Jean Sibelius, 1865 - 1957
I am a great admirer of Finnish composer Jean Sibelius, who along with Richard Strauss and Ralph Vaughan Williams, was one of the last generation (so far) of great European Romantic composers. Thus my attention was drawn to a November 29, 2009 article about Sibelius in the Chronicle of Higher Education, “A Composer’s Ties to Nazi Germany Come Under New Scrutiny,” by Peter Monaghan.
I love exposés like these. I have devoted intense study to the long list of great composers, writers, philosophers, psychologists, conductors, film-makers, and artists who were in some way linked to National Socialism and fascism in all its varieties: figures like Martin Heidegger, Ezra Pound, Wyndham Lewis, Ingmar Bergman, Arno Breker, Herbert von Karajan, Julius Evola, Mircea Eliade, Carl Schmitt, Ernst Jünger, Knut Hamsun, Gabriele D’Annunzio, Filippo Marinetti, C. G. Jung, Sir Reginald Goodall, Louis-Ferdinand Céline, Henry Williamson, Wilhelm Furtwängler, Anthony Ludovici, and many more.
As a Jew-wise racial nationalist, I am always on the lookout for great minds who share some or all of my concerns, in the hope that they might add both light and luster to our cause. Although such figures arrive at their political views by different routes, they all have their reasons, motives, and goals, which repay study. Interestingly enough, none of them wanted to conquer the world, exterminate the Jews, or plant their boot on a human face forever.
With this in mind, I eagerly perused the Chronicle article. I learned that Timothy L. Jackson, a professor of music at the University of North Texas, argues that “Sibelius was culpably entangled with Nazi Germany, and should join Pound, Richard Wagner, and Louis-Ferdinand Céline in the select group of artists who have been cast into anti-Semitic ignominy.”
The article informs us that he makes his case in a long essay to appear in the first half of 2010 in a book entitled Sibelius in the Old and New World: Aspects of His Music, Its Interpretation, and Reception. This book has been co-edited by Jackson and three of his colleagues and is being published by Peter Lang Publishing Group.
When last I checked, Peter Lang was pretty much the bottom of the academic publishing barrel: a press that would take virtually any manuscript and turn it into a book that is poorly edited, poorly produced, and richly overpriced. I have no idea if Jackson and his colleagues actually paid Lang to publish their manuscript, but the fact that he himself is one of the co-editors already makes it an exercise in self-publishing. (How much do you want to bet that Jackson’s co-editors also have articles in the collection?)
I love the grab-bag title. I challenge you to find an article on Sibelius that could be excluded from a collection with that title.
All this gave me pause. But then it occurred to me that perhaps I was being a snob. The deciding factor should be the evidence, after all. So I pressed forward to see what evidences of “anti-Semitic ignominy” were marshaled by this University of North Texas musicologist in his self-published article in his Peter Lang volume. Here is the evidence that the Chronicle presents.
1. “Sibelius’s early fascination with Finnish mythology and nationalism resonated with Nazism.” Finnish myths are not the same as German myths. Finnish nationalism is not the same a German nationalism. But being a Finnish nationalist with an interest in Finnish mythology somehow “resonates” with Nazism. If there is an argument here, it proves too much. For instance, it proves that every Jew who is fascinated with Jewish mythology and concerned with Israel also “resonates” with Nazism. Does Dr. Jackson believe that Zionism is like Nazism? What other links does he have to the PLO?
2. Sibelius received royalties for the publication and performance of his works in Germany during the Third Reich. This makes Sibelius an anti-Semite, because presumably no royalties were paid to the Mahler estate, since his works were not being published and performed in the Third Reich.
3. “Sibelius in 1935 accepted a Goethe Medal that Adolf Hitler confirmed with his signature.” This makes Sibelius an anti-Semite, because Arnold Schoenberg was presumably not in the running for a Goethe Medal at that time. Heads of state often sign off on important national prizes. In itself, it proves nothing. It would be interesting to learn how many other national prizes Sibelius won and if any of them were also confirmed by heads of state.
4. “From at least 1941, [Sibelius] drew a German pension that was worth half the average German annual income.” Half the average German income? High cotton indeed. Notice that we are not told anything about the source of this pension, but we are left to believe that it was for services to the Reich. What sort of services? We are not told. But perhaps we can infer that they were at least half the average services.
5. “In 1942, Third Reich officials approved the founding of the German Sibelius Society.” This makes Sibelius an anti-Semite, because presumably no German Mahler Society was approved by Third Reich officials.
