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| Russian director Vladimir Jurowski leading the London Philharmonic Orchestra |
POLITICS intruding on culture can be unnerving. Stalin
restricted Shostakovich’s work in the name of state order. The Third Reich’s
appropriation of Wagner prompted Israel to adopt an unofficial ban on his
music. But music often leaves a greater legacy than diktats and propaganda.
Shostakovich’s “Festive Overture”, composed after Stalin’s death, is remembered
today as a towering symbol of freedom from musical dictatorship, and Israel’s
unofficial ban on Wagner was cast aside by Daniel Barenboim and the Berlin
Staatskapelle orchestra in 2001. Two years earlier Mr Barenboim had set up the
West-Eastern Divan orchestra—comprised principally of Israelis and
Palestinians—in order to show that differences may be settled through
understanding and co-operation, ideas best expressed through the collected
study and performance of great music.
Music has an unusual ability to promote rapport and pleasure
in the wake of catastrophe. After the lorry attack in Nice, Sakari Oramo, the
conductor at the first night of the BBC Proms, a series of classical concerts,
preceded his scheduled programme with a rendition of “La Marseillaise”. The
scene was a moving one: the entire Albert Hall rose to its feet and met the
piece’s conclusion with rapturous applause. There was something life-affirming
about an orchestra comprised of multiple nationalities playing French music
under a Finnish conductor in one of the most cosmopolitan cities in the world.
This was not the first time the Proms had altered the
programme in the wake of catastrophe. Along with “The Star-Spangled Banner” and
“Adagio for Strings”, the BBC added the finale of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony—“Ode
to Joy”—to their final-night celebrations after the attacks on September 11th
2001. This showed Western unity and defiance through Western high culture, a
perfect piece for such a task. Nicholas Kenyon, then the director of the Proms,
said that the finale was “a true mirror of the ability of music to uplift and
unify”. Beethoven’s final symphony demonstrates togetherness and power through
its sheer scale, combining choral with symphonic and requiring a large number
of musicians. The piece is aimed at all who will hear it, as opposed to one
nationality alone. The music therefore rallies together people of an identity
(Western) instead of a country.
On Sunday 24th July the acclaimed Russian director Vladimir
Jurowski led the London Philharmonic orchestra and choir in a Proms performance
(pictured) of Beethoven’s masterpiece. Finding space for the “Ode to Joy” again
at this year’s final night was an example of culture embracing politics.
Life-affirming music has no nationality. Yet it defines an
identity of values undeterred by terror, bringing comfort to those who hear it.
If it reaches out to the threatened in politics, it may give the comfort they
need. Just as Shostakovich lived to celebrate the demise of Stalin, through
Beethoven we may persevere until the demise of terror.
edited from The Economist
