Musical Constructions of Nationalism: Essays on the History and Ideology of European Musical Culture 1800-1945

Working from the premise that music as a cultural abstraction is vitally conditioned by political thought, these essays are presented in the spirit of the so called "new musicology," which looks to other disciplines for new impetus and technique. Rather than abstracting music from the environment which created it, these essays seek to study the relations between music and nationalism in different national contexts. Although music and nationalism have been topics of research for a number of years this is the first time that commissioned essays have been published in a volume devoted to this area of interest. The editors have tried to focus on countries which have received less attention in musicology and have drawn together leading experts in a variety of national contexts to contribute. These include Stephen Downes and Mikulas Bek who treat different aspects of the ancient/modern dichotomy of musical nationalism. Robert Vilan and Annegret Fauser provide fascinating new interventions on reception history. Although not intended to be a country-by-country survey, most European countries receive an essay. These include Germany and France, as well as less well-known examples such as Ireland, Scotland, Scandinavia and Poland.