The past few days as I read news, viewed vlogs, read blogs, and observed social media posts by musicians that I admire and enjoy my internal monologue has went into hyperdrive regarding the politics of music. Is music political? Or is it art? Can one separate the enjoyment of the music from the person’s politics that created it? This is a layered monologue. Let me meander through it… in my perspective…

Stephan Fry examined this in his documentary Wagner and Me. Fry being a gay Jewish man loves Richard Wagner’s music. Unfortunately Wagner’s music was lauded by the Third Reich. His music was made political by being advertised as the pure German music. Wagner allegedly conducted Felix Mendelssohn’s music with gloves on due to his disdain of Mendelssohn’s Jewish heritage. Wagner was an idealist. His treatise Art and Revolution discusses the role of art (opera) within that contemporary style and how society should support artists to create their work without a need to be commercial or driven by creating work for commodity purposes. It is very Marxist in its approach. Anyway Fry feels you can enjoy the music without touching the politics. It is only political if one chooses to make it political. He comes to this conclusion even though all of the evidence against Wagner states we should run away from it.

What about the modern American composer John Adams who has written three very political operas? Nixon in China, Death of Klinghoffer, and Doctor Atomic. His work does not avoid political references or portrayals within their structure. Adams’ Klinghoffer is criticized for being sympathetic to the terrorists. He claims it isn’t. The hypocrisy of nuclear destruction to achieve peace in WWII’s Doctor Atomic. Adams has used politics in music, I feel, to force dialogue, reflection, and thought provoking symbolism to look beyond the surface. The Transmigration of Souls forces reflections on the loss and collective memory of all the lives taken on September 11. I feel he as a classical composer has captured the essence of art as a stage for political, social, and in some other works religious narratives. Listening to his music makes me reflect to the deepest parts of my being for understanding… …of the roles… everyone has in these events… …and how they move us still… I can’t listen to Adams like Fry listens to Wagner. If I do, I’m missing something…

What of music that is inherently political or written for protest. Bruce Springsteen’s latest song Streets of Minneapolis? We Shall Overcome from the Civil Rights Movement. Pete Seeger’s music could be considered socially active or maybe communist in its nature. The music of Soviet composers in Russia could be considered inherently political as all music was approved by the state. The composer Dmitri Shostakovich was always on the up and down with the state regarding his music. Shostakovich’s 4th symphony is magnificent, but the state disapproved… Then came the 5th symphony… Everyone loved it… Richard Strauss does not even avoid scrutiny politically as he made music for the state under the Nazi party’s rule. Strauss remained apolitical and used the position to protect his family… …and profited off of it some too… Sorry I keep coming back to classical music… I have studied this so much deeper than popular musics.

Modern musicians don’t escape this political paradigm at all. Green Day’s American Idiot. Dave Matthew’s Bands Madman’s Eyes, Don’t Drink the Water, Rage Against the Machine’s entire discography, but none have the same impact politically as Nina Simone, Neil Young, Sting, U2, or the venerable Frank Zappa… from the 20th century in my opinion. Have the modern artists sold out… Is their music commodity. Well Bruce Springsteen has never really been about commodity. I’m not a fan of his, but I understood Born in the USA. Neither has Rage for that matter.

…but can we truly separate the politics from the music? Stephen Fry says yes. I’m not sure it is an unequivocal yes. We can’t really separate the art from the religious faith in Johann Sebastian Bach’s music. We can’t really separate the Christian Christmas music as secular art… can we? What about the Mormon church? or other cult like religious faiths? Let me explore this… from my perspective.

I love Johann Sebastian Bach’s music. I have Cantatas, the complete Organ Works, Masses, Suites, Concertos, and Well Tempered Clavier works in my music collection. You can’t escape Bach’s religious faith in the music. Yet I am an atheist. I appreciate the musical skill and artistry. I admire the expression of his faith musically. Yet I do not believe in it at all. Bach’s music is an aesthetic. One that is derived in beauty and one that is derived of process or principles. One is an adjective the other is a noun. His music lives within the duality of purpose (religion) and art (beauty.) I listen to Bach’s music primarily for its beauty. The purpose has zero effect on my being, but I appreciate the sincerity of his beliefs. I draw this same conclusion with many religious composers. Some of the beauty comes from those sincere messages. I just approach them as stories of mythic literature just as I approach the great myths of Greek and Roman literature.

Contemporary artists don’t dance with aesthetics the way a Bach or John Adams dances with aesthetics. The modern artists dances with the commercial success or failure determined by airplay and sales. This is politics of economics rather than politics of life: Is their work commodity or art? If they sell a diamond record, people would say it’s art. Is it really? Is Bohemian Rhapsody art? Yes it is. It also changed the way consumers listened to music. Is the song political? Yes. Freddy was fighting with record company economics using antiquated logarithms to determine song length and form to financial success.

I don’t think we can dismiss anything that touches the music we listen to. I think we need to recognize everything that goes into it, and about it. If we recognize the music beyond its commercial appeal and look deeper we can find the art. We can find the purpose. We can find its duality and meaning (purpose or beauty.) Then we can grow beyond our listening preferences to see or hear more. I think knowing Wagner’s politics helps me understand his artistic purpose for writing The Ring Cycle. I can then marvel at the beauty he put to page as an imperfect being. I can also put into perspective how others have used this music to their political advantage and spoiled it for others… Separate the layers, so to speak…

I’m glad Stephen Fry can separate those worlds. I admire his thinking, and philosophy very much. He is a great artist, comedian, actor, filmmaker, and author. I desire to think and reflect deeper about my musical listening. Don’t ask me if I like Michael Jackson’s music. Ask me if I like Quincy Jones. Don’t ask me if I like country music. Ask me about its Nationalism. Ask me about Classical or Jazz music… I will discuss this for hours. Ask me about the differences between Nina Simone and Julie London’s expressivity in delivering a jazz standard….

The politics of music is part of the artistic equation. It represents the human frailty, the imperfection of the artist, the strength of guile or soul, and the delicateness of their emotional state. Without the politics, our music is just run of the mill sound without heart or soul. You may not like those politics, but it is apart of all of us. It is a part of our being… Men and women like Bruce Springsteen or Nina Simone just happen to be artists that can wrap our imaginations around the political metaphor better than others.

I’m going to keep listening to Bach even though I’m an atheist. I’m going to listen to Bernstein’s Mass even though he was raised Jewish. I’m going to listen to Rage Against the Machine, because listening to a metaphor about setting fire to everything is better than doing it in reality. I’m going to appreciate Bruce Springsteen a little more, because he made me realize just how thoughtful all of his music is. Embrace the politics in the music, don’t avoid them. This is how we can transcend our own fallibility with the help of art.

One final thing before I go. I avoided all of the Rap/Hip Hop genre. I am not an expert there. This music is not reflective of my musical culture or upbringing. I can say the same about so many other musical styles. I don’t feel I can do justice to this music from an analytical, artistic, and cultural standpoint. I wish to be respectful instead of making assessment based on little knowledge. I ask for your understanding and forgiveness on those lines.

…so it goes… …with my developing and meandering philosophy… … on music…

Peace to all of you…