# Ethnic Influence in Classical Music...



## hawk (Oct 1, 2007)

Hi All,

As this "infection" is begining to grow many questions have arisen. The language of classical music obviously is comprised of many languages originating from different culture/ethnicities.
Is the influence of culture/ethnicity reflected in the music (can't see how it would not be) and is it audiably recognizable?
As a Native musician I can tell music from a different Native culture (though not all) for example Dine' music vs Algonquin music. Obviously language(vocal songs) is different but also the instruments (flutes,drum,rattles...) have different voices. 
Are you able to hear a piece of music, without knowing the composer, and tell the composers ethnicity?
At this point in my journey with this music it does not matter really...I am loving what this music evokes in me. 
The question arises out of curiosity and the "need" to have as much knowledge as possible. Thanks for your replies


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## oisfetz (Dec 11, 2006)

I can easily recognise hearing an unknown work, if the composer is russian,czech,italian,
hungarian or spaniard -and maybe french- but only on romantic works.


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## opus67 (Jan 30, 2007)

Russian, yes...to some extent.


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## Kurkikohtaus (Oct 22, 2006)

oisfetz said:


> ... spaniard -and maybe french- but only on romantic works...


Interestingly, much of the music from the romantic period that we identify as the most Spanish sounding is indeed by french composers... Bizet's Carmen, and a host of Spanishy pieces by Ravel being the prime example.

The point being that romantic composers utilized folk idioms to give their music a nationalistic flavour. Therefore, if one was well learned in the folk music of a specific nation, one could write music that sounds like it belongs to that nation, even if he himself was from another country.


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## oisfetz (Dec 11, 2006)

And d'not forget the polac Moszkowski, the russian Rimsky Korsakoff or the italian
Castelnuovo-Tedesco.


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## Oneiros (Aug 28, 2006)

I think it depends on your knowledge, and on the era in question. I could probably distinguish between German / Italian / French music from the Baroque, but probably not Romantic music (unless I knew the composer). In general, styles are definitely identifiable with certain geographic areas (and time periods).


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## Michael Ferris (Oct 25, 2007)

Classical music, as we know it, originated in Europe. Europe, although each county has its own background, is still full of cultural multiplicity. It is very mixed. During one epoch, one European country with a lot of economic power and usually along with this, great musicians had precidence, or better said, was looked up to, and therefore its ideals were incorperated into the classical music thoughout Europe's entirety. Depending on when in history, sometimes these ideals came from either France, Italy, or the Austrian Empire, etc. An interesting fact is that the music from England remained largely untouched to some extent, for it was isolated from the rest of Europe, making English classical music a bit different from all the rest, although not completely. 
The peoples of Europe derive from a series of tribes, all having their own "sound" if be it. This "sound", said very simply without explaination, transformed into folk music. The folk music of almost every European nation has been incorporated into its classical music. If you are familiar the folk music of a European nation, you will without a doubt also hear the same elements in the classical music. 
Take the Waltz for example.... It is believed, although this is still a debate, that it derived from the Austrian "Ländler" which was a typical dance on the coutryside that was raffeined and made into the waltz for the higher society. Béla Bartók, as well for example produced many works on account of the fact that he researched a lot of Hungarian folk music, yet this was never an uncommon practice.
To conclude, if you take a look at some of the classical music that is composed and performed in the Middle East or even in far-east Asia, you will no doubt be able to recognise elements of the various "outer-European" folk music, making them a prime example of how ethnicity can influence music.


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## indutrial (Nov 9, 2007)

I've been studying the works of contemporary American composer David Loeb, who actually spent many years researching Asian music and instruments. As a composer, it not only expanded his palette of instrumental knowledge, but also served to inform his approach to traditional settings such as the string quartet and to piano music. In my opinion, studying folk musics does a lot to enrich a composer's approach to composition. I was reading Leo Kraft's amazing book, _Gradus_ recently, and I love how he begins the book with a discussion of folk music's undeniable relationship to melody (probably the most elusive element of music when composing).


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