Page 567 - Weiss, Jernej, ur./ed. 2021. Opereta med obema svetovnima vojnama ▪︎ Operetta between the Two World Wars. Koper/Ljubljana: Založba Univerze na Primorskem in Festival Ljubljana. Studia musicologica Labacensia, 5
P. 567
summaries
enon, we are led in this paper to the assumption that the two key figures of
this “background” in Slovenia, which had a more orthodox and intransi-
gent ideological reference system than the other Yugoslav republics, were
the Marxist philosopher and sociologist Boris Ziherl and the literary his-
torian and charismatic professor of comparative literature Dušan Pirjevec.
The latter’s non-acceptance of transcendence, which is revealed in art as
pure essence, was also decisive for Slovene culture.
Keywords: operetta, Slovene National Theatre Maribor, “Maribor operetta
war”, Maribor Operetta Ensemble, socialist realism, Boris Ziherl, Dušan
Pirjevec
Stefan Schmidl, Timur Sijaric
Subversive Obedience: The Film Music of Willi Forst’s
Viennese Trilogy
Operetta is a quintessential example of the manifold agencies can operate
in music. Among these agencies, the persuasive role of operetta’s ideologi-
cal workings in particular have to be considered it their historical manifes-
tation. In our paper, we will examine a peculiar case of this practice, name-
ly the appropriation of the genre in film – a medium that by its own devices
further fostered and reinforced the functionality of operetta. Our exami-
nation comes even more to the fore against the background of our research
object’s historical context: the era of National Socialism in Austria. Ana-
lysing director Willi Forst’s so-called “Viennese Trilogy” – consisting out
of the feature films Operette (1940), Wiener Blut (1942) and Wiener Mädeln
(1944/49) – operetta’s endowment with images, pacing and, as a result of
this interpretation, with meaning will be demonstrated. The reading of the
latter will be the crucial point of our argumentation, as it raises a striking
ambivalence. Specifically, is the “Viennese Trilogy” a vehicle of escapism
and therefore compliant with a key doctrine prevailing in Third Reich cin-
ema? Or, is it, as Willi Forst later claimed, the expression of an ‘Austrian es-
sence’, and therein a dissident statement against the Reich? To answer this
question, we will draw to the recently discovered autograph scores of the
films, which allow a keen insight in the process of adapting and construing
operetta for the silver screen.
Keywords: Film music, National Socialist Cinema, Wien-Film, Willi Forst,
Willy Schmidt-Gentner
565
enon, we are led in this paper to the assumption that the two key figures of
this “background” in Slovenia, which had a more orthodox and intransi-
gent ideological reference system than the other Yugoslav republics, were
the Marxist philosopher and sociologist Boris Ziherl and the literary his-
torian and charismatic professor of comparative literature Dušan Pirjevec.
The latter’s non-acceptance of transcendence, which is revealed in art as
pure essence, was also decisive for Slovene culture.
Keywords: operetta, Slovene National Theatre Maribor, “Maribor operetta
war”, Maribor Operetta Ensemble, socialist realism, Boris Ziherl, Dušan
Pirjevec
Stefan Schmidl, Timur Sijaric
Subversive Obedience: The Film Music of Willi Forst’s
Viennese Trilogy
Operetta is a quintessential example of the manifold agencies can operate
in music. Among these agencies, the persuasive role of operetta’s ideologi-
cal workings in particular have to be considered it their historical manifes-
tation. In our paper, we will examine a peculiar case of this practice, name-
ly the appropriation of the genre in film – a medium that by its own devices
further fostered and reinforced the functionality of operetta. Our exami-
nation comes even more to the fore against the background of our research
object’s historical context: the era of National Socialism in Austria. Ana-
lysing director Willi Forst’s so-called “Viennese Trilogy” – consisting out
of the feature films Operette (1940), Wiener Blut (1942) and Wiener Mädeln
(1944/49) – operetta’s endowment with images, pacing and, as a result of
this interpretation, with meaning will be demonstrated. The reading of the
latter will be the crucial point of our argumentation, as it raises a striking
ambivalence. Specifically, is the “Viennese Trilogy” a vehicle of escapism
and therefore compliant with a key doctrine prevailing in Third Reich cin-
ema? Or, is it, as Willi Forst later claimed, the expression of an ‘Austrian es-
sence’, and therein a dissident statement against the Reich? To answer this
question, we will draw to the recently discovered autograph scores of the
films, which allow a keen insight in the process of adapting and construing
operetta for the silver screen.
Keywords: Film music, National Socialist Cinema, Wien-Film, Willi Forst,
Willy Schmidt-Gentner
565
