Politics and Music

via www.windrep.orgLast night I was at the Illinois Music Educators' Association Conference (IMEA) to perform with the Illinois Wind Symphony. Prior to our performance I was walking through the exhibit hall, checking out the new book and CD offerings (and sampling the occasional piece of cheesecake or pizza).

While I was at a CD booth I overheard a customer talking to the salesman about David Maslanka. My ears perked up because he is one of my favorite contemporary composers. Most of what I've heard about him from other people has been complimentary. But this person took a different angle.

The jist of what he said was that he was fond of Maslanka's music, until he discovered Maslanka's politics. The paton followed that up by saying that he was going to focus on composers (presumbly for his ensemble to perform) who are Republican.

This caught me off-guard, because I usually don't think of composers in political terms. When I do, I usually am not in disagreement because of my decidedly left-leaning political views, and thus it doesn't negatively affect my opinions of their music.

Knowing what I know about Maslanka, and for the sake of this discussion, I'd like to add the composer's religious/spiritual views in to the mix. (That may not have been implied in what the patron above said, but I want to expand the topic.)

via www.wikimedia.orgThere are some notable examples of composers who's politics we know, especially before our contemporary era: Beethoven (at least regarding his Eroica Symphony); Wagner; Richard Strauss. Of some more modern composers, we know of Copland's and Bernstein's political views. We know of Bach's religious views, among others.

In some clear cases, these views influenced their compositions. Maslanka wrote a Mass that includes the Latin mass, but also includes poetry by Richard Beale called “Hymn to Sophia, Holy Wisdom," talking about the Sophia wisdom of ancient Christianity, and his recent Give Us This Day - partly based on a Bach chorale like so much of Maslanka's music is - is influenced by a book by Thich Nhat Hanh.

But I can't imagine avoiding composers because of their political or religious view points, and the influence those views have on their music. Again, maybe it's because I typically tend to agree with composers, politically at least. Spiritually, though, that's more up in the air. I don't frequently attend church (maybe it's a symptom of being a PK), yet I find Bach's church music and Bernstein's Mass some of the most moving music I've heard or performed.

In my opinion, I don't think we should separate the composer from the larger society. A composition might be that person's way of speaking to larger truths or struggles of his time. ("His" being a generic term, not one implying a specific gender.) But at the same time, should we avoid those who hold views we don't share, even if it doesn't come across plainly in their music?

I'm interested in hearing what you think. Do you take politics and spirituality into consideration when listening or performing? Should we? Should we pretend that the composer doesn't hold those views, that he's separate from society? How should we let these views affect our understandings of his music?

Comments

[Matt Erion]

I think to be truly open minded, you have to discount politics and religion-as you have done. I think in the current political climate it gets worse as nobody can be seen to give so much an inch. This is part of the overall "lack of civility" we hear so much about. I personally blame it on 24 hour news. Most days, they don't have enough "news" to fill 24 hours. So they put on shows where people either argue or preach their view to people who are largely already of the same view. What's the point? The politics of an artist don't bother me at all. Then, conversely as an artist, we must consider that those of opposite views may enjoy our music. I don't think it's de rigeur for an artist to be political.

[Private Lesson Connection]

The cultural surroundings -which include the people and ideas- of the composer are crucial to gaining as much insight on what makes him or her tick. This obviously has crucial ties to gaining as full a grasp as possible on the composer's music. One does have to be careful to give an honest reporting of the composer's political or religious beliefs, without judgment. This is what can be very difficult for a person, especially if the composer's views are in direct conflict with his or her own. What a great topic.

[Andrei]

Matt brings up a good point: "we must consider that those of opposite views may enjoy our music." Clearly if you're writing or performing a political song, you know it will have consequences for its intended audience and those who disagree with the song (think of protest songs from the 60s). And sometimes performing a composer's works can have unintentional consequences (see Lang Lang's recent White House performance, or the idea of performing Wagner in Israel).

I think it's important to know what surrounds the composer, as "PLC" said, why he wrote the piece, if there are any political (or religious) reasons behind it, etc. But you don't necessarily need to agree with those opinions to enjoy the piece of music ... right? Or does today's political climate (actually, media climate) try to prevent us from appreciating others' views and opinions?

Composers and performers, do you think you should hide your political and religious views, in hopes of gaining a wider audience, even if they don't directly impact the music itself? ("Directly" meaning an obvious influence like a protest song, or something stated in the program notes about the intent of the piece.)

[mc]

I think it's somewhat ridiculous to hold that sort of view and avoid a composer because of political perspectives. I might miss some great music! And if you were to avoid composers due to political, spiritual or religious connections ... well.... you're missing out on the majority of music. I think that leaves only Pop music. No thanks.;)

Great post!