cemetery on the property of a church or other religious organization (part of, or called, a churchyard), ...
,
Rage
Rage may refer to:
* Rage (emotion), an intense form of anger
Games
* Rage (collectible card game), a collectible card game
* Rage (trick-taking card game), a commercial variant of the card game Oh Hell
* ''Rage'' (video game), a 2011 first-per ...
, and to some extent
Warlock and
Stormwitch
Stormwitch is a German Heavy metal music, heavy metal band from Heidenheim an der Brenz, Heidenheim, Baden Württemberg, Germany, formed in 1981. They have been called "The Masters of Black Romantic" by their fans. The band's song lyrics often f ...
. The European style of power metal, developed in Germany, was popularized by German bands like
Blind Guardian,
Helloween,
Gamma Ray,
Freedom Call
Freedom Call is a German power metal band formed in 1998. The band tours regularly and the current line-up includes two original members including lead vocalist and songwriter, Chris Bay. Freedom Call has released 12 albums in total, nine ...
,
Iron Savior
Iron Savior is a German power metal band that was formed in Hamburg in 1996. Following a period of several years working behind the scenes in music production, multi-instrumentalist and producer/engineer Piet Sielck joined with former Helloween ...
,
Avantasia,
Edguy
Edguy is a heavy metal band formed in Fulda, Germany in 1992.
History Demos, AFM years (1992–2003)
Edguy was founded in 1992 by 14-year-old students Tobias Sammet, Jens Ludwig, Dominik Storch and Dirk Sauer. The name "Edguy" was an affecti ...
and
Primal Fear Primal Fear may refer to:
* Primal Fear (band)
Primal Fear is a German power metal band formed in 1997 by Ralf Scheepers (vocals, ex-Gamma Ray) and Mat Sinner (bass and vocals, Sinner). Sinner and Scheepers formed the band after Scheepers was ...
gained international recognition. In many cases these bands initially started out playing speed metal, but later switched to power metal. More recently, a new generation of power metal-influenced bands like
Masterplan,
Orden Ogan,
Kissin' Dynamite
Kissin' Dynamite is a German heavy metal band from Burladingen and Münsingen.
History
Kissin' Dynamite started as a school band. Since 2007, the band has worked with the Flensburg production team Elephant Music. At the end of 2007, they sta ...
and
Powerwolf is becoming more and more popular in Germany and abroad.
Running Wild are also considered a pioneer of the
pirate metal genre with the release of their 1987 album ''
Under Jolly Roger
''Under Jolly Roger'' is the third studio album by German heavy metal band Running Wild. It marked a stylistic turning point in which the group dropped the Satanic imagery they had previously used and adopted the pirate theme they would become ...
,'' which was one of the first pirate-themed heavy metal albums.
Three local variants of metal subgenres exist in Germany. The
Teutonic thrash metal scene is represented by such groups as
Kreator,
Sodom
Sodom may refer to:
Places Historic
* Sodom and Gomorrah, cities mentioned in the Book of Genesis
United States
* Sodom, Kentucky, a ghost town
* Sodom, New York, a hamlet
* Sodom, Ohio, an unincorporated community
* Sodom, West Virginia, an ...
,
Destruction,
Tankard
A tankard is a form of drinkware consisting of a large, roughly cylindrical, drinking cup with a single handle. Tankards are usually made of silver or pewter, but can be made of other materials, for example wood, ceramic, or leather. A tankard ...
and
Exumer.
Medieval metal
Medieval metal is a subgenre of folk metal that blends heavy metal music with medieval folk music. Medieval metal is mostly restricted to Germany where it is known as or . The genre emerged from the middle of the 1990s with contributions from ...
, incorporates German traditional music with
industrial metal
Industrial metal is the fusion of heavy metal and industrial music, typically employing repeating metal guitar riffs, sampling, synthesizer or sequencer lines, and distorted vocals. Prominent industrial metal acts include Ministry, Nine In ...
. Notable bands include
Subway to Sally,
In Extremo,
Corvus Corax,
Saltatio Mortis
Saltatio Mortis is a German medieval metal group. The Latin name means "dance of death". It is an allusion to the Danse Macabre, and a motto of the band is: "He who dances does not die."
