http://www.romancatholicism.org / National Socialism

Furtwangler Conducts Bruckner Wilhelm Furtwängler conducts the Berlin Philharmonic live in Anton Bruckner’s Ninth Symphony, 7 October 1944 1. Feierlich-Misterios 2. Scherzo: Bewegt, Lebhaft-Trio: Schnell 3. Adagio-Langsam Feierlich Hitler consecrated a bust of Bruckner in a ceremony in 1937 at Regensburg’s Walhalla temple. Bruckner had become a paragon of Wagnerian virtue and prototypical German composer. This native son of Hitler’s own province of Upper Austria and hero of the Viennese conservative press (which Germany needed to support the Anschluss) had become a cultural icon of the Nazi party. An Austrian peasant genius victimized by Jewish (i.e. Hanslick’s) criticism admirably served the National Socialists’ agenda. The Adagio from the Seventh was played as Hitler stood in quiet admiration before the bust. A recording of the Adagio was played before Admiral Karl Dönitz announced Hitler’s death on Radio Berlin. See also: Furtwangler Conducts Beethoven Wilhelm Furtwängler and Music in the Third Reich by Antony Charles. Music in the Third Reich - Then and Now by A.V. Schärfenberg.