WW2 Unit, The Music of Nazi Germany

Our 7th graders have just finished their WW2 Unit, conlcuding with a USO Dance this past Saturday!  But, what music was promoted by Nazi Germany? According to Hitler and Goebbels (Hitler's second in command), the three master composers that represented good German music were Ludwig van Beethoven, Richard Wagner, and Anton Bruckner.  All three composers lived prior to the 20th century, before Hitler's time.  

Listen to these clips and comment below, answering the purple questions asked of you.
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827) believed that "strength is the morality of the man who stands out from the rest." Hitler identified with Beethoven as possessing that heroic German spirit. Beethoven was so loved by the German people that his legacy of music was unrivaled by any other composer. Listen to Beethoven's 9th Symphony. You may recognize it as "Ode to Joy", a source of great praise to God.

Do you think this piece represents Beethoven's quote above? What musical components help accomplish this?

Richard Wagner (1818-1883) was Hitler's favorite composer. During World War I, it is reported, he carried Wagner's music from Tristanin his knapsack. Often Hitler had Wagner's music performed at party rallies and functions. Wagner's music was uncompromisingly serious, and intensely Teutonic (of Germanic origin). It was not only Wagner's music that 'struck a chord' with Hitler, but also his political views. Wagner wrote a violently antisemitic booklet in the 1850s called Das Judebthum in die Musik (Judaism in Music) insisting the Jews poisoned public taste in the arts. He founded the Bayreuth festival, which in the 1930s and 1940s was used by the Nazi party as a propaganda tool against the Jews.

Listen to the "Ride of the Valkyries". This is part of an opera, where at this point, the curtain rises to reveal a mountain peak where four Valkyrie sisters (characters in Norse mythology, female figures who get to decide which soldiers die in battle, and which live) have gathered in preparation for the transportation of fallen heroes to Valhalla (the eternal home for fallen soldiers). The familiar tune is carried by the orchestra while, onstage, Valkyries are singing their battle cry. (Hollywood has used this melody in several movie scores)
Students who have studied Nazi Germany, why do you think Hitler would have preferred Wagner as a composer representing Nazi values?