Several years ago, I was at a café on the Piazza Navona, in Rome, and, while drinking a rather strong margarita (I’ve made it a habit of mine to try a margarita in every country I visit), I discussed with the tall and talkative waiter a great deal about nationalism. I’m not entirely sure how we got on this topic, I just know that we went from talking about how much influence the Roman Empire had on Europe, to how people identify so strongly with their countries based on certain things. However, in our conversation, we came upon the idea that there were some elements that seemed to apply to us as Europeans. Of course, some aspects we discussed really became quite global and extremely important in the identification of world culture. And I’m probably assuming that everyone kind of knows which cultural aspect I’m talking about here.
Football.
Of course football! We spent hours talking how football stretched from Japan to South Africa, from the north of Canada and the south of Australia. I shared my experiences how, wherever I went, football was everywhere. Fans in the Arab countries are crazy about football, and almost all of them can play. People in Indonesia play in the rain and mud. People from India write names of favorite footballers on their bare backs. Football is a global phenomenon. It’s accessible with everyone, and I can’t tell you how many times I have played football with foreigners without having spoken one word of their language. Your play is your talk, and that’s a universal language that extends practically all borders.
But, while discussing this topic, more people sitting at the café joined our conversation, and we decided to play a little game. We challenged ourselves to come up with something that was predominately European- something that every country in Europe has contributed with each other and pretty much dominated how we view ourselves today. After some time, people said things like “Impressionism”, “human rights”, “democracy”, “school system” (according to one person, he argued that Europe developed the education system based on the Medieval concept of an apprenticeship), “modern warfare”, “science”, and so on. A lot of the statements were pretty vague, but everyone had a time to explain their decisions, and honestly, it made a lot of sense.
Being in Rome, I had to point out that classical music might also be a European concept.
Let me explain.
I know that some people may be rather skeptical when classical music is mentioned. After all, we could say that Asia has produced some the best performers the world has ever seen. While I wouldn’t disagree with that, I’ll be sure to point out why this doesn’t necessary take away with the fact that it’s still a European concept. Other people will say that classical music, in a specific term, is really a German invention. Composition analysis, the structure of musical forms and writing, was developed by the German scholars and musicologists. That’s true. I wouldn’t consider the invention of music notation to be a European concept. Germans will also gleefully point out that the three highest ranked composers (Mozart, Beethoven, and J.S. Bach) are of German heritage, and, honestly, they’re not wrong. One of Germany’s greatest assets to the world is paving the way for classical music.
Bach, Beethoven, and Mozart are considered by many to be the greatest composers ever to have lived
But let’s go a step further.
One could say that there were three main countries that really added to, and encouraged the form of, classical music. France, Italy, and Germany were forerunners. Most classical composers were from these countries. The first two eras, baroque and classical, really focused on these three countries. Haydn, Mozart, Bach, Monteverdi, Clementi, Lully, and so on come from these countries. However, after the classical era, the Romantic era (and early modern era) rushed in and Europe exploded with composers from everywhere. You got huge composers usher in: Tchaikovsky, Franz Liszt, Enescu, Grieg, Chopin, Dvořák, Britten, Bartok, Elgar, Sibelius, Pärt, and so many more. All these composers weren’t French, German, or German (or Austrian). But they are nevertheless brilliant and incredible. It would be utter belligerence to discount their contributions to the classical repertoire. In fact, the Romantic era composers have had more influence on our current musical tastes than those of before.
But these composers showed how Europe was together. They communicated and attached themselves with each other. Today, when we look at someone like Beethoven or Tchaikovsky, we usually see them as European composers. Their style is a European style. Asia countries do not produce music like this. African countries don’t produce music like this. Arab countries don’t produce music like this. So, we see that music like this only exhibits itself in Europe and Europe alone. Anyone making music like Europe is only copying a style made and established in Europe.
The Romantic era really brought about a revolutionary time for Europe. Beethoven’s “Eroica” symphony really resounded all over the continent, from London to Moscow. Everyone exploded in understanding how music can express who they were and how they were like each other. Wagner was listening to Verdi operas, and vice-versa. Tchaikovsky mastered Mozart and developed a unique style that connected Russian music with the rest of Europe’s style (a feat that had been tried for a relatively long time). In musical terms, Russia finally joined Europe in a spectacular fashion. Every Christmas season, I attend the Nutcracker ballet wherever I go, and this music is loved by practically everyone. It uses a European format, using the French ballet style, having elements and dances that correspond to that of other countries in Europe. Almost every composer, whether from Norway to Greece, have composed similar things. The waltz is no longer restricted to Vienna. The waltz have become a European dance.
The waltz, at one point, incorporated both a cultural and sociopolitical importance in European identity
I believe that classical music in the Romantic era has been stretched and experimented with until it finally developed into something else when atonal music came into being. But, wow, what about a collaboration. Brahms knew Schumann, and Schumann knew Liszt, and Liszt knew Schubert, and Schubert knew Beethoven, and Beethoven knew Haydn, and Haydn knew Mozart, and Mozart knew Bach, and so on and so forth. Every composer knew the other, and each one, no matter where they were from, whether Russia or France, worked together. In essence, how classical music advanced was through communication with other composers. In the end, Faure could analyze and understand something written by Grieg, and vice-versa. Each one bounced, learning and building off each other. It must have been an interesting scenario to sit somewhere in Italy or France at a café and listen to the arguments and debates about whom was a better opera composer, Wagner or Rossini.
