Music and International History in the Twentieth Century

"Jessica Gienow Hecht...has immersed herself in the study of classical music and examined its history in the modern international context. But the excellent contributions to this volume suggest that she is not alone." · Akira Iriye, Harvard University


"...this is a valuable, thought-provoking anthology that is a strong addition to the burgeoning literature on culture and foreign relations." · Laura Belmonte, Oklahoma State University


Bringing together scholars from the fields of musicology and international history, this book investigates the significance of music to foreign relations, and how it affected the interaction of nations since the late 19th century. For more than a century, both state and non-state actors have sought to employ sound and harmony to influence allies and enemies, resolve conflicts, and export their own culture around the world. This book asks how we can understand music as an instrument of power and influence, and how the cultural encounters fostered by music changes our ideas about international history.


Jessica C. E. Gienow-Hecht is Chair of the Department of History at the John F. Kennedy Institute for North American Studies at the Freie Universität Berlin. She is the series editor of "Explorations in Culture and International History" (Berghahn Books) and her book Transmission Impossible: American Journalism as Cultural Diplomacy in Postwar Germany (1999) won the Stuart Bernath Prize and the Myrna Bernath Prize of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations.