Trumpism

Matthias von Orelli - It all began with the memorable refusals of numerous music stars who had been asked to provide the musical backdrop to the inauguration. This clearly showed that Donald Trump's policies and culture are hardly compatible. In the meantime, the new US president has also threatened to make drastic cuts to cultural funding, in particular by threatening to abolish the two government funding institutions for culture, the NEA (National Endowment for the Arts, founded by Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965) and the NEH (National Endowment for the Humanities). Numerous Republican politicians in the Senate have also made it clear that they do not believe in state cultural funding. They want to leave the arts to the market, organize them privately or, ideally, abolish them altogether. Moreover, it is no coincidence that the austerity plan is closely aligned with a budget proposal from the arch-conservative Heritage Foundation, the same foundation that has been calling for the abolition of the NEA for years. The attack on the two organizations is emblematic of the new anti-liberal climate in the US. The fact that the ideology of one state is also reflected in cultural funding in other European countries is alarming.

Donald Trump enforces his taste in art as rigidly as the presidents of Poland and Turkey or the prime minister of Hungary. Only "edifying" art that serves the government's nationalistic self-image is promoted. The US Republicans have a similarly limited understanding of art. For decades, they have been waging a bitter war against the arts, which are considered liberal and immoral in their circles. Reason enough for three voices from the Swiss music academies to express themselves on the subject of "Trump - music culture".

Sara Horvath - The land of opportunity has a president who does not respect borders. He wants to build a wall along the country's border.

The United States of America, the place to be: In the last century, the USA was a place of refuge and a new home for many Europeans, a chance to live and think in freedom. In recent decades, America has often taken on global political responsibility, far beyond its own national borders, and we Europeans have eyed this with suspicion, perhaps demonstrating against it - but secretly we were glad that there was still a big brother who could help when things got dicey. In recent years, for many of my peers, this same America was also the country where dreams were more tangible, more real than here at home. La La Land sends its regards. It is quite possible that some of this is a thing of the past for the time being. Some Americans seem to be fed up with taking care of everyone but themselves. Too many of their men have been stationed somewhere in the world and when they came back they were stripped of their humanity. Too many foreigners came and were able to fulfill their dreams while their own people came up short. And then comes Trump.

This person irritates me. I would like to get past him, ignore him. Stunned, a friend stared at the election results on November 8 and asked me in horror whether I had noticed. I had. Although I stayed out of this American circus, which I neither really understood nor took seriously. But I wasn't surprised by the result. If we Swiss can produce voting results that nobody seemed to want and nobody could have predicted - why shouldn't the Americans be able to do the same? Can and may? That's the way democracy works. The majority is right. In a sense, Donald Trump may be an extremely American president. His presidential communication via Twitter is reminiscent of the pioneering spirit of the first European immigrants, to name just one example of his unconventional attitude. And since America has never been organized as a monarchy, it is also fitting that he does not appear too statesmanlike. I would like to go into a little more detail on another aspect that seems to me to be American.

The Russian composer Nikolai K. Medtner was on a concert tour in America around 1920. He was "depressed by the business-like, sober everyday life in which neither poetry nor spiritual values have a place." He had the impression that "Americans were afraid of the Night and its mysterious spirits (Tyutchev), because when it gets dark, they switch on millions and millions of electric light bulbs to avoid encountering the mysterious and to preserve the shiny surface even at night. "1

Whether there really is no room for poetry or spiritual values in the land of opportunity remains to be seen. But I can also see the shiny surface on Trump's face. Preened and blow-dried, a man stands at the microphone who looks much younger than he really is. A man who has a questionable way of dealing with facts, who is more concerned with the shiny surface than with what is true or has happened. A politician who seems to be more familiar with show business than current world events. "The world has not lost its mind, but its heart!" This sentence also comes from Medtner's correspondence and seems more relevant today than ever. After all, who takes time for matters of the heart these days?

The time in which Donald Trump is elected the most powerful man in the world is a time in which more always better means. A time that is looking for quick profits and shiny surfaces. A time that does not want to engage in lengthy searches or laborious processes. We musicians are also children of this time. We can learn from Donald Trump by looking at him, recognizing the signs of the times and not contenting ourselves with shiny surfaces, but instead confronting the darkness within us and around us. Without electric light bulbs. In this way, we might also find our lost heart again.

James Alexander - When asked to contribute a column to this journal, I reminded the editor that I'm not American (I have Canadian and Swiss citizenship). However, since Canada and the US share the longest undefended border in the world - at least at the time of my writing these lines - the economic and social life of Canada have always been heavily influenced by its powerful neighbor to the south. In this regard, I was impressed by recent statements from Canada's Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, defending the open and humanitarian values on which Canadian society is based and until recently, the US was always proud to proclaim as well. So, as a Canadian who studied in Santa Barbara, Chicago and New York I'll add a few thoughts here, albeit from a Swiss perspective!

