Music and Politics

Do music and politics mix? This seems to be an age old question and one that I feel deserves my attention this week. As a conductor and musician, I notice the impact that politics has had not only on a composer's music but on their lives as well. In my opinion, we have seen a history of politicians and rulers deciding on which acceptable music and artists are to be heard and which ones should be censored. The most notable is during the Nazi regime. Gustav Mahler, one of the greatest composers who bridged the late Romantic with the music of the 20th century is one that comes to mind. In 1941, it was ordered that all music from the Jewish composers be banned from performances. Further, the orchestras of the Nazi occupation were forced to eliminate the Jewish musicians of all the orchestras. One of the most prominent orchestras to promote the music of Mahler from his days as a conductor, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam, ceased to perform any of his works. We all know, by now, that this was indeed a travesty. Mahler was one of Austria's most important composers. The fact that he was Jewish was irrelevant. Further, Mahler himself converted to Catholicism in order to avoid any Jewish ties as he rose to prominence (primarily to accept a post with the Vienna Opera House and subsequently the Vienna Philharmonic). While this is a tragedy, the converse is also reprehensible. The fact that some composers, notably Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss had ties to the Nazi party (Wagner indirectly through his own antisemitism and Strauss more directly), Israel and other countries refused to perform any of their works. The question remains. Should politics have any bearing on the performance of great works of great composers, despite their beliefs? Should Shostakovitch not be performed because of his submissiveness to the Soviet government? To me, this is all a terrible and unjustifiable action on everyone's part. There should be no excuse to censoring and forbidding of the performance of works by composers who have opinions we may disagree with. If that is the case, there will always be censorship in one form or another. This is wrong and should not be tolerated. While I sympathize with the Israeli position on Strauss and Wagner, I cannot forgive their censorship and while I also cannot forgive the censoring of Mahler and other composers by the Germans. Music is an art and should be seen by all as an expression. It has no place in politics. Censorship of any kind is detrimental to the expression of our composers and will always influence how much of an impact it truly has. Don't forget that even Anton Webern fell in the hands of the Americans as he was shot on his balcony during the US occupation of Germany by a U.S. soldier (who, in all fairness, regretted his actions to the point of suicide). Wake up world and stop showing your blatant ignorance and stupidity with your blinded and distorted view of politics. No one has any right to decide the fate and value of another human being. Those that do lose credibility among the intellectual and are doomed to a life of ignorance and humiliation. Of course, this is my opinion and I welcome agreement and dissent.