By William Osborne
[Sent to various lists on
December 31, 1999.]
The Philharmonic Revises Its
Website and Quotes An SS Lieutenant To Confirm Its Cultural Purity
In 1997 the Vienna
Philharmonic faced large protests in the USA due to its continuing policy of
excluding women from membership. It also excludes people who are -visibly-
members of racial minorities, since they feel such individuals would destroy
the orchestra's image of Austrian authenticity. (Below my signature I include documentation of the Vienna
Philharmonic's sexism and racism.)
To quell the protest the
orchestra agreed to allow women membership, but in the three years since then
they have reneged. Only women harpists
are allowed to play with the orchestra.
In the aftermath of the
protest, the Vienna Philharmonic hired a public relations consultant to help
them cleanse their reputation as a sexist and racist institution. These efforts included major changes in the
Philharmonic's website. The alterations
provide interesting insights about how the orchestra (and the music industry)
are attempting to reassimilate the Vienna Philharmonic and its values back into
the international community. You can
see the new website at: http://www.wienerphilharmoniker.at
The original homepage of the
Vienna Philharmonic opened with a close up photo of two monumental, bare
breasted statues of women which serve as pillars to hold up the ceiling of the
orchestra's concert hall. Since women
as bare breasted ceiling pillars failed to enhance the all-male orchestra's
image, the photo was replaced. Now one
sees a distant, misty, gray image of the hall's interior, which makes it appear
as if only a privileged elite are allowed a close view--an aspect of the
patrician rituals that traditionally characterize symphonic performances.
The new website also
includes a brief history of the Philharmonic written by Clemens Hellsberger, a
violinist and musicologist who is Chairman of the orchestra. In his historical sketch, Hellsberger falsely
portrays the orchestra as if they were the victims of National Socialism. In reality the Vienna Philharmonic
willingly collaborated with the regime, and became one of the most active
propaganda instruments in the music world of the Third Reich. Forty-seven percent of the Vienna
Philharmonic's members were National Socialists--far above the national
average. And many belonged to the Nazi
Party well before 1938 when it was still illegal in Austria.
It is also noteworthy that
Hellsberger says absolutely nothing about the Philharmonic's current status--as
if 149 white men on stage were just some sort of accident. An orchestra that is really trying to
change would happily talk about its efforts.
There is also a new section
about "the Viennese Sound", written by Wolfgang Schuster, a
percussionist who is also the
orchestra's press secretary. Schuster
elaborates on the unique instruments that give the Philharmonic its special
timbre. To document the orchestra's
unusual string sound, Schuster quotes former orchestra Chairman, Wilhelm
Jerger, who wrote a book about the Vienna Philharmonic in 1942, and who was
also a Lieutenant in the SS. On the
website, the SS Lieutenant is cited with the following "multi-cultrual"
statement:
"... the Viennese School
of String Instruments developed with its special uniqueness: the softness of
the tone, the sensuality of the sound-production, the naturalness in the
phrasing are manifestations of a commingling of many races here on the outer
limits of the German Realm."
During those years there was
indeed an intense concern with the "commingling" of races, especially
on the "outer limits of the German Realm" where ethnic and racial
impurities were presumably a greater danger.
It is interesting that Schuster finds an SS Lieutenant a worthy
authority on stylistic purity, especially in an orchestra that has a policy of
remaining entirely white (and male).
Jerger's book also focuses
on the long line of father/son genealogies that comprise the history of the
Philharmonic. In his comments about
Jerger's book, Schuster notes that although "the violin tradition of the
Philharmonic is somewhat more fully handled, the family histories of the other
string groups are, of course, also provided." Mr. Schuster discretely avoids mentioning that Jerger's
genealogical tables include an asterisk by every member who was not an
"Aryan."
Jerger even goes on to
explain that the Philharmonic's "blood" was substantial enough to
avoid serious damage by these "non-Aryan" influences. This follows
National Socialism's ideology of _Ahnenerbe_, which asserts that cultural
traits are genetically inherited.
It is astounding that the
Vienna Philharmonic would quote Jerger, an SS Lieutenant, on its website. His racist views are so uncomfortably close
to the Vienna Philharmonic's recent comments about the special qualities of the
"central European soul", their attitude toward Asians, and
music-making revolving exclusively around white males.
The Vienna Philharmonic is
the only all-white orchestra in the world.
And it is the only orchestra in the world that quotes an SS officer to
substantiate its stylistic purity.
William Osborne