National composer
Encyclopedia
National composer is an ideological term denoting a composer
who largely employs national symbols and elements in his musical works; furthermore he is highly popular among the public of the national culture he belongs to, and is internationally recognised as an important composer.
It is comparable to a national poet, but has no titular history (i.e. poet laureate
). The term has been formed during the national
and patriot
movements of the 19th century, primarily amongst European countries under foreign rule. Although there are many composers having employed national elements in their music, only few of them are regarded as national composers due to their lacking international recognition and popularity abroad.
National composers are mostly found in Scandinavia
:
and in Eastern Europe
:
There are also a few national composers in Western Europe, mostly from small countries where they are regarded as national idols without having employed national elements in their work:
There is no similar recognition of national composers in nations with vast musical traditions like Germany, Italy and France. However the Nazis used to stylize composers like Ludwig van Beethoven
, Richard Wagner
and Anton Bruckner
as German national composers. Giuseppe Verdi
may be regarded as an Italian national composer, especially in light of the political and national themes of such operas as Nabucco
and Don Carlos
.
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
who largely employs national symbols and elements in his musical works; furthermore he is highly popular among the public of the national culture he belongs to, and is internationally recognised as an important composer.
It is comparable to a national poet, but has no titular history (i.e. poet laureate
Poet Laureate
A poet laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government and is often expected to compose poems for state occasions and other government events...
). The term has been formed during the national
Nationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
and patriot
Patriotism
Patriotism is a devotion to one's country, excluding differences caused by the dependencies of the term's meaning upon context, geography and philosophy...
movements of the 19th century, primarily amongst European countries under foreign rule. Although there are many composers having employed national elements in their music, only few of them are regarded as national composers due to their lacking international recognition and popularity abroad.
National composers are mostly found in Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
:
- Denmark: Niels Gade
- Finland: Jean SibeliusJean SibeliusJean Sibelius was a Finnish composer of the later Romantic period whose music played an important role in the formation of the Finnish national identity. His mastery of the orchestra has been described as "prodigious."...
- Norway: Edvard GriegEdvard GriegEdvard Hagerup Grieg was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is best known for his Piano Concerto in A minor, for his incidental music to Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt , and for his collection of piano miniatures Lyric Pieces.-Biography:Edvard Hagerup Grieg was born in...
- Sweden: Hugo AlfvénHugo Alfvénwas a Swedish composer, conductor, violinist, and painter.- Violinist :Alfvén was born in Stockholm and studied at the Music Conservatory there from 1887 to 1891 with the violin as his main instrument, receiving lessons from Lars Zetterquist. He also took private composition lessons from Johan...
and in Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
:
- Armenia: Aram KhachaturianAram KhachaturianAram Ilyich Khachaturian was a prominent Soviet composer. Khachaturian's works were often influenced by classical Russian music and Armenian folk music...
- Czech Republic: Bedřich SmetanaBedrich SmetanaBedřich Smetana was a Czech composer who pioneered the development of a musical style which became closely identified with his country's aspirations to independent statehood. He is thus widely regarded in his homeland as the father of Czech music...
, Antonín DvořákAntonín DvorákAntonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer of late Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák’s own style is sometimes called "romantic-classicist synthesis". His works include symphonic, choral and chamber music, concerti, operas and many... - Hungary: Béla BartókBéla BartókBéla Viktor János Bartók was a Hungarian composer and pianist. He is considered one of the most important composers of the 20th century and is regarded, along with Liszt, as Hungary's greatest composer...
- Lithuania: Mikalojus Konstantinas ČiurlionisMikalojus Konstantinas CiurlionisMikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis , also known as M. K. Čiurlionis was a Lithuanian painter and composer. Čiurlionis contributed to symbolism and art nouveau and was representative of the fin de siècle epoch. During his short life he composed about 250 pieces of music and created about 300 paintings...
- Poland: Frédéric ChopinFrédéric ChopinFrédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....
, Stanisław MoniuszkoStanisław MoniuszkoStanisław Moniuszko was a Polish composer, conductor and teacher. His output includes many songs and operas, and his musical style is filled with patriotic folk themes of the peoples of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth... - Romania: George EnescuGeorge EnescuGeorge Enescu was a Romanian composer, violinist, pianist, conductor and teacher.-Biography:Enescu was born in the village of Liveni , Dorohoi County at the time, today Botoşani County. He showed musical talent from early in his childhood. A child prodigy, Enescu created his first musical...
- Ukraine: Mykola LysenkoMykola LysenkoMykola Vitaliiovych Lysenko was a Ukrainian composer, pianist, conductor and ethnomusicologist.- Biography :Lysenko was born in Hrynky, Kremenchuk Povit, Poltava Governorate, the son of Vitaliy Romanovich Lysenko . From childhood he became very interested in the folksongs of Ukrainian peasants and...
There are also a few national composers in Western Europe, mostly from small countries where they are regarded as national idols without having employed national elements in their work:
- Ireland: Turlough Carolan
- Liechtenstein: Josef RheinbergerJosef RheinbergerJosef Gabriel Rheinberger was a German organist and composer, born in Liechtenstein.-Short biography:...
- Luxembourg: Jean Antoine ZinnenJean Antoine ZinnenJean Antoine Zinnen was a Luxembourgian composer, best known for the Luxembourgian national anthem, Ons Hémécht.-Career:...
There is no similar recognition of national composers in nations with vast musical traditions like Germany, Italy and France. However the Nazis used to stylize composers like Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
, Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
and Anton Bruckner
Anton Bruckner
Anton Bruckner was an Austrian composer known for his symphonies, masses, and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-German Romanticism because of their rich harmonic language, complex polyphony, and considerable length...
as German national composers. Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
may be regarded as an Italian national composer, especially in light of the political and national themes of such operas as Nabucco
Nabucco
Nabucco is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Temistocle Solera, based on the Biblical story and the 1836 play by Auguste Anicet-Bourgeois and Francis Cornue...
and Don Carlos
Don Carlos
Don Carlos is a five-act grand opera composed by Giuseppe Verdi to a French language libretto by Camille du Locle and Joseph Méry, based on the dramatic play Don Carlos, Infant von Spanien by Friedrich Schiller...
.
Literature
- Sidney Walter Finkelstein: Composer and nation. The folk heritage in music, a study of national expression in music and the use of folk and popular music by the great composers from the 17th century to the present day, New York 1989.
- Thomas Leibnitz: Anton Bruckner and "German music". Josef Schalk and the establishment of Bruckner as a national composer, Aldershot 2001.
- Zdzisław Mach: National Anthems. The Case of Chopin as a National Composer, Oxford 1994.
- Percy Marshall Young: Dvořák, London/New York 1970, p. 39-46.
- Ilmari Hannikainen: Sibelius and the development of Finnish music, London 1948.
- Agnes M. Wergeland: Grieg as a national composer, New York 1907.