Page "Angst" Paragraph 5

Angst in serious musical composition has been a reflection of the times.

Musical composition embodying angst as a primary theme have primarily come from European Jewish composers such as Gustav Mahler and Alban Berg, written during the period of great persecution of the Jewish people shortly before and during the period of Nazi activity in Europe.

A notable exception is the Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich, whose symphonies use the theme of angst in post-World War II compositions depicting Russian strife during the war.

However, it is the Jewish artists, Gustav Mahler and Franz Kafka in music and literature that have embraced the theme of angst so highly in their work that they have become synonymous with the term to the point of popular joking and cartoons today.