Philip Bohlman breaks down music to better understand our world
How can music help us better understand the world, societies and nations? Philip Bohlman is a very special researcher: he is an “ethnomusicologist”. The 70-year-old American was awarded at the end of November by the scientific community with the very prestigious Balzan prize, which annually rewards researchers for the richness and quality of their work. This is the first time in nearly 40 years that an ethnomusicologist has been honored in the latter humanities category. What is this often misunderstood discipline all about, and who is award-winning teacher Philip Bohlman?
Wisconsin, piano and popular songs
To find out, go to Rome, where the Balzan prize was awarded. We meet the professor in the middle of the encyclopedias covering the walls of the Lynceans Academy, the oldest scientific academy in Europe. Round face, bright eyes, though a little tired from jet lag. A professor arrives from Chicago to receive an award honoring a life dedicated to music: “I spent my entire childhood in a farming village in Wisconsin” he tells us. “A very small village of about 2,000 inhabitants. And in this village I was the official musician: I played the piano in the churches.”
Then Philip Bohlman studied genetics in Chicago. A diploma in piano, as well as a course in popular songs, will lead him to ethnomusicology. “What was in vogue at that time were studies of Beethoven, the great composershe observes whereas I wanted to learn the music of the farmers. And my teacher, the great musicologist Bruno Nettle, told me, “This is ethnomusicology.” Regardless of the person or their origin, all music can help us understand the world.”
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Divisions of nations
Ethnomusicology is a science that studies the musical behavior of societies and people. Philip Bolman travels a lot: to Israel, India, Eastern Europe… Then he analyzes the relationship between music and nationalism, which combined to write the history of the 20th and then the 19th century: “For example, when the communist states of Eastern Europe declared themselves as nations in the late 1980s, they promoted music that identified them as separate states, not as members of the former Soviet bloc: Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania…”
Philip Bohlman also emphasizes how musical instruments contribute to the identity of Nations: “We can cite the example of the harp for Ireland, the modern harp for France… In Ukraine, the instrument called bandoura is a specifically Ukrainian instrument and is played by Ukrainians all over the world.” Unfortunately relevant to the occupation of Ukraine, he emphasizes that music plays an important role because it narrates both the resistance and the pride and sovereignty of the Ukrainian people.
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Music is sometimes misdirected by Nations as well. Philip Bohlmann cites the German national anthem as an example: “It was actually a famous Croatian song. Joseph Haydn took it, set it to a piece for string quartet. Then it became the anthem of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Hungary and finally the national anthem of Germany in the 1920s and 1930s, promoting the idea of German superiority over all other nations. was used for disastrous purposes during the Nazi era.
Welcome to his cabaret
A researcher, but not only. Philip’s eyes light up when he tells us about Bohlman’s other activities: “I’m also a cabaret artist! I lead a troupe called the New Budapest Orpheus Society. Our style: Jewish cabaret. It’s music criticizing society at a time when Jews couldn’t fit in. Anti-Semitism, that was their way of resistance.” With a custom search field: “My current research focuses on cabarets in concentration camps. It may surprise you, but there were a lot of them. We can cite the cabaret composer Léo Strauss, he is a great example.”
Unleash the music of the past and talk about the music of today, lighting the future. A secure future for ethnomusicology: the amount of the Balzan prize – 770,000 euros, is again invested in an innovative research project carried out by young researchers under the direction of the winner. “I think it’s one of our great privileges as Balzan Prize laureates. To use this prize to work with and help future ethnomusicologists.”
