Ernst Busch - Die Goldenen Zwanziger Jahre (Aurora, 1964)

Here´s another part of Ernst Busch´s recordings on the "Aurora" label between 1964 and 1974 for his wonderful "Chronicle of the first half of the 20st century in songs and ballads". "Die Goldenen Zwanziger Jahre" is a collection of political ballads related to the history of the 1920s in Germany.

Golden Twenties or Happy Twenties is a term, mostly used in Europe, to describe the 1920s, in which most of the continent had an economic boom following the First World War and the severe economic downturns that took place between 1919–1923, and before the Wall Street Crash in 1929. In France, the period was called Les Années folles.

It is often applied to Germany, which during the early 1920s, experienced, like most of Europe, record-breaking levels of inflation of one trillion percent between January 1919 and November 1923. The inflation was so severe that printed currency was often used for heating and other uses, and everyday requirements like food, soap, electricity cost a wheelbarrow full of banknotes. Such events, among many other factors, triggered the rise of fascism in Italy, as well as the ill-fated "Beer Hall Putsch", masterminded by a young Adolf Hitler.

Before long, the Weimar Republic under Chancellor Gustav Stresemann managed to tame the extreme levels of inflation by the introduction of a new currency, the Rentenmark, with tighter fiscal controls and reduction of bureaucracy, leading to a relative degree of political and economic stability.

"Kennst du das Land" is based on the famous anti-war poem by Erich Kästner. The music for "Ballade von den Säckeschmeisern", "Stempellied 1929", "Spartakus 1919" and "Ballade vom Nigger Jim" was written by Hanns Eisler.

Tracklist:
A1. Dolchstoß-Legende Julian Arendt; Otto Stranzky
A2. Das Seifenlied Julian Arendt; Otto Stranzky
B1. Spartakus 1919  Hanns Eisler
B2. Stempellied 1929 Hanns Eisler; David Weber
C1. Kennst Du das Land Erich Kästner; Günther Freundlich
C2. Ballade von den Säckeschmeißern Hanns Eisler; Julian Arendt; Ernst Busch
D1. Ballade vom Neger Jim Hanns Eisler; David Weber
D2. Black and white Ernst Busch

Ernst Busch - Die Goldenen Zwanziger Jahre (Aurora)
(320 kbps, vinyl rip, cover art included)