With the advent of the revolutions of 1848 throughout Europe, the idea of national pride and collective identities began to take a radical shift. Prior to the revolution, a state was described as a reflection of the history of its monarch’s and respective aristocracy, its spiritual belief system, and the two being championed in unison by the common people. Following the rise of the revolution in France and the subsequent wars that ensued, the common people realized the potential radical change that rebellion birthed.
Though Napoleon’s seemingly idealistic intentions were replaced by personal glory, it nevertheless lit a spark in the hearts and minds of the vast majority of its population, who made up the industry and agriculture. At this time, many nations were exploring the possibilities of self-governance from their forced inclusion into these larger and more assertive entities.
The Italian city states under the rule of the Austrian Hapsburg empire liberated itself through the efforts of iconic Italian revolutionary figures, Garibaldi, and Vincent Emmanuel of Italy. In France, the February Revolution—inspired by a nationalistic and republican narrative—was a belief in the self-governing spirit of its past rebellion, and that the constitutional monarchy under Louis Philippe was a contradiction of those ideals. In Germany, the March Revolution—while not exactly anti-monarchist in the purest sense— was in essence desired as an end to the microcosm of thirty nine duchies and princedoms.
The students and intellectuals of the time pressed upon the desire to unify all of the German speaking people in to one nation— to have the ability to assemble freely, and more importantly to have the freedom of the press. Nationalism, subsequently, became more and more relevant.
Similarly, the people of Italy, Poland, Hungary, and the Czech nation also desired independence from either the Imperial Russian Empire or the Austrian Hapsburg Empire. These rebellions were also a result of the effects of the industrial revolution on the agricultural and factory workforce. Life was changing beyond recognition, and the need to establish a better future for the rights of the common worker was brought to the forefront of the hearts and minds of the common citizenry of these primarily monarchic states.
The following is on the subject of nationalism within the realm of music and how these events and ideas shaped the intentions of the composers artistic and lyrical dogma.
The first composer I would like to mention is one of the giants of Italian opera Giuseppe Verdi, whose music was the background music of the Italian revolution against the Austrians. Verdi was born in the region of Parma. He composed the most infamous piece that became synonymous with the Italian cause and that we discussed in class, the chorus from the opera Nabucco. This piece expresses a very tragic nostalgia for the homeland of the Israelites in captivity in Egypt, as well as the natural beauty and the physical landscape of their native land.
Dvorak, who is a representative of the Czech Nationalist camp, was known for composing even virtuosic works with strong elements of Czech and Slavic rhythms directly adapted from the folk repertoire. One prime example was the Slavonic Dance from his set of Slavonic dances. Dvorak also encouraged the Americans toward a realization and discovery, but in a uniquely American style. The New world symphony almost seems like a direct influence of composers like Copland and maybe even Barber, in my subjective view.
Smetna, a compatriot of Dvorak would also be considered a nationalist by classification. He wrote many pieces that for me inspires a mystical and wondrous dive into Slavic mythology and folklore. The vastly popular movement “The Moldau”, from the work My Country, was a culmination of his nationalist sentiments. He had said at one time that he devised the Czech style, and he also believed that there was a definite need for the Slavic peoples to escape the tendency to compose in the style of their oppressors, who were in general the Germanic peoples—depending on what side of the Czech land one inhabited.
Johan Julius Christian Sibelius was a Finnish composer and violinist who was
renowned for his impact in the late Romantic period. In concerning his impact in
Nationalism, there are some pieces to consider. The first is Finlandia, a boisterous
Finlandian love song for his country.
During the writing of Finlandia, as it was written in 1899 and revised in 1900, it was composed for the Press Celebrations of 1899— a covert protest against increasing censorship from the Russian Empire (Dubal). The piece starts with the classic opening of the horns as it triumphantly moves to a major, jubilant key; as if it crying out “Rally, Finland!”.
The obvious shift of the ominous brass to the orchestra fighting back is utterly nationalistic. The sounds of the second motif are beautifully folksy, with Sibelius writing in his “drunk way”, as a conductor once explained to me. Sibelius’ Karelia Suite, Op. 11, was written in 1893 for the Viipuri Students' Association (Dubal). It was premiered in the Imperial Alexander University in Helsinki, Grand Duchy of Finland, under the title Karelia Music (Dubal).
The suite is one of Sibelius's earlier works and remains one of his most popular, and more importantly, very nationalistic. Similar to Finlandia, his piece uses a constant movement of energetic and thoughtful motifs of national pride. Sibelius’ Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47, was written in 1904 and revised in 1905 (Dubal).
I speak from my own understanding concerning this piece:
Slowly, the orchestra opens barren; like the first snow blanketing Helsinki. The violin then comes in quietly and rolls over the orchestra as it whispers in white. The scene is cold, but it is composed in love of country. It is a piece that is nothing like Paganini or Beethoven. It is unbelievably real and the music is personified in his execution.
Ralph Vaughan Williams was an English composer born on October 12th, 1872 and died on August 26th, 1958 (Cox). Of his extensive list of compositions are the following: operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions (tone poems) and includes nine symphonies.