6. “No single event more clearly illustrates Sibelius’s empathy with the Nazi ethos, Jackson believes, than his reneging on his promise to help a young, part-Jewish composer, Günther Raphael. In the years 1931 to 1936, Raphael implored Sibelius repeatedly, urgently, and obsequiously to help him to retain his teaching position in Germany at a time when Jewish artists were being dismissed from their posts.”
This makes Sibelius an anti-Semite, because only an anti-Semite would say no to a Jew, even a Jew who is obsequious and pushy (five years of repeated, urgent requests is definitely pushing it). I would love to know the nature of Sibelius’s “promise.” I would lay odds that is was something politely non-committal, like “I’ll see what I can do . . .,” that was then turned into the occasion for five years of badgering and emotional blackmail.
Finnish Sibelius scholar Vesa Sirén dismisses this accusation, claiming that it “ignores that the composer received, and rejected, hundreds of such requests, and by the 1930s had had enough. In fact, says Sirén, Sibelius had given out so many recommendations, motivated by politeness rather than informed by their recipients’ qualifications, that ‘he now felt that he was in the middle of a nest of lies.’” (It is heartening to learn that all of Jackson’s charges are being vigorously disputed by Finnish Sibelius scholars as distortions and smears.)
7. “In mid-1942 . . . when it still seemed that Germany might win the war, Sibelius agreed to be interviewed at his home in Finland by Anton Kloss, an SS war reporter who had most likely taken part in war atrocities.” Sibelius apparently gave many interviews to reporters, so in itself this proves nothing.
I would love to know why Jackson thinks war reporter Kloss “had most likely taken part in war atrocities.” Was it just because he was a member of the SS? Or just because he was a journalist? Did he write a savage review of a restaurant in occupied Poland? Did he stab a résistance fighter with a fountain pen?
That’s it. That’s all the evidence of Sibelius’s “anti-Semitic ignominy” that the Chronicle finds fit to print. Clearly, Professor Jackson is operating with Joe Sobran’s new definition of an anti-Semite. The old definition of an anti-Semite is someone who hates Jews. The new definition is someone whom Jews hate.
I don’t know if Professor Jackson is a Jew, a part-Jew, or simply an unscrupulous non-Jew trying to advance himself in our Jew-dominated culture. But I do know that if he ever loses his academic job, he is definitely qualified to churn out smears for the ADL and the SPLC.
9 Comments
Dr Johnson — I just came across another notably brilliant White-Westerner to add to your short-list of people who were/are supposedly linked (either directly or indirectly) to fascism via the murmurings of certain ‘critics’ — the noted French philologist, mythographer, and Indo-European scholar Georges Dumézil:
There really is nothing new under the sun.
Pointing out anti-Semitism pays, not only with money but with an elevated sense of moral self righteousness. Who cares if it defames and destroys a man’s reputation and blots his life’s work? It was the late George Orwell who explored anti-Semitism in Britain. Incredibly he discovered a latent anti-Semitic strain in Chaucer! He accused Belloc and Chesterson of being “jew baiters.” He went on to smear Shakespeare, Smollette, Thackery, Shaw, T. S. Elliot, and Aldous Huxley.
Interesting article, great use of sarcasm!
Not more than a couple of thousand of Jews have ever lived in Finland, with the result that there has been little anti-Semitism . Even for the Finnish right-wing radicals who sympathized with Nazism in the 1930s ja 40s, Jews were a rather marginal concern.
Wikipedia has this to say about Ingmar Bergman and Nazism:
“In 1934, at the age of 16, Bergman was sent to spend the summer vacation with family friends in Germany. He attended a Nazi rally in Weimar at which he saw Adolf Hitler. He later wrote in Laterna Magica (The Magic Lantern) about the visit to Germany, how the German family had put a portrait of Adolf Hitler on the wall by his bed, and that “for many years, I was on Hitler’s side, delighted by his success and saddened by his defeats”.”
This is an excellent critique of that Sibelius article Dr Johnson. I saw the Sibelius article about a week and a half ago in TCHE and wanted to notify y’all here at TOQ about it, but it slipped my mind. But I’m very glad you were notified about the article and also able to find the time to set the record straight.
But regarding a point in the article, I would be interested to find out how Ingmar Bergman was directly or indirectly linked to fascism and/or National Socialism? I haven’t ever read or heard anything about that before.
