Songs of Liberation in the Netherlands

The Transatlantic Soundtrack of Freedom
Erscheinungsjahr 2025
ISBN: 978-90-485-7021-8
Verlag: Amsterdam University Press

Buch, Englisch, 256 Seiten, Format (B × H): 163 mm x 241 mm, Gewicht: 794 g

When the Allied Forces arrived in the Netherlands after Operation Market Garden, the country’s long-awaited liberation from National Socialist occupation finally came in the summer of 1945. With freedom reclaimed, a wave of joy and hope swept through the nation, finding its most powerful expression in the stirring liberation songs that resonated across the land. These songs, an evocative transatlantic soundtrack of freedom, captured the spirit of the time through music, lyrics, and dance, celebrating the euphoria of a nation reborn.
Songs of Liberation in the Netherlands: The Transatlantic Soundtrack of Freedom invites readers on an extraordinary journey into this transformative period. Frank Mehring, along with an international team of writers, musicians, and curators, brings to life the vibrant music that accompanied liberation by drawing from the remarkable Hugo Keesing collection at the Freedom Museum in Groesbeek – featuring over 300 rare sheet songs. Now rediscovered, these songs offer a profound connection to the past, inviting us to reimagine the emotional power of music in shaping cultural memory.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Mehring, Frank

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Musikwissenschaft Geschichte der Musik
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Invasion und Besatzung

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Prelude: Find the Cost of Freedom in Songs (Frank Mehring)

Suite I: Liberation Songs 25 (Frank Mehring)

1. Sing Your Song of Thanks: The Soundtrack of Freedom

2. We Did It Before: Sounding Intercultural Encounters

3. Peace March: Marching Music between Occupation and Freedom

4. Holland Memories: Hymns to Freedom and Justice

5. Lili Marleen: Transatlantic and Transnational War Songs

6. White Stripes in a Sky of Blue: Fox-Trotting and Flirting 7. I Cannot Swing: Liberation Boogie-Woogie and Swing

8. Snoezepoes: Composing and Arranging Liberation Songs
9. Bouncin’ in Bavaria: Broadcasting Dutch Swing in Occupied Germany

10. America, We Thank You: Consent and Satire

11. As Time Goes By: Jazz as a Lingua Franca

Suite II: Soundtrack of Freedom Then and Now 1. Playing Liberation Songs: Interview with Jan Hendriks (Anja Adriaans and Frank Mehring)

2. Exhibiting Liberation Songs: The Freedom Museum (Rense Havinga)

3. Collecting Liberation Songs: A Transatlantic Quest (Hugo A. Keesing)

4. Composing Liberation Music: A Symphony (Dean Burry)

5. Recording Liberation Songs: Sonic Bridges (Frank Mehring)

Conclusion (Frank Mehring)

Coda: Fourteen Liberation Songs (Jens Barnieck) Postlude (Jo Riding)

Acknowledgments
Notes

Bibliography

Dutch Liberation Songs
American, British and Canadian Songs of War and Liberation

Secondary Literature

List of Contributors

Index of persons

Über Autor(innen)

Mehring, Frank
Prof. Frank Mehring, Radboud University Nijmegen, has published extensively on Liberation Songs and performed concerts in collaboration with school choirs using music as a key to learn about the past across different nations. He has produced documentary programs on liberation songs for the Canadian Tulips Festival. They are part of the commemoration ceremonies and available online: https://tulipfestival.ca/songs-of-liberation/