RCNY International Breakfast at the UN February 26

In his latest novel, Goin' Home and Far Away, former German ambassador and UN
diplomat-turned-writer Christian Much tackles the contemporary themes of cultural
appropriation and national identity through a story focused on a chapter
most Americans have long forgotten: the visit of Czech composer Antonin Dvořák
to New York at the end of the 19th century. During his three-year stay, Dvořák
composed From the New World—one of the greatest and most popular symphonies of
all time. But his masterwork generated controversy because he, an outsider to
American culture, had blended American folk music—including African American
spirituals and Native American music—with his Bohemian heritage. The novel also
features two other musicians, both Americans, whose works drew inspiration from a
variety of cultural traditions: composer Amy Beach and American composer and jazz
pianist Bud Powell. How and why did these artists (and many others) borrow so freely
from each other? What are the rules? Join Ambassador Much for a discussion of these
complex and still highly relevant issues. His talk will be accompanied by snippets of
relevant music.

 

BIO
Christian Much is a retired German ambassador. He spent a considerable part of his
career at the United Nations in New York, including as Legal Advisor to the German
Permanent Mission during the establishment of the International Criminal Court. He was
also Interim Director of the International Nuremberg Principles Academy in Nuremberg,
which prepares judges and prosecutors for participation in war crimes trials and trains
students in international criminal law.
Mr. Much studied law and anthropology in Freiburg and Hamburg. Before joining the
German diplomatic service, he worked for a renowned law firm in Paris. In addition to
his years in New York, his professional focus was on Arab countries and Central
America. He has written numerous essays on international law, human rights, and the
United Nations. Since retiring, he has been writing historical novels on topics close to
his heart: in addition to history and politics, his focus is primarily on music. In his third
novel, Goin' Home And Far Away, he engages three well-known musicians (Antonín
Dvořák, US-American composer Amy Beach, and US-American composer and jazz
pianist Bud Powell) in conversations about the various influences that shaped the
beginnings of American music.
Renowned musicologist Michael Beckerman, now the dean of the UCLA Herb Alpert
School of Music, wrote about the book: “Facts and fiction are valid ways of telling the
story of Dvořák. To the novels in the latter category (such as The White Man's
Spiritual by Zdeněk Mahler, and Josef Škvorecký's Dvořák in Love) we can now happily

add Christian Much's Goin' Home and Far Away, a brilliant assembly of historical
characters, and a beautifully drawn portrait of the composer himself.“
According to music writer Joseph Horowitz, Much's "deeply researched fictional
history Goin' Home and Far Away remembers a vital cultural chapter Americans have
long forgotten: that at the turn of the twentieth century, an eminent musical visitor
catalyzed a reverberant debate over national identity. And, as Much's ambitious timeline
makes clear, that debate resounds loudly to this day.“