Members Current
* Alea der Bescheidene - vocals, b ...
and
Schandmaul
Schandmaul is a German medieval folk rock band from the Munich area.
As well as using modern instruments such as the bass and electric guitar, the band also utilizes instruments typically used in Medieval folk songs such as the bagpipes, hurd ...
(the last is considered ''
folk rock'' in Germany). Another variant,
Neue Deutsche Härte
Neue Deutsche Härte (; "new German hardness"), sometimes abbreviated as NDH, is a subgenre of rock music that developed in Germany and Austria during the early-to-mid 1990s and during the early 2000s. Alluding to the style of Neue Deutsche Well ...
, a form of
industrial metal
Industrial metal is the fusion of heavy metal and industrial music, typically employing repeating metal guitar riffs, sampling, synthesizer or sequencer lines, and distorted vocals. Prominent industrial metal acts include Ministry, Nine In ...
, is detailed below.
Bands from the genres of
death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. It typically employs heavily distorted and low-tuned guitars, played with techniques such as palm muting and tremolo picking; deep growling vocals; aggressive, powerful drumming, feat ...
,
deathcore,
metalcore
Metalcore (also known as metallic hardcore) is a fusion music genre that combines elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk. As with other styles blending metal and hardcore, such as crust punk and grindcore, metalcore is noted for its use of ...
,
doom metal
Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...
,
black metal
Black metal is an extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include Tempo#Beats per minute, fast tempos, a Screaming (music)#Black metal, shrieking vocal style, heavily distorted Electric guitar, guitars played with t ...
and
folk metal are:
Absurd,
Agathodaimon
An agathodaemon ( grc, ἀγαθοδαίμων, ) or agathos daemon (, , ) was a spirit (''daemon'') of ancient Greek religion. They were personal or supernatural companion spirits, comparable to the Roman '' genii'', who ensured good luck, fert ...
,
Annisokay,
Atrocity,
Bethlehem,
Caliban,
Crematory,
Dark Fortress,
Deadlock,
Debauchery,
Desaster
Desaster are a German black/thrash metal band formed in Koblenz in 1988. Their lyrical themes involve war, hate and Satanism.
History
Desaster formed in 1988. The band had line-up issues before Infernal, the only remaining member of the orig ...
,
Die Apokalyptischen Reiter
Die Apokalyptischen Reiter (German for " The Apocalyptic Riders") is a Weimar, Germany based heavy metal band signed to Nuclear Blast in Europe and The End Records in North America.
Musical style
The band's original style, featured on th ...
,
Disbelief,
Endstille
Endstille is a black metal band from Germany. It was founded in 2000 by L. Wachtfels (guitar), Mayhemic Destructor (drums), Iblis (vocals) and Cruor (bass) in Kiel. L. Wachtfels and Mayhemic Destructor had previously played in the band Tauthr, w ...
,
Electric Callboy
Electric Callboy (formerly known as Eskimo Callboy) is a German electronicore band formed in Castrop-Rauxel in 2010. They take a more relaxed approach to the genre, and are known for their comedic songs, live shows and videos.
History Early r ...
,
Equilibrium,
Falkenbach,
Finsterforst,
Fleshcrawl
Fleshcrawl is a German death metal band formed in Illertissen, Bavaria, in 1987. Their most recent album, ''Into the Catacombs of Flesh'', was released in 2019 under Apostasy Records.
History
1987–1997
Fleshcrawl was formed by Stefan Ha ...
,
Golem,
Heaven Shall Burn,
His Statue Falls
His Statue Falls was a German post hardcore band formed in 2003 in Saarbrücken, Germany.
History
His Statue Falls was formed in 2003 in Saarbrücken. The musicians played in different bands like Crash My DeVille and Enter The Phoenix and were ...
,
Katharsis,
Leaves' Eyes,
Midnattsol
Midnattsol are a gothic/folk metal band from Germany. The band was founded in 2002 by Norwegian vocalist Carmen Elise Espenæs and German guitarist Christian Hector.
The band's name is a modified spelling of the Norwegian word ''midnattssol'', wh ...
,
Moonblood,
Morgoth
Morgoth Bauglir (; originally Melkor ) is a character, one of the godlike Valar, from Tolkien's legendarium. He is the main antagonist of ''The Silmarillion'', ''The Children of Húrin'', ''Beren and Lúthien'' and ''The Fall of Gondolin''.
