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“In this sophisticated and thought-provoking monograph, the historian Melissa D. Burrage provides an insightful account of how the notable German-born conductor Karl Muck (1859-1940)—Music Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) from 1906 to 1908, and again from 1912 to 1918—was mistreated, vilified, and witch-hunted in the United States at the time of the First World War…This book is interesting not only with regard to First World War history, but also sheds light on American cultural, music, political history in the first two decades of the twentieth century. More importantly, it tells a compelling story concerning immigration, national belonging, and vigilante justice against the backdrop of the first total war in history. Readers can draw many enlightening insights into the interrelations between music, politics, and nationalism from this work, and also appreciate that the United States in the 1910s was not necessarily a cosmopolitan country of freedom and liberty.”
~ Percy Leung, Published by Oxford University Press (February 2023)
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“ [C]ommendably even-handed in it’s treatment of Muck, declining to make an innocent victim of him…It’s a wonderful book, a very rich addition not only to the literature on American music and the war but also to Boston musical history. I learned much!”
~ Alex Ross of The New Yorker Magazine (July 2019)
BEST BOOK AWARD FINALIST OF 2019 IN HISTORY AND PERFORMING ARTS
~ American Book Fest (2019)
“The Karl Muck Scandal is a welcome addition to a growing body of literature concerning music and the Great War. This output is the direct result of increased scholarly activity related to the centenary of the conflict, as expressed in dedicated journal issues, edited collections, conferences, and exhibitions….The book is richly illustrated, meticulously researched, and carefully written, deftly integrating the complicated musical, cultural, and societal issues surrounding Muck’s disgrace within the larger context of the United States in World War I.”
~ Gale Magee, First World War Studies, Volume 12, Issue 3: Over There: Rethinking American First World War Literature and Culture (February 2022)
“The Karl Muck Scandal goes behind the front page to explain one of World War I’s most remarkable events. Melissa Burrage draws on intensive research and careful listening while always keeping the human element in view. An immigrant in a new land, contests over loyalty and patriotism, fear, surveillance, and incarceration, this is not only the story of a single musician, but also a crucial chapter in the story of America itself.”
~ Chris Capozzola, professor of history at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and author of Uncle Sam Wants You: World War I and the Making of the Modern American Citizen
“I find Burrage’s book to be a provocative, well-researched, and carefully argued contribution to the literature on American musical life, the impact of World War I on the American cultural scene, and issues of nationalism and identity in the early twentieth century. The Karl Muck Scandal: Classical Music and Xenophobia in World War I America is admirably even-handed, portraying a complex portrait of Dr. Muck that stands as one of the book’s best features. It will become a new point of departure for future scholars working on the Boston Symphony Orchestra and its conductor.”
~ S. Andrew Granade, professor of musicology at University of Missouri-Kansas
CHARLES A. HILDEBRANDT AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN HOLOCAUST AND GENOCIDE STUDIES
~ The Cohen Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies
“The Karl Muck Scandal makes an important contribution to the scholarly debate over the degree of patriotism in the US during World War I…As Burrage expertly explains, the social and sexual climate in America, especially the shame associated with publicized deviant behavior, assured that the accused selected internment for the remainder of the war…Burrage conducted extensive research in archives, conservatory collections, newspapers, the papers of persons involved in the events, and the appropriate secondary sources. Consequently, the author has created a work that is much more than an examination of the unfair treatment of German speakers during World War I. It is a history of music at the turn of the twentieth century; it is a study of competing interpretations of the American way of life; it is an indictment of governmental overreach; and it is a story about intrigue and sexual misconduct during a time of social change. As such, it is a worthwhile read for anyone interested in American society during the World War I era, including undergraduates studying the early twentieth century.”
~ Petra DeWitt, professor of History and Social Sciences at Missouri University of Science and Technology, reviewer for Humanities and Social Sciences Network (H-Net)
"For those interested in World War I-era history, the author has provided a fascinating look into life in Boston at that time. Karl Muck was a complex man in a complex time: supremely talented and admired, yet bigoted and flawed as well. If "history rhymes," as Mark Twain is reputed to have said, there are certainly lessons for us all here."
~ Caren Nichter, Music Reference Services Quarterly (2020)
2020 INDEPENDENT PUBLISHERS BOOK AWARD (IPPY) FOR U.S. HISTORY
BEST CLASSICAL MUSIC BOOK RELEASE OF 2019
~ CLASSICAL-MUSIC.COM, THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE
“This incisive, powerful book is not so much a biography as a broader cultural history…The resulting work is an exemplary piece of scholarship. It is painstakingly written, offering a compelling (and terrifyingly relevant) discussion of the power-play between culture, politics and the darker forces of humanity.” FIVE STARS
~ BBC Music Magazine (September 2019)
“Melissa D. Burrage’s The Karl Muck Scandal makes for fascinating, if chilling, reading for anyone looking for something to while away the shut-down…..a thoroughly researched book… it’s a chilling read that sheds light on how vulnerable communities are scapegoated in times of crisis that, unfortunately, still has plenty of resonance a century on.”
