Klarinet Archive - Posting 000670.txt from 2000/10

From: Daniel Leeson <leeson0@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] Swing Music in the Nazi Era (redux)
Date: Thu, 12 Oct 2000 10:55:43 -0400

About two weeks ago there were several postings on the matter of swing
music rules for the Nazi era, ca. 1936-1945. Here is a follow up on
that matter from another list on which I am a member, though I did not
write this posting. Apparently, the matter is not as simple as it
looked.

Dan Leeson

===========================================

Listmembers may remember the thread called "Regulations against swing
music in the Nazi era". Dan Leeson posted this set of 10 rules signed by
a Baldur von Blodheim, Reichsmusicfuhrer und Oberscharfuhrer SS, saying
that he thought the whole thing was dubious. These rules are quite well
known in the Jazz community - the list Dan posted is more or less a word
for word transcription of a list that appears in Joseph Skvorecky's _Red
Music_ - with the addition of this Baldur von Blodheim. Skvorecky says
he first saw them written down in a Czech journal in the middle of WWII.
Though he would have been relatively young at the time, he was angered
by this attack (seemingly) on a music he loved. I hadn't heard it
mentioned that they are a fake, despite taking part in discussions about
them. But that they *are* fake was made clear by a message by Michael
Kater (the authority in the field). It said:

<< The whole thing is a hoax. There was no such ruling and a
Reichsmusicfuehrer [sic: wrong spelling] did not exist. Baldur is a
play on the Reichsjugendfuehrer Baldur von Schirach (till 1940) who did
exist. The connection with the SS is contrived.

I am sorry I cannot be of further help, but you better not post such
obvious Halloween nonsense.

Michael H. Kater>>

This bemused me somewhat and I wrote to Professor Kater privately. He
told me in reply that he had not specifically disproven the list of
Skvorecky's instructions - because there simply were too many lists to
set them all straight. But that *if I read his three books carefully* it
would be clear why he thought they were a hoax. I just wanted to make
that clear to people - That while Dan correctly intuited the falsity of
the list and Professor Kater, because of his command of the material,
understands that Skvorecky's instructions are fake - To *see* that they
are fake the non-specialist must read Professor Kater's books closely.
As I say the falsity of the list is not known in the Jazz world (at
least not the part I belong to), though the list itself is.

I just wanted to set the record straight.

--
***************************
** Dan Leeson **
** leeson0@-----.net **
***************************

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