"Va Pensiero", a political tune?
When "The Choir of Slaves" became the symbol of Italian unification.
What does it take to make an anthem? The anthem is a song or lyrical poem celebrating a person, a feeling, an event, a thing.
The rhythms and melodies of an anthem are most often catchy and follow a regular movement so that everyone, from the first note, can recognise and remember it. This is the specificity of the anthem: it remains in mind forever, like a prayer.
When you think of an anthem, you immediately think of that of your homeland and therefore indirectly of the whole story behind this music. Indeed, for music to be an anthem, it must also be shared, recognised and adopted by its community.
Thus, the Marseillaise, God Save the King or Fratelli d'Italia are all anthems recognised by the French, the British or the Italians. Played during national holidays or sporting events, anthems often celebrate the glory of the homeland and those who participated in its durability at key moments in History.
However, the anthem cannot be reduced to a national song. Here it is interesting to note that human communities use music as a means of gathering: a symbol around which a common imagination is formed.
Thus, the Ode to Joy from Beethoven's 9th Symphony is used as a European anthem. We see a new dimension of the anthem appears: this song can be composed for the purpose of being a hymn or already existing music can be adopted as a hymn.
In the case of a cover, the music is selected because its lyrics or the theme of its melody more or less perfectly express the values, ideas and symbols of a movement, community or nation.
As the human being, this great dreamer, loves symbols and enjoys building imaginaries around these symbols, he needs anthems.
In particular, the 19th century was an intense period for the composition of anthems, a trend related to the formation of new nation-states in Europe following the Revolutions of 1848.
Thus, the “Va Pensiero” tune from Giuseppe Verdi's opera Nabucco was made the anthem of Italian patriots. Some agree that Nabucco would find his inspiration directly in the insurrectionary movements of Italian patriots and that Verdi would be the figure.
But what is it really about? Has Verdi really composed this tune to erect it as the anthem of Italian patriots?
Or is it only the result of a historical reclamation that occurred long after the unification of Italy, at a time when the young nation needed a national narrative?
1815-1861: Il Risorgimento
Before entering into the analysis of Verdi's opera, it is necessary to locate his work in history.
Risorgimento appeared at the end of the 18th century on the Italian peninsula. It is popularised by Vittorio Alfieri, Italian playwright and poet.
From risorgere, "resurrect", it refers to the rebirth of a country that was fragmented into various territories, principalities, kingdoms and other duchies.
Indeed, with the defeat of Waterloo on June 18, 1815 and the fall of the Napoleonic Empire, the Italian peninsula was divided into several duchies at the end of the Congress of Vienna:
Lombardy and Veneto are given to the Austrian empire then under the Habsburg dynasty;
To the north, the House of Savoy recovers Piedmont, Nice, Savoy and Sardinia. The Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia serves as a buffer state between France and Austria;
The Pope returns to the Papal States;
In the south, the Bourbons with Ferdinand Ist of the Two Sicilies find their Kingdom of the Two Sicilies which extends from Naples to Palermo;
The duchies of Parma, Modena and Florence are ceded to Napoleon Bonaparte's wife and to the Habsburgs’.
This fragmentation of the Italian peninsula reinforces a deep bitterness towards foreign powers - in particular the Austrian Empire - which has been rising since 1796 and the domination of the area by Napoleonic troops.
From then on, a multifaceted movement will mobilise all the fringes of the population in different ways.
Italian intellectuals exalted by the ideas of the Enlightenment aspire to more freedoms and the unity of the country.
To avoid the censorship and absolutism of Italian princes, they meet within the framework of secret societies such as the Carbonari, created in Naples in 1807, and other salons to exchange ideas, in particular of the homeland and the Nation or to produce reflections on the place of Catholicism.
In particular, Milan and Florence became major cultural centres in the 19th century.
Far from being pacifists, the secret societies of the Carbonarist movement are at the origin of the first great wave of agitation against the established order. They want to liberalise and unite the country even if it means using force.
