Politics and music are not usually two subjects discussed together. They are, in fact,udgenerally considered topics that are mutually exclusive: the one – politics – beingudthe clichéd bane of dinner-table conversation; the other, a common accompanimentudto many convivial occasions. This exclusiveness has been followed, to a largeudextent, into the academy by historians. Much scholarly attention has been dedicatedudto the history of politics as well as to music during the period covered by thisudarticle. However, thisudflourishing has taken place largely within, rather than across, the two strains of theuddiscipline. This lack of historical attention to the overlap betweenudpolitics and music underestimates the value of this interface as a key for unlockingudthe ways in which political and musical culture were entwined. Indeed, the twoudcultures have long been closely linked. Music has been widely used by governmentsudas part of the dominant discourse of the state, a tool of hegemonic controludand propaganda. John Street has shown how music was deployed byudthe Soviet Union in the 1930s, the Nazi regime during the Second World War, andudmore recently by the British political parties during the 2001 election campaign asudmeans of political leverage. These are just a few examples of the role played byudmusic as “a necessary adjunct of contemporary political communication”. Governments have utilised the popular culture appeal of music to helpudconstruct their rhetorical power and to influence the people: “From Plato to theudFrankfurt School and beyond, the case has been made for regarding music (especiallyudpopular music) as a source of power.”
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