Resistance music finds new shapes

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Rosani, Silvia. 2013. Resistance music finds new shapes. Political Perspectives, 7(2), pp. 61-84. [Article]

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Music and politics are undoubtedly bound by a relationship whose origin has to be looked for in the far past. This can be proved by the fact that many composers in history chose to comment through their works on the conditions of human beings and on the events involving them, hence taking a clear stand on the political choices which led to these happenings. The topics that influence my creative process as a composer and which are addressed in my works, are the Italian politics of immigration and the political corruption in Italy, along with their relationship to illegal organizations. In my compositions, the alternation of singing with open or closed mouth symbolises the effort of a mafia penitent to testify in court. Sometimes the stage turns into a shore, on which immigrants, whose bodies lie lifeless after their journey to Europe, take the floor a few steps from tan tourists. Somewhere else, Nephele, a cloud created by Zeus, embodies constituency, disappointed by corrupt politics, and is arranged by a choir of female voices which attack Ixion, a mythological character considered the first man who committed acts of violence against nature and civil society, and therefore he is compared to the corrupt Italian politicians. Music, inspired by text and combined with theatre, finds new ways to speak to the emotional side of the audience. The written word becomes sound and an audible metaphor of the unheard, giving voice to those who can no longer speak or who never did.

Item Type:

Article

Keywords:

music, politics

Departments, Centres and Research Units:

Music

Dates: