Musical nationalism
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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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.
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. 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.
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 Czarist Russia produced a nationalist spirit in the piano works and orchestral compositions such as Chopin's Fantasy on Polish Airs and slightly later Italy's aspiration to independence from Austria resonated in many of the operas of Giuseppe Verdi . 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.
