Music as a seismograph of democracy

Democracy’ is associated with numerous values such as freedom, justice and humanism, which must be constantly renegotiated. It is understood as a form of rule, society and life and is differentiated accordingly in terms of time, culture and state. Democracy can be symbolically demanded or consolidated through musical performances, as music is a possible practice for shaping, accompanying or commenting on the negotiation process of what is understood by ‘democracy’. According to the internationally recognised ‘Democracy Report’ by the University of Gothenburg (Sweden) on the state of democracy, the number of democratically governed states worldwide has fallen continuously in recent years and achievements have been reversed. In 2022, the world's population was living on average at the democratic level of 1986. Two years ago, Austria was even downgraded from the highest category of democratic statehood (‘liberal democracies’) to the lower category of ‘electoral democracies’ due to processes between 2012 and 2022. For 2023, the global downward trend for democracy was again noted, as stated in the ‘Democracy Report 2024’ (‘Democracy Winning and Losing at the Ballot’): ‘But 71% of the world's population - 5.7 billion people - live in autocracies - an increase from 48% ten years ago. [...] Almost all components of democracy [freedom of expression, elections] are getting worse in more countries than they are getting better, compared to ten years ago.’ The downward trend was confirmed by various election results in Europe this year. The right-wing fringe emerged stronger from the elections to the EU Parliament, while the centre also moved closer to the right. In the state elections in Thuringia at the beginning of September 2024, the Alternative for Germany (AfD), a party classified as far-right, won a majority for the first time since the Federal Republic of Germany was founded in 1949 (without being able to govern, however).

With the increasing fragility of democratic systems clearly evident, it is necessary to look at reflection through the arts, or rather music, as a seismograph for social and political developments. Music offers a foil for analytical and comparative perspectives on various concepts of democracy. We can think of emancipation processes of social or ethnic groups that articulate themselves politically in and through music and stand up for democracy, as well as of protest via and through music as an individual and group-dynamic form of articulation with publicity and multiplication effects. Democratic protest can be articulated through music and coded messages, such as in song lyrics, in the music of the ‘Peaceful Revolution’ in the GDR in 1989 or as an important part of the ‘Singing Revolution’ in the Baltic States from 1988 to 1991 to break away from the USSR or, more recently, in protest music in Iran.

Fundamentally, the question arises as to what extent music, especially in its own compositional structures, can and should be a space for democracy at all. Aren't the relationships between the voices as a concept of ‘leading’ and ‘following’ also inscribed in the idea of absolutist power? And have erosions of this autocracy been evident since the 18th century, for example in unstable tonality or independence of voices? By the beginning of the 20th century at the latest, a pluralisation in the areas of production, distribution and reception of music can be observed. (New) infrastructures and technologies contributed to more democratic dissemination possibilities, especially in popular music. At the same time, new processing possibilities, for example through ‘recycling’ in sampling and covers, mean the dissemination of individual political attitudes. Political attitudes can be communicated through intermediality, e.g. through framing and reframing. The role of the audience also changed over the course of the 20th century. As a result of the increased development of the reaction and participation of listeners (scandals in the concert hall, comments and click figures in social media), recipients have grown into an influential counterweight and are well aware of this power. The field of research is still relatively new and became increasingly established over the course of the 2000s. Research has focussed on the longer democratic traditions in the Anglo-American region. It is therefore advisable to raise corresponding questions for the German-speaking world and its states. The investigation of the relationship between democracy and music still represents a clear research desideratum there. The same applies to a comparative perspective on the democratic spectrum in Europe.

The conference takes an academic approach to the topic via the subject of musicology with its three sub-disciplines of historical musicology, systematic musicology and ethnomusicology. The focus is on the contribution of music to the materialisation, assertion and consolidation of democracy in its dimensions and facets in the past and present. In 16 lectures and a key note, the international and interdisciplinary conference will address music-related phenomena that are related to ideas of democracy and democratic principles. This includes musical protest as a commitment to democracy or against political and cultural totalitarianism. The question also arises as to whether democratic values such as freedom, equality and the rule of law are intrinsic to music and its performance and reception, and whether the ‘sound of democracy’ has changed. Renowned researchers and young academics from all over Europe (England, Finland, France, Greece, Ireland, Austria, Slovakia and Spain) have been invited as speakers to present international perspectives on music and democracy. In addition, the topic will be conveyed through music and art in order to be experienced by the senses: as part of the opening on 17 October 2024 at the Solitär, 25 students from the Mozarteum University will perform ‘in C’ by US composer Terry Riley - a work that envisages democratic and self-determined music-making.

(First published in the Uni-Nachrichten/Salzburger Nachrichten, 12 October 2024)