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Keeping the Politics out of it? Part 2: 19th-Century Musical Nationalism
5th October 2021
The present-day desire to keep politics out of music is, as we have previously seen, something of a pipe dream when the long history of entanglement between the arts and power structures (sacred or secular) is considered. From its earliest roots in the Middle Ages, western classical music has constantly been at the service of church and state, a position which changed only cosmetically and by degree during the 18th-century Enlightenment and the early Classical era. The church’s influence may have waned over time, but the... read more
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Keeping the Politics out of it? Part 1: Music and the Establishment
28th September 2021
How many of us use music as a means of escaping from the cares of everyday life? Not just the mundane details of day-to-day existence (work, shopping, household matters), but the now-constant cycle of news and adverts broadcast over all varieties of media. For many, music is a refuge from the drip-drip-drip of news stories, of political posturing, grandstanding and mishaps. Music, surely, is a place where we can at least leave politics behind, isn’t it? Well, not quite… For a start, in many countries it’s the very same... read more
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A shopping list by Beethoven... (or Breaking away from the Age of the Statue)
22nd September 2021
On 27 February 1823, an entry in Beethoven’s conversation book reads as follows:
+ Sugar.
+ Spice.
+ Wine.
+ Macaroni.
+ Tooth powder.
Through Schindler.
This short shopping list was drawn up in case Caspar Bauer, a representative in England of the Esterházy Court, were to come to dinner that evening. In the event, he didn’t, but this brief entry illustrates two things:... read more
Liszt in Lockdown: Interview with Charles Owen
14th September 2021
This week The Spin Doctor takes on a different format as we interview British pianist Charles Owen, ahead of the release in a few days’ time of his new Liszt recording. Amid a busy schedule, Charles generously gave time to answer our questions and offer his views and reflections on a broad range of topics, from the challenges for musicians of the Covid-19 pandemic, to the music of Liszt, and many of his own past and future projects. The Liszt disc, out this Friday, contains deeply musical performances of the first, ‘Swiss’... read more
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When Music is Silenced
8th September 2021
Over the past 18 months we have heard much about music being silenced by the global health crisis, and of the problems faced by creative artists in the face of widespread cancellations and (in many cases) redundancies, alongside the intense economic pressures faced by millions of their fellow citizens. But what about those instances where music is silenced not in the face of a public health emergency, but through the deliberate suppression of cultural activities for political or religious reasons?
The history of music is,... read more