ABSTRACT
This chapter explains that far from presenting a world of Marxist orthodoxy, the history of Wat Tyler points towards the complex positions of Great Britain and the German nations in the cold war cultural conflict. It suggests that the character of Wat posed an appropriate modern opera subject in the context of the German Democratic Republic (GDRs) construction of recent history. The chapter describes that the discussion of the opera as modern in both Britain and the GDR offers intriguing possibilities for further consideration of Edmund's discussion of politically influenced responses to avant-garde music. The many productions and favourable press reactions to the opera in the GDR stand in marked contrast. GDR musical culture was heavily influenced by the Soviet Union. The very fact of Leipzig staging an unperformed prize-winning British opera potentially gave the GDR credibility as a promoter of culture and international cooperation.
