Politics in Classical Music

Classical music and politics have never been easy bedfellows.
Composers and performers throughout history have relied on
patronage and support from wealthy sources in order to keep their
dreams afloat, and so unlike many other forms of music, classical
music often has the reputation of being a politics-free zone. But
the truth is that there is a whole repertoire of classical music
that is infused with politics, and not just music from the 20th
and 21st centuries. Today, with the American election looming
just around the corner, we'll explore a series of pieces that all
had political messages, the stories behind them, the motivations
of the composers who wrote these pieces, and of course, the music
itself. We'll be covering music by Haydn, Smyth, Shostakovich,
Verdi, Adams, and much more today - join us!