EMU Luxembourg 2015
Heritage
Slide 1, title : ‘Heritage’ with image
Heritage in material and immaterial sense is a loaded concept. It can represent a
treasure chest or a poisoned gift. One can inherit wealth and talent, poverty and
diseases, slavery, secrets and tabous - or an invincible spirit of liberty. Families, states
and dynasties have prospered and undergone in wars around heritages. Collective
heritage too heavy to carry has given birth to revolutions – which may turn overtime
into new afflictions . The wheel of history is turning …. and I am wondering what is my
part and responsibility in this eternal movement ?
Slide 2, quote
« There is nothing new under the sun : that’s what you wrote, Ecclesiastes. But you
yourself were born new under the sun »
Wislawa Szymborska, Polish poet, Nobel-prize winner (1996)
When facing the big questions, we definitely need poets – and music.
Slide 3, UNESCO map http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/
To place the concept ‘heritage’ in a more concrete context, let us look at the World
Heritage List of UNESCO. To be included on the list, sites must be of « outstanding
universal value » and correspond to a certain amount of conditions. There are 1007
properties in 161 states in the world. The yellow ones are cultural sites (779), the green
ones natural sites (197), the yellow and green ones are mixed (31).There are 46 sites in
danger, marked in red.
Let me name just a few sites : Historic Centre of Prague, Monuments of Ravenna,
Zollverein Coal Mine and Industrial complex in Essen, City of Luxembourg, its old
quarter and fortifications, Kvarken archipelago between Finland and Sweden, City of
Budapest, La Grande Place in Brussels. All these sites happen to be connected to EMU
events.
A counterpart to World Heritage is UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) focusing
mainly on non touchable aspects of living cultural heritage like oral traditions, music,
dance, drama, skills, crafts, cuisine, rituals, festive events etc. On the ICH list there are
more than 300 properties, less in Europe than on other continents out of which Asia
predominates. The intangible cultural heritage is transmitted from generation to
generation and is constantly recreated by communities and groups, in response to their
environment, their interaction with nature, and their history. It provides people with a
sense of identity and continuity, and promotes respect for cultural diversity and human
creativity. On this list we find for instance the dancing or hopping procession of
Echternacht in Luxembourg, the Viennese coffee house culture, the human towers in
Catalonia, the violin craftsmanship in Cremona and the song and dance celebrations in
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. About a year ago in Bulgaria, I had the exceptional chance
to meet and hear a female vocal ensemble which figures on the list since 2005 : the
‘Bistrishki Babi’. Please, listen to these voices from the past singing in the present time.
1
Slide 3, video ‘Bistrishki Babi’ :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBCVn_GdklI
The village of Bistrichki is situated in the mountains, about 10 km from Sofia. This
Shoplouk area has maintained and nurtured an antique form of polyphonic singing that
was once common in Europe, from Corsica to Georgia. Today you can still find traces of
it in countries like Italy, Spain and Morocco, but usually in the form of male singing.
Bistrishki singing tradition is an exclusively oral tradition and nothing is annotated
down on paper. The entire musical repertory stays inside the head of its protagonists.
The informal singing groups go back some centuries, but the group in its present form
was formalised in early twentieth century. Now it has persons of third and fourth
generation in it. The village women start being inducted in singing groups at a young
age. In order to learn the ancient polyphonic singing it is better that they have no formal
musical training. The vital tradition continues, with strong interest from younger
generation in maintaining it. This is a living example of safeguarding cultural heritage by
means of non formal and informal education – and I can assure you that it has a mighty
powerful and inspiring impact when experienced in real time. Young artists of today use
this inspiration and vocal technique, for instance Elitsa Todorova and Stoyan
Yankoulov :
Slide 4 : Video « Water » :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPISaq047x4
To ensure the protection of the cultural heritage at world level, UNESCO has established
conventions :
Slide 5
UNESCO Convention :
- concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage
(1972, signed by 191 state parties)
- for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage
(2003, signed by 161 state parties)
- on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions
(2005, signed by 137 state parties)
(Let me remind you that there are 196 countries in the world.)
Culture and education are inseparable, like fish and water. Therefore, in a way or
another, we as educators are responsible for the promotion of the values and the
implementation of the principles conveyed by the conventions : our states have signed
them. We know that the signatures do not necessarily lead into concrete actions, which
in my opinion raises the degree of our responsibility when educating children and young
persons in Europe where universities, compulsory school education, conservatoires and
music schools were first established.
Europeans share a geographical, historical, patrimonial and cultural heritage. This a
great strenght. When travelling or living on other continents, one realizes the depth and
the significance of these European roots at a personal level. On top of our national and
regional identities, every one of us has a share of European identity.