...
,
Mystic Circle
Mystic Circle is a German black metal band formed in Ludwigshafen, în 1992.
History
Mystic Circle was formed in 1992 in Ludwigshafen. Mystic Circleat AllMusic The band originally played death metal and recorded a never-released rehearsal dem ...
,
Nagelfar
Nagelfar were a German black metal band.
Biography
Nagelfar were founded in 1993 by guitarist Zorn and drummer Rykthius von Meilenwald, now known by his civil name as Alexander von Meilenwald.[Nargaroth
Nargaroth is a German black metal band led by René "Ash" Wagner, formerly known as “Kanwulf”.
History
Wagner had earlier claimed that Nargaroth was formed in 1989, the seven-track instrumental demo ''Orke'' was released in 1991, and the ...]
,
Neaera,
Necrophagist,
Nocte Obducta,
Obscura,
The Ocean,
The Ruins of Beverast,
Secrets of the Moon
Secrets of the Moon were a black metal band from Osnabrück, Germany, founded in 1995.
Biography
Secrets of the Moon were founded in 1995.[Suidakra
Suidakra (stylized SuidAkrA) is a German melodic death metal band from Düsseldorf, Germany. During their twenty-year career, they have performed over 200 live shows for several European and Russian tours, as well as a North American tour. The ...]
,
Van Canto
Van Canto (sometimes stylized as van Canto) is a German a cappella metal band, founded in 2006 and composed of six singers and a drummer. Although the group is often classified as an a cappella ensemble, they use real drums in their music, inst ...
,
War From a Harlots Mouth
War from a Harlots Mouth is a German metalcore band from Berlin, formed in 2005. Consisting of vocalist Nico Webers, guitarists Simon Hawemann and Daniel Oberländer, bassist Filip Hantusch, and drummer Paule Seidel, the band is noted for a dist ...
,
We Butter the Bread with Butter and
Wolfchant
Wolfchant is a metal band formed in St. Oswald, Germany in August 2003 by Lokhi, Gaahnt, Skaahl, and Norgahd. Wolfchant's lyrics deal with legends and folk tales from Nordic mythology. In August 2005 they signed a contract with CCP Records, manag ...
.
Neue Deutsche Härte
![Rammstein Live at Madison Square Garden](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8e/Rammstein_Live_at_Madison_Square_Garden.jpg)
''
Neue Deutsche Härte
Neue Deutsche Härte (; "new German hardness"), sometimes abbreviated as NDH, is a subgenre of rock music that developed in Germany and Austria during the early-to-mid 1990s and during the early 2000s. Alluding to the style of Neue Deutsche Well ...
'' (engl. "New German Hardness") is a term for an extremely popular German variant of
Industrial metal
Industrial metal is the fusion of heavy metal and industrial music, typically employing repeating metal guitar riffs, sampling, synthesizer or sequencer lines, and distorted vocals. Prominent industrial metal acts include Ministry, Nine In ...
. It combines the common sound of metal with elements of gothic and industrial music as well as electronic samples and is mostly sung in German. It is known for morbid and provocative lyrical themes and over-the-top stage shows often featuring fire, pyrotechnic, stunts and other special effects. It draws its audience from both the
metal and
goth
A Goth is a member of the Goths, a group of East Germanic tribes. Two major political entities of the Goths were:
*Visigoths, prominent in Spanish history
*Ostrogoths, prominent in Italian history
Goth or Goths may also refer to:
* Goth (surname) ...
scene. Some bands, especially
Rammstein and
Oomph! have gained mainstream success and, despite their lyrics being mostly in German, have also found success in non-German-speaking countries. Other famous artists include
Stahlhammer
Stahlhammer (German for "Steel Hammer") is a Neue Deutsche Härte band from Austria that formed in 1992. They incorporate elements from hardcore, groove metal, industrial metal and symphonic metal into their songs. The band has to this date ...
(from Austria),
Megaherz,
Unheilig,
Eisbrecher,
Tanzwut, and
Joachim Witt.