Thus in 1820, the first war of independence began with insurrection movements led by the Carbonari in the Kingdom of the Two Siciles with the objective of more freedoms and obtaining a Constitution.1
Naples is taken and King Ferdinand I is forced to pass a constitution. But the movement was immediately repressed by the Austrian troops who put Ferdinand I back in place and cancelled the Constitution.
Other insurrectional waves were born between 1821 and 1831 in Piedmont-Sardinia or in the Papal States and resulted in a failure: Austrian troops systematically repressed and restored order.
However, these 10 years of insurrections lead to a reflection on the way forward to bring the movement to succeed: we must manage to federate all the fringes of the population. Unification can only be done at the national level.
Then exiled in France, Giuseppe Mazzini, a carbonaro and Italian patriot, began an analysis of the failures of the riots in the duchies and proposed a new Italian patriotic current: in 1831, he organised a political movement called Giovine Italia inspired by socialism and based on youth.
According to Mazzini, the emancipation of peoples is a quasi-divine mission necessary for the progress of humanity. Thus, the Union of Italian States in a Republic must in particular go through the formation of consciences with newspapers, plays or operas such as those of Verdi and the insurrection.
But in the face of repeated failures, Mazzini is forced to go into exile again in England and the association is definitively dissolved by Mazzini, who founded, in his place, the Associazione Nazionale Italiana (Italian National Association).
In the 1840s, the movement was structured following thinkers such as Vincenzo Gioberti, Cesare Balbo or Massimo d'Azeglio who advocated the creation of a national union through a powerful confederation equipped with a formidable army capable of repelling Austria, the creation of a national identity through socio-economic reforms such as the unification of weights and measures or the implementation of municipal elections.
The project is gradually gaining the support of a growing share of the population.
In 1848, the country ignited and revolts were unleashed throughout the country in response to the events in France in February. In response, sovereigns grant Constitutions to ease tensions.
For example, in March 1848, Charles-Albert, King of Piedmont-Sardinia granted Il Statuto Fondamentale, a text that introduced a constitutional regime, a Senate and a Chamber of Deputies and noted the adoption of the tricolour flag.
Despite the maintenance of the Statuto Fondamentale, the Austrian army manages to calm the insurrections and restore order once again.
From then on, this strong repression fuelled an anti-Austrian sentiment throughout the peninsula and the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia became the refuge of the liberals who are beginning to think that a constitutional monarchy would be the best solution to unify the country.
Finally, the year 1860 marked a turning point in the unification of the peninsula. Camillo Cavour, director of the newspaper Il Risorgimento and Italian minister, urges the King of Piedmont-Sardinia Victor Emmanuel II to provoke Austria after signing an alliance treaty with Napoleon III in 1859 in order to trigger an armed conflict. The Second Italian War of Independence began in April 1859 and ended on July 12 with an armistice signed by Napoleon III.
The Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia recovers Lombardy but must in exchange cede Nice and Savoy as provided for in the alliance treaty.
Everything accelerated in the 1960s. Central Italy is rising and the territories are attached to the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, renamed Upper Italy. Between May and October 1860, the transalpine troops led by Guaribaldi embarked for Sicily: it was the Expedition of the 1000.
In the autumn of 1860, the entire peninsula except Rome and what remains of the Pontifical States belonged to the Kingdom of Upper Italy. On 17/03/1861, Victor Emmanuel II took the title of King of Italy and a liberal Constitution was adopted.
Finally, unification ended in 1870 after the abdication of Napoleon III and the withdrawal of French troops from Rome. In 1871, Rome was the new capital of the Kingdom and Victor Emmanuel II granted the Pope the law of guarantees that assured the Pope the inviolability of his person.
Verdi's Work, object of patriotic recovery
Giuseppe Verdi has long been considered the symbol of Italy's struggle for freedom and unity of the homeland with 28 operas composed.
However, many historians question this symbolism. Is it a retrospective construction? Or had Verdi indeed composed Nabucco and other of his operas for a purpose of patriotism?
Nabucco was composed in March 1842 and was given to La Scala in Milan the same year.
This opera relates the opposition between the Babylonians, led by their king Nabucco(donosor), and Hebrews, gathered around their priest Zaccaria.
