HOW THE ACORN TOOK ROOT
ex. 9-8a Furiant: “Sedlák, sedlák,” from K.J. Erben, Napevy prostonarodnich pisni ceskych (“The Tunes of Czech Peasant Songs”), no. 588
ex. 9-8b Bedřich Smetana, The Bartered Bride, II, Furiant, mm. 7–14
It was the Russians (or some Russians) who at midcentury put the most faith in traditional Volkstümlichkeit as the carrier of objective, non-negotiable national character even in instrumental music. There were two reasons. First, the Russians (or some Russians) were particularly eager to form a national school in opposition to what they saw as the threat of German hegemony; and second, the arts in Russia were particularly inclined toward realism, or (in Glinka's phrase) toward the embodiment of “positive data,”14 a truth-content that required no interpretation. As we shall see, the second ideal proved quixotic: artistic content, being a human product and a social one, always requires interpretation. But even the first was fraught with ironies.
- Citation (MLA):
- Richard Taruskin. "Chapter 9 Slavs as Subjects and Citizens." The Oxford History of Western Music. Oxford University Press. New York, USA. n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2023. <https://www.oxfordwesternmusic.com/view/Volume3/actrade-9780195384833-div1-009005.xml>.
- Citation (APA):
- Taruskin, R. (n.d.). Chapter 9 Slavs as Subjects and Citizens. In Oxford University Press, Music in the Nineteenth Century. New York, USA. Retrieved 30 Nov. 2023, from https://www.oxfordwesternmusic.com/view/Volume3/actrade-9780195384833-div1-009005.xml
- Citation (Chicago):
- Richard Taruskin. "Chapter 9 Slavs as Subjects and Citizens." In Music in the Nineteenth Century, Oxford University Press. (New York, USA, n.d.). Retrieved 30 Nov. 2023, from https://www.oxfordwesternmusic.com/view/Volume3/actrade-9780195384833-div1-009005.xml