Medieval metal
Medieval metal
Medieval metal is a subgenre of folk metal that blends heavy metal music with medieval folk music. Medieval metal is mostly restricted to Germany where it is known as or . The genre emerged from the middle of the 1990s with contributions from ...
or medieval rock is a subgenre of folk metal that blends hard rock or heavy metal music with medieval folk music. Medieval metal is mostly restricted to Germany where it is known as Mittelalter-Metal or Mittelalter-Rock. The genre emerged from the middle of the 1990s with contributions from
Subway to Sally,
In Extremo,
Schandmaul
Schandmaul is a German medieval folk rock band from the Munich area.
As well as using modern instruments such as the bass and electric guitar, the band also utilizes instruments typically used in Medieval folk songs such as the bagpipes, hurd ...
and
Wolgemut
Michael Wolgemut (formerly spelt ''Wohlgemuth''; 143430 November 1519) was a German painter and printmaker, who ran a workshop in Nuremberg. He is best known as having taught the young Albrecht Dürer.
The importance of Wolgemut as an artist res ...
. The style is characterised by the prominent use of a wide variety of traditional folk and medieval instruments.
Goth
Germany is the home of a vivid Goth scene, and has a large scene of musicians from the spectrum who are typically known as ''Goth musicians''. Most notable artists are
Lacrimosa,
Lacrimas Profundere
Lacrimas Profundere is a gothic metal band from Germany. Their name means "to shed tears" in Latin. Their stylistic aesthetic has changed over time; originally a gothic death-doom band, they have simplified their style to a more mainstream gothi ...
,
Xmal Deutschland
Xmal Deutschland (pronounced: /ɪksmal ˈdɔʏtʃlant/), often written as X-Mal Deutschland, was a musical group from Hamburg, West Germany, which existed from 1980 to 1990. Founded in 1980 with a completely female line-up, they became chart hi ...
,
Das Ich
Das Ich is a German dark wave/gothic-industrial band formed in 1989. The group, fronted by Stefan Ackermann and Bruno Kramm, were one of the prominent founders of and contributors to "Neue Deutsche Todeskunst" (''New German Death Art'') a musical ...
,
Deine Lakaien
Deine Lakaien is a German band project active since 1985. It is formed by the vocalist Alexander Veljanov and by the composer and multi-instrumentalist Ernst Horn. The group unites influences from dark wave with pop music and elements of avant- ...
,
Illuminate,
Untoten
Untoten (german: The Undead) is a German musical group based in Berlin. It was founded by David A. Line and female vocalist Greta Csatlós in 1994. The lyrics are written primarily in German and English, supported by female vocals.
History
Unto ...
,
Erben der Schöpfung (from Liechtenstein),
No More No More may refer to:
* No More (band), a German post-punk band
Songs
* "No More" (1944 song), written by Bob Russell and Toots Camarata; covered by Billie Holiday
* "No More" (1961 song), a version of "La Paloma" recorded by Elvis Presley an ...
,
Girls Under Glass
Girls Under Glass (GUG) is a musical group from Hamburg, Germany, founded in 1986 by Thomas Lücke, Hauke Harms, and Volker "Zaphor" Zacharias. Described as "an indispensable part of the German wave and gothic scene", GUG began as a gothic rock ban ...
or
Project Pitchfork
Project Pitchfork is a German dark wave, electronic rock group from Hamburg, Germany.
History First years (1990–1994)
Project Pitchfork was formed by Peter Spilles and Dirk Scheuber. After agreeing to work together, they picked the projec ...
.
Leipzig is home of the largest event of this
subculture
A subculture is a group of people within a culture that differentiates itself from the parent culture to which it belongs, often maintaining some of its founding principles. Subcultures develop their own norms and values regarding cultural, poli ...
worldwide called the
Wave-Gotik-Treffen, regularly hosting 25,000 attendants. The WGT is closely followed by the annual
M'era Luna
The M'era Luna is a rock festival that encompasses a number of different styles such as metal, future pop, aggrotech, synthpop, gothic rock, dark wave, and ebm. It is held annually on the second weekend of every August, in Hildesheim, G ...
festival in
Hildesheim.
Neue Deutsche Todeskunst (engl. "New German Death Art") is a German death-obsessed
Dark Wave style of music that blends
Death rock,
German Rock,
Gothic Rock
Gothic rock (also called goth rock or simply goth) is a style of rock music that emerged from post-punk in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The first post-punk bands which shifted toward dark music with gothic overtones include Siouxsie a ...
