Musical Nationalism - Wikipedia
Musical Nationalism - Wikipedia
Musical Nationalism - Wikipedia
History
As a musical movement, nationalism
emerged early in the 19th century in
connection with political independence
movements, and was characterized by an
emphasis on national musical elements
such as the use of folk songs, folk dances
or rhythms, or on the adoption of
nationalist subjects for operas, symphonic
poems, or other forms of music.[1] As new
nations were formed in Europe,
nationalism in music was a reaction
against the dominance of the mainstream
European classical tradition as composers
started to separate themselves from the
standards set by Italian, French, and
especially German traditionalists.[2]
Ethnomusicological
perspective
Ethnomusicological inquiries frequently
involve a focus on the relationship
between music and nationalist
movements across the world, necessarily
following the emergence of the modern
nation-state as a consequence of
globalization and its associated ideals, in
contrast to a pre-imperialist world,[4]
Modern studies of instances of music
used in nationalist movements include
Thomas Turino's research of Zimbabwe's
independence movement of the 1970s and
80s. ZANU nationalists and their ZANLA
guerrillas used political songs as a means
for engaging a wider variety of
socioeconomic classes; traditional Shona
cultural practices, including music, were
cited as areas of common ground.[5]
Revolutionary leader Robert Mugabe
formed the Youth League, which regularly
organized and performed tribal dances as
part of party meetings. The Youth League
utilized pre-colonial African tribal music
through association with the
independence movement to ignite popular
desire for a return to pre-colonial African
rule.[6] However, Turino also explains that
"cosmopolitan" musical styles as well as
traditional music intersect to ultimately
define national Zimbabwean music.[7]
Denmark
Niels Gade
Niels Gade (1817–1890) was a Danish
composer, conductor, violinist, organist
and teacher.
Carl Nielsen
Carl Nielsen (1865–1931) was a Danish
composer, conductor and violinist.
Finland
Jean Sibelius
Jean Sibelius (1865–1957) had strong
patriotic feelings for Finland. He
composed Finlandia and the Karelia
Suite, both of which emulate the rough
culture and folk music of Finland. Both
works also have nationalist
programmatic elements; for instance,
Finlandia describes the struggle of the
Finnish people in the early 20th
century.[14]
France
The Société nationale de musique was an
important organisation in late 19th/early
20th century France to promote French
music. Members included Romain
Bussine, Camille Saint-Saëns, Alexis de
Castillon, Théodore Dubois, Henri Duparc,
Gabriel Fauré, César Franck, Jules Garcin,
Ernest Guiraud, Jules Massenet, and Paul
Taffanel. One of its goals was to further
the cause of French music in contrast to
the Germanic tradition.[15]
Germany
Carl Maria von Weber
Carl Maria von Weber (1786–1826) was
the composer the first German romantic
opera, Der Freischütz. It was seen as a
reaction to "years of war and foreign
occupation" of the "repressive regimes
of the post-Napoleonic German
Confederation" that awakened "a sense
of the Germans as a nation rooted in a
shared language, folklore, history, and
geography".[16] However, he also
composed an English-language opera,
Oberon.
Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner (1813–1883)
composed many epic operas that were
pro-German. He had been a supporter of
the unification of Germany throughout
his life. His anti-Semitic views have
sometimes been seen as inspiring Adolf
Hitler.
Hungary
Béla Bartók
Béla Bartók (1881–1945) collaborated
with fellow Hungarian composer Zoltán
Kodály to document Hungarian folk
music, which they both incorporated in
their musical pieces.[17]
Zoltán Kodály
Zoltán Kodály (1882–1967) studied at
the Academy of Music in Hungary and
had an interest Hungarian folk songs
and would often take prolonged trips to
the Hungarian countryside to study the
melodies which were then incorporated
into his music compositions.[18]
Italy
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901) instills a
sense of nationalism into some of his
music. This is evident in Nabucco with
the lyrics, "Oh mia Patria sì bella e
perduta" (Oh my Fatherland so beautiful
and lost). "Viva VERDI" would also be
written as a way to support the
unification of Italy. This is an acronym
for "Viva Vittorio Emanuele Re d'Italia"
(Long Live Victor Emmanuel King of
Italy) in support of King Victor
Emmanuel II.
