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Musical nationalism refers to the use of musical ideas or motifs that are identified with a specific country, region, or ethnicity, such as folk tunes and melodies, rhythms, and harmonies inspired by them.[citation needed]
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][unreliable source]
More precise considerations of the point of origin are a matter of some dispute. One view holds that it began with the war of liberation against Napoleon, leading to a receptive atmosphere in Germany for Weber's opera Der Freischütz (1821) and, later, Richard Wagner's epic dramas based on Teutonic legends. At around the same time, Poland's struggle for freedom from the three partitioning powers produced a nationalist spirit in the piano works and orchestral compositions such as Chopin's Fantasy on Polish Airs or Revolutionary Etude; slightly later Italy's aspiration to independence from Austria resonated in many of the operas of Giuseppe Verdi.[3] Countries or regions most commonly linked to musical nationalism include Russia, Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Hungary, Scandinavia, Spain, the United Kingdom, Latin America and the United States.
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]
Other research has focused on recording and broadcasting technology as conducive to the dissemination of nationalist ideals. In early twentieth century Afghanistan, music played on Afghan radio blended Hindustani, Persian, Pashtun, and Tadjik traditions into a single national style, blurring ethnic lines at the behest of nationalist "ideologues." Around the same time, the nationalist Turkish state failed in their attempt to make Turkey a "Western" nation by broadcasting European classical music to rural areas when these areas instead simply tuned in to Egyptian radio.[8]
According to some authors, musical nationalism involves the appropriation of music necessarily originating from distinct ethnic, cultural, and class hierarchies for the express purpose of furthering the political goals of nationalist movements. Postmodernist critiques of musical nationalism regard ethnicity in terms of opposition and relativities, especially as it relates to the dominant culture.[9] As ethnomusicology moves in step with anthropology and other disciplines' trends to "decolonize" their respective fields, recent research surrounding the role of music in nationalist movements tends to surface in ethnomusicologists' now essential tradition of long-term field research. Katherine Hagedorn's account of post-revolutionary Cuban national music, compiled after repeated stays in the country in the 1990s, concludes that the government's designation of Afro-Cuban music and dance traditions as folklore and dramatized national theater performances of the tradition for the sake of theatrics is harmful to the tradition's religious legitimacy.[10]
Numerous analysis inside and outside the ethnomusicological discipline finds that music contributes significantly to perceptions of national identity. Peter Wade argues that the amorphous, fluid nature of music allows for similar music to constitute aspects of differing and even contrasting identities.[11] As an example, Wade points to Colombia's specific nationalist music identity originating from its position on the Caribbean Sea. As modes of globalization penetrated the country, Colombians began to consume increasingly diverse types of music, which set the stage for Carlos Vives's 1993 album featuring modernized versions of vallenato songs from the 1930s from the Caribbean coastal region.[12] World beat can be considered contrary to nationalism, designed to appeal to a more global audience by mixing styles of disparate cultures. This may compromise cultural authenticity while commodifying cultural tradition.[13] (see Ethnomusicology#Globalization)
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]
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.[20]
In Ukraine the term "Music nationalism" (Ukrainian: музичний націоналізм) was coined by Stanyslav Lyudkevych in 1905.[28] 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.
V. Hrabovsky assumes that Stanyslav Lyudkevych himself could be considered as significant nationalistic composer and musicologist thanks to his numerous composition under Ukraine-devoted titles as well as numerous papers devoted to use of Ukrainian folk songs and poetry in Ukrainian classical music.[citation needed]
Inspiration by Ukrainian folklore could be observed even earlier, particularly in compositions by Maxim Berezovsky (1745–1777),[29] Dmitry Bortniansky (1751–1825),[30] and Artemy Vedel (1767–1808).[31] Semen Hulak-Artemovsky (1813–1873) is considered to be the author of the first Ukrainian opera (Zaporozhets za Dunayem, premièred in 1863). Lysenko's traditions were continued by, among others, Kyrylo Stetsenko (1882–1922), Mykola Leontovych (1877–1921), Yakiv Stepovy (1883–1921), Alexander Koshetz (1877–1944), and later, Levko Revutsky (1889–1977).
At the same time the term "nationalism" is not used in Ukrainian musicology (see for example (Yutsevych 2009), where such term is missing). Moreover, the article "Music Nationalism" by Ludkevych was prohibited in the USSR[28] and was not widely known until its publication in 1999.[32]