, and
neo-classical music with German philosophical texts and a theatrical stage show. It is restricted to Germany where it emerged in the early 1990s from bands such as
Das Ich
Das Ich is a German dark wave/gothic-industrial band formed in 1989. The group, fronted by Stefan Ackermann and Bruno Kramm, were one of the prominent founders of and contributors to "Neue Deutsche Todeskunst" (''New German Death Art'') a musical ...
,
Lacrimosa,
Relatives Menschsein
Relatives Menschsein is a German darkwave band formed in 1990 by the musicians Amadeus, Lissy Mödl and Jörg Wolfgram. They are one of the first "Neue Deutsche Todeskunst" (''New German Death Art'') bands. They were signed
to label Danse Maca ...
and
Goethes Erben
Goethes Erben (Goethe's Heirs) is a musical group from Germany started in 1989 by Oswald Henke and Peter Seipt.
History
The founding idea for Goethes Erben was to combine German spoken words with musical theater. They are one of the first Neue ...
. Many NDT artists are known for their use of
Classical Latin.
Electronic music and techno
![Robin Schulz Lollapalooza 2015-2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/Robin_Schulz_Lollapalooza_2015-2.jpg)
Germany has the largest electronic music scene in the world and has a long tradition in and influence on almost all genres of electronic music. The band
Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk (, "power station") is a German band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk were among the first successful acts to popularize the ...
was one of the first bands in the world to make music entirely on electronic equipment, and the band
Tangerine Dream is often credited as being among the originators and primary influences of the "Berlin School" of electronic music, which would later influence
trance music. Some other bands like
Liaisons Dangereuses
''Les Liaisons dangereuses'' (; English: ''Dangerous Liaisons'') is a French epistolary novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, first published in four volumes by Durand Neveu from March 23, 1782.
It is the story of the Marquise de Merteuil an ...
,
Tyske Ludder
Tyske Ludder is a German EBM band. Their members include Claus Albers, Olaf A. Reimers, Ralf Homann and Sebastian I. Hartmann. In 2008 they appeared at the Infest in Bradford. And in May 2009 they appeared at the Wave-Gotik-Treffen in Leip ...
,
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft
}
Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft (; "German-American Friendship"), or D.A.F., is an influential German electropunk/Neue Deutsche Welle band from Düsseldorf, formed in 1978 featuring Gabriel "Gabi" Delgado-López (vocals), Robert Görl (drum ...
and
Die Krupps
Die Krupps () ("The Krupps") is a German industrial metal/ EBM band, formed in 1980 by Jürgen Engler and Bernward Malaka in Düsseldorf.
The band has had a diverse range of musical influences over time, including the percussive industrial '' ...
created a style later called
Electronic body music
Electronic body music (acronymized to EBM) is a genre of electronic music that combines elements of industrial music and synth-punk with elements of disco and dance music. It developed in the early 1980s in Western Europe as an outgrowth of bo ...
. Recently a few electronica artists have become successful in the mainstream, such as
Monika Kruse
Monika Kruse (born 23 July 1971) is a German techno DJ/producer and record label owner, with a career in electronic music spanning more than 25 years. She played an influential role in the early Munich rave scene during the early 1990s and was amo ...
,
Marusha,
Blümchen
Jasmin Wagner (; born 20 April 1980), better known as Blümchen (), is a German pop and dance music singer and actress. Although she releases her English albums under the name Blossom, her German stage name actually translates to "floret" or ...
and
MIA.
MIA. (alternative spelling: Mia.) is a German Punk music, punk/New Wave music, new wave/Rock music, rock/Pop music, pop band from Berlin.
Biography
MIA. originally formed in 1997 when TV host Sarah Kuttner introduced schoolmates Mieze Katz ( ...
Artists on the cutting edge of German-language techno include
Klee
Paul Klee (; 18 December 1879 – 29 June 1940) was a Swiss-born German artist. His highly individual style was influenced by movements in art that included expressionism, cubism, and surrealism. Klee was a natural draftsman who experimented wi ...
