Throughout music history, our art in its various forms has been used to incite patriotic or nationalistic fervor. Composers have often been called upon to write works with a specific nation in mind. The most obvious use of music in this way is the composition of stirring national anthems (or works that perhaps should be a national anthem), though there are larger works that courageously extoll national pride in the face of oppression, such as Sibelius’s Finlandia.
There are those who object to patriotic music, claiming it glorifies violence. Commenting upon that in his Choral Journal article, “Homegrown: Programming Ideas and Study Resources for Ethnic and Cultural Music Traditions of the United States. Part 3: Historical, National, and Patriotic Music,” Lawrence Burnett writes,
Many of the early national and patriotic songs are not often sung today, except those with religious lyrics that are found in hymnals. That is regrettable because this body of music offers musical and historical insight and perspective on the social relevance of the borrowed and .composed tunes, the circumstances that inspired the texts, and how the weddings of texts and music of the times resulted in widespread popularity of ideals. The research, study, and performance of this repertoire provide an excellent interdisciplinary appreciation of values in United States history.
It is might be lost on many (most?) folks, but today is Veteran’s Day here in the U.S., certainly, a good opportunity to perform music with a patriotic flavor. With that in mind, here is a performance of service anthem from a recent ACDA Divisional Conference.
Ronald Richard Duquette says