El pensamiento estético y político de Otto Mayer-Serra y su relación con el ideario de Hanns Eisler

Spanish-German musicologist Otto Mayer-Serra (1904–1968) was a notable figure in Catalan and Mexican music circles of the last century. In 1930s Barcelona he sharply criticised the isolation and lack of social commitment of contemporary art music. His views of that decade were in many ways similar to those expressed by his friend Hanns Eisler around the same time. After the Spanish Civil War, Mayer-Serra took up exile in Mexico, where he continued writing about the role of music in society. But the tone of his writings became then less incisive and contemporary composers were not accused of detachment and social irresponsibility anymore. The paper explores the evolution of Otto Mayer-Serra’s political and aesthetic views from 1930 onwards and his relationship with Hanns Eisler