or Four short (hi)stories of a 19th century Greek-European musical interaction, and the cultural outcomes thereof. A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Artemis Ignatidou College of Business, Arts and Social Sciences Brunel University London 2017 2 Abstract The thesis investigates the impact of western art music (‘classical’) upon the construction of Greek-European identity in the 19th century. Through the examination of institutions such as the Theatre of Athens that hosted the Italian opera for the better part of the 19th century, the Conservatory of Athens (1873), the Conservatory of Thessaloniki (1914), various 19th century literary societies, press content, scores, publications on music, and state regulations on education, the thesis utilizes both musical, as well as extra-musical material to construct a cultural and social history of Greece’s understanding of the ‘European’ in relation to local Greek society through music between 1840 and 1914. At the same time, it highlights the importance of transnational institutional and interpersonal musical networks between Greece and Europe (mainly England, France, and Germany), to demonstrate how political and aesthetic preferences influenced long-term policy, cultural practice, and musical tradition. While examining the 19th century diplomatic, political, and cultural practices of the expanding 19th century Greek Kingdom, the thesis traces the development of western musical taste and practice in Balkan Greece in relation to the local modernizing society. It highlights the importance of local and European artistic agents and networks, identifies the tension between the projection of European identity and raw acoustic divergence, argues for about the contribution of music to the construction of Greek-European identity, and examines the cultural and political negotiations about the conflicting relationship between Byzantine-Hellenic-European-Modern Greek, as expressed through music and debates on music. The last part of the thesis assembles the 19th century material to explain the relationship between nationalism and musical practice at the turn of the 20th century, and as such the long-term influence of western art music upon the construction of Greek-European national identity. 3 Table of Contents Abstract.................................................................................................................................2 Acknowledgements ..........................................................................................................4 Introduction........................................................................................................................5 Methodological approach and literature review ..........................................................15 0. Constructing a Motherland..................................................................................... 41 Oriental Hellenes, Orientalist Hellenists .........................................................................41 Constructing Greece from the outside: Enlightenment 2.0........................................43 Conspicuous yet Absent: Orientalism, ruins, clouds of smoke, and the picturesque ................................................................................................................................51 Rediscovering a past...............................................................................................................62 Twists and turns in the politics of the Greek Kingdom, 1832-1914 .......................66 First Story: Music and Theatre in the Theatre...................................................... 81 The Italian opera, the Greek theatre, and a King snoring in his box ......................90 “The Police Officer is the appointed Judge”: Misbehaviour, cultural practice, and a new code of public civic morality................................................................................. 114 Second Story: Music education in 19th century Greece....................................127 ‘Natural’ Architectural Inclinations: mid- 19th century Greek institutions for the arts and crafts. ....................................................................................................................... 128 “To Govern the Nation through Grammar”: Public and Music education in 19th century Greece....................................................................................................................... 140 From ethnic musical idiom to national musical output: western art music in the Ionian Islands......................................................................................................................... 150 The Conservatory of Athens .............................................................................................. 166 Third Story: Turning the century (upside down)..............................................177 Literary Literal Transliterations: Objects and concepts of late 19th century musical nationalism............................................................................................................. 177 The Enemy Within: cultural polyphony in a strictly monophonic tradition..... 186 The debate in the Capital: Whoever loves the Nation must also love its music191 Europe in the Debate in the Capital: “Α music, my friend, for the cats and the dead”.......................................................................................................................................... 202 “Senza lode e senza infamia”: an epilogue to an exhibition, an epilogue to a debate. ..................................................................................................................................... 217 Fourth Story: Music in Nationalism........................................................................222 The man who grew to be an Institution......................................................................... 239 When politics makes music ............................................................................................... 260 Conclusion.......................................................................................................................272 Appendix .........................................................................................................................283 Bibliography...................................................................................................................286 4 Acknowledgements To the two women who fixed my historical eyesight and taught me intellectual freedom this thesis belongs, my Dr. Swenson and Dr. Carrol. Part of it also belongs to Dr. Pietsch, who was here only for a minute after I arrived. To my dear friends, my gratitude for all the handholding, ideas, long nights, sausage- and-bacon mornings, perspectives, experiments, and excruciatingly bad jokes. Andriana Minou, Nikos Stavlas, Stella Parlavantza, Kristin Sofroniou, Danai Bletsa, Alex Ioannou, Danai Pappa, Sofia Papakostaki, Maria Xypaki, and Batman life would have been normal without you. Life would have been much different without the beautiful Marmaras group of dreamers as well so, Lola Totsiou, Theophilos Lambrianidis, and Panos Gklistis, please keep the crazy going. To the rest of my patient companions, Tavinder Mangat, Josie Daw, Julia Way, Jonathan Lake, and my housemate in Athens, Ioanna Galaterou, my unlimited gratitude for their support, care, advice, walks and talks, and ice creams. To two institutions a long salute and a big thank you: Firstly, the extraordinary Banff Centre in Canada, for one of the most special intellectual-musical experiences in my life. Also, for introducing me to the likes of Anyssa Neumann, Ernesto Schmidt, Camilo Sanchez-Mendez and Jenny Khafagi and their ways. Secondly, my second home for the past four years, the British Library (seat 253), and its smiley, friendly staff. Many people cannot fathom why I experience withdrawal symptoms regularly. Last but foremost, this goes to this family of mine: Margarita, George, and Aristotelis who, in all possible ways, contributed to what I am today. 5 Introduction In 1901 madness befell the city of Athens: people suddenly went mute and, in night entertainment, they would jump on their feet, mouth shut, dance a little bit and sit back down. Whatever happened to song? “Yes! Without Song! But still, song is the only demonstration of gaiety. This purported entertainment without song is truly a monstrous thing.”1 This plague of songless night entertainment was the outcome of European musical influence upon Greece, the newspaper Kerē [Times] explained. In European dances people twirled fast around the room in mixed couples, and with all the sweat and effort, instrumental music was the only option. So why were the Greeks, whose tradition was one of cyclical dance and song, emulating this behaviour and spent their nights “sitting hunched until midnight, when they had a little tea and then [took] a round of European dance without singing?”2 The newspaper was raising an issue reflecting the anxiety of part of society for the alteration of intimate Greek cultural characteristics, here dance and song, and their replacement by alien traditions, twirls and tea. Throughout the 19th century there was a widespread belief in Greece that something was off with the nation’s music. For some it was a matter of form, for others a matter of history. But for most participants in the art and the discussions about the art, it was the awareness of a musical displacement