Andrew Barnett’s recent scholarly biography of Sibelius does not give the smallest hint of any anti-Jewish animus, let alone any Hitlerite sympathies, on the composer’s part. On the contrary, Sibelius appears on Barnett’s evidence to have been free even of the very mild anti-Jewish sniping in which Richard Strauss occasionally indulged.
Below is a mailing that the head of a college-connected learning in retirement group {xxxx) sent to its several hundred members, followed by my response to the sender and artistic director. [ Note: I just found this article re Ronald Harwood: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/3670984/Ronald-Harwood-Its-amazing-Im-up-for-another-Oscar.html ] – MOB
______________________________
xxxx Notes
June 12, 2008
YELLOW TAXI Special Offer For xxxx Members
I wanted to make sure you knew about Yellow Taxi’s show this September as I feel it ties neatly into xxxx’s mission and would like to offer a group rate for your students.
Taking Sides is a play by British playwright Ronald Harwood that focuses on U.S. accusations against German conductor and composer Wilhelm Furtwängler of having served the Nazi regime. Our production will be the script’s area premiere. While many other artists fled the country when Hitler came to power, Furtwangler remained, conducting widely in Germany, and thus seemed to benefit from the Nazi regime. Using these facts as his premise, Harwood has worked an ethical debate into dramatic form. Does genius deserve respect for being genius? Can you separate an artist’s work from his life?
Playwright Ronald Harwood is well known for his interest in musicians and World War II. In addition to Taking Sides, his work includes The Dresser, Quartet, The Pianist (winner Academy Award Best Screenplay), Being Julia, and most recently The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. Harwood used a detailed diary kept by Furtwängler of his interrogation sessions in crafting Taking Sides. Although the investigation that is the focus of the play resulted in formal charges being brought against Furtwängler, he was eventually cleared by the tribunal. Harwood guides the audience on an exploration of whether the quality of an artist’s work can be evaluated independently of his actions and life choices.
I can offer xxxx a group rate of just $10/ticket for a group of 10 or more for the following performances: Friday, September 19 at 8pm, Saturday, September 20 at 4pm, or Sunday, September 21 at 4pm. I believe that this production will appeal to xxxx’s student body and hope that this group rate makes it possible for you to join us.
Best,
SD, Artistic Director
We need a xxxx Member to step forward and organize at least ten members to attend this play.
______________________________________________________
Response –
I’m the happy owner of several Wilhelm Furtwängler cd’s, in particular, Beethoven symphonies and overtures.
I also have a prized cd entitled Testament, which features the great Furtwängler conducting the great Yehudi Menuhin playing the great Beethoven’s Violin Concerto and Romances.
See this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CDo6c6-Wt4 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-iuSgXKUcw&feature=related
Here’s an interesting article–
Like Father, Like Son: A Tribute to Moshe and Yehudi Menuhin by Grace Halsell
http://www.washington-report.org/backissues/0796/9607018.htm
Why would anyone want to indulge Ronald (Horwitz) Harwood in his effort to tell people who or what they should listen to?
There is no debate. There are no ethics involved. People with ears and spirits that hear the beauty of Furtwängler’s performances will listen.
Mr. Harwood’s play sounds like an irrelevant contrivance.
/signed/
MOB
______________________________________________________________
Timothy L. Jackson: http://music.unt.edu/mhte/node/70
No specific evidence of Jewishness, except for his special interests and fellow travelers (as per google hits).
He also heads up the Center for Schenkerian Studies at UNT.
(Jewish) Heinrich LSchenker http://www.schenkerdocumentsonline.org/colloquy/heinrich_schenker.html
Jackson’s analysis of Tchaikovsky’s Pathetique is here: http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/samples/cam032/98039930.pdf
Skimming Jackson’s “Sibelius Studies” gives an idea of his work (too much interpretation for my taste):
http://books.google.com/books?id=6p9lAkbz7fAC&pg=PA242&lpg=PA242&dq=timothy+jackson+richard+strauss&source=bl&ots=ILdIS5T4YZ&sig=lbLmmMwiz-T5wTMrJYWVLM0nnUQ&hl=en&ei=4NoiS4OAGouXlAe2zpD5CQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9&ved=0CB8Q6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=timothy%20jackson%20richard%20strauss&f=false
Dear Greg,
I thoroughly enjoyed your article; particularly the wry sarcasm you used to nail your points home with. Entertaining and enlightening.
Kind regards,
Robert