styriarte 2010: Homeland, thou art

When a nation celebrates itself as “blessed with beauty” in its national anthem, there must be a particularly special relationship between the people and art. At least art, or beauty, is considered to be of national importance. Paula von Preradović wrote the text of the Austrian national anthem at a time when, after the end of the Nazi reign, the first glimmers of hope were appearing from among the material and emotional destruction. At a time when the horror of nationalism and other isms could still be palpably felt, she defined Austria through its seemingly worry-free unique attributes: nature, “Land of mountains”, and as a society of artists, not only in Austrian opinion, but also from an outside perspective: “Much-praised Austria”.

The styriarte 2010 takes up this idea and asks, using a phrase from Paula von Preradović’s text, about the nation of Austria and why it is characterised by her central art form: music. The search for Austria in music leads far back to a time which didn’t yet know anything of nations, but of families who saw their territory as a god-given possession. It is surprising how very much art in the Middle Ages could determine the status of a court, and how strongly even the first Austrian ruling families, the Babenbergs, could increase their fame through court musicians. Walther von der Vogelweide is perhaps the first in a long row of court composers who lead the 2010 styriarte audience through centuries. From the Babenbergs to the Habsburgs, who, like Emperor Frederick III, had their sovereign’s motto set to music, who, like Ferdinand III or Leopold I, composed themselves or, like Joseph II, gathered the most brilliant composers of the world in their court. Among all this, a young Styrian farmer boy climbs to the illustrious ranks of the Viennese court composers: Johann Joseph Fux, whose 350th birthday is celebrated in 2010 and to whom the styriarte will be paying particular attention this year.

Not only the rise, but also the decline of the Habsburg monarchy can be told through music: it truly was the dawning nationalism which in the end destroyed the empire from inside, tightly linked to regional identity, which also speaks through music. Czechs and Hungarians, Croats and Slovenes established themselves as a nation first of all through art, before they established actual political autonomy. Smetana’s “Má vlast” plays a prominent role but the roots of Austria’s national musicians reach wider and further back into the folk music of the different societies which gathered in the empire. Of course, there are the citizens of Austria, who find their identity in music, who dance away the Metternich Era in the Viennese waltz or develop the own needy self through Schubert’s songs. From all this develops the diverse, colourful picture of Austria that nationalism fought so hard to prevent in the past.

Exclusion, foreignness and segregation are the downside of the discovery of the nation. A veritable cultural war ensues, also staged in the field of music, over who can belong to the nation and who not. The styriarte also tells these stories because homeland has, like everywhere else, changed considerably in Austria and continues to do so today. People from all walks of life have found a new homeland here and have brought their culture with them, just like the great Graz composer Robert Stolz. Stolz emigrated to the USA, where he began a series of Viennese waltz concerts in the middle of the war. When asked why he had programmed something like that in the midst of such terror, he answered that the Nazis shouldn’t simply be given Austrian music and that the songs needed to be played in order to show that the extent of the human potential which lies within them, and that this has to be protected. Paula von Preradović's lyrics for the Austrian national anthem profess the Austrian people to be gifted with beauty. This wasn't meant as self-praise but rather an entreaty, a sincere hope that art and music would be able to reach their full potential here as a medium of human benevolence. This is the home of the styriarte 2010. This home resounds. It lies in imaginations; you cannot simply sit back and relax in it – it must be constantly reworked.