The role of classical music in the construction of nationalism: an analysis of Danish consensus nationalism and the reception of Carl Nielsen

Abstract

Very little research has been conducted into the relationship between classical music and nationalism. This is a shame as music has played a significant role in the construction and consolidation of nationalism in many European countries. This article illustrates this by analysing the role of classical music and, in particular, contemporary serious music in the construction of Danish consensus nationalism in the 1930s and 1940s. In so doing, it explores the repression of the modernist expression which was and still is considered a Continental European phenomenon in favour of a local and traditional expression. Furthermore, it analyses the elevation of Carl Nielsen to the position of Danish composer par excellence.

Anthony D. Smith and the role of art, architecture and music in the growth of modern nations: a comparative study of national parliaments and classical music in Britain and Denmark

“…His journey from a peasant's son to the most distinguished composer Denmark has ever had has been emphasized both by Nielsen himself and by musicologists. This journey has become an important part of Nielsen's position as the Danish national composer par excellence (Nielsen ; Jensen ; Brincker, ; Grimley in White and Murphy ). This constitutes a break with the otherwise compelling parallels between Williams and Nielsen.…”

Staging a new South Sudan in the USA: men, masculinities and nationalist performance at a diasporic beauty pageant

“…Like other forms of cultural nationalism, beauty pageants are often seen by organizers, participants and audience members as a way to re-imagine a nation or to challenge negative nationalist stereotypes by presenting it in a new light (Borland 1996;Banet-Weiser 1999;O'Connor 2005;Ho 2006;Mani 2006;Bardsley 2007;Brincker 2008;Chikowero 2008). In the USA, organizers argued that Sudan is most commonly associated with the problems of war, disease and most recently genocide -an image the pageant promoters were keen to move beyond.…”

“…In this body of scholarship, performance is viewed primarily as a medium for the communication and reproduction of nationalist ideals, beliefs, values and morals (Revill 2000;O'Connor 2005;Ho 2006;Brincker 2008;J. These are key forms of expression performed within many pageants and indeed centered in the Miss South Sudan event.…”

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“…Kaldor argues that spectacular nationalism involves a consciously mediated construction of spectacular events such as jubilee celebrations. National jubilees may demonstrate the need for small countries to bring their national cultural icons to the forefront in order to assert themselves vis-a`-vis the cultural traditions of larger countries (Brincker 2008 Still, such events serve to exclude immigrants who do not share the same history as members of the majority culture.…”