1. What Is Nationalism How Did This Impact The Music Of The Romantic Period?
Nationalism is frequently accompanied with a robust pride in one’s own group and a feeling of closeness to the members of that group. This sense of nationalism was frequently reflected in the music of the time period. Composers began incorporating more and more aspects into their works that were directly connected to their own national heritages.
How did nationalism impact the music of the Romantic period?
The “appearance of familiarity” that musical nationalism offered meant that the composer could be innovative and artistic while the audience might relate with the music on a patriotic level.
What does the term nationalism mean in romantic period?
Although the idea of “Romantic nationalism” is gaining popularity, the way it is used today tends to exacerbate the ambiguity that is already there in its two component phrases, namely “Romanticism” and “nationalism.” This article surveys a wide sample of Romantically inflected nationalist activities and practices, as well as nationalistically inflected cultural productions and reflections of Romantic vintage.
These examples are drawn from a variety of different mediums (literature, music, the arts, critical and historical writing), as well as from a variety of different countries. The goal is to arrive at a more focused understanding of the concept. On the basis of this, it is suggested that anything that can properly be called “Romantic nationalism” did actually take shape all throughout Europe between the years 1800 and 1850.
[Citation needed] It was a dense and intricately connected node of concerns and exchanges, and it had an effect on a variety of countries, cultural fields, and media. As a result, it takes up a distinct position alongside political and post-Enlightenment nationalism on the one hand, and the less politically charged manifestations of Romanticism on the other.
What was nationalism in music during the nineteenth century?
Nationalism in music has traditionally been described as a phenomenon associated with countries or regions aspiring to nationhood in the late nineteenth century. These composers sought to wed a national (most often folk-based) musical idiom to existing “mainstream” genres, and the term “nationalism” in music was coined to describe this phenomenon.
How did composers express musical nationalism in their music?
In what ways did composers use their music to express a sense of musical nationalism? By utilizing the rhythms of the dances that are performed in their homelands, by drawing inspiration for the subject matter of their music from the national legends of their country, and by basing their music on the folk songs that are performed in their country.
How is romanticism related to nationalism?
The connection between Romanticism and nationalism was traditionally understood to be one that was situational in nature. Since the two ideologies emerged simultaneously, concurrently, in a particular region of the world at a particular point in historical time, it was unavoidable that they would share common characteristics, interactions, and cross-currents.
How is romanticism related to nationalism?
The connection between Romanticism and nationalism was traditionally understood to be one that was situational in nature. Since the two ideologies emerged simultaneously, concurrently, in a particular region of the world at a particular point in historical time, it was unavoidable that they would share common characteristics, interactions, and cross-currents.
How did Chopin use nationalism in his music?
Regarding the Black Nationalist movement, the instances that we have decided to examine are the Polish folk music revival in the 19th century and the Jazz Age in the USA in the 20th century. Both of these eras occurred in the United States. The situations may at first appear to be incompatible with one another; nonetheless, we intend to establish that there is a relationship between them in the utilization of folk music to promote a greater feeling of community identification.
The fact that both groups of individuals were subjected to political and cultural repression is the aspect of the two sets of cases that most readily lends itself to comparison. In their own unique ways, both were able to redefine their collective identities and triumph against their oppressors via the utilization of the vernacular cultures of their respective groups.
There is a precedent for this connection in the work of Black Nationalist and social critic Harold Cruse. Cruse saw uses of “black folk music as reminiscent of some early 20th Century Irish, Finnish, Polish and Czech nationalists who viewed peasant culture as the wellspring for a new national identity that might oppose imperial culture.” Cruse saw uses of “black folk music as reminiscent of some early 20th Century Irish, Finnish, Polish and Czech nationalists who viewed peas (Johnson, 2007: 30) [footnote] Reification of vernacular culture is at the heart of Polish musical nationalism.
The work of Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849), often considered to be Poland’s most renowned composer, is illustrative of the way in which nationalist music appropriates aspects of popular culture in order to personify the people of the nation. Historically, throughout Chopin’s lifetime, Poland was under the governmental power of Russia, Prussia, and Austria.
On the other hand, Germany, Italy, and France were the cultural leaders in terms of high culture in European music. Chopin’s feeling of the Polish country drove him to draw on the music of rural Poles in order to produce a music that was uniquely Polish.
Chopin’s work was based on folk music patterns, harmonies, and rhythms, but it was performed in a setting that was considered high culture and for an elite audience. Chopin’s mazurkas, of which he is believed to have written at least 69 for solo piano, are a well-known example of his utilization of aspects of traditional culture.
These mazurkas have since become renowned. However, they are a far cry from their traditional incarnation, which was a folk dance from the Mazovia area of Poland that was performed to the accompaniment of a piper and a violin. Chopin’s mazurkas were not intended to be danced to, and they are technically more complex as a result of their use of classical methods and more advanced harmonic structures; yet, they are built on the same rhythmic framework with a 3:4 time signature.
