Music, Politics, and Control: MHIS 204/4

• The presentation discusses the power of music in politics, control, and protest.
• The material for the presentation comes from MHIS 204/4 History of Music (since 1800).
• The Instructor is Sandeep Bhagwati.

The Political and Economic Function of Music

• Music, though immaterial, has become a major force, inscribed in the political economy and is an instrument of power.
• Jacques Attali (born 1943) is a French economic theorist and political advisor who was counselor to French president François Mitterand (1981-1991). He also headed the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, designed a reform for the French university system, founded the European Research program for new technologies EUREKA, and founded the POSITIV foundation.

The Use of Music in Nazi Germany

• The Nazi regime used music as a tool for propaganda and social control.
• Compositions that reinforced the Nazi ideology were promoted, using music to reinforce political power structures.
• Dissenting musical expressions were suppressed.
• The Nazi regime made extensive use of music to extol the race and the nation.
• Grandiose festivals were organized and works that did not align with the official aesthetic were banned.

Noise as Subversion and Resistance

• Noise disturbs, interrupts transmission, disconnects, and can be considered a simulacrum of murder.
• Music is portrayed as a channelization of noise, a way to avoid the violence of complete silence.
• Noise is a metaphor for disruption, dissent, and social change.
• Power structures seek to regulate and suppress noise.
• Noise challenges and reshapes order.
• Innovation in music is inherently political because it disrupts dominant cultural norms.

The Role of Jazz in Early 20th-Century America

• Jazz served as a form of resistance against mainstream cultural norms and racial oppression.
• It emerged from African American communities and its improvisational nature challenged established musical structures.

The Stages of Musical Production

• Attali identifies four historical stages in the political economy of music.
• Music's styles and economic organization are ahead of the rest of society as it explores possibilities faster than reality.

Ritual Stage

• Music is seen as a sacred or communal practice.

Representation Stage

• Music is a performance to be observed, often under patronage during the classical music era.

Repetition Stage

• Music is produced as a mass commodity. It is tied to the recording industry and pop music.

Composition Stage

• Music becomes a form of autonomous, self-organized production, breaking away from market control.
• This stage was seen as the future, emerging around 1985.

Transition from Live Performances to Recorded Music

• Society shifted from the 'Representation' stage to the 'Repetition' stage.
• Live performances, which were patronized by elites, moved to mass production and consumption of recorded music.
• This transition signifies changes in the economic organization of society.
• The advent of recording, music became reproducible, turning it into a commodity.
• Mass consumption and the standardization of tastes resulted from this shift.

Music as a Predictor of Societal Change

• Music is more than an object of study; it is a way to perceive the world, a tool of understanding, and a mode of prophecy.
• It makes audible the new world that will gradually become visible.

The Emergence of Polyphony in the Late Middle Ages

• The rise of polyphonic music in the late Middle Ages anticipated the emergence of individualism and the subsequent societal transformations leading to capitalism.
• Musical innovation mirrored the shift from communal feudal societies to more individualistic capitalist systems.
• The simultaneous performance of several different melodies was a challenge to the ancient order and a radical attack on musical homogeneity.

Music & Politics: A Timeline (1800s)

• During the Napoleonic Wars, French expansion inspired nationalist compositions and Latin American independence movements.
• Beethoven's Eroica (1804) along with early national anthems in Argentina (1818) and Mexico (1821) acted as Key Works
• Anti-Colonial Resistance & Folk Traditions were key as Indigenous and enslaved communities used music to preserve culture and resist colonial rule.
• African spirituals (Brazil, Caribbean), and Aboriginal songlines (Australia) are examples of Key Forms.

Music & Politics: A Timeline (1810s-1830s)

• Revolutionary Music & Nationalism in Latin America, Greece, Europe, and the Philippines was prevalent
• Independence movements, and anti-Spanish uprisings took place
• Key Songs included “La Marseillaise", which was adapted in South America, and Greek war songs

Music & Politics: A Timeline (1840s-1860s)

• 1848 Revolutions & Nationalist Operas emerged in Europe, Italy, India, and Africa
• Nationalist revolts occurred in Italy and Germany, with British colonial oppression in India
• Key Works included Verdi's Nabucco (1842); Indian devotional songs turned into resistance music
• The American Civil War & Resistance Music occurred
• “Battle Hymn of the Republic” (1861) was created
• African-inspired resistance chants in Brazil emerged