. Both
Einstürzende Neubauten (collapsing new buildings, translated literally) and
KMFDM (no pity for the majority, translated literally) are considered by many industrial and electronic music fans as the godfathers of their genre. Their sounds developed the modern styles of groups such as NIN, Marilyn Manson, Rammstein, and New Order. Einstürzende Neubauten can be recognized by their Prince-esque logo, which has been subliminally fused into several mainstream American movies (such as a tattoo in the movie Bug, directed by William Friedkin, starring Harry Connick Jr.). KMFDM has released many songs in English, making them more accessible to their huge American and worldwide audience.
In the 1990s, Germany was one of the most successful contributors to the
Eurodance
Euro-Dance (sometimes referred to as Euro-NRG, Euro-electronica or Euro) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s in Europe. It combines many elements of hip hop, techno, Hi-NRG, house music, and Euro-Disco. This ...
genre, with notable German-based acts including
Real McCoy
"The real McCoy" is an idiom and metaphor used in much of the English-speaking world to mean "the real thing" or "the genuine article", e.g. "he's the real McCoy". The phrase has been the subject of numerous false etymologies.
History
The phr ...
,
Snap!,
Culture Beat,
La Bouche,
Captain Jack,
Captain Hollywood Project
Captain Hollywood Project is a German eurodance music project best known for the hits “ More and More," " Only with You" and " Flying High." At the peak of its success in the 1990s, the project achieved ten top-20 hits on European music charts. ...
,
Fun Factory,
Masterboy and
Haddaway.
Since 2006 producer and DJ
Paul Kalkbrenner gained popularity in Germany. He nowadays is one of the most famous performers of electronic music.
Trance music is a style of electronic music that originated in Germany in the very late 1980s and early 1990s, upon German unification. Following the development of trance music in Germany, many
Trance genres
A list of trance music
Trance is a genre of electronic dance music that emerged from the British new-age music scene and the early 1990s German techno and hardcore scenes.
Trance music is characterized by a tempo generally lying between ...
stemmed from the original trance music and most trance genres developed in Germany, most notably "
Anthem trance" or also called "uplifting" or "epic" trance,
progressive trance, and "
Ambient trance".
One of the most notable event referring to this scene was the
Love Parade festival with up to 1.5 million participants from all over the world.
Scooter are by far the most successful German dance act, having found huge national and international success.
In recent years, German DJs have found worldwide success in the popular
edm
EDM or E-DM may refer to:
Music
* Electronic dance music
* Early Day Miners, American band
Science and technology
* Electric dipole moment
* Electrical discharge machining
* Electronic distance measurement
*Entry, Descent, and landing demonstra ...
genre, most notably Paul Kalkbrenner,
Cascada,
Felix Jaehn and
Robin Schulz.
Other popular and influential German DJs and dance projects include
Paul van Dyk,
WestBam,
DJ Quicksilver,
ATB
André Tanneberger (; born 26 February 1973), better known by his stage name ATB, is a German DJ, musician, and producer of trance music. According to the official world DJ rankings governed by ''DJ Magazine'', ATB was ranked No. 11 in 2009 and ...
,
Ian Pooley,
Jam & Spoon,
Lexy & K-Paul
Lexy & K-Paul are DJs from Berlin consisting of Alexander Gerlach ("Lexy", born 14 January 1976 in Dresden) and Kai Michael Paul, formerly Kai Michael Fuchs ("K-Paul", born 5 November 1973 in Berlin). Lexy is also a member of the project Die Rake ...
,
Blank & Jones,
Sven Väth,
Dune
A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...
,
ItaloBrothers
ItaloBrothers is a German dance project from Nordhorn, Germany. The band consists of vocalist Matthias Metten (former member of YouTube music group, 2busk), who works in the studio with Zacharias Adrian (also known as Zac McCrack) and Christian ...
,
Groove Coverage,
Novaspace
Novaspace was a German Eurodance project originated in 2002 by the record producer Felix Gauder, featuring Jessica Boehrs as the singer, who was later replaced by Jenny Marsala. Between 2002 and 2004, Novaspace achieved international success with ...
,
International Pony
International Pony is a band from Hamburg, Germany. It was formed in 1998 by Stefan Kozalla also known as DJ Koze, Daniel Sommer also known as Cosmic DJ, and by Carsten Meyer well known as Erobique. International Pony have released the albums ...
and
Anthony Rother
Anthony Rother (born 29 April 1972) is an electronic music composer, producer and label owner living in Frankfurt, Germany.