- Another example of Chopin’s nationalism is the reification of the Polish language through the setting of Polish poems to music in the form of Art Songs.
- These songs are sung in the same bel canto (operatic) vocal style that is used in the grand operas of European classical music.
- Chopin set these poems to music in the form of art songs.
In the end, Chopin, like so many of his musical compatriots, was not interested in recovering rural truths; rather, he was interested in bringing Poles of the urban upper classes a little bit closer to a highly constructed and desirable idea of themselves.
The poem, written by Polish poet Stefan Witwicki, can be found here, along with an English translation.) “In the end, Chopin, like so many of his musical compatriots, was not interested in recovering rural truths.” Identity in Music During the Jazz Age Nationalism The revivals of folk music in Europe throughout the 19th century shared many traits with the Jazz Age in the United States during the 20th century.
In this particular instance, however, it is important to keep in mind that the dichotomy exists between people who are citizens of the same nation but who are classified according to their racial or ethnic background as White Americans or African Americans.
It is fascinating to observe how this was handled in a typically assimilationist society, which prides itself on the notion of the “melting pot.” Although there is still a separation between high culture and low culture in this country, it is still prevalent. In this particular instance, the origins of jazz may be traced back to the spirituals performed by slaves.
It is significant to note that these spirituals were recorded and successfully sold in the jazz style in the 1920s, which was the core of the Jazz Age in America. Take, for instance, Bessie Brown’s album of “Songs from a Cotton Field,” which includes the following: During this time period, songs that were produced by African American artists were frequently referred to as “race music,” and they were deliberately promoted to members of the African American community.
- This raises questions as to why something like a slave spiritual would be marketed in such a way decades after the abolition of slavery, popularized, and recorded in a modern style reminiscent of the 1920s jazz age as a form of entertainment.
- Specifically, this raises questions about why a slave spiritual would be recorded in a style reminiscent of the 1920s jazz Is it possible that it may become a declaration of national identity? Even though it was marketed at an African American market, jazz became increasingly popular in the White American society during this time period.
This was due in large part to the fact that jazz was a popular style of music. On the other hand, this style of music was purposefully severed from its ties to the spiritual traditions of the slaves, and it developed out of the music that was already well-established in the culture of white people.
- For instance, Louis Armstrong was a well-liked performer not just among African-Americans but also among white Americans, but the musical components of the slave spiritual were not incorporated into Armstrong’s style of jazz.
- How do these cases connect to one another? Are there the same number of people listening to each style of music? Have these folk revivals had any effect on the status of the peoples that they are linked with? And here’s a bonus topic for discussion: Gershwin’s use of African American folk music is another noteworthy example of jazz’s contribution to a national movement.
His efforts culminated in the folk-opera Porgy and Bess (1935), which is founded in jazz but positioned in a historically European musical environment. Gershwin’s objective was to create an entirely new American music that broke from the heritage of European music.
This adoption and adaption is made abundantly obvious in this video of the aria Summertime, which is as follows: On the other hand, what he produced can be interpreted as being limited and stereotypical in its representations of African American culture. Harold Cruse (1967), who has two main contentions regarding Gershwin’s opera: “1) That a folk-opera of this genre should have been written by Negroes themselves and has not; 2) That such a folk-opera, even if it had been written by Negroes, would never have been supported, glorified and acclaimed, as Porgy has, by the white cultural elite of America” (p.102), and he proposes: “No negro singer, actor, or performer should ever submit to a role in this vehicle again” (p.102).
If white producers wish to present this folk-opera, it should be performed by white actors dressed as black people because the whole thing is just a twisted replica.” (p.103). Instead, the songs from the opera have been transformed into jazz standards, which are sung by well-known African American performers such as Ella Fitzgerald.
However, the style of the European operatic music has been modified to be more similar to the manner of the original jazz. Which recording do you believe to be more authentic? Should we then consider national culture to be reflexive, reactive, and malleable? Is this something that may be debated between the assimilationists and the proponents of the multi-cultural theory? The following are the sources that were used: Cruse, H.’s “The Crisis of the Negro Intellectual” was published in 1967.
Johnson, C. (2007) Revolutionaries to racial leaders: Black power and the formation of African American politics. William Morrow & Co., New York. University of Minnesota, located in Minneapolis Press B. Milewski published an article titled “Chopin’s Mazurkas and the Myth of the Folk” in the 1999 volume of 19th Century Music, number 2, pages 113-135.
How did Romantic composers use music to express nationalistic spirits of the 19th century?
Romantic artists developed nationalist music in three primary ways: explicitly political music; patriotic music; and national music. All three of these types of music fall under the category of “national music.”