ABSTRACT
The Germans and Austrians have a great musical tradition behind them. To understand Vaughan Williams's attitude, as well as the problematic situation that was facing Austro-German musicians as they returned from internment camps in the 1940s, it is necessary to explore attitudes towards twentieth-century foreign composers and performers that were formed long before the Nazis came to power. This position was given considerable impetus as a result of the outbreak of the First World War that brought about a serious rupture in the open exchange of musical ideas between the British, German and Austrian nations. Trying to win the British public over to the idea that its own musical talent deserved recognition over and above that of the Continent became a strong ide fixe of the post-war period. One early example of the residual bitterness that bubbled to the surface came as a result of the formation of the British Musical Society in 1919.