It is a heroic tragedy since the protagonists are two lovers from both camps: Ishmael (son of the king of Israel) and Fenena (daughter of Nabucco), who converts to the Jewish faith for her lover, thus denying hers.
The opera also deals with freedom, living and loving, symbolised by the "Va pensiero" choir (Act III). The tragic politics takes precedence over love passion.
A great place is thus given to choirs, which allow the Italian public of the time to identify doubly with what is happening on stage.
The slave choir is a nostalgic complaint sung by the Hebrews expelled from Jerusalem and taken into captivity by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezar. "Va pensiero" becomes the symbol of the oppressed people demanding their freedom, and inscriptions "Viva Verdi" appear on the walls. Behind the enthusiasm for the composer's music, hides a demanding acronym: "Viva Victor-Emmanuel, King of Italy".
We could understand why the Italians would have identified themselves with the “Va Pensiero”. Not torn from their homeland, the centre of their world, like the Hebrew slaves, but occupied, alienated and divided, they want to unite against those who separate them.
This lyrical complaint corresponds exactly to the romanticism of the Italian intellectuals of the time: “Va Pensiero” can become the anthem of the heroes of the patriotic revolution.
« Va, pensée, sur tes ailes dorées, Va, pose-toi sur les versants, sur les collines, Où embaument, tièdes et douces, Les brises suaves de notre sol natal ! Salue les rives du Jourdain, Les tours abattues de Sion. Ô, ma patrie, si belle et perdue ! »
As Yvon Gérault points out, "Verdi was a liberal and a romantic. His political sensitivities appear through his operas and some letters that suggest that his liberalism is becoming more and more complex."
Moreover, La battaglia di Legnano composed in 1848 is Verdi's only explicitly patriotic opera. Composed in an insurrectional atmosphere due to "the Five Days of Milan" against the authority of the Austrian Empire, the Neapolitan Librettist, Cammarano, captures in La battaglia di Legnano the spirit and expectations of his time.
The original plot was transposed to Lombardy in 1176, when the Lombard League won a victory in Legnano over the troops of the "tedesco" emperor Frederick Barbarossa.
Cammarano was aware of the suggestive power of the chosen theme:
« E se arde in voi, quale in me, il desiderio di tratteggiare l’epoca più gloriosa delle storie italiane, riportiamoci a quella della Lega lombarda [...] Per Dio, che sì fatto argomento dovrà scuotere ogn’uomo che ha nel petto anima italiana ! »
Thus, in this opera, “Italy” is mentioned 30 times and Verdi's commitment seems blatant with ensembles, including the opening choir "Viva Italia" and the oath " Giuriam d'Italia por fine ai danni" (III,1), among others.
“From the opening choir, Viva Italia, to the aria of the 4th act, Morire per la patria, the whole opera is a cry of liberation.” — Yvon Gérault
However, we can doubt the explicitly patriotic intention of Verdi's operas.
The place of Verdi's work in the Risorgimento movements and in the rise of a national sentiment is not unanimous among historians.
Pierre Musitelli warns us against overinterpretation of the texts of Italian political operas:
« L’idée selon laquelle les premiers grands opéras de Verdi, de Nabucco (1842) à La bataille de Legnano (1849), auraient été, par leur force inspiratrice, des événements culturels déclencheurs du combat des Italiens pour leur indépendance a longtemps constitué un lieu commun de l’histoire politique de l’unification italienne, une sorte d’axiome dont les historiens et les musicologues ont tenté d’évaluer la consistance réelle ».
First of all, lexically, it is wrong to say that Verdi's opera speaks the language of the people.
"The language of the librettos has the high character of poetic language and tragic language thus remaining faithful to the Italian lyrical tradition." — Pierre Musitelli
Verdi's opera speaks to the people by other means: one of them is the choir. Verdi makes him embody a collective "character" capable of carrying the values of heroism, patriotic fervour and passionate and lyrical commitment.
In these choirs of the Risorgimento period a common motif appears: that of the exiles torn from their homeland.