~ Limelight Magazine (March 2020)
“Melissa D. Burrage’s book now tells the full story with rich and copiously documented context. Her engaging study should be required reading for those who assume that questions of racial and national identity, fake news, sexual scandals, media manipulation, and cancel culture are new to our own times.”
~ Jane Gottlieb, Music Library Association, Volume 79, Number 1 (September 2022)
SUMMER READS ABOUT CLASSICAL MUSIC OF 2019
~ ABC Australian Broadcasting Corporation
“Want something a little meatier to get your teeth into? This is a harrowing read but the story it tells, of German-American tensions during the First World War, is compelling…”
~ Australia Broadcasting Corporation (December 2019)
“Fans of classical music like to think that music can transcend politics. After all, music is the language of beauty that crosses borders and cultures.... Sadly, classical music can be a creature of politics as well, as Melissa Burrage reveals in her absorbing history.... [A] sad story evocatively told.”
~ Quarter Notes Music Magazine (December 2019)
2018 AND 2019 SUBVENTION AWARD WINNER
~ The American Musicological Society, funded in part by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
“[A} thoroughly researched and excellent book….Well illustrated and thoroughly footnoted with an excellent, comprehensive bibliography, sparing no details of one of the shabbiest farces in our cultural history.”
~ American Record Guide (January 2020)
Burrage “effectively confronts … a variety of major issues—nationalism, anti-Semitism, sexual morality, and Nazism… Drawing on impressive archival and published sources, Burrage moves smoothly between the musical world and national politics, showing how deeply public opinion became inflamed in new ways in the early decades of the twentieth century.”
~ William Weber, professor emeritus at California State University
“Simply put, Karl Muck’s scandal was a sad tragedy of World War I, that is, the United States versus Germany. This thoroughly researched and superbly written book is far more than a simple biography of the renowned conductor. The maestro’s time in conducting the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO, 1906-08 and 1912-18) is a prism through which Melissa Burrage describes the many complexities in America at that time—antisemitism, patriotism, vigilante movements, all manner of social divides, the sheer fear of the age, President Wilson versus the Kaiser, the beginnings of what was to become the FBI, and the development of musical institutions and orchestras…Burrage’s writing gives the impression of a journalist being ‘on the spot’. [Even] the sub-headings are of great interest.”
~ Stringendo Magazine (November 2020)
"Burrage's study documents an important chapter, a turning point, in German-American history by means of this outstanding case study dealing with the anti-German hysteria of World War I."
~ German Life Magazine (2020)
“Reading the introduction of Melissa D. Burrage’s book The Karl Muck Scandal: Classical Music and Xenophobia in World War I America might lead one to believe that the story being told is that of the Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) conductor Karl Muck’s mistreatment at the hands of an American government that perpetuated wartime anti-German sentiment and appropriated it for their own gain….What Burrage’s monograph actually reveals is a far more salacious, insidious, and perhaps more interesting story. The scandal’s real heart is not emergent wartime policies but the struggle between two cities and the clash between two ideologies: The Old World, European, conservative, insulated culture of Boston and the modern, capitalist, “American,” diverse culture of New York. It is in this discussion around Boston and New York that the book shows its verve and personality. Burrage’s explicated dilemma of two competing ideologies creates two competing storylines in the book. Although both vie for prominence, Burrage moves seamlessly between the two: (i) situating Muck within the history of American internment and xenophobia, meandering, and pulling at loose threads and (ii) the politics between two cities and two orchestras, leaping dazzlingly off the page…..what is clear throughout the book is just how much archival work Burrage has done in order to present this story. The Karl Muck Scandal is a treasure trove of information, sourced through newspapers, images, and government documents. Most notable is the history of the BSO, as this books is as much about the symphony as it is about the conductor. Through detailed research, Burrage discusses how the BSO came to be and the environment in which it emerged….Burrage meticulously describes how late nineteenth and early twentieth century Boston became a European-style city, drawing immigrants from various parts of the continent, though most attractive to those from Germany….New York City’s development as a cultural and economic center occurred alongside the rise of anti-Germanism in the U.S., an unfortunate coincidence for Muck. The financial barons of the age, intent on securing their wealth (and, in some instances, distancing themselves from their own Germanic heritage) invested in New York City institutions. However, they also put their money and time behind the cultural takedown of Boston and its institutions. Burrage illustrates this brilliantly with the introduction of socialite Mrs. William (Lucie) Jay….Burrage tells us all of these stories with an almost fictional tone of voice, albeit with support from a wealth of primary sources in a narrative that brings to light a very timely story from a pivotal moment in American history.”
~ Imani Danielle Mosley, Journal of the Society of American Music, Vol. 16, Issue 1, Feb 2022, 123-125 published by Cambridge University Press.