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Series exploring the politics of music. Suzy Klein investigates how Hitler and Stalin used and abused music for ideological ends.

Suzy Klein reaches the 1930s, when the totalitarian dictators sought to use and abuse music for ideological ends. She looks at the lives of Richard Strauss, Dmitri Shostakovich and Sergei Prokofiev, who produced some of the 20th-century's best-loved music whilst navigating the precarious tightrope of working for perhaps the most terrifying music lovers ever - Hitler and Stalin.

The political message of the classic musical fairytale Peter and the Wolf is revealed as well as the secret code hidden in Shostakovich's quartets and Strauss's deeply personal reasons for trying to please the Nazis.

Suzy also uncovers why Hitler adored Wagner but banned Mendelssohn's Wedding March, how Stalin used music to subtly infiltrate minds and why Carl Orff's Carmina Burana, a Nazi favourite, appeals to our most primitive senses.

Suzy also raises some intriguing questions: can we pin meaning onto music? What are the moral responsibilities of artists? And did the violence and tyranny of those regimes leave an indelible stain on the music they produced?

The stories are brought to life by performances from the 主播大秀 National Orchestra of Wales and its chorus - demonstrating Suzy's argument that music's incredible power to bypass our brains and reach for our hearts makes it a potent and dangerous force.

59 minutes

Last on

Sat 2 May 2020 02:30
主播大秀 Four

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See all episodes from Tunes for Tyrants: Music and Power with Suzy Klein

Clips

See all clips from Dictatorship (2)

Music Played

Timings (where shown) are from the start of the programme in hours and minutes

  • Richard Wagner

    Tristan Und Isolde - Liebestod

    Orchestra: 主播大秀 National Orchestra of Wales.

  • Dmitry Shostakovich

    Symphony No.5 In D-Minor Op.47

    Orchestra: 主播大秀 National Orchestra of Wales.

  • Richard Wagner

    Die Meistersinger Von Nurnberg

    Performer: Wolfgang Sawallisch. Orchestra: Bavarian State Orchestra.

  • Richard Wagner

    Die Walkure: Walkurenritt - The Valkyrie - Ride Of The Valkyries

    Orchestra: 主播大秀 National Orchestra of Wales.

  • Richard Wagner

    Die Meistersinger Von Nurnberg

    Conductor: Wolfgang Sawallisch. Orchestra: Bavarian State Orchestra.

  • Richard Wagner

    Die Meistersinger Von Nurnberg

    Conductor: Rudolf Kempe. Orchestra: Bavarian State Orchestra.

  • Felix Mendelssohn

    Rondo Capriccioso Op14

    Performer: Suzy Klein.

  • Felix Mendelssohn

    Cello Sonata No.1 In B Flat Major, Op. 45 - Andante

    Performer: Maria Kliegel. Performer: Kristin Merscher.

  • Felix Mendelssohn

    A Midsummer Night's Dream - Wedding March - Hochzeitsmarch

    Orchestra: 主播大秀 National Orchestra of Wales.

  • Duke Ellington

    The Mooche

    Performer: Duke Ellington.

  • Felix Mendelssohn

    Scherzo (Entr'acte To Act 2) - A Midsummer Night's Dream

    Conductor: Andr茅 Previn.

  • Felix Mendelssohn

    Cello Sonata No.1 In B Flat Major, Op. 45 - Andante

    Performer: Maria Kliegel. Performer: Kristin Merscher.

  • Richard Strauss

    Frestliches Pr盲ludium, Op. 61

    Performer: Hayko Siemens.

  • Richard Strauss

    Die Schweigsame Frau, Op.80: Potpourri (Orchester)

    Performer: Staatskapelle Dresden. Performer: Marek Janowski. Performer: Helmut Storjohann. Performer: Heinz Wegner.

  • Richard Strauss

    Olympische Hymne, T 266

    Performer: Hayko Siemens.

  • Richard Strauss

    Metamorphosen

    Orchestra: 主播大秀 National Orchestra of Wales.

  • Dmitry Shostakovich

    Akh, Nye Spitsa B贸l'she, Popr贸buyu (Katerina)

    Performer: Mstislav Rostropovich.

  • Dmitry Shostakovich

    Shostakovich: Lady Macbeth Of Mtsensk, Op. 29, Act 2: 'opyat Usnul'(Katerina, Ghost Of Boris)

    Performer: Mstislav Rostropovich. Performer: Galina Pavlovna Vishnevskaya. Performer: Dimiter Petkov. Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra.

  • Dmitry Shostakovich

    Shostakovich: Lady Macbeth Of Mtsensk, Op. 29, Act 1: Interlude (Orchestra)

    Performer: Mstislav Rostropovich. Orchestra: London Philharmonic Orchestra.

  • Sergey Prokofiev

    Peter And The Wolf

    Orchestra: 主播大秀 National Orchestra of Wales.

  • Sergey Prokofiev

    Gorokovenko - Peter And The Wolf Op.67

    Performer: Leonard Bernstein. Orchestra: New York Philharmonic.

  • Sergey Prokofiev

    Flourish Mighty Land Op114

    Performer: Valery Kuzmich Polyansky.

  • Sergey Prokofiev

    Zdravitsa (Hail To Stalin) Op.85 (1939)

    Performer: Valery Kuzmich Polyansky.

  • Sergey Prokofiev

    3. March

    Performer: Neville Marriner. Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra.

  • Sergey Prokofiev

    Ivan The Terrible Op.116

    Performer: Vladimir Fedoseyev. Orchestra: Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra.

  • Sergey Prokofiev

    2. Romance

    Performer: Neville Marriner. Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra.

  • Carl Orff

    O Fortuna - Carmina Burana

    Performer: 主播大秀 National Chorus of Wales. Orchestra: 主播大秀 National Orchestra of Wales.

  • Carl Orff

    O Fortuna - Carmina Burana

    Performer: Cardiff University Symphony Chorus.

  • Carl Orff

    Orff: Carmina Burana: Part III, Empress Of The World (No. 25)

    Performer: Robert Shaw. Orchestra: Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus.

Credits

Presenter Suzy Klein
Orchestra 主播大秀 National Orchestra of Wales
Choir 主播大秀 National Chorus of Wales
Conductor Otto Tausk
Interviewed Guest Erik Levi
Interviewed Guest Albrecht Dumling
Interviewed Guest Margot Friedlander
Interviewed Guest Christian Strauss
Interviewed Guest Gerard McBurney
Interviewed Guest Gabriel Prokofiev
Interviewed Guest Julia Maximova
Director Helena Braun
Executive Producer Archie Baron
Executive Producer Debbie Lee
Production Company Wingspan Productions

Broadcasts

Tunes for Tyrants - The Music

Tunes for Tyrants - The Music

主播大秀 Music presents longer extracts from some of the key performances from this series.