Singing Like Germans: Black Musicians in the Land of Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms

Awards:   Commended for Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Prize for Studies in Germanic Languages and Literatures 2022 (United States) Runner-up for Ralph J. Gleason Music Book Award 2022 (United States) Short-listed for Ralph J. Gleason Music Book Award 2022 (United States) Winner of George L. Mosse Prize 2022 (United States) Winner of Marfield Prize, the National Award for Arts Writing 2021 (United States)
Author:   Kira Thurman
Publisher:   Cornell University Press
ISBN:  

9781501770180


Pages:   372
Publication Date:   15 May 2023
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   Manufactured on demand   Availability explained
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

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Singing Like Germans: Black Musicians in the Land of Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms


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Awards

  • Commended for Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Prize for Studies in Germanic Languages and Literatures 2022 (United States)
  • Runner-up for Ralph J. Gleason Music Book Award 2022 (United States)
  • Short-listed for Ralph J. Gleason Music Book Award 2022 (United States)
  • Winner of George L. Mosse Prize 2022 (United States)
  • Winner of Marfield Prize, the National Award for Arts Writing 2021 (United States)

Overview

Full Product Details

Author:   Kira Thurman
Publisher:   Cornell University Press
Imprint:   Cornell University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 2.40cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.907kg
ISBN:  

9781501770180


ISBN 10:   1501770187
Pages:   372
Publication Date:   15 May 2023
Audience:   General/trade ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand   Availability explained
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

"Introduction Part I: 1870–1914 1. How Beethoven Came to Black America: German Musical Universalism and Black Education after the Civil War 2. African American Intellectual and Musical Migration to the Kaiserreich 3. The Sonic Color Line Belts the World: Constructing Race and Music in Central Europe Part II: 1918–1945 4. Blackness and Classical Musicin the Age of the Black Horror on the Rhine Campaign 5. Singing Lieder, Hearing Race: Debating Blackness, Whiteness, and German Music in Interwar Central Europe 6. ""A Negro Who Sings German Music Jeopardizes German Culture"": Black Musicians under the Shadow of Nazism Part III: 1945–1961 7. ""And I thought they were a decadent race"": Denazification, the Cold War, and (African) American Involvement in Postwar West German Musical Life 8. Breaking with the Past: Race, Gender, and Opera after 1945 9. Singing in the Promised Land: Black Musicians in the German Democratic Republic Conclusion"

Reviews

Singing Like Germans is a superb piece of historical research enlivened by its author's deep fascination with her subject matter. This book will be fascinating to a wide body of readers who are interested in classical music, German history, and African American history. * New York Journal of Books * We love history like this that explores how people reinforced or challenged racial identities in specific circumstances. * East Bay Booksellers, Oakland, CA * Thurman's exacting research, synthesizing a kaleidoscope of source material, paints a rich portrait of Black classical music-making in Europe spanning well over a century. Filled with compelling accounts of the contradictions inherent in classical music's universalist claims, Singing Like Germans demonstrates that the lives of Black classical musician cannot be reduced to a narrative of struggle. * Boston Review * Sometimes, a book comes along that completely breaks new ground - a total eye-opener. And that's the book called Singing Like Germans. It's meticulously researched, but the writing style goes down like water. Most importantly, it uncovers a story of people and a performance practice and rebuilds an unknown period in music history. * NPR * In Singing Like Germans, the historian Kira Thurman adds a new dimension to the story by focusing on African American classical musicians who studied, performed, or settled in German-speaking Europe, offering valuable insights into how Germans viewed these Black artists. * New York Review of Books *


Singing Like Germans is a superb piece of historical research enlivened by its author's deep fascination with her subject matter. This book will be fascinating to a wide body of readers who are interested in classical music, German history, and African American history. * New York Journal of Books * Thurman's exacting research, synthesizing a kaleidoscope of source material, paints a rich portrait of Black classical music-making in Europe spanning well over a century. Filled with compelling accounts of the contradictions inherent in classical music's universalist claims, Singing Like Germans demonstrates that the lives of Black classical musicians cannot be reduced to a narrative of struggle. * Boston Review * Sometimes, a book comes along that completely breaks new ground—a total eye-opener. And that's the book called Singing Like Germans. It's meticulously researched, but the writing style goes down like water. Most importantly, it uncovers a story of people and a performance practice and rebuilds an unknown period in music history. * NPR * In Singing Like Germans, the historian Kira Thurman adds a new dimension to the story by focusing on African American classical musicians who studied, performed, or settled in German-speaking Europe, offering valuable insights into how Germans viewed these Black artists. * New York Review of Books * We love history like this that explores how people reinforced or challenged racial identities in specific circumstances. * East Bay Booksellers, Oakland, CA * Thurman's study of Black musicians is an indispensable and foundational achievment. Thurman's work represents a monumental and necessary step towards rewritng the history of German music. * Monatshefte * With Singing Like Germans, Thurman joins Naomi Adele André, author of Black Opera, at the vanguard of cultural histories reexamining musical production and consumption through the lens of critical race theory. * Los Angeles Review of Books *


Singing Like Germans is a superb piece of historical research enlivened by its author's deep fascination with her subject matter. This book will be fascinating to a wide body of readers who are interested in classical music, German history, and African American history. -- New York Journal of Books Sometimes, a book comes along that completely breaks new ground - a total eye-opener. And that's the book called Singing Like Germans. It's meticulously researched, but the writing style goes down like water. Most importantly, it uncovers a story of people and a performance practice and rebuilds an unknown period in music history. -- NPR Thurman's exacting research, synthesizing a kaleidoscope of source material, paints a rich portrait of Black classical music-making in Europe spanning well over a century. Filled with compelling accounts of the contradictions inherent in classical music's universalist claims, Singing Like Germans demonstrates that the lives of Black classical musician cannot be reduced to a narrative of struggle. -- Boston Review We love history like this that explores how people reinforced or challenged racial identities in specific circumstances. -- East Bay Booksellers, Oakland, CA In Singing Like Germans, the historian Kira Thurman adds a new dimension to the story by focusing on African American classical musicians who studied, performed, or settled in German-speaking Europe, offering valuable insights into how Germans viewed these Black artists. -- New York Review of Books


Author Information

Kira Thurman is Associate Professor of History, German Studies, and Musicology at the University of Michigan. A classically trained pianist who grew up in Vienna, Austria, she is also a founder of the website blackcentraleurope.com.

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