That cannot be overstated.
I wish someone would remind classical music stations that music is the international language so that they might stop engaging in ugly nationalism.
Locally when I was performing as a pianist**, I noticed that every pianist who showed up to give a performance played Chopin, as if it were a fad. There was a run on Chopin. Chopin, Chopin, Chopin. Something by Chopin, as if it were a requirement for all piano programmes. Me? I wasn’t about to play Chopin. I deliberately did not follow the Chopin Cult or rut. I thought: Chopin is fine and I’ve played some of his pieces, but I think we’ve all heard enough of him at this venue for awhile, don’t you? Whilst Rachmaninov is being neglected. Why are none of these pianists playing Rachmaninov? Is it because his music is especially difficult? So instead, I played Rachmaninov. Along with Poulenc, Howells and Scarlatti. When I played mostly Rachmaninov’s Études-Tableaux, the audience seemed to enjoy them — the performance venue was full even on a rainy day — and some of the audience came over and told me they enjoyed my programme. That was very nice of them. Yes, Rachmaninov’s pieces are very beautiful. Someone came up and asked me: How did you manage to play pieces from so many different countries/cultures all on the same programme? I thought: What’s the big deal of playing a variety of pieces all on one programme? I had played Russian, French, English, and Italian all on the same programme. I didn’t really know how to answer the question. Why can’t French music be on the same programme with Russian or anything else? I just chose the repertoire I wanted to play and that’s where the pieces came from, if that’s important. I didn’t think it was. I hadn’t given any thought to what he was talking about, the thing about countries and where the piece was written. I just played pieces I enjoyed playing and liked.
Many people get hung up on and engage in ugly nationalism which is very intense in classical music. I think the person who asked me the question thought I should have played an “all-Russian” or an “all-French” or “all-English” programme, as other pianists did. And classical music stations are notorious for promoting ugly nationalism. Does it matter where a composer was born? I think not. Announcers/”Presenters” at radio stations can’t just say, “[Name of pianist] will play [name of piece]. No, they have to say, “The Irish pianist” or “The French pianist” or “The German pianist.” When I was listening to BBC Radio 3, they used to be terrible in this regard. They promoted ugly nationalism, and probably still do as conservative as the BBC is. Why does anyone need to know where on Earth the pianist was born? The patch of soil on Earth that the pianist was born per human-created geographic borders and that wars have been fought over, that patch of land is important? Not to me it’s not. Many people, including classical music stations seem to forget that music is the international language crossing all geographic borders. Music is not a national language.
The training in piano is pretty much the same worldwide — not limited to geographic borders — as long as one finds a respected and credible piano professor. There are different schools of thought but they are not limited in their instruction to any particular country. Such as someone in the US can teach — what’s known as — The Russian School of Piano Playing. I’ve taught that in my piano instruction and I’m not in Russia. Piano instructors anywhere in the world can teach that or use the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music series. When I was teaching I used that in every class. One doesn’t have to be British to use that. Or the Bartók series: Mikrokosmos. Or especially when it’s a French, German, Irish, Chinese (or other Asian) or Latino/Hispano pianist who trained at The Juilliard School, for example. In other words, not in the person’s home country when that’s the case. We’re all born on Planet Earth.
Do I expect nationalism in classical music to end? Absolutely not. It’s too engrained in people’s thinking. I mean, what would “music presenters” at classical music station have to talk about if it were not about where someone was born and the country where a piece was written? Something silly like that. Well, in reality there’s lots to talk about except any of that, but I don’t live under any illusions that the many things I write about and or complain about are about to change, in part, because that would require a change in people’s behaviour. And most people aren’t willing to make any changes in their behaviour because that would require some effort on their part. If anything, they would rush to defend their nationalism, in this case.
** I don’t really enjoy performing; it’s too stressful especially if the concert management insist on that “from memory” nonsense, and I was trained to perform “from memory,” but I now reject that. It should be left up to the artist. I prefer to use my scores. Pianists: Use your scores! Screw these outdated traditions. At one performance venue I performed for, the concert management didn’t require but implied “you should perform from memory.” I did, but I noticed that when she performed, she used her scores. Hypocrite. Performing artists should do what is most comfortable for them in performance situations. That’s how I feel about it.
Related: Classical music’s ugly nationalism.