The Reich Music Examination Office (German: ''Reichsmusikprüfstelle'') was an organisation within the Reich Ministry for Popular Enlightenment and Propaganda whose role was to prevent the distribution of 'undesirable' music within

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

. 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 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. Five more of these lists were published (containing in total 83 titles or composers' names). This small number indicates that the mere existence of the office had a self-regulatory effect. Much of the banned material comprised what the Nazis called

degenerate music Degenerate music (, ) was a label applied in the 1930s by the government of Nazi Germany to certain forms of music that it considered harmful or decadent. The Nazi government's concerns about degenerate music were a part of its larger and better- ...

, such as

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

or negermusik as well as the compositions of Jewish composers like

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 ...

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

Degenerate music

See also

References

External links