Gebrauchsmusik

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noun

Music composed for a specific, identifiable purpose, not just for its own sake.

OriginGerman Gebrauchsmusik →
Scrabble 28
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Meanings

nounGebrauchsmusik (uncountable)
  1. uncountableentertainmentMusic composed for a specific, identifiable purpose, not just for its own sake.

    Copland's own criticism of Gebrauchsmusik as a “contaminated” musical style can also be read as a rebuke of its ties to musical styles associated with the culture industry.

    2009, Elizabeth B. Crist, Music for the Common Man: Aaron Copland during the Depression and War, Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 76

Origin

  1. GermanGebrauchsmusik
  2. EnglishGebrauchsmusik

Borrowed from German Gebrauchsmusik (literally “utility music”).

More words from German

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Gebrauchsmusik. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Gebrauchsmusik

MLA

“Gebrauchsmusik.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Gebrauchsmusik. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Gebrauchsmusik,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Gebrauchsmusik.

Source: Gebrauchsmusik on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.