The Present Musical Signs Of Identity In Europe: Origins And Validity

Abstract

The cycle of the bourgeois revolution resulted in the definitive establishment
of a new dominant social group. Like in all exercise
of power, the search for legitimation would lead these renewed
elites towards the use of some of the forms and customs of the
nobility. Amongst these forms is the use of music as a tool to give social relations prestige and cohesion, even though the scenario
and its way of operating is different from before. The effective
symbolic character that classical music of recent creation exerted
during the 19th century has lost its force since the end of World
War II. As the social taste concentrated on the masterpieces that
had already been consecrated, these have either continued being
used with aims similar to the ones that caused their creation, or
have been adapted to objectives for which, in principle, they were
not conceived. In the article, some examples of significant composers
and works of the 19th century are presented, which in our
times continue acting as elements that help to distinguish certain
countries in the international scene. This is the case with works of
music whose political use has not been changed from the use for
which they were conceived. For want of new pieces with a social
impact, these works have conserved their effectiveness. There are
also cases of already consecrated works that have been readapted
in recent times, such as the transformation of the Ninth Symphony
of Beethoven (particularly the fourth movement) in the hymn of
the young European Union, which needed signs of identity and
legimitating arguments to consolidate its new course.

Keywords: Identities, music, European Union, Culture.