Rother's electro sound ("Sex With the Machines", "Simulationszeitalter", "Hacker") is characterized by repetitive machi ...
.
Klezmer in Germany and Eastern Europe
Klezmer
Klezmer ( yi, קלעזמער or ) is an instrumental musical tradition of the Ashkenazi Jews of Central and Eastern Europe. The essential elements of the tradition include dance tunes, ritual melodies, and virtuosic improvisations played for l ...
is a musical Jewish genre that consists of mainly instrumental songs. In Germany, Klezmer expanded significantly after the fall of the Berlin Wall in the mid-1980s.
As Klezmer was expanding, so was the Yiddish folk movement, and the two genres became intertwined to a certain extent. In the 1980s while Klezmer was seeing tremendous growth, many Jews in Eastern Europe turned to Klezmer as a means of understanding their communist backgrounds and showing their remembrance to those who experienced the
Holocaust. Once Klezmer groups started to tour outside of Europe in the 1980s, Americans gained immediate interest in the music genre.
Henry Sapoznik
Henry "Hank" Sapoznik ( yi, העניק סאַפאַזשניק; born 1953, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American author, record and radio producer and performer of traditional Yiddish and American music.
Career
With MacArthur Fellow David Isay, ...
created the first American Klezmer band, known as Kapelye, which toured all around Europe.
The spread of Americans playing Klezmer brought a new tone to the genre which captured large audiences. Most American groups who played Klezmer added a hint of American rock into their performances, which was different than the traditional sound of Klezmer in Eastern Europe. It was uncomfortable at first for many of the American Klezmer bands to play in Germany because of the trauma that had occurred there. Despite Germany's background, the American Klezmer groups knew Germany was a place they had to play because of Klezmer's popularity there. Over time, Klezmer's audience expanded in Germany and the American Klezmer bands were able to adjust.
Giora Feidman is arguably one of the most influential Klezmer musicians. Feidman created a new perspective for Klezmer, and shared a new ideology for how the music genre could be viewed and appreciated. Feidman gained a large amount of popularity from his work on the musical play, ''Ghetto'', which associated him and his style with the Holocaust.
He brought a new theme to Klezmer music which focused on the remembrance of the Holocaust, and a way of "healing" the trauma caused by the Holocaust. Feidman turned Klezmer into a form of personal expression, in which he tried to unite all people (especially the Jews and Germans) and all things through Klezmer.
He completely shifted the ideology of Klezmer and explained how Klezmer is in everything, it is even a way to get in touch with religion and communicate with God.
However, some people believe Feidman took his ideology too far and turned Klezmer into something that it never intended to become.
During the 1980s Klezmer underwent significant transformation, and by the middle-late 1990s Klezmer experienced a new wave of change. Klezmer became a name for many different trends far from where it originated. Klezmer was known as a political statement, a method of healing, amateur musicians getting together and playing music, a way to reconnect with lost traditions.
Jazz
World music
Germany was the starting point of the international career of Cuban-born singer & songwriter
Addys Mercedes
Addys Mercedes (, formerly known as Addys D'Mercedes) is a Cubans, Cuban pop and world music singer living in Germany and Spain.
She made her UK debut in 2001 at the Guildford Festival and since then has undertaken two United Kingdom, British Co ...
.
Notes
References
*
*
*
Further reading
* Helms, Siegmund, ed. (1972). ''Schlager in Deutschland: Beiträge zur Analyse der Popularmusik und des Musikmarktes''. Breitkopf & Härtel. ''N.B''.: Includes a bibliog. dictionary of German musicians on pp. 177–235. Without ISBN.
* Schütte, Uwe, ed. (2017). ''German Pop Music. A Companion''. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter. .
External links
German musicBrief biographies, sound samples, CDs from folk music to classical composers to contemporary rock, pop, and hip-hop German music.
German audio music samplesGerman music audio sound samples, CDs from folk music to classical, rock, pop, and hip-hop German music audio downloads.
Goethe-Institut
The Goethe-Institut (, GI, en, Goethe Institute) is a non-profit German cultural association operational worldwide with 159 institutes, promoting the study of the German language abroad and encouraging international cultural exchange and ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:Music of Germany
Performing arts pages with videographic documentation
pt:Cultura da Alemanha#Música