Ottorino Respighi
Ottorino Respighi (1879–1936) was an
Italian composer whose orchestral
music unabashedly celebrates Italian
culture. His Ancient Airs and Dances
suites and The Birds suite were
orchestral arrangements of early
instrumental works by predominantly
Italian composers, such as Bernardo
Pasquini and Simone Molinaro. His
Roman Trilogy depicts different scenes
of the city: Fountains of Rome has
movements illustrating different
fountains in the city, Pines of Rome
depicts different pine trees throughout
the day, and Roman Festivals dedicates
movements to different celebrations in
Rome's history. Respighi also composed
his Trittico Botticelliano based on
paintings by the namesake Sandro
Botticelli.
Mexico
A nationalistic renascence in the arts was
produced by the Mexican Revolution of
1910–1920. Álvaro Obregón's regime,
inaugurated in 1921, provided a large
budget for the Secretariat of Public
Education, under the direction of José
Vasconcelos, who commissioned
paintings for public buildings from artists
such as José Clemente Orozco, Diego
Rivera, and David Alfaro Siqueiros. As part
of this ambitious programme,
Vasconcelos also commissioned musical
compositions on nationalistic themes. One
of the first such works was the Aztec-
themed ballet El fuego nuevo (The New
Fire) by Carlos Chávez, composed in 1921
but not performed until 1928.[19]
Manuel M. Ponce
Manuel M. Ponce (1882–1948) was a
composer, educator and scholar of
Mexican music. Among his works are
the lullaby La Rancherita (1907),
Scherzino Mexicano (1909) composed in
the style of sones and huapangos,
Rapsodía Mexicana, No 1 (1911) based
on the jarabe tapatío, and the romantic
ballad Estrellita (1912).
Carlos Chávez
Carlos Chávez (1899–1978) was a
Mexican composer, conductor, educator,
journalist, and founder and director of
the Mexican Symphonic Orchestra and
the National Institute of Fine Arts
(INBA). Some of his music was
influenced by indigenous Mexican
cultures. A period of nationalistic
leanings initiated in 1921 with the Aztec-
themed ballet El fuego nuevo (The New
Fire), followed by a second ballet, Los
cuatro soles (The Four Suns), in 1925.
Netherlands
Bernard Zweers
Bernard Zweers (1854–1924) was a
Dutch composer, he strived to develop a
specifically Dutch brand of music, free
from foreign influence. For instance, his
vocal music only employs Dutch-
language texts, and when it has a
programme, that is frequently inspired
by Dutch themes: Rembrandt, Vondel's
Gijsbrecht van Aemstel, Dutch
landscapes, and so forth. His aim was
the greater good of Dutch art, because
"Never will art get a foothold with a
people, when it uses a foreign language
in song, or when it takes in art by means
of foreign tongues." His Third Symphony
(1887–1889) is regarded as a milestone
in the development of Dutch music,
combining folk tunes with a lyrical
description of Dutch landscapes.
Norway
Edvard Grieg
Edvard Grieg (1843–1907) was an
important Romantic era composer
whose music helped establish a
Norwegian national identity.[20]
Poland
Jan Stefani
Jan Stefani (1746–1829) composed the
Singspiel Cud mniemany, czyli
Krakowiacy i górali (The Supposed
Miracle, or the Cracovians and the
Highlanders), which premiered in 1794
and contains krakowiaks, polonaises,
and mazurkas that were adopted as if
they were Polish folk music by
audiences at the 1816 revival with new
music by Karol Kurpiński.[21] The
suggestive lyrics of many of the songs
could scarcely have been interpreted by
the Polish audiences at the verge of the
outbreak of the Kościuszko Uprising as
anything other than a call for revolution,
national unity, and independence.[22] In
this sense, despite his obscurity today,
Stefani must be regarded as a precursor
and founder of nineteenth-century
musical nationalism.
Frédéric Chopin
Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849) was one
of the first composers to incorporate
nationalistic elements into his
compositions. Joseph Machlis states,
"Poland's struggle for freedom from
tsarist rule aroused the national poet in
Poland. ... Examples of musical
nationalism abound in the output of the
romantic era. The folk idiom is
prominent in the Mazurkas of
Chopin".[23] His mazurkas and
polonaises are particularly notable for
their use of nationalistic rhythms.
