Musical Diplomacy between Political Realism and Cultural Idealism

East German Orchestra Tours and the Hallstein Doctrine

Abstract

State-led musical diplomacy is an equivocal phenomenon. Its impetus is profoundly self-interested. Yet the discourses in which it is framed are often utopian, drawing on ideals both of diplomacy as a peaceful construct and of music as something that transcends politics. This article argues that political realism and cultural idealism are not antithetical where musical diplomacy is concerned, but rather go hand in hand. Charting the reception of East German orchestra tours during the era of the Hallstein Doctrine, the article examines how musical diplomacy provided the East German state with a simulacrum for the diplomatic recognition that was denied to it by NATO; how idealistic perspectives of culture facilitated this process; and how the West German government, perceiving East German concert tours as political rather than cultural activity, strove to obstruct them. Ultimately, the article demonstrates that while political realism drives musical diplomacy, cultural idealism is what makes it palatable.