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The Reich Music Examination Office (German: ''Reichsmusikprüfstelle'') was an organisation within the
"Degenerate" Music in Nazi Germany
Music organisations based in Germany Modernism (music) Nazi culture Nazi propaganda organizations Censorship in Germany Government agencies established in 1937 1937 establishments in Germany Musical groups established in 1937 1937 in music
The Reich Music Examination Office (German: ''Reichsmusikprüfstelle'') was an organisation within the Reich Ministry for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda
The Reich Ministry for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda (; RMVP), also known simply as the Ministry of Propaganda (), controlled the content of the press, literature, visual arts, film, theater, music and radio in Nazi Germany.
The ministry ...
whose role was to prevent the distribution of 'undesirable' music within Nazi Germany. In doing so, it worked in conjunction with the Music Chamber of the Reich Chamber of Culture.
Degenerate music
The Office was established as a result of an 'Order Concerning Undesirable and Dangerous Music', issued by the Music Chamber in December 1937.Heinz Drewes
Heinz Drewes (1903–1980) was a German conductor and in 1937–1944 head of division X (music) of Reichsministerium für Volksaufklärung und Propaganda at the time when Reichsmusikkammer was led by Peter Raabe from 1935 onwards. He was one of the ...
became the Office's first director. Initially, the Office's remit was to screen all foreign music before publication or distribution, but in March 1939, this role expanded to encompass all music. As this task was too great for one bureau to deal with, publishers were only under compulsion to submit music to the Office if it was requested, although some composers submitted their own compositions anyway.
As part of its work, the Reich Music Examination Office published lists of 'undesirable' compositions, the first of which was produced on 31 August 1938 and published in the Music Chamber's official journal on 1 September. Several more of these lists were published. In practice, very few compositions were actually banned, as the mere existence of the office had a self-regulatory effect. Much of the banned material comprised what the Nazis called degenerate music, such as jazz or negermusik
''Negermusik'' ("Negro music") was a derogatory term used by the Nazi Party during the Nazi Germany, Third Reich to demonize musical styles that had been invented by black people such as swing music, swing and jazz. The Nazi Party viewed these m ...
as well as the compositions of Jewish composers like Mahler.
See also
* Degenerate music *Music in Nazi Germany
Music in Nazi Germany, like all cultural activities in the regime, was controlled and "co-ordinated" (''Gleichschaltung'') by various entities of the state and the Nazi Party, with Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels and the prominent Nazi theori ...
* ''Negermusik
''Negermusik'' ("Negro music") was a derogatory term used by the Nazi Party during the Nazi Germany, Third Reich to demonize musical styles that had been invented by black people such as swing music, swing and jazz. The Nazi Party viewed these m ...
''
* Reich Chamber of Music The Reich Chamber of Music (German: ''Reichsmusikkammer'') was a Nazi institution. It promoted "good German music" which was composed by Aryans and seen as consistent with Nazi ideals, while suppressing other, "degenerate" music, which included ato ...
References
Notes {{refimprove, date=January 2021 Sources * Kater, Michael H. (1997) ''The Twisted Muse: Musicians and their Music in the Third Reich'' * Steinweis, Alan E. (1993) ''Art, Ideology, and Economics in Nazi Germany: The Reich Chambers of Music, Theater, and the Visual Arts''External links
"Degenerate" Music in Nazi Germany
Music organisations based in Germany Modernism (music) Nazi culture Nazi propaganda organizations Censorship in Germany Government agencies established in 1937 1937 establishments in Germany Musical groups established in 1937 1937 in music