One of the best ways to recommend a piece of art is to highlight that it was banned by a government—especially a fascist or authoritarian one. In its purest form, art aims to transform us: our outlook, our habits, our loyalties. For a government to see a work as so powerful that it threatens their ability to govern is one of the highest compliments they could give. Today on Classical Considerations, we’re exploring classical music that has, at some point, been banned by the society in which it was created. By doing so, we not only showcase some truly great music but also gain insight into what some of history’s most repressive governments found threatening in classical music—its power to unite, challenge the status quo, and tell evocative stories.

1. Ligeti’s Six Bagatelles for Woodwind Quintet

Gyorgy Ligeti was a Hungarian-Austrian composer who spent his early professional life in Hungary while it was under the control of the Soviet Union.¹ A talented composer, Ligeti often dabbled in the avant-garde and his pieces sound distinctly modern even by today’s standards.² Unfortunately for him, this instinct to challenge his listeners ran in direct opposition to the Soviet doctrine of “Socialist Realism.” Among other requirements, Socialist Realism demanded that art be “relevant and coherent to workers” and “typical, in that it must be representative of everyday life”.³ It is unclear which aspect of Socialist Realism Ligeti violated with the final movement of his “Six Bagatelles for Woodwind Quintet,” but the movement was never approved for play in Hungary due to being considered either “too dangerous” or “too dissonant.”⁴

2. Alberto Ginastera’s Bomarzo

While the inner workings of the Soviet censorship board may remain forever obscure, the same is not true of the next censorious government on our list. Argentine dictator Juan Carlos Ongania ruled Argentina from 1966-1970 and made no secret of his extremely sexually puritanical attitudes towards what music he would allow to be performed.⁵ He’s recorded as saying, after storming out of a performance of The Rite of Spring, “today [my family] had to go to confession.”⁶ This was particularly bad news for Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera whose opera Bomarzo was hailed as “the first important opera ever composed by an Argentine.”⁷ Bomarzo deals with the life and death of Duke Orsini and his marriage to the beautiful Julia Farnese who, he suspects, is in love with his brother.⁸ Initially it appeared that Ongania would allow the opera to have its premiere in Buenos Aires but, months beforehand, he withdrew permission declaring it “obsessed with sex” and Bomarzo was forced to premiere in the United States instead.¹⁰

3. Jean Sibelius’ Finlandia

At the tail end of the 19th century, Finland was under the control of the Russian Empire. While censorship under the Russian Empire was not as ideologically specific as it would be under its successor, Finnish nationalism was widely curtailed by Russian oversight.¹¹ It was because of this censorship that Jean Sibelius‘ piece Finlandia had to be performed under a variety of names including “Happy Feelings at the Awakening of Finnish Spring,” and “A Scandinavian Choral March.”¹² Performances did occur in Russian-controlled Finland, but those performances had to be labeled as “impromptu” to avoid the suggestion that Finnish nationalism was being fomented.¹³ The piece itself is a tone poem full of the rousing and turbulent melodies typical of deeply nationalistic pieces. The final, and most popular, section is taken up with the Finlandia Hymn, a serene melody which to this day remains a popular candidate for the Finnish national anthem.

4. Paul Hindemith’s Mathis der Maler

Lest you thought we’d make it through an article about artistic repression without discussing Nazi Germany, allow us to present the case of Mathis der Maler (Matthias the Painter). The story of Paul Hindemith‘s opera concerns the eponymous 16th-century painter’s struggle against cultural and religious censorship. A plight that was unfortunately mirrored by Hindemith himself who found himself the victim of Hitler’s censorship committees when the opera reached completion in 1935.¹⁴ The opera did eventually make it to the stage in Zurich in 1939 when Hindemith was able to successfully emigrate to Switzerland.¹⁵

5. Rimsky-Korsakov’s The Golden Cockerel

The final and strangest of all the entries on this list comes to us courtesy of tsarist Russia. In his final years, struggling with the illness that would eventually kill him, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov took on the task of writing an opera based on Pushkin’s poem, The Tale of the Golden Cockerel.¹⁶ What he created is a curiously modern piece that fuses science fiction, fantasy, and Russian folklore to tell the story of a Tsar that manages to destroy his lineage and himself out of deference to a fortune-telling bird. Though the opera was completed in 1907, Rimsky-Korsakov spent the remaining year of his life in an editorial battle with the Moscow Governor-General.¹⁷ The Tsarist governor insisted that the opera was too critical of the regime to be shown in the homeland and repeatedly sent the libretto back to Rimsky-Korsakov riddled with changes.¹⁸ The unedited Golden Cockerel did, eventually, premiere at Moscow’s Solodovnikov Theatre but not until 1909 after the composer had tragically passed away.¹⁹

We hope these pieces serve to remind you of the enduring power of music to challenge authority, inspire resistance, and transcend oppressive regimes. As we reflect on these banned compositions, let’s appreciate not only their artistry but also the courage of the composers who dared to create even when it may have been dangerous.  Join us in keeping this spirit alive by sharing these stories and listening to the music that once shook the foundations of power.

-Matthew Young

Many of the composers referenced above, including György Ligeti, Alberto Ginastera, and Jean Sibelius, are featured this fall on TheClassicalStation.org. Please take a look at our Fall 2024 Highlights to see when to tune in, or request a piece directly via one of our Request Programs!

1. Gyorgy Ligeti’s early life: Soviet control of Hungary. ↩ Back
2. Ligeti’s avant-garde musical style. ↩ Back
3. Requirements of Socialist Realism in Soviet art. ↩ Back
4. Banning of Ligeti’s final movement of “Six Bagatelles for Woodwind Quintet.” ↩ Back
5. Juan Carlos Ongania’s puritanical views on music. ↩ Back
6. Ongania’s reaction to The Rite of Spring performance. ↩ Back
7. “Bomarzo” as the first important Argentine opera. ↩ Back
8. Plot of Bomarzo involving Duke Orsini and Julia Farnese. ↩ Back
9. Banning of “Bomarzo” in Argentina and forced premiere in the United States. ↩ Back
10. Russian Empire’s censorship of Finnish nationalism. ↩ Back
11. Alternate names for Sibelius’ “Finlandia.” ↩ Back
12. Impromptu performances of “Finlandia” to avoid censorship. ↩ Back
13. Nazi Germany’s censorship of Hindemith’s “Mathis der Maler.” ↩ Back
14. Premiere of “Mathis der Maler” in Zurich after Hindemith’s emigration. ↩ Back
15. Rimsky-Korsakov’s creation of “The Golden Cockerel.” ↩ Back
16. Editorial battle between Rimsky-Korsakov and the Moscow Governor-General. ↩ Back
17. Censorship concerns regarding “The Golden Cockerel.” ↩ Back
18. Premiere of “The Golden Cockerel” in 1909 after Rimsky-Korsakov’s death. ↩ Back