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By: - 19th October 2015 at 04:48 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
According to Wikipedia's lengthy entry: "Schräge Musik derives from the contemporary German colloquialism for jazz music"
By: - 19th October 2015 at 04:52 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
"Schräge Musik" in context with jazz might come from the derogative meaning (use) of "schräg" describing jazz by German propaganda. Maybe due to the improvisation in performing jazz in contrast to classical music, where you have to play your part by strict rules. And also that it might have sound unconventional, schräg. In other context "schräg" has no derogative meaning at all, just sloping, slanted. So in fact it was playing with words, 1. using their actual meaning (slanted guns),, and 2. their unusual, unconventional aspect, not playing by strict rules (like jazz), and 3. it could as well be a tongue in cheek reference to the unloved (by the officials) so called "Negermusik" (negro music). So it was not the reference to jazz itself, but the meaning that was imposed officially. But maybe someone else has a better explanation ;)
Michael
By: - 19th October 2015 at 06:31 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
I thought that it was meant to mean
Side to side
IE when the Me110s came up under lets say a bomber who was making gentle side to side movements along the track so as not to be in a straight flight path the Me110 night fighter would mimic the side to side motion and once he had or flow and ebb and once he had got the flow and ebb let go with his upward facing gun.
As massive blind spot on a lot of RAF bombers.
By: - 19th October 2015 at 08:49 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
I thought that it was meant to meanSide to side
IE when the Me110s came up under lets say a bomber who was making gentle side to side movements along the track so as not to be in a straight flight path the Me110 night fighter would mimic the side to side motion and once he had or flow and ebb and once he had got the flow and ebb let go with his upward facing gun.
As massive blind spot on a lot of RAF bombers.
TA: No, nothing to do with it. K5054NZ has got it right, though my explanation might give an even better background.
Michael
By: - 19th October 2015 at 10:16 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
I thought that it was meant to meanSide to side
IE when the Me110s came up under lets say a bomber who was making gentle side to side movements along the track so as not to be in a straight flight path the Me110 night fighter would mimic the side to side motion and once he had or flow and ebb and once he had got the flow and ebb let go with his upward facing gun.
As massive blind spot on a lot of RAF bombers.
....just a little off topic , the wonderful author William Green always referred to them as a Bf 110 ??
By: - 19th October 2015 at 11:59 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
One more angle to look at it: If something is not quite right (compared to whatever standard), it can be called "schräg" in German... for sure a mistuned piano sounds "schräg".
Thinking of Jazz music, I can imagine it sounded that way to the Reich's cultural watchdogs.
By: - 19th October 2015 at 12:37 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
In case it adds anything (doubtful, but here goes), my work-based aerospace technical translation tool converted it to, "Bevel music".
But yes, Bf.110 is surely the correct term.
In light of REALLY poor reporting in the gutter press, I tend to associate 'Me.110' with The Mail, along with 'loop the loop' etc. However I note that a lot of period (WW2) autobographies do often use 'Me'.
You say potato....
By: - 19th October 2015 at 19:28 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Before adding further to the Me v Bf discussion you might wish to refer back to the approximately biannual appearance of this discussion in the forum, then revert to the original topic.
Moggy
By: - 19th October 2015 at 19:42 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Yeah, the Me110 could usually be found in a hanger (or similar!)
By: - 19th October 2015 at 21:40 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
About 40 years ago I asked my German teacher at school and he translated it as slanting music.
By: - 21st October 2015 at 20:05 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
The common reason I heard about "Schräge Musik" was the saxophone is always held at a slanted angle
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By: Stepwilk - 19th October 2015 at 04:09
For decades, I've read and heard that "Schrage Musik"--the upward-slanted guns on Luftwaffe night fighters--was translated into English as "jazz music." That never made any sense to me. What did guns have to do with jazz? "Well, jazz was forbidden in Germany," I was told. (Actually it wasn't, but never mind...)
Huh? Forbidden guns?
So tonight I looked into a German/English dictionary and discovered that the word Schrage (I can't figure out how to insert the proper umlaut, sorry) means "oblique," or "slanted." Which makes perfect sense: the guns are mounted at an oblique, slanted angle to the fuselage. So the guns are slanted, and their fire is music, at least to the attacker.
Where did the "jazz music" nonsense come from?