Sound of the Time. Music in DEFA Feature Films

The Book

Between 1946 and 1990, about 145 composers were involved in the production of the approximately 950 films made at the DEFA studio for feature film in Babelsberg. Even though they were all committed to one client - who offered them quite comfortable working conditions - this did not lead to an uniform DEFA sound. The individual compositional manuscripts reflect, beyond the social context of their creation, both the music-aesthetic and the contemporary political currents of the second half of the 20^th century.
Through discussions with the composers Peter Rabenalt, Wolfgang Thiel, Bernd Wefelmeyer,  Christian Steyer, André Asriel,  Peter Michael Gotthardt and Reiner Bredemeyer and analyses of DEFA films such as Marriage In The Shadows (EHE IM SCHATTEN, 1947, music: Wolfgang Zeller), The Gleiwitz Case (DER FALL GLEIWITZ, 1961, music: Kurt Schwaen), The Sorrows Of Young Werther (DIE LEIDEN DES JUNGEN WERTHERS, 1976, music: Siegfried Matthus), TECUMSEH (TECUMSEH, 1972, music: Günther Fischer), this volume approaches the complex cultural-historical topic. It deals with contemporary historical aspects as well as fundamental questions of an aesthetic of film music.

Samples (in German):

•  Table of contents (27 KB)
•  Introduction (814 KB)

The Author

Klaus-Dieter Felsmann (born 1951 in Berlin), studied German Studies, literature and history. Film publicist (including tv-diskurs, Filmdienst and numerous book contributions) and author ( German children's films from Babelsberg together with Bernd Sahling), since 1997 head of "Buckower Mediengespräche" and editor of the associated publication series.