Association of composers and musicologists of the GDR

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The Association of Composers and Musicologists of the GDR ( VKM ) was the professional organization of composers, music interpreters, scholars and educators in the GDR and existed from 1952 to 1990.

founding

Within the Kulturbund , the association was founded on April 4, 1951, initially as the “Association of German Composers and Musicologists” (VDK); since April 1, 1952, it existed as an independent professional organization. From 1973 the organization called itself the "Association of Composers and Musicologists of the GDR" (VKM).

Statute and duties

The association was obliged to “maintain and develop the musical culture of the GDR”.

The VKM had a direct or indirect say in the various state and social institutions where questions of music, musical life and music policy were up for discussion and decision (for example in the advisory board of the Ministry of Culture , the Advisory Board for Musicology, the Ministry of Higher Education and technical schools, on the Advisory Board of the Broadcasting Committee , in the Office for Copyright and in the Music Council of the GDR ).

In addition, the VKM advised the GDR artist agency as well as the concert and guest performance management (KGD) on their program of domestic and international concerts .

The association also organized music congresses and was the organizer of the “Music Biennale Berlin” (since 1967) and the “GDR Music Days”, which alternate with it. As part of the Berlin cycle “Podium International”, the VKM organized concerts for chamber music from other countries until April 19, 1990 .

Furthermore, the VKM organized scientific colloquia and theoretical conferences . There were amicable relationships or contractual agreements with many associations and associations in the international music scene (with similar associations of composers and / or musicians from 26 countries). In addition, there were working contacts with associations in 10 other countries.

organization structure

The VKM was divided into eleven district associations. The highest body was the Conference of Delegates, which was to meet every five years. Here the election of the central board took place, from among which a president, the vice-presidents, the members of the presidium and the first secretary were elected. Under his direction, a secretariat did the work between the meetings of the Central Board. The central board of the association formed working groups and various specialist and creative commissions for areas such as orchestral music, chamber music, opera / ballet, musicals, musical theater, vocal music, brass and light music, dance music, musicology, music criticism, music education, international work, legal and professional issues and revisions.

The VKM was mainly financed from funds provided by the establishment for the protection of performance and reproduction rights in the field of music (AWA).

Importance to the artist

In order for freelance artists in the GDR (painters, sculptors, composers and writers) to have secure access to publishers, radio and television stations, etc., or to participate in material benefits, they had to be organized in associations (e.g. the Association of Visual Artists of the GDR or Writers' Association of the GDR ).

These associations were also responsible for exhibitions and, together with the FDGB , regulated the conclusion of work contracts and friendship agreements between artists and companies , which essentially formed the livelihood of the freelance artists.

The VKM also collected and distributed the remuneration for lyricists of songs, hits and the like.

Development after the fall of the Wall

The 11th conference took place on November 2, 1989 during the weeks of socio-political change . There the president tried to win the board members over to an open letter to the new state council chairman Egon Krenz . 20 well-known association members opposed this attempt at self-portrayal, their objection resulted in the resignation of the entire presidium on the same day. Wolfram Heicking, Klaus Mehner and Hans-J. Wenzel took over the provisional management of the association until the next meeting of the central board. A working group prepared an extraordinary association congress.

In an open vote on November 30, 1989, Hans-J. Wenzel elected to the board of the extended executive committee. Wolfgang Musielak was appointed 1st secretary (after a secret ballot), and the incumbent secretariat was confirmed with a new distribution of tasks.

At an extraordinary congress on 30./31. March 1990 in Berlin, 231 delegates represented around 950 association members. After a heated and controversial discussion, a new statute was adopted there, in which the renaming to “Association of German Composers eV” was laid down; H.-J. was elected chairman of the association. Wenceslaus.

As a result, the "Association of Music Pedagogues of the GDR" (March 25, 1990) and the "Society for Musicology" (April 19, 1990) were founded. This meant that the number of members of the association decreased to 765 by June. Since the AWA funding source dried up, the association was forced to reduce its full-time employees to one position and to vacate the association's residence in the center of Berlin. The entire files of the association from 1951 to 1990 were given to the archive of the Akademie der Künste (Berlin) as a deposit .

The organization of the “Music Biennale Berlin” was taken over in 1990 by the West Berlin-based “Berliner Festspiele GmbH”. The event has been called MaerzMusik since 2002 .

The previous association magazine Musik und Gesellschaft , which has been published since 1951 , was first published in January 1991 under the title “motiv”. However, their publication was discontinued soon afterwards.

The " International Music Library " was closed in March of the same year and its holdings were distributed among various libraries in Berlin. The holdings still available from the “Music Information Center” went to the German Music Archive . The association's own publishing house Neue Musik was privatized.

The Berlin regional association merged in June 1991 with the (West German) Berlin section of the "German Composers Association" (DKV).

On October 16, 1993, a general assembly in Weimar elected a new board, confirmed the amended statutes and renamed the “Association of Composers and Musicologists”. V. ".

In the last board meeting of the association in 2004, the dissolution and complete liquidation of the association was decided, the details and legal hurdles dragged on until 2009. The last steps were the donation of the property of the former recovery home Geltow to the undivided Jewish community of heirs "Franzensberg", the waiver of the buyback transaction against the buyer of the property, the "Pro-Valora-GmbH" as well as the transfer of the modest remaining assets to the "supply foundation German composers ". This was followed by deletion from the register of associations.

Management of the association

Chairperson or President:

Honorary President:

Vice Presidents or Deputy Chairpersons:

General Secretaries or First Secretaries:

Hanns Eisler Prize

→ Main article: Hanns Eisler Prize

See also

literature

  • Andreas Herbst u. a .: This is how the GDR worked. Lexicon of Organizations and Institutions. Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag, Reinbek 1994, p. 1111.
  • Liberal professions. In: GDR manual . Edited by Federal Ministry for Internal German Relations. Science and Politics, Cologne 1979, p. 451.
  • Music. In: GDR manual . Edited by Federal Ministry for Internal German Relations. Science and Politics, Cologne 1979, p. 919.

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