Moreover, "During World War II the Nazis
forbade the playing of ... Chopin's
Polonaises in Warsaw because of the
powerful symbolism residing in these
works."[24]
Stanisław Moniuszko
Stanisław Moniuszko (1819–1872) has
become associated above all with the
concept of a national style in opera.
Moniuszko's opera and music as a
whole is representative of 19th-century
romanticism, given the extensive use by
the composer of arias, recitatives and
ensembles that feature strongly in his
operas. The source of Moniuszko's
melodies and rhythmic patterns often
lies in Polish musical folklore. One of
the most visibly Polish aspects of his
music is in the forms he uses, including
dances popular among upper classes
such as polonaise and mazurka, and
folk tunes and dances such as kujawiak
and krakowiak.
Henryk Wieniawski
Henryk Wieniawski (1835–1880) was
another important composer using
Polish folk melodies—he wrote several
mazurkas for solo violin and piano
accompaniment, one of which being the
popular "Obertass" in G major.
Ignacy Jan Paderewski
Ignacy Jan Paderewski (1860–1941)
was a Polish pianist, composer,
diplomat, and spokesman for Polish
independence, who also became Prime
Minister of the newly independent
Poland in 1919. He wrote several pieces
inspired by Polish folk music, such as
polonaises and mazurkas for solo piano
or his Polish Fantasy for piano and
orchestra. His last work, the
monumental Symphony in B minor
"Polonia", is a programme symphony
representing the Polish struggle for
independence in the early 20th century.
Romania
George Enescu
George Enescu (1881–1955) is
considered Romania's most important
composer.[25] Amongst his best-known
compositions are his two Romanian
Rhapsodies and his Violin Sonata No. 3
(in Romanian Folk Style), Op. 25.
Russia
Mikhail Glinka
Mikhail Glinka (1804–1857) was a
Russian composer and founder of the
Russian nationalist school.[26]
The Five
The Five (also known as the Mighty
Handful and the New Russian School)
were five prominent 19th-century
Russian composers who worked
together to create a distinct Russian
classical music: Mily Balakirev (the
leader), César Cui, Modest Mussorgsky,
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Alexander
Borodin.
Spain
Isaac Albéniz
Isaac Albéniz (1860–1909) was a
Spanish virtuoso pianist, composer, and
conductor.
Enrique Granados
Enrique Granados (1867–1916)
composed his work Goyescas (1911)
based on the etchings of the Spanish
painter, Goya. Also of a national style
are his Danzas españolas and his first
opera María del Carmen.
Manuel de Falla
Manuel de Falla (1876–1946) was a
Spanish composer.
Joaquín Turina
Joaquín Turina (1882–1949) was a
Spanish composer.
Joaquín Rodrigo
Joaquín Rodrigo (1901–1999) was a
Spanish composer and a virtuoso
pianist.
Sweden
Hugo Alfvén
Hugo Alfvén (1872–1960) studied at the
music conservatory in his hometown,
Stockholm. In addition to being a
violinist, conductor, and composer, he
was also a painter. He is perhaps best
known for his five symphonies and three
Swedish Rhapsodies.
Ukraine
In Ukraine the term "Music nationalism"
(Ukrainian: музичний націоналізм) was
coined by Stanyslav Lyudkevych in
1905.[27] The article under this title is
devoted to Mykola Lysenko who is
considered to be the father of Ukrainian
classical music. Ludkevych concludes that
Lysenko's nationalism was inspired by
those of Glinka in Russian music, though
western tradition, particularly German, is
still significant in his music, especially
instrumental.
United Kingdom
Joseph Parry
Joseph Parry (1841–1903) was born in
Wales, but moved to the United States
as a child. In his adulthood, he traveled
between Wales and America, and
performed Welsh songs and glees with
Welsh texts in recitals. He composed
the first Welsh opera, Blodwen, in
1878.[32]
Alexander Mackenzie
Alexander Mackenzie (1847–1935)
wrote a Highland Ballad for violin and
orchestra (1893), and the Scottish
Concerto for piano and orchestra (1897).
