Music is extraordinarily powerful in that it can represent innumerable things, or in some cases, nothing at all; it simply exists for the sake of existing. Regardless of what the composer(s)' intent for his/her work may have been, a piece of music can inspire or agitate. It can illustrate an ideal, and drive people to unified (or mutinous) thoughts and actions.
My Irish Literature teacher told my class of how hymns and melancholy ballades would be played over the radio, in pubs, and in the streets of Northern Ireland. Their deeply nationalistic nature would stir the patriotism and gallantry of the young men of Ireland, compelling them to join the Nationalist cause against those loyal to Great Britain.
Just listen to practically any Shostakovich piece, and you are hearing his discontented cynicism toward the Soviet Union. I was able to study and play his eighth quartet over the summer; a work that is chock full of political undertones, mockery, subliminal emotion. The irony is that I had heard the piece many times before, and had thought myself familiar with it until then. Even before I knew of Shostakovich's musical signature, his fear and distrust of his country, I was able to feel the unrest of the piece and derive my own impressions.
There are many genres of (popular) music in the U.S. alone. Each genre carries with it a notion of the audience that listens to it. I for one associate Kenny Chesney fans with cowboy hats, racks of ribs, and tailgate parties, having seen thousands of them when he was playing in Cleveland. I am sure that people who do not care for classical music think of silver-haired socialites and elitist snobbery. Music reflects a society. It can serve as a history lesson, for like the rings of a tree, a certain piece of music, or song, serves as a window to the dynamic of the world at the time.
No comments:
Post a Comment