The Sound of Silence

As the conflict in Ukraine prompts the barring of contemporary Russian works and artists from global stages, Erik Levi looks at how Britain similarly censored German composers during World War I

- Erik Levi

In an impassioned speech delivered at the United Nations in 1958, the great cellist Pablo Casals proclaimed his belief in the universality of music. Music, he argued, was the one artistic form of expression that ‘transcends language, politics and national boundaries’. Such idealism, however, stands in stark contrast to what actually happened during the first half of the 20th century, when two world wars ruptured open exchange between music and musicians on opposing sides in these conflicts. In Britain, this process began with a vengeance in August 1914 when the country was dragged into a four year-long struggle with Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Coincidentally, war had broken out at roughly the same time that Sir Henry Wood was announcing the repertoire for the forthcoming season of Promenade Concerts. As always, the programme included a substantial number of works by foreign composers that would be performed in Britain for the first time. A large proportion of these emanated from Germany and Austria, most notably Reger’s Four Tone Poems after Böcklin, Webern’s Six Pieces for Orchestra and Korngold’s Sinfonietta. In addition, Wood wanted to pay tribute to Mahler, who had died three years earlier, and proposed to feature a number of his orchestral songs, including the British premiere of Kindertotenlieder.

All these plans, however, were shelved as a result of the new political circumstances. Indeed, such was the febrile atmosphere at this juncture that Wood also removed an all-Wagner concert, replacing it with music by French and Russian composers. But there was such a widespread outcry at this action that Wagner was reinstated later on in the season.