Table of Contents

Introduction Wilhelm Furtwangler: The Historical, Cultural and Intellectual Background Childhood and Youth [1886-1911] Lubeck and Mannheim [1911-1920] Furtwangler in the Weimar Republic [1919- 1933] Furtwangler and the Nazi State I [1933-1935] Furtwangler in the Nazi State II [1935-1945] Reflection and Reaction: Furtwangler in the post-war period [1945-1950] Furtwangler as Symphonist 'All Greatness is Simplicity' [1951-1954] Afterword Appendix 1: Two Furtwangler essays, 'Heinrich Schenker' [1947], 'Hans Pfitzner' [1948] Appendix 2: Thomas Mann, 'Germany and the Germans' [1945] Appendix 3: Audio and visual sources Bibliography

Reviews

[An] absorbing, but balanced and methodical, appraisal of Furtwangler as man and musician. The unique aspect of his book is the detailed attention that is given to the conductor's extensive writings...a key towards understanding [Wilhelm Furtwangler] place German music history. * THE WAGNER JOURNAL *
An innovative approach to this highly controversial conductor whose career flourished under Nazi rule...a very welcome and insightful complement to the extant library of Furtwangler biographies. * GERMAN HISTORY *
Roger Allen's thoroughly researched volume is something subtler and ultimately perhaps more insightful. * OPERA *
An astute essay on the highs and lows of German cultural history, as seen through the eyes and perceived by the actions of the star conductor Wilhelm Furtwangler...Allen enters this terrain equipped with a great sense of fairness rarely found in scholarly studies. * WAGNERSPECTRUM *
Trace[s] the genesis of the belief system that made Furtwangler accept the Nazi regime as an unappetizing but tolerable set-up in which to achieve his cultural aims...Reading Furtwangler's writings with Allen as a guide illuminates the political undercurrents of his aesthetics. * TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT *
Explored through Furtwangler's writings and those of relevant contemporaries, is the social, intellectual and cultural hinterland - the 'Germanness' - that shaped his being...There is much that is interesting here about the nature of German conservatism and Furtwangler's relationship to it. * GRAMOPHONE *
This impeccably researched and engagingly written study tackles the emotive subject from a cultural perspective, shedding fresh light on how Furtwangler remained (at least in his mind) apolitical during a period of extreme politicisation. * BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE *