The Cultural Context of Music

Uh-oh, this might be one of those doctoral dissertation topics that I whimsically toss out from time to time! Caveat lector. While the music world of today seems to be all about streaming, album sales and Adele's personal issues, the less-obvious reality is that all musical expression takes place within a cultural context. I think I learned this from my mother. She was what in Canada we call an "old-time fiddler." There is no real equivalent in the US. She played jigs, reels, schottisches and other violin-related music which included some tunes from bluegrass and Appalachian genres. Her whole life she played for dances on Friday nights which were a local community affair. When I was fairly young we were at a dance in a nearby community of German immigrants from Sudetenland and out of some obscure memory of something I had read once, I inscribed a swastika on the condensation of the window next to our table. In a couple of moments a fellow came over and diplomatically rubbed it out. No need for a reminder of that particular historical context!

But all music resonates with its historical and cultural context. I think the tendency today is to either suppress the context or to only acknowledge it in a very selective way. But the threads of the fabric are very complexly interwoven. A few days ago I put up a spectacular performance of Arnold Schoenberg's Verklärte Nacht by the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra. Let's dig a bit into its cultural context. First of all, the musical idiom is that of post-Wagnerian chromaticism. Schoenberg is coming at the very end of the long century of Romanticism--the piece was composed in 1899--and the influence of Wagner was pervasive. Wagner was a vehement anti-Semite, which might not have too much relevance, except that Schoenberg was Jewish and perhaps, as he became more connected to his Jewish roots in later life (his only opera is Moses und Aron), this may have been one of the things that drove him away from the Wagner-related musical idiom into his atonal style. In 1921 he experienced a crisis of "Jewish identity" as a result of growing German anti-Semitism and around the same time he was developing his 12-tone method of composition as an alternative to tonality.

Now let's talk about the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra. They are a wonderfully professional and deeply committed ensemble and as I said the other day, this is some of the finest music-making I have ever heard from an ensemble. And they are heavily supported by the Norwegian government:

The Norwegian Chamber Orchestra is a project orchestra where musicians of the orchestra varies from project to project. The orchestra aims to bring together the best musicians in Norway to each project, capturing musicians from several of the Norwegian orchestras focusing on musicians from Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as extensive use of freelance musicians. The orchestra also tries to bring home the Norwegian musicians who work abroad for several of its projects. However, it is always a core of members who are helping to keep the continuity of the orchestra.

The orchestra produces 30-40 concerts annually and has a separate series in Oslo. In addition, the orchestra travels on separate tours in Norway, as well as visiting a number of festivals throughout the country. The orchestra has no permanent concert venue, but playing their concerts in Oslo in both Den Norske Opera, Oslo Concert Hall, Gamle Logen and a number of churches. The orchestra had for many years the University Hall in Oslo as the main arena, and when this will again open in 2011, will continue to play several of their concerts there.

The orchestra is funded through grants from the Norwegian government, and Oslo. Public support is ca. 50% of the funding. Other revenue comes from ticket sales, sales of concerts and sponsorship revenue.

Norway had a somewhat ambiguous status during the Second World War:

King Haakon and the Norwegian government escaped to Rotherhithe in London. Throughout the war they sent inspirational radio speeches and supported clandestine military actions in Norway against the Germans. On the day of the invasion, the leader of the small National-Socialist party Nasjonal Samling, Vidkun Quisling, tried to seize power, but was forced by the German occupiers to step aside. Real power was wielded by the leader of the German occupation authority, Reichskommissar Josef Terboven. Quisling, as minister president, later formed a collaborationist government under German control. Up to 15,000 Norwegians volunteered to fight in German units, including the Waffen-SS.

The fraction of the Norwegian population that supported Germany was traditionally smaller than in Sweden, but greater than is generally appreciated today. It included a number of prominent personalities such as the Nobel-prize winning novelist Knut Hamsun. The concept of a "Germanic Union" of member states fit well into their thoroughly nationalist-patriotic ideology.

Nowadays Norway is a very wealthy nation from North Sea oil revenues which it deploys to not only guarantee a strong economic future post-fossil fuels, but also to provide a high quality social fabric for its citizens. And part of that goes to support artistic projects like that of the Norwegian Chamber Orchestra.

As we listen to music, we are not only hearing half and quarter notes and melodies and harmonies, we are also hearing echoes and resonances of historical and cultural contexts. Mind you, it takes some work to dig them out, but as one professor said to me once, "as musicologists we are interested in the details."

Let's listen to the Violin Concerto by Arnold Schoenberg written immediately after his move to the United States due to the Nazi policies against Jews. The artists are Hilary Hahn, violin with Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting the Swedish Radio Orchestra.