2
And despite the fact that the peaceful and respectful co-existance of many different
languages, traditions, practices and systems is a continuous challenge, we believe in the
European ideal of unity in diversity and prefer it to the American melting–pot concept.
On the other hand, we should not be too proud : during the last century, Europe knew
two World Wars and four totalitarian systems. After WW2, the human, moral and
material desolation and destruction was so immeasurable, that it could only be followed
by reconstruction and substantial societal changes. Before 1940, more than 200
sketches for united Europe already existed, but it was only 6 years after the end of the
war that concrete steps were taken, with the foundation of the European Coal and Steel
Community in 1951. Based on the principle of supranationalism, it finally lead the way
to founding the European Union.
Regarding music education, the 2nd WW was also an important turning point. Starting
from Paris in 1795, most major European cities had founded conservatoires: Prague,
Vienna, Leipzig, Dresde, Berlin, Geneva, Basel, The Hague and many others. However, the
landscape of European music education was radically modified and widened only in the
wake of the huge social and cultural changes after the 2nd WW. Public opinion claimed
access to culture and cultural education to most citizens, and not only to a priviledged
minority. This movement, along with the economic reconstruction, gave the signal to the
founding of music schools like we know them today. In most Western European
countries, the 1960’s and 70’ saw a real boom of music schools, like in The Netherlands :
20 schools in -54, 96 schools in -70 and 160 schools in -79. In cities with historical
conservatoires, other schools were founded as a counterbalance sometimes manifested
by their very names : Jugendmusikschule Zürich, Conservatoire populaire de Musique de
Genève, Ecole Sociale de Musique de Lausanne. These profiles and names inherited from
the past have endured, although at present there are almost no pedagogical differences
between the old and the new schools.
The creation of supranational cultural organizations was also launched during the postwar period. International Music Coucil was founded by UNESCO in 1949, AEC or
Association Européenne des Conservatoires in 1953, Arbeitsgemeinschaft Europäischer
Chorverbände (later European Choral Association) in 1955, emcy or European Union of
Music Competitions for Youth in 1970, European Music Council in 1972 and so on.
Germany had created a national music school association already in 1952, and its
president Diethard Wuchert took the initiative to invite colleagues from 10 countries to
Saarbrücken in 1973 to a meeting – and the EMU was founded! It seems that this was a
painless birth. From the EMU archives, let me quote the honorary member Rainer
Mehlig, who finished writing the draft of the statutes on the train on his way to
Saarbrücken : « After a hot discussion and a few minor changes, the statutes were
accepted and the EMU was founded. We printed the documents during the night and in
the morning they were solemnly signed ». After the easy birth followed a healthy
growth : the members’ number increased constantly, especially after 1989, as Eastern
European countries started to found national music school associations and joined the
EMU, and finally Poland in 2006.
It is astonishing to state that the aims, objectives and statutes of the EMU have not
undergone substantial changes since 1973, when a few visionary persons came together
and decided to join forces at the service of music education. There are also valuable
3
documents, like the Weimar Declaration from1999. In my opinion its arguments and
requests are valid as such in 2015 and I warmly recommend you to read and use them.
What has changed since -99 is the European context : a social and political reality so
highly complex and constantly moving that no cultural organisation alone can influence
it by declarations or manifestos or even by lobbying. Let me remind you that EU was
constituted for economic reasons and not for cultural co-operation. No European culture
policy with a related budget existed before 2007. The renewal of this budget for 20142020 was questioned, but it was maintained. Nobody knows what will happen after
2020. This means that we cannot count on political or financial support for our cause at
European level. We can hope for it if we work with other organisations and speak with
one voice.
Slide 6
What remains and what no money can buy is the strength of a large, coherent and
experienced network based on shared values. However, we must be ready and feel free
to question what we want to keep from the past and what we need to leave aside and
change. This needs courage, foresight and wisdom as well as open discussion and
exchange. In the EMU family we have a rich variety of opinions but one thing is clear :
the seriousness of our educational responsibility in today’s world and facing the future.
The sad reality is that democratic and wide access to music and art education, which
only compulsory education can globally ensure, is not available in most of today’s
societies. What a paradox : music to be downloaded and consummated is available to
everybody like never before, but access to music education and music practice is in
serious danger ! This is certainly one of the biggest challenges we are facing, not only in
Europe but worldwide, and we should tackle it with determination and in coordinated
and concentrated efforts.
The actual world is in a situation where nothing seems to promise a better future. I don’t
count anymore the miseries, catastrophes and horrors, bad images and noises reaching
my eyes and ears every day, all over the place. This is nothing new in history, but for me
this is new. In order to believe in the future today, I need philosophy, poetry and music
more than ever. They are our immaterial and indestructible patrimony and they give us
a great intellectual and emotional liberty. An African colleague said : « We don’t make
music for ourselves but for eternity ».
HM / 03.05.2015
4