Description
Folk songs and dances have always been a source of inspiration for art music, which has thus remained in touch with the collective soul. But the desire of composers to strive for a universal musical language has greatly softened the characteristics of the ethnic material used. This phenomenon was particularly marked in Europe. During the 18th century, an artistic trend emerged that emphasised charm, colour and exoticism. Composers did not hesitate to draw inspiration from foreign folklore to give their works a picturesque flavour, as for example in the Rondo alla Turca of the Piano Sonata in A major by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. On the political front, however, there was a gradual rise in nationalist trends. Every country and every ethnic group dreams of having its own music in order to differentiate itself from its neighbours. This impulse often reflects a need for emancipation among oppressed peoples. The rules of classical music, which until then had been very standardised, had to be adapted to the characteristics of popular melodies and rhythms, whether tonal, modal, metrical or formal. While the emergence of popular inspiration can be related to a change in society, it also allows the listener to be reached more immediately. Moreover, it also gives composers who are sometimes far from their homeland the opportunity to remain in touch with their roots, as we shall see with Alberto Ginastera.
