Soldatenlieder verboten series#

Official party or state songs can often be the subject of parodies from whatever quarter, especially in times when expectation does not live up to reality. In Western European tradition these often have a military implication of an heroic nature, cf. B uses more dotted rhythms, as in bars 1b, 3b, 5b, and 7b. Bars 6b-8a return to the original pattern. However, bar 5 has greater movement, with a note on each half-beat. Bar 5 reflects this but with a dotted note of shorter value. Each phrase begins on an anacrusis, leading to a longer note on the first beat in bars 1, 3, and 7. The rhythmic structures are very similar, with only a small modification in B. The final cadence of Ic V I is characteristic of Northern European music from the Baroque period onwards. Bars 3-4 are sequential to bars 1-2, as was implied, but not fully carried out in the melody. It is quite possible to use only the three basic chords of I, IV, and V to harmonise the melody satisfactorily. Bars 4b-6b are characteristically at the highest pitch, and with the final phrase returning to the key note.Īn implied harmonic framework could be sketched as follows:

In B bars 2b-3a correspond exactly to the opening and imply a sequential phrase, but 1b-2a and 3b-4a negate this. The pattern of the phrases is typical of the Lied style. The Melody: its structure (insert melodies here) The portrayal of the woman (“Mägdelein”) as “waiting, crying, devoted, loyal, and yet adored woman” corresponded to the role cliché of the “loyal caring wife” propagated by the Nazis.Ībroad, the marching song Erika was and is perceived as a “typical German song”, although to this day mostly inseparable from the German Wehrmacht For example, in 1983, on the junta's tenth anniversary in Chile, it was part of the repertoire of the band of a Chilean military battalion in “familiar field gray with original Wehrmacht steel helmet”, which was still in the tradition of “former German military aid”.3.5.3.

Soldatenlieder verboten series#

The particular popularity of the marching song during the Second World War is sometimes explained by the fact that it was lyrically part of a series of popular songs with German female first names, in which Wehrmacht soldiers who had gone to war could sing of their loved ones and wives who had stayed at home. This musical idea, which at first glance does not match the lyrical and melodic content of the song, makes the composition memorable and, through its sonic similarity to cannon blows, subliminally emphasizes the character of a war song. The independent march composition shows a concise detail, as it was spread in the recordings at the time of the Third Reich: The vocal part, otherwise completely arranged as march music, is counterpointed in all melody pauses with three rapidly successive steam hammer-like drum beats (without instrumental accompaniment, this results automatically from the sound of the marching feet), which stand completely on their own without accompaniment:Ī little flower blooms on the heather (xxx) / and its name is: (xxx) Erika (xxx). The composition is a marching song, a song that could be sung by soldiers (mostly marching) without instrumental accompaniment. The militaristic hits and the marching songs were the 'answer to the approaching war'.

The conscious use of new technical mass media during National Socialism, especially in film and radio, accommodated this and quickly ensured the popularity of Nazi songs and music. The more the Schlager-song escaped from the harsh reality in dreamy bliss and faked a cozy love affair and pleasure idyll, the better 'the true face of Nazi Germany' could be hidden behind the many soft minor tones. In particular, the Reich Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels recognized popular, simple songs as a useful means of propaganda. The marching song 'Auf der Heide blüht ein kleines Blümelein' (Erika) was published for the first time in 1938. Niel, who joined the NSDAP at the beginning of May 1933 and made it to the position of “leading” conductor in the Reichsmusikzug of the Reich Labor Service during the Nazi era, created numerous marching songs that were largely used for Nazi propaganda. The lyrics and the melody come from the German composer for marching songs, Herms Niel (1888–1954).