Editing Franz Schmidt (composer) (section)

==Schmidt and Nazism==
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Schmidt's premiere of ''The Book with Seven Seals'' was made much of by the Nazis (who had annexed Austria shortly before in the [[Anschluss]]), and Schmidt was seen to give the Nazi salute (according to a report by [[Georg Tintner]], who revered Schmidt and whose intent to record his symphonies was never realised). His conductor [[Oswald Kabasta]] was apparently an enthusiastic Nazi who, being prohibited from conducting in 1946 during de-nazification, committed suicide. These facts long placed Schmidt's posthumous reputation under a cloud. His lifelong friend and colleague [[Oskar Adler]], who fled the Nazis in 1938, wrote afterwards that Schmidt was never a Nazi and never antisemitic but was extremely naive about politics. [[Hans Keller]] gave a similar endorsement. Regarding Schmidt's political naivety, [[Michael Steinberg (music critic)|Michael Steinberg]], in his book ''The Symphony'', tells of Schmidt's recommending ''Variations on a Hebrew Theme'' by his student Israel Brandmann to a musical group associated with the proto-Nazi German National Party. Most of Schmidt's principal musical friends were Jews, and they benefited from his generosity.

Schmidt's last listed work, the cantata ''Deutsche Auferstehung'' (''German Resurrection''), was composed to a Nazi text. As one of the most famous living Austrian composers, Schmidt was well known to Hitler and received this commission after the Anschluss. He left it unfinished, to be completed later by Robert Wagner. Already seriously ill, Schmidt worked instead on other compositions such as the Quintet in A major for piano (left hand), clarinet and string trio, intended for [[Paul Wittgenstein]] and incorporating a variation set based on a theme by Wittgenstein's old teacher, [[Josef Labor]]. His failure to complete the cantata is likely to be a further indication that he was not committed to the Nazi cause.

In a 1996 issue of ''The Musical Quarterly'', Peter Laki argued that Schmidt was falsely associated with Nazism, although Leon Botstein disagreed.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Botstein |first=Leon |date=1996 |title=The Future of the Orchestra |journal=The Musical Quarterly |volume=80 |issue=2 |pages=189–193 |doi=10.1093/mq/80.2.189 |jstor=742361 |issn=0027-4631|doi-access=free }}</ref>