The choice of distant eras or territories does not prevent the interpretation of their political relevance by Italian spectators, receptive to the implicit and subversive messages that operas could contain or suggest.
In short, we could detect reciprocal influences between Verdi's opera and the nationalist aspirations of Italian intellectuals of the mid-19th century.
Verdi was inspired by the immediate news that offered him the opportunity to choose inappropriate motifs and themes in other circumstances.
By taking height, we realise that Verdi's operas were born in an unprecedented socio-cultural context: European cultural centres are bubbling with liberal and nationalist ideas as the Revolutions of 1848 continues to expand.
Moreover, Nabucco was first widely presented and appreciated by the Parisian and London public before being taken up during the unification of Italy as part of the national narrative.
Finally, Verdi was able to become at the end of a process of cultural reappropriation the figure of the patriotic Italian composer during the Risorgimento without having been the spokesman for Italian patriotism.
With a disrupted political context, the motifs of Verdi's operas could be interpreted as patriotic by the public: spectators recognise themselves in Verdi's dramatic and romantic heroes.
Thus, it is at a time when the newly unified country needs a national narrative that it will seek from Verdi the anthem of Italian patriotism.
At the end of the 19th century, "Va Pensiero" also became the symbol of the proletarians' struggle against the owners. With the development of socialism in Italy, the metaphor of the oppressed people passes from the nation to the social class. Slaves are now the proletarians chained to work.
Nabucco - and Verdi - were then "recovered" by Italian nationalism in the years following the conquest of Tripolitania, which also correspond to the centenary of Verdi's birth in 1913. The composer's work becomes "a means of struggle in which the victorious genius of the race could assert itself triumphantly". It also accompanies the claims of irredent land, as in Trieste.
More recently, in 2011, in Rome, on the 150th anniversary of Italian Unification, Riccardo Muti interrupted a representation of Nabucco after "Va pensiero" to denounce Silvio Berlusconi's cultural policy and invited the public - who, for the most part, it seems, knew the words - to join the bis of the choir.
“En définitive, c’est bien la plasticité de l’œuvre qui l’a rendue lisible dans au moins cinq interprétations possibles : patriotique, libérale, socialiste mais aussi comme chant de l’exil voire, comme l’écrit l’auteur, « hymne universel à la résilience.” — Pierre Musitelli
What is a work of art?
Is music when used for an end still an art?
Let us move away for a moment from the context of the 19th century and Verdi's opera to consider music as a whole and in its relationship to the world.
Music is an art that consists of combining sounds and silences over time for... nothing. Indeed, it is not possible to say that music is produced for something.
Of course, you can produce music to feel good, to express your ideas or feelings. But to say that the music is there for... as it looks like the shovel is created to turn the ground does not make sense.
It is because it has no purpose and is self-sufficient that music is an art.
“Strictly speaking, works of art are not made for men, but for the world, which is destined to survive the limited life of mortals, the back and forth of generations. Not only are they not consumed or worn as objects of use: but they are deliberately excluded from the processes of consumption and use, and isolated far from the sphere of the necessities of human life.” — Hannah Arendt, The Crisis of Culture
Listening to music is not consuming it: it is enjoying it as an inexhaustible and shared resource.
Yet today, we want to be made to believe the opposite. You have to pay for all kinds of subscriptions to be able to consume ephemeral and identical albums.
Music is sometimes useful and necessary from a commercial point of view, as evidenced by the covers of songs used in advertisements and used by major brands in their marketing campaigns. Therefore, can we still talk about music?
If these rhythms and notes are useful and serve for an end, then we could say that they are only sounds and no longer music, no matter how pleasant they may be.
Finally, if Verdi composed Nabucco to make it the anthem of Italian patriotism, is Va Pensiero's tune still a work of art?
Otherwise, have the new symbols associated with this work since 1842 contributed to transforming it into something else?
Antoine
You can follow me and my new platform Herro:
As early as 1815, customs barriers were put back in place at the borders of each duchy, which strongly slowed down trade in the peninsula and favoured smuggling and banditry. Faced with an increase in border insecurity, large landowners join the Carbonari to create armed militias and thus protect the movement of goods.