Music & Politics: A Timeline (1870s-1890s)

• Nationalist Compositions & Colonial Resistance became a focus in Europe, India, Japan, Ottoman Empire, and Africa
• Nationalist compositions emerged against imperial rule
• Nationalist songs (Vande Mataram) and Japanese military marches (Meiji Restoration) were created
• Labor Movement & Protest Songs emerged in the USA, Europe, Africa, and Latin America
• Growth of worker movements and industrial strikes occurred
• "The Internationale" (France, 1888) after the suppression of the Paris Commune and union songs in the U.S. and Argentina were written

Music & Politics: A Timeline (1900s-1910s)

• Anti-Colonial Songs & Socialist Realism emerged in India, South Africa, Indonesia, Soviet Union, and Mexico
• The Indian independence movement used music against British rule and Soviet socialist realism emerged, promoting ideological compositions
• Mexican Revolution (1910-1920) gave rise to corridos (folk ballads)
• Songs like “Vande Mataram” (India, 1870s, became important 1905) were created
• WWI & Propaganda Music swept across the Globe, music mobilized war efforts across Europe, USA, and colonies
• Key Songs includes Die Wacht am Rhein (German Empire), Your King and Country Want you (British Empire), and Chant du Départ (French Republic)

Music & Politics: A Timeline (1920s)

• Post-Revolutionary Music & Socialist Realism saw Key Figures like Shostakovich (early Soviet compositions), Chinese revolutionary composers, and Mexican corrido singers emerge
• Jazz & Black Liberation became a global phenomenon as Key Events like the Harlem Renaissance occurred. Notable artists included Jelly Roll, Morton, Fats Waller, Hoagy Carmichael, Duke Ellington, and early African highlife musicians

Music & Politics: A Timeline (1930s)

• Fascism & State-Controlled Music saw Key Events where music was used for political indoctrination under totalitarian regimes
• Key Works included Nazi-approved classical works (Wagner, Liszt) and banned composers (Mendelssohn, Meyerbeer)
• Anti-Imperialist & Resistance Songs took shape as Indian ragas turned into protest songs, and African anti-colonial songs were composed

Music & Politics: A Timeline (1940s)

• WWII Resistance & Nationalist Music was driven by songs like March of the Volunteers (China), and “Bella Ciao” (Italy)
• Post-Colonial Independence & National Anthems resulted in nations formalizing their anthems after independence
• Key Songs included “Jana Gana Mana” (India, 1950), and Indonesian resistance songs

Music & Politics: A Timeline (1950s)

• Cold War & Cultural Propaganda was fueled by U.S. jazz diplomacy and the USSR banning Western music
• Soviet composers (Shostakovich, Prokofiev, Khatchaturian, Mysaskovsky, Gavriil Popov) were censored for ideological deviation
• Civil Rights & Protest Music was expressed through songs such as “We Shall Overcome” (USA), early Afrobeat (Nigeria), and Latin American nueva canción.

Music & Politics: A Timeline (1960s)

• Anti-Colonial & Protest Music had Key Figures like Fela Kuti (Nigeria, Afrobeat), Victor Jara (Chile, nueva canción), and Bob Dylan (USA)
• Key Songs comprised “El Pueblo Unido Jamás Será Vencido” (Chile, 1969)
• Psychedelic Counterculture & Youth Rebellion spread
• The Beatles and Jimi Hendrix were key figures

Music & Politics: A Timeline (1970s)

• Through Key Figures like Victor Jara and Gilberto Gil, Dictatorships, Exile Music & Resistance emerged
• Punk as Political Rebellion took hold in the USA, UK, Soviet Empire, and Latin America
• The Clash and Sex Pistols expressed the feeling of Political Rebellion

Music & Politics: A Timeline (1980s)

• Anti-Apartheid & Revolutionary Hip-Hop was seen through Key Songs like “Bring Him Back Home" (Hugh Masekela), and “Ich glotz TV von Ost nach West” (Nina Hagen Band)

Music & Politics: A Timeline (1990s)

• political Rap & Post Colonial Identity in Africa, Latin America, America, Asia, Middle East, USA
• indigenous rights and protest music in Australia, Canada, Latin America, Africa

Music & Politics: A Timeline (2000s-2020s)

• Digital Protest & Revolutionary Pop
• Key Songs: Alright (Kendrick Lamar, USA),
• Arab Spring protest songs, Indigenous resistance songs