Can music change the world? That it can and does functions as a truism across many spheres of U.S. culture. Attali canonically argued that music, an element of what Marxists call the “superstructure,” can actually influence or foreshadow world-historical changes in the “base” of economic relations and production. The belief that music can change the […]
Tag: Music & Politics
Posted inEssay
Bartók and Janáček At the End of Liberal Society
When the Austro-Hungarian Empire was collapsing, but a new order remained uncertain, two extraordinary musical works grappled with questions now central to our understanding of the 20th-century political catastrophe. Bartók’s “The Wooden Prince” (1914–16) and Janáček’s “Taras Bulba” (1915–18) help us understand the cultural and ideological forces that prepared the ground for totalitarianism and the end of liberal society […]
Posted inInterview
Clinging to Beauty
Under a makeshift shelter—a parachute canopy from aid airdrops stretched over a wooden frame—Ahmed Abu Amsha gathers children for music lessons on the beach in Nuseirat camp, central Gaza. The sounds of guitar, oud, and drums mix with the crash of waves. Displaced children, some barefoot, wearing torn clothes, their bodies thin and faces pale, […]
Posted inOpinion
The Rhizome
Every piece of music has a political context, including the person or institution commissioning the work, the space in which the music is performed, the funding mechanisms and the audience’s social background. In the 20th century, complex contemporary music was generally associated with democracy, because it represented a form of individual expression that was unacceptable […]
Posted inOpinion
Playing Along
American classical music institutions have been quiet lately. Quieter than they were about the murder of George Floyd. Much quieter than they were about the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. Individual musicians have often been more outspoken. But in recent years institutions have taken political positions often enough that their current silence is surprising. When […]
Posted inHistory
A Piece for Peace
In 1965, the United Nations asked Benjamin Britten to compose a choral work to celebrate the organization’s 20th anniversary. The piece, it hoped, would be “the natural and inevitable sequel to the War Requiem.” The Secretary-General, U Thant, explained that the new work would be premiered at the UN Day concert on October 24, 1965, […]
Posted inReport
A House of Mud and Hope
The rain poured through the mud-brick walls of her father’s house in Duk County, Nyarweng Community of South Sudan, soaking the earthen floor where Nyibol Thon held her newborn daughter. As water dripped from the thatched roof onto her makeshift bed, she began to sing. “From that pain, I composed a song and named her […]
Posted inInterview
Crossing the Line
On September 11, the Israeli conductor Ilan Volkov gave an emotional speech following a concert with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra at Royal Albert Hall in London, decrying the carnage inflicted on Gaza and the West Bank by the Israeli government under Netanyahu and the Israel Defense Forces. “I know that many of us feel […]
Posted inOpinion
Selective Empathy
When it comes to the Middle East, people regress into totalitarian positions and tribal logics with sobering speed. Where do you stand? Are you “pro-Israel” or “pro-Palestine”? Do you say “genocide,” or don’t you? In some parts of the Free Palestine movement, activism against the Netanyahu government goes hand-in-hand with the glorification of Hamas as […]
Posted inOpinion
A Covert Holiday
The recent release of political prisoners in Belarus became possible thanks to the consistent and targeted efforts of the United States. These efforts began a year ago under the Biden administration and yielded their first results in February 2025 with the release of both U.S. and Belarusian citizens. That month also marked the first time […]