Description:
This book presents ten studies focusing on music inspired and promoted by regimes such as Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, France under Vichy, the USSR and its satellites, Franco's Spain, Salazar's Portugal, Maoist China, and Latin-American dictatorships. By discussing the musical works themselves, whether they were conceived as ways to provide "music for the people", to personally honour the dictator, or to participate in State commemorations of glorious historical events, the book examines the relationship between the composers and the State.
Review Quotes:
'Ten fascinating narratives are presented here about the function of state music in a wider range of twentieth-century dictatorships. An international roster of distinguished authors ensures the most detailed study of this subject thus far. This unique volume clarifies how music was used to present the public face of state sanctioned propaganda.' - Patricia Hall, University of Michigan, USA
'These essays, surveying musical works that span five decades and three continents, shed light on creations generally overlooked by virtue of their being "tainted" because they were commissioned by dictatorships. Instead of shunning these works, the essays explore the complex interactions of the state, the composers, and the public and offer new paths toward dissecting notions of creative autonomy in the twentieth century.' - Pamela Potter, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA
"...an eminently readable collection dealing with themes that have come increasingly to the fore over recent decades and whose very ambiguity enrich our understanding of the music discussed here and its historical and cultural contexts."- Ivan Moody, Universidade Nova, Lisbon