Negotiating cultural allies: American music in Darmstadt, 1946-1956

In the context of postwar and Cold War cultural politics, the Darmstadter F erienkurse fur Neue Musik set the stage for Germany's ambivalent reception of American music in the decades following World War II. This article weigh s the catalytic role of American music in Darmstadt between 1946 and 1956; traces the relationships among U.S. cultural officers, German patrons, and representatives of American music in Darmstadt; and describes events in Dar mstadt that led to a growing interest in American experimental music in Wes t Germany. An English translation of Wolfgang Edward Rebner's 1954 Ferienku rse lecture "American Experimental Music" is included as an appendix.