In the short time since Donald J. Trump took office (I am relieved to learn that the "J" stands for John, and not James), the world has lost no time in responding, for the most part critically, to his actions as President. As shocking as his election is to me personally, he nevertheless was elected democratically: what I find more disturbing is to consider why America chose him, and to ask in what direction our society as a whole is heading. After all, one doesn't need to look very far from home: why did no-one predict Brexit, and why was a beautiful young British politician, wife and mother murdered for her belief in a tolerant and integrated society? What is happening in Hungary, and what will happen in Holland and France? Politics aside, these European countries also share a rich culture and long tradition of "classical" music. To take a horribly cynical view, one could argue that there is little to fear from the effects of a Trump presidency upon musical life, since I assume that the names of many important performers and composers are probably unknown to him: unlike Mexicans or Muslims, how can he block or ban people he's never heard of?

If we continue in this light, what, if anything, can artists/musicians do in the current political climate, and what should we as a community be saying to the societies in which we live and work? To stand in front of the American embassy in Berne or even the White House in Washington with angry posters probably wouldn't attract much attention, even if one is a star: look at Trump's sad denouncement of Meryl Streep, one of the greatest actresses of our time. Many of us teach, as well as perform, and to teach music is in my opinion directly related to teaching human values. To excel as a chamber musician, it is essential to learn to listen to your partners, respect other points of view, and to speak with a unified voice. Without this, the result is empty noise - as in politics. The qualities that make a great work of art or a strong society are universal. Listening recently to a moving performance of Bach reminded me that sooner or later (and I suspect the former) Trump will be gone, but Bach is here to stay.

Ranko Marković - So now Donald Trump has also made it into the Swiss music newspaper... While nmz-Online has already published 14 articles mentioning Trump since the beginning of the year alone, we at the ZHdK have given it little thought so far. How could Trump affect the music if there is no indication that he himself could be affected by the music? Nowhere has it been mentioned that the 45th US president has played the saxophone, piano or guitar, sung Beethoven's Ninth in a choir or sung karaoke on a company outing. His language is vulgar, his diction choppy, his voice hoarse - Trump sounds and the only possible reason for this - as every good teacher knows - is the lack of qualified music lessons as part of their education.

So it's no wonder that Donald the president has a very bad image among musicians, actresses and actors: Elton John refused to sing at Trump's swearing-in ceremony, DJ Moby is not bookable for the business tycoon and amateur politician and Robert de Niro wants to "punch him in the face". A musical campaign is running until the end of April at ourfirst100days.us, in the course of which dedicated singers are launching a new anti-Trump song every day. Angel Osten opened the series, followed by Mitski and other artists from the alternative scene. Not forgetting Meryl Streep, who found sensitive and articulate words to criticize Trump's inhumane behaviour at the Golden Globe Awards. Without having tested the man personally, I refer to my many years of experience in music education and claim that Donald Trump is unmusical. Last but not least, I derive the proof for this assertion from the application of a verse written by Johann Gottfried Seume in 1804, which reads:

Where people sing, settle down quietly,

Without fear of what is believed in the country;

Where one sings, no man is robbed;

Villains have no songs.

Quod erat demonstrandum.

So now the villain Trump has not only made it into the White House, but even into the Swiss music paper. In Vienna they would say: "The world will never stand still...". But that's all half as bad: a trained Austrian (like the Austrian woman) knows that the end of the world is a temporary phenomenon. By the time the ZHdK has agreed on a comprehensively reasoned position on Trump and by the time classical musicians have become aware of their social responsibility, the man may no longer be president. Or he has sing learned. My repertoire suggestion for his farewell would be an old Viennese song, which was probably composed in 1679 by the balladeer, bagpiper and impromptu poet Markus Augustin:

Oh, dear Augustine, Augustine, Augustine,

Oh, dear Augustin, everything is gone.

Grade

1 From Daniel Shitomirski: "About Nikolai Medtner and his music", in: Introduction to the piano music of Nikolai Medtner. Berlin, Verlag Ernst Kuhn, p.8.

Sara Horvath

... is a student at the Bern University of the Arts, majoring in classical piano with Tomasz Herbut and collaborative piano with James Alexander.

James Alexander

... is a lecturer in chamber music at the Haute Ecole de Musique de Genève.

Ranko Marković

... has been Head of the BA Classical Music program and Head of International Relations Music at the ZHdK since 2014.