He also composed the Canadian
Rhapsody. In his life, MacKenzie
witnessed both the survivals of Jacobite
culture, and the Red Clydeside Era. His
music is heavily influenced by Jacobite
art.[33]
Charles Villiers Stanford
Charles Villiers Stanford (1852–1924)
wrote five Irish Rhapsodies (1901–
1914). He published volumes of Irish
folk song arrangements, and his third
symphony is titled the Irish symphony. In
addition to being heavily influenced by
Irish culture and folk music, he was
particularly influenced by Johannes
Brahms.[34]
Edward Elgar
Edward Elgar (1857–1934) is best
known for the Pomp and Circumstance
Marches, the most famous of which is
played every year as part of the "Last
Night of the Proms" concert.[35]
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958)
collected, published, and arranged many
folksongs from across the country, and
wrote many pieces, large and small
scale, based on folk melodies, such as
the Fantasia on Greensleeves and the
Five Variants on "Dives and Lazarus.
Vaughan Williams helped define musical
nationalism, writing that "The art of
music above all the other arts is the
expression of the soul of a nation."[36]
United States
Edward MacDowell
Edward MacDowell (1860–1908)'s
Woodland Sketches, Op. 51 (1896)
consists of ten short piano pieces
bearing titles referring to the American
landscape. In this way, they make a
claim to MacDowell's identity as an
American composer.[37]
Henry Cowell
Henry Cowell (1897–1965) was an
American avant-garde composer who
wrote music inspired by American folk
tunes.
Horatio Parker
Horatio Parker (1863–1919) was an
American composer, organist and
teacher.
Charles Ives
Charles Ives (1874–1954) was an
American modernist composer, being
one of the first American composers of
international renown. He frequently
employed quotation of popular
American songs and referenced the
holidays and landscapes of New
England, such as in Three Places in New
England, Central Park in the Dark, and A
Symphony: New England Holidays.
Aaron Copland
Ironically, Aaron Copland (1900–1990)
composed "Mexican" music such as El
Salón México in addition to his American
nationalist works.[38]
References
1. Kennedy 2006.
2. Miles n.d.
3. Machlis 1979, 125–126.
4. Anderson 1991, pp. 6–7.
5. Turino 2000, pp. 21–22.
6. Turino 2000, pp. 172–174.
7. Turino 2000, p. 95.
8. Stokes 1994, p. 12.
9. Stokes 1994, p. 21.
10. Hagedorn 2001, pp. 17–43.
11. Wade 2000, p. 3.
12. Wade 2000, p. 25.
13. Feld 1988, p. 31.
14. "Finlandia by Jean Sibelius" (https://finland.
fi/arts-culture/finlandia-by-jean-sibelius/) .
24 June 2014.
15. Strasser 1998.
16. Tusa 2006, p. 484.
17. Stevens 2016.
18. International Kodály Society.
19. Parker 1983, 3–4.
20. Grimley 2006,.
21. Goldberg 2008, 231–232.
22. Milewski 1999, 129–130.
23. Machlis 1963, 149–150.
24. Machlis 1963, 150.
25. Malcolm & Sandu-Dediu 2015.
26. Bauer 2020.
27. Hrabovsky 2009,.
28. Kornii 1998, 188.
29. Kornii 1998, 296.
30. Kornii 1998, 311.
31. Lyudkevych 1999.
32. Rhys 1998,.
33. White and Murphy 2001, 224–225.
34. White and Murphy 2001, 205.
35. Moore 1984,.
36. Vaughan Williams 1934, 123.
37. Crawford 1996, 542.
38. Piston 1961, 25.
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Further reading
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Music. Boston: Harvard University Press.
Applegate, Celia. 1998. 'How German Is
It? Nationalism and the Idea of Serious
Music in the Early Nineteenth Century',
19th-Century Music, 21, no. 3 (Spring):
274–296.
Castellanos, Pablo. 1969. El
nacionalismo musical en México.
México, D. F.: Seminario de Cultura
Mexicana.
Dibble, Jeremy. 1997. "Musical
Nationalism in Ireland in the Twentieth
Century: Complexities and
Contradictions". In Music and
Nationalism in 20th-century Great Britain
and Finland, edited by Tomi Mäkelä,
133–144. Hamburg: Bockel. ISBN 3-
928770-99-3.
Eichner, Barbara. 2012. History in Mighty
Sounds. Musical Constructions of
German National Identity, 1848–1914.
