From Bauhaus to Broadway

Music was present in many different forms at the Bauhaus. The series of Bauhaus books edited by Walter Gropius and László Moholy-Nagy was for example planned to include a separate volume on musico-mechanico which would be devoted to mechanical music influenced by Antheil. All three of the above-mentioned composers represented a strong German-US-American connection which was also significant in the history of the Bauhaus. On one level, numerous “Bauhäusler” and other associated artists suffered persecution under the Nazis and many attempted – like  Hindemith and Weill – to establish a new existence in the USA, for example on Broadway. On another level, following the forced closure of the school of art in Germany, the history of the Bauhaus continued in the USA: in Chicago where the New Bauhaus was founded under the supervision of László Moholy-Nagy, at universities such as Harvard where Walter Gropius taught and fulfilled multiple other functions and additionally at the legendary Black Mountain College where art and society benefitted from reciprocal inspiration within educational concepts.

The concert is rounded off with works by the two US-American composers Marc Blitzstein and Leonard Bernstein who provide a link to the subsequent concert performance of the probably only Bauhaus opera in existence: “Parabola and Circula” (1929) by Blitzstein. Leonard Bernstein was a close friend of Marc Blitzstein and patron of his music: it was largely thanks to his support that Blitzstein’s works still remain at all familiar within the music scene. While on the subject of networks, friendships and connections, these also played an important role in the musical world associated with the Bauhaus. Although no specific musical training was offered at the institution, it was primarily through personal contact that the school of arts was able to exert an influence on musical life during this period, an influence which is still visible today.