The political function of music

“There can be no music without an idealogy. The old composers, whether they knew it or not, were upholding a political theory. Most of them, of course, were bolstering the rule of the upper classes. Only Beethoven was a forerunner of the revolutionary movement.”

– Dmitry Shostakovich

Cited in: Nettl, Paul (1969) The Book of Musical Documents. New York: Greenwood Press, p.327.

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