music and politics

Joonas Kokkonen began his life in a small town in the 1920s and went on to become one of Finland’s most celebrated and internationally most successful composers. Today, his music is rarely performed in concert.

"The fundamental problem of current music historiography, in Finland and elsewhere in the postcolonial civilised world, is that the preoccupation with evading all possible accusations of racism overwhelms historical investigations into how the present practices – historical narration included – are part and parcel of a political continuum where racist ideologies have been and continue to be amongst the most powerful ones."

The phenomena grouped under the soubriquet of Finnish folk music include transnational cultural phenomena on the one hand and strong regional traditions on the other, and not nearly all of these are defined by where Finland’s political borders happened to be at any particular time.

“The role of music in political campaigns adds up to much more than just rallying around the cause, or simply attracting attention. Music, in all different forms, is included in political parties’ and candidates’ image-building and communication agendas, which can be used in multiple ways to influence voters.” Researcher Sini Mononen takes a look at the use of music in political campaigns through everyday examples.

Jean Sibelius was a political person throughout his life, although this should be understood in the right way. He was never a member of any political party, nor did he participate in any such activities. He was politically active in a different way.

The 1930s was a time of nationalism, politics and ideology in Finnish music. Yet the period was one of such pluralism that no unified and unifying zeitgeist can be identified; instead, the parallel existence of various ideological and aesthetic trends caused even individuals to contradict themselves.

One of the biggest influences on the Finnish music of 1969-76 was the strong political song movement. In a few years the socio-critical cabaret song born in the back-street theatres became transformed into the music of the extreme Left. The political movement petered out as the seventies drew to a close, but its songs can still be heard.