The Necessity of Music: Variations on a German Theme

"[Applegate] combines the interpretive tools of both historian and musicologist – methodologically, she writes as both, and the readership of this book should encompass both - and she forges an interpretive approach that draws the familiar and the unexpected together."

Philip V. Bohlman, University of Chicago, American Historical Review, Feb 2019

"Focused on the rich contexts of music, rather than on the musical texts themselves (that is, the scores), these essays are essential for scholars interested in the cultural history of music and German national identity across the past three centuries."

Tegan Niziol, University of Toronto, University of Toronto Quarterly: Letters in Canada 2018

"Professor Applegate’s insights into music, society and politics of the last three centuries in Germany are unique. She has an extremely fine sense of how all three interacted with one another. This book will be a valuable aid especially for students of social and cultural history."

Michael Kater, Distinguished Research Professor Emeritus of History, York University

"Celia Applegate is one of the leading practitioners of the socio-cultural history of music of modern Europe. Each essay is a significant and serious piece of scholarship that is beautifully written, combining sharp analysis with intelligible and engaging prose."

Anthony J. Steinhoff, Professor of History, Université du Québec à Montréal