In this thesis I explain how Western art music gained a political, social and cultural role in Colombia during the decades that spanned from 1848 to 1910. This analysis engages the different attributes that Colombian political and cultural leaders of the time ascribed to art music in order to integrate it as part of their projects of Nation and confronts them with what is known about traditional music practices. In doing so, I explain discourses and social practices that developed around and because of the integration of art music to urban life in Colombia during the period of research. The purpose of this analysis is to elucidate the processes and contradictions that characterized the social practice of art music in Colombia as well as the limitations of the implementation of art music as an inclusive practice during the second half of the nineteenth century. This last notion underlies cultural policies implemented during present times and highlights the contradiction between art music as an exclusive social practice and the political discourse about art music as a space for learning democratic republican values.

This thesis explores E. M. Forster's interest in the politics of music, illustrating the importance of music to Forster's conceptions of personal relationships and imperialism, national character and literary influence, pacifism and heroism, class and amateurism. Discussing Forster's novels, short stories, essays, lectures, letters, diaries, and broadcast talks, the thesis looks into the political nuances in Forster's numerous allusions and references to musical composition, performance, and consumption. In so doing, the thesis challenges previous formalistic studies of Forster's representations of music by highlighting his attention to the contentious relations between music and political contingencies. The first chapter examines A Passage to India, considering Forster's depictions of music in relation to the novel's concern with friendship and imperialism. It explores the ways in which music functions politically in Forster's most ‘rhythmical' novel. The second chapter focuses on Forster's description of the performance of Lucia di Lammermoor in Where Angels Fear to Tread. Reading this highly crafted scene as Forster's attempt to ‘modernize' fictional narrative, it discusses Forster's negotiation of national character and literary heritage. The third chapter assesses Forster's Wagnerism, scrutinizing the conjunction between Forster's rumination on heroism and his criticism of Siegfried. The chapter pays particular attention to Forster's uncharacteristic silence on Wagner during and after the Second World War. The fourth chapter investigates Forster's celebration of musical amateurism. By analysing his characterization of musical amateurs and professionals in ‘The Machine Stops', Arctic Summer, and Maurice, the chapter discusses the gender and class politics of Forster's championing of freedom and idiosyncrasy.

The aim of the study was to find out how working conditions in different music schools and schools of arts are, or has been, for teachers on oboe and bassoon, and how the conditions may affect the regrowth of these instruments. The interviews were performed with teachers on bassoon and oboe; two active teachers and one former teacher. Experience shows that it can be difficult to recruit these instruments to orchestra courses for young people. An assumption was made in the study that the conditions for these instruments in the schools of music and arts are not the best, which was indicative of the survey. The results of the study show that the interviewed teachers on these instruments struggle with a whole series of problems such as poor facilities, too short teaching time, few students that require many hourly based employments and many time consuming journeys. It also shows that adaption has occurred to different conditions on different schools where also the recruiting of students works differently. The problem can be traced to scarce financial resources, absence of a national structure for music development or principals with indifference, ignorance or lack of mandate from the politics to take responsibility for a good qualitative development that leads to diversity and a vibrant music scene. / Syftet med studien har varit att ta reda på hur arbetsförhållanden på olika musik- och kulturskolor, där några pedagoger verkar eller ha verkat, påverkar återväxten för instrumenten oboe och fagott. Intervjuer har genomförts med två aktiva pedagoger och en före detta pedagog. Erfarenheter visar att det kan vara svårt att rektytera dessa instrument till orkesterkurser för unga. Ett antagande gjordes i studien att förutsättningarna på musik- och kulturskolorna för dessa instrument inte är det bästa vilket var vägledande för undersökningen. Resultatet av studien visar att intervjuade pedagoger på dessa instrument brottas med en hel rad problem såsom dåliga lokaler, för kort undervisningstid, få elever som kräver många olika timanställningar och många tidskrävande resor. Den visar också att anpassning har skett till olika förhållanden på olika skolor där även rekryteringen ser olika ut. Problematiken kan härledas till för knappa ekonomiska resurser, avsaknaden av en nationell struktur för musikens utveckling, eller chefers ointresse, okunskap eller avsaknad av uppdrag från politiskt håll att ta ansvar för en god kvalitativ utveckling som leder till mångfald och ett levande musikliv.

Revised thesis (doctoral)--University of Oxford, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [297]-315) and index.

In 1936, André Jolivet (1905-1974), Yves Baudrier (1906-1988), Olivier Messiaen (1908-1992), Jean-Yves Daniel-Lesur (1908-2002), and Pierre Schaeffer (1910-1995) founded the group Jeune France. They initiated this group under the influence of politically nonconformist movements in France which had started in the 1920s. The ideology of Jeune France was to revive in music 'true human qualities', free from 'extreme political domination'. At a time when some composers, associated with a revolutionary Left wing, were exploring avant-garde ideas in music that included atonalism, serialism, and other advanced techniques out of the common practice, other composers fell into a nationalistic Right wing, recalling the French Catholic traditions, and promoting an exclusive and true 'French' music. In contrast to these polarizing trends, Jeune France tried to trace back its art to its origins, and the goal of Jeune France was to re-establish music composition as something less 'abstract' than the Left, and more 'human' than the Right. The most powerful sound that can reflect the tenets of humanism in music is probably the human voice, especially multiple voices in a choral setting. Thus unaccompanied choral works, in particular, came to be a hallmark of many major composers of the 20th Century. The prevailing social and political environment of the pre-World War Two era also played an important role in contributing to the revival of unaccompanied choral music as a major genre. To demonstrate how these general social and political forces operated in the particular in France at this time, I have used Daniel-Lesur's Le Cantique des Cantiques (1952) to show how these affected a composer at this time. The goal of this research has been to look in depth at both Daniel-Lesur and his most famous work, about which little has been written in English; and to add to a growing body of literature which explores the rise of unaccompanied choral compositions as an important genre in the early 20th Century, a shift that is tied to political, cultural, and social conditions as well as musical ones. Taking Le Cantique des Cantiques as a token of a type, I show how this work reflects these issues as well as the aesthetics behind Jeune France. Finally, I have tried to show just how the experience of Jeune France influenced Daniel-Lesur as a composer as it did his more famous contemporary, Messiaen.

Revised Thesis (doctoral)--University of Oxford, 2004. / Foreign cultural models at the English royal court -- International events and musical exchanges -- Building a foreign musical establishment at the early Tudor court -- Anglo-continental relations in music manuscripts -- English music theory and the international traditions. Includes bibliographical references (p. [297]-315) and index.