Woodbridge: Boydell.
ISBN 9781843837541.
Garmendia Paesky, Emma. 2007. "El
nacionalismo musical de Alberto
Williams en sus obras para piano:
Milonga, vidalita y huella". Inter-
American Music Review 17, nos. 1–2
(Summer): 293–306.
Grout, Donald J. 1960. A History of
Western Music. New York: W. W. Norton.
Hebert, D. G. & Kertz-Welzel, A. (eds.).
2012. Patriotism and Nationalism in
Music Education (https://web.archive.or
g/web/20160124134753/http://www.as
hgate.com/default.aspx?page=637&cal
cTitle=1&title_id=11023&edition_id=113
61) . Aldershot: Ashgate Press.
Kolt, Robert Paul. 2009. Robert Ward's
The Crucible: Creating an American
Musical Nationalism. Lanham, Maryland:
Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0-8108-6350-2.
Labonville, Marie Elizabeth. 2007. Juan
Bautista Plaza and Musical Nationalism
in Venezuela. Bloomington: Indiana
University Press. ISBN 0-253-34876-5.
Leersen, Joep (ed.). 2018. Encyclopedia
of Romantic Nationalism in Europe, 2
vols. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University
Press. ISBN 9789462981188, online
here (http://ernie.uva.nl) .
Limón, José Eduardo. 2011. "'This Is Our
Música, Guy!': Tejanos and
Ethno/Regional Musical Nationalism". In
Transnational Encounters: Music and
Performance at the U.S.-Mexico Border,
edited by Alejandro L. Madrid, 111–128.
Oxford and New York: Oxford University
Press. ISBN 0-19-973592-1 (cloth);
ISBN 0-19-973593-X (pbk).
Milin, Melita. 2004. "Socialist Realism as
an Enforced Renewal of Musical
Nationalism". In Socialist Realism and
Music, edited by Mikuláš Bek, Geoffrey
Chew, and Petr Macek, 39–43.
Proceedings of the 36th Brněnské
Hudebněvědné Kolokvium (2001), Brno.
Prague: kpk: Koniasch Latin Press.
ISBN 80-86791-18-1. Poland".
Murphy, Michael. 2001. "Moniuszko and
Musical Nationalism". In Musical
Constructions of Nationalism: Essays on
the History and Ideology of European
Musical Culture, 1800–1945, edited by
Harry M. White and Michael Murphy,
163–180. Cork: Cork University Press.
ISBN 1-85918-153-8 (cloth); ISBN 1-
85918-322-0 (pbk).
Otaola González, Paloma. 2008. "Oscar
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Porter, Cecelia Hopkins. 1977. "The
Rheinlieder Critics: A Case of Musical
Nationalism". The Musical Quarterly 63,
no. 1 (January): 74–98. ISSN 0027-4631
(https://www.worldcat.org/search?fq=x
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Southern, Eileen. 1997. The Music of
Black Americans, 3rd Edition. New York:
W. W. Norton.
Pegg, Carole; Bohlman, Philip V.; Myers,
Helen; Stokes, Martin (2001).
"Ethnomusicology, §IV: Contemporary
theoretical issues". Grove Music Online
(8th ed.). Oxford University Press.
doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.articl
e.52178 (https://doi.org/10.1093%2Fgm
o%2F9781561592630.article.52178) .
ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0.
Stolba, K. Marie. 1990. The Development
of Western Music: A History. Dubuque,
Iowa: Wm. C. Brown.
Taruskin, Richard (2001). "Nationalism".
Grove Music Online (8th ed.). Oxford
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doi:10.1093/gmo/9781561592630.articl
e.50846 (https://doi.org/10.1093%2Fgm
o%2F9781561592630.article.50846) .
ISBN 978-1-56159-263-0.
Turino, Thomas R. 2000. "Race, Class,
and Musical Nationalism in Zimbabwe".
In Music and the Racial Imagination,
edited by Ronald Michael Radano,
Houston A. Baker Jr., and Philip V.
Bohlman, 554–584. Chicago Studies in
Ethnomusicology. Chicago: University of
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Villanueva, Carlos. 2008. "El
nacionalismo musical en la obra de
Alejo Carpentier: Variaciones sobre la
lira y el bongó". Cuadernos de Música
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