Singing the Nation into Being: Teaching Identity and Culture at the Turn of the Twentieth Century

Although music has long had a place in the school, its position has often been precarious, relegated to odd hours and odd locations, and starved of both funds and attention. While at times music and the arts have enjoyed considerable support, these subjects are often the last ones added and the first ones cut from the curriculum. Yet, the arts have passionate advocates as well, including parents and pedagogues who support a holistic model of education that emphasizes humanistic values and aesthetics as well as utilitarian training. Still, music educators have struggled to justify their subject, often relying on extrinsic arguments to support its inclusion in the curriculum. Music, one is told, helps students raise their reading and math scores, improves their self-discipline, and builds community. Such arguments are rarely persuasive to voters concerned with eliminating expensive “frills” or to officials trying to balance tight budgets and raise test scores. Local newspapers bear witness to this struggle, as music and art programs fight to stay alive in American schools. This story, so potent today, has a long history. It dates back to the nineteenth century and the very birth of school music programs. It crosses continents, having as much currency in Europe as it does in North America. Debates over music in the schools are nothing less than debates over the meaning and purpose of education. Music is not one of the “three ‘R's.” Yet, precisely because of music's peripheral