The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra is playing a spectacular program this weekend: 20th century compositions determine the program: Florence Price and John Adams, but also the overture to Bernstein’s Candide, as well as Shostakovich’s 9th. The latter two have in common that the historical context in which they were produced, as well as set, deal with the trope of peace, war, victory, home and hardship. Shostakovich wrote his symphony in 1945, over the course of the defeat of Nazi Germany - the Soviet Regime was not too pleased that his symphony wasn’t as overtly triumphant as they wanted it to be – peace, Shostakovich points out, has its cruel side as well.
Similarly, Bernstein felt in 1956 that the plot of the famous Voltaire Novella “Candide ou loptimisme”, originally written in 1759 – would be a good commentary to the post WWII victory — a post war world that was marked by trauma for the Jewish community as well as for many other people in Europe and abroad.
Voltaire’s novella is set around the mid-19th century and takes the hero, Candide, ironically through all parills: wars, Earthquakes, human cruelty. But the novella takes off and ends in Westphalia – a place described by peacefulness, simplicity, naivite and pureness. You might have heard of “Westphalia” because the popular VW campervan from the 1970s. Today, we want to explore why “Westphalia” already had a ring for Voltaire in 1759, as well as general topics about the image of peace.

I am joined by researcher Jan Hoffrogge from the University of Munster - a historian who has covered the history of Westphalia, and one of its most prominent cities, the City of Muenster, located in the North West of Germany.