Music Nationalism

Music & Nationalism “In the nineteenth century, people were looking inward, often for a force that would liberate them from political oppression… Music played an important part in this ethnic awakening, sounding out cultural differences and providing a rallying point in a process called musical nationalism” -Craig Wright      Nationalism: Identification with one’s own nation and support for its own interests, especially to the exclusion or detriment of the interests of other nations. Musical nationalism: feeling pride in one’s nation by listening to/composing/singing/playing music that sounds distinctly of one’s country. National music has a distinct sound, and has the goal of sounding different from other country’s music. During the 19th century, many ethnic groups in Europe underwent cultural, national, or political revolutions. Music served as a basis and source of pride for these new national, cultural, and political identities. From this idea of musical nationa...