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Music / Political Science / Sociology
Music Makes
the Nation
Nationalist Composers and Nation Building
in Nineteenth-Century Europe
Benjamin Curtis
6 x 9” Hardcover
Level: College & Faculty
285 pages August 2008
US$104.95 / £61.95
ISBN: 9781604975222
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Curtis, Benjamin W., 1972Music makes the nation : nationalist composers and
nation-building in nineteenth-century Europe / Benjamin
Curtis.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-60497-522-2 (alk. paper)
1. Music and state--Europe--19th century. 2. Nationalism
in music. 3. Ethnicity in music. I. Title.
ML3917.E85C87 2008
780.9’034--dc22
2008010667
Description
This book is an intellectual and cultural history about one of the most
striking phenomena in all of nineteenth-century culture—namely, the interaction of nationalism and music. Nearly all the nation-building movements that swept across Europe in that century found some of their most
influential and lasting expressions through the art of nationalist composers
who took an active part in those movements. The political, intellectual,
and artistic story behind some of the greatest musical works of the time
and the artists who created them is the book’s focus.
Beginning with a theoretical explanation of the relationship between nationalism and music, three composers then come forward to stand at the
center of the analysis: Richard Wagner in Gemany, Bedřich Smetana in
the Czech lands, and Edvard Grieg in Norway. Their political and artistic
projects to create a national music for their countries are the topic of the
second chapter. The third chapter explores in detail the essential role that
folk music played in nationalism as an attempt to fuse artistically the urban
and rural populations into one national whole.
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Music Makes the Nation
Description (Continued)
Table of Contents
The fourth chapter discusses the conflicts within
nationalist movements over foreign artistic influence on the national culture. The international dimensions of nationalist music are the subject of
the fifth chapter, examining Wagner’s, Smetana’s,
and Grieg’s aspirations for their art to represent
their nations to the world. Finally, the concluding
chapter offers a sweeping overview of nationalist
composers and their works for a probing historical
summary of music’s contribution to nation building.
Preface
Introduction
Biographical Overview
As one of the very few broad, comparative
studies of nationalist music, Music Makes the
Nation is an essential resource for students and
scholars in history and musicology. In addition,
as a groundbreaking analysis of the socio-political
functions of nationalist music, the book will be of
interest to those studying nationalism and political
science.
About the Author
Benjamin Curtis is Lecturer in the Humanities in
Seattle University’s Matteo Ricci College. He received his BA at Middlebury College, an MS from
the London School of Economics, and his MA and
PhD from the University of Chicago. Specializing
in international history and politics, he has published widely, on topics ranging from European
integration to nationalist conflict.
Chapter One: Nationalism and Music
Nationalism: Key Concepts and Definitions
Nationalist Intellectuals and the National Culture
Nationalism in Music
Chapter Two: Creating National Music
Wagner
Smetana
Grieg
Conclusion
Chapter Three: The Role of Folk Sources in Creating
a National Music
Nationalizing Folk Traditions
Folk Sources in Wagner, Smetana, and Grieg
Conclusion
Chapter Four: Constructing “Difference” in the National
Culture
Wagner’s Villains
Smetana and the Battles of “Wagnerianism”
Grieg, German Music, and German Critics
Conclusion
Chapter Five: Universality and the National Music’s Place
in the World
Prestige
Dissemination
Universality
Conclusion
Conclusion
Bibliography
Index
20 Northpointe Parkway, Suite 188, Amherst, New York 14228
www.cambriapress.com
T (716)568-7828 F (716)608-8338 E [email protected]
An innovative, independent, non-subsidy publisher of academic research