"Fay has uncovered a wealth of fascinating material, not only enriching our preconceptions of musical life during the Weimar Republic, but also demonstrating both connections and significant divergences after the Nazis came to power." - Journal of Modern History "The book's major strength lies in this reexamination of an implied assumption of continuity between Weimar conservative music critics and the practices and ideologies of Nazism." - German Studies Review "In this thoughtful, intelligent account, Brendan Fay forcefully challenges the notion that Weimar-era conservative critics were always the intellectual outriders for Nazism that they have often been painted as being. He reminds us of the open, varied and contested nature of conservative thought in the 1920s. In doing so he invites us to re-examine the relationship between Weimar-era politics and culture in fresh and provocative ways." -- Neil Gregor, Professor of Modern European History, University of Southampton, UK " Classical Music in Weimar Germany provides an important corrective to our tendency to regard tradition and modernism as simple opposites. Fay uncovers the free-wheeling exchange of opinion and activism among conservatives and progressives in the years between the end of the First World War and the Nazi seizure of power. This is a revelatory and eloquent work of interpretation, illuminating a crucial period of German musical development.

" -- Celia Applegate, Professor of History, Vanderbilt University, USA.