Among the most familiar of his other concert works are Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis (1910) and The Lark Ascending (1914) (Cox). His vocal works include hymns, folk-song arrangements and large-scale choral pieces. Vaughan Williams was certainly moved by English Tudor music and English folk-song, and his output pushed Britain's struggle for identity in music to a pastoral reformation.
It can be considered by some that Vaughan Williams music is somewhat pedantic and that there are moments (specifically in his early and middle symphonies) where the music is as bland or boring. However, his music still resonates with what Britain has to offer. His music aches of green rolling hills and of cut grass in the morning. It tastes like hot tea and warms the face.
He was truly a British nationalist in that sense, as well as throughout his life he sought to be of service to his fellow citizens, and believed in making music as available as possible to everybody (Cox). Again, there is this national promotion that one could find really in only a nationalistic composer; he seeks to better his country with music and openly proclaim to the world of Britain's artistic greatness.
Frédéric François Chopin was also incredibly nationalistic for Poland, his homeland. The first thing that comes to mind was his mazurkas and polonaises. Chopin has been credited with introducing to music a new sense of nationalism, which really was new for his country.
Robert Schumann, in his 1836 review of the piano concertos, highlighted the composer's strong feelings for his native Poland, writing that "Now that the Poles are in deep mourning [after the failure of the November Uprising of 1830], their appeal to us artists is even stronger …” If the mighty autocrat in the north [i.e. Nicholas I of Russia] could know that in Chopin's works, in the simple strains of his mazurkas, there lurks a dangerous enemy, he would place a ban on his music. Milewski once stated, “Chopin's works are cannon buried in flowers!". Chopin's experience of Polish music came more from his experience living in urban centers. Warsaw versions rather than from folk music, and those attempts to demonstrate genuine folk music in his works are without basis (Milewski). Though without fault, and against Milewski, there are moments that are filled with an adoration of folk music within Poland. And without his treaty on what it means to love Poland, Poland’s nationalism would suffer to this day.
Béla Viktor János Bartók was born on the 25th of March, 1881 and died on September 26th, 1945. Bartók was a Hungarian composer, pianist and a pioneer as one of the first ethnomusicologists. With careful work done side by side with Zoltan Kodaly, they both pushed the envelope of musicology and what it means today; all the while promoting and creating a love and an appreciation for local Hungarian folk music (Chalmers).
It is arguable that Bartók (with Kodaly, his elder, at his side) was the most important composer to come out Hungary since Liszt. From 1899 to 1903, Bartók studied piano under István Thomán, a former student of Franz Liszt, and composition under János Koessler at the Royal Academy of Music in Budapest (Chalmers). There he met Zoltán Kodály, who became a lifelong friend and colleague. In 1903, Bartók wrote his first major orchestral work, Kossuth, a symphonic poem which honored Lajos Kossuth, hero of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 (Chalmers). This piece was the beginning of Bartók’s move into incorporation of folk music and nationalistic tendencies.
Bartók and Kodály continuously set out to incorporate elements of such folk music into their compositions. They both frequently quoted folk song melodies verbatim and wrote pieces that hardly changed from the original performance (Chalmers). One good example is his two volumes entitled For Children for Solo Piano, containing eighty folk tunes with piano accompaniment (Chalmers). Bartók's style in his art music compositions was a synthesis of folk music, classicism, and modernism, just to name a few.
His melodic and harmonic sense was profoundly influenced by the folk music of Hungary. One can tell that Bartók was especially fond of the asymmetrical dance rhythms and dissonant harmonies found in Bulgarian music. It is again for this reason that Bartók remains an integral part in Hungarian nationalism.
When discussing nationalism, tribalism, and even racial chauvinism in music, one cannot ignore the behemoth of composers, Richard Wagner. His operas, particularly a handful that transmit the essence of the Teutonic/Nordic spirit of his sentiments, The Ring of the Nibelung, Tristan and Isolde, Parsifal, and The Mestersinger of Nuremberg to name a few.
Wagner was born in Leipzig in the duchy of Saxony. He was known for writing in unconventional ways. He stretched the confines of harmony and the capacity of the orchestra. In his tenure, the orchestra brass was stretched to unknown degrees, as he was exploring the potential of the orchestra’s power and sound.
Much of Wagner’s music was effected by German philosophical traditions, especially those of Schopenhauer. He was actually a follower of Schopenhauer until the end of his life. The most important of his doctrines to Wagner was the belief that music was the highest art of direct expression, binding the collective humanity of the world. However, Wagner believed this regarding only his national brothers.
In conclusion, the 19th century proved for Europe to be enigmatic and driven by national identity. Nationalism in the 19th century, was also about rediscovering the folk identiy and mythology and fables. It was also driven by the desire for freedom, unity, and change. In a way, nationalism has nothing to do with conservatism, it has to do with freedom; it serves freedom, but only in the paradigm of the nation’s state. Perhaps in our new millennium as we discover a more elevated view of inclusion, music can become a better way for understanding one another.