Music and politics in Hanns Eisler’s film music
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Abstract
This article presents a double itinerary: on the one hand, it approach the crossover between musical culture and the crisis of bourgeois society in the thought of Hanns Eisler, published in Musik und Politik (1973, 1982 and 1983). On the other hand, his music will be considered mainly in Kuhle Wampe (Slatan Dudow, 1932) and Hangmen Also Die! (Fritz Lang, 1943). The choice of examples is due to the following reasons: the first one dates from the year before the rise of Nazism, which allows us to trace the line of work prior to the American exile and is nourished by Eisler's experience in Berlin, deeply influenced by the workers' struggle and, specifically, his participation in the workers' choirs. The second was shot in Hollywood, while Eisler was working with Adorno in the Film Music Project (financed by the Rockefeller Foundation). Both examples allow us to trace the practical drift (and its possible deviations) of his political commitment.
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