Classical music can be analyzed on a theoretical level (or in terms of forms and formats), but such analysis is rather complex. Those composers in India and China find it rather difficult to translate their music in such European forms, so for a classical musician, it is easy to see the difference in forms from Europe in comparison to everywhere else. But, on a cultural and a sociopolitical level, this is more obvious. Since the start of the 1800s, the Prix de Rome allocated its highest music award to the best composer of Europe annually. Before this, Mozart had won the Cross of the Order of the Golden Spur as recognition of his music to the cause of the Catholic Church in Europe. Certain cities in Europe brought forth the continuation and appreciation of this art form: Vienna, Paris, Rome, Berlin, etc. They brought famous performers and composers from every country in Europe. They learned and copied off each other, and later on, they developed their own form that they taught others and continued on.
Now, for those who know little about classical music, they may not necessary know how this might fit in Europe. Well, in retrospect, if one doesn’t care much for classical music, it’s easy to see how it has incorporated itself in symbolic ways. Beethoven’s Ode to Joy is the anthem of the European Union, which is not a bad choice since almost every later composer borrows some elements of his in their music. The UK’s national anthem is borrowed from an old tune from the Baroque period (some say it alludes to Purcell or Dowland). Lichtenstein also uses this tune in their national anthem. The UCL (European Champions League), a song memorized all over the world (bringing excitements and chills), uses a tune composed by Handel’s Zadok the Priest, an anthem composed for the King of England at that time (King George II). Something composed for one event has now come to represent the unity of European football in the world.
Honestly, I could go on and on. The list extends to all forms of classical music: opera, dances, ballets, symphonies, etc.
I think most classical scholars would agree with me that classical music shows an elevated art form of Europe. Although classical music is seemingly passing as a “thing that was”, it’s clear that, as Europeans, we very much value in how we identify with ourselves. When we have celebrations, we accompany them with marches, tunes, and anthems. We have a whole orchestra play when we award film honors or other types of honors (i.e. the Noble Peace prizes). In many diplomatic and high end events in Europe, classical music usually accompanies on some level. The Christian church builds its musical tradition from classical music (i.e. Georgian chants), and when death rings its bell, classical music was there to accompany it.
Nowadays, it seems classical music has lost much of its vigor and significance in our lives. We don’t incorporate it as much in our daily lives. Most Saturdays, we don’t dress our best and attend opera events, and balls seem practically allocated to those who seem to live in another world altogether from us. Our type of music has changed, having become simpler and accessible to a large population. Given our day and age, it’s become more difficult to appreciate something that now seems old and complex. Classical music does demand a little training and effort on part of the listener. For this reason, this art form, like many other art forms in Europe from the earlier days, was kept in a smaller circle of the wealthy elite and those who were cultured (which, I presume, meant those who had time to study and not work as much). In the last century, there was much effort to combine the classical repertoire with that of “folk music” (or “common people’s” music) so as to connect more thoroughly with everyone on a nationalistic and European level. And, as many point out, this concept worked well. Romanians can be happy to know their music has been incorporated by Franz Liszt, while Germans can take great pride in how Tchaikovsky’s music has incorporated many themes from their style of music.
In the later stages of the Romantic era, classical music became more inclusive, personal, nationalistic, and extremely broad
Looking back, we Europeans must look at the art forms of our past and incorporate it in our understanding of how we see ourselves. We value our trials and our achievements, and our legacy of great people’s lives in what they preserved. Of course, now, we must learn from the past and move past, doing away with what isn’t practical anymore and adding new elements to fit our own needs and desires. In retrospect of classical music, we must value it as a piece of ourselves, as a way for us to have gotten to understanding who we were and what we envisioned for the future. Really, Beethoven’s Ode to Joy can’t be more clear and explicit in both its gravitational power and meaning of its words. Brothers and sisters from all corners of earth, where everyone was equal and free to express themselves in unity…this is what we believed, and now strongly hold dear. Next time you listen to the symphony, think how revolutionary it must have been, sending shock waves from France all the way to Russia. This was no ordinary piece. It was something understood everywhere in Europe.
Now, it’s our European anthem.
It’s how we know ourselves, and what a way to blast that acknowledgement to the world. It’s funny how classical music is so essential to our identity as Europeans that, when deciding what music to send to space in case someone should need to know a little about who we were, Beethoven, Mozart, and Bach musical excerpts were used to express our separate identity. More and more, however, they are becoming global. Perhaps in the future, they will come to represent more than just us Europeans, but all of us humans.
The Voyager Spacecraft. The picture shows a record player with "The Sounds of Earth", as well as a device showing how to play the record. It is assumed that classical music is one of the highest forms of art we have created. And, of course, when showing off what you can do to peoples of other planets, it's always good to send your best stuff abroad.