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Globalisation and Historiography of National Leaders Symbolic Representations in School Textbooks 1st Edition Joseph Zajda
Globalisation and Historiography of National Leaders Symbolic Representations in School Textbooks 1st Edition Joseph Zajda
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Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research 18
Joseph Zajda
Tatyana Tsyrlina-Spady
Michael Lovorn Editors
Globalisation and
Historiography of
National Leaders
Symbolic Representations in School
Textbooks
Globalisation, Comparative Education
and Policy Research
Volume 18
Series Editor
Joseph Zajda, Faculty of Education and Arts, School of Education, Australian
Catholic University, Melbourne, Australia
Editorial Board for the Series
Professor Robert Arnove, Indiana University
Professor Birgit Brock-Utne, University of Oslo
Professor Martin Carnoy, Stanford University
Professor Lyn Davies, University of Birmingham
Professor Fred Dervin, University of Helsinki
Professor Karen Evans, University of London
Professor Kassie Freeman, Alcorn State University
Professor Andreas Kazamias, University of Wisconsin
Professor Leslie Limage, UNESCO
Professor MacLeans Geo-JaJa, Brigham Young University
Professor Nikolai Nikandrov, President, Russian Academy of Education (Moscow)
Professor Marcella Mollis, University of Buenos Aires
Professor Susan Majhanovich, University of Western Ontario
Professor Val Rust, UCLA, USA
Advisory Board
Professor Abdeljalil Akkari, University of Geneva
Professor Beatrice Avalos, National Ministry of Education, Chile
Professor Sheng Yao Cheng, Chung Chen University
Professor Kingsley Banya, Misericordia University
Professor Karen Biraimah, University of Central Florida
Professor David Chapman, University of Minnesota
Professor David Gamage, University of Newcastle
Professor Mark Ginsburg, University of Pittsburg
Professor Yaacov Iram, Bar Ilan University
Professor Henry Levin, Teachers College Columbia University
Professor Noel McGinn, Harvard University
Professor David Phillips, Oxford University
Professor Gerald Postglione, University of Hong Kong
Professor Heidi Ross, Indiana University
Professor M'hammed Sabour, University of Joensuu
Professor Jurgen Schriewer, Humboldt University
Professor Sandra Stacki, Hofstra University
Professor Nelly Stromquist, University of Southern California
Professor Carlos Torres, UCLA
Professor David Willis, Soai University, Japan
ims and Scope
A
The Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research series (Vols.
13–24) aims to present a global overview of strategic comparative and international
education policy statements on recent reforms and shifts in education globally and
offers new approaches to further exploration, development and improvement of
comparative education and policy research globally. In general, the book series
seeks to address the nexus between comparative education, policy, reforms and
forces of globalisation.
The series will present up-to-date scholarly research on global trends in
comparative education and policy research. The idea is to advance research and
scholarship by providing an easily accessible, practical yet scholarly source of
information for researchers, policy-makers, college academics and practitioners in
the field. Different volumes will provide substantive contributions to knowledge and
understanding of comparative education and policy research globally. This new
book series will offer major disciplinary perspectives from all world regions.
Globalisation and
Historiography of National
Leaders
Symbolic Representations in School
Textbooks
Editors
Joseph Zajda Tatyana Tsyrlina-Spady
Faculty of Education and Arts, School School of Education
of Education Seattle Pacific University School of
Australian Catholic University Education
Melbourne, VIC, Australia Seattle, WA, USA
Michael Lovorn
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA, USA
vii
viii Foreword
ix
x Preface
xi
xii Editorial by Series Editor
Series Editor
Joseph Zajda, BA (Hons), MA, MEd, PhD, FACE, is associate professor in the
Faculty of Education and Arts at the Australian Catholic University (Melbourne
Campus). He specialises in globalisation and education policy reforms, social jus-
tice, history education and values education. He has written and edited 32 books and
over 150 book chapters and articles in the areas of globalisation and education pol-
icy, higher education and curriculum reforms. Recent publications include:
Zajda, J. (2015) (Ed.). Nation-building and history education in a global culture.
Dordrecht: Springer. http://www.springer.com/gp/book/9789401797283
Zajda, J. (2016) (Ed.). Globalisation, ideology and politics of education reforms.
Dordrecht: Springer. http://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783319195056
Zajda, J. & Rust, V. (Ed.) (2016). Globalisation and Higher Education Reforms.
Dordrecht: Springer. http://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783319281902
Editor and author of the Second International Handbook on Globalisation,
Education and Policy Research. Springer (2015). http://www.springer.com/
education+%26+language/book/978-94-017-9492-3; Zajda, J (2014). Globalisation
and Neo-liberalism as Educational Policy in Australia. In H. Yolcu & D. Turner
(Eds.), Neoliberal Education Reforms: A Global Analysis. New York: Taylor &
Francis/Routledge; Zajda, J. (2014). The Russian Revolution. In G. Ritzer & J. M.
Ryan (Eds.), The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Globalization Online; Zajda, J.
(2014); Zajda, J. (2014). Ideology. In D. Phillips (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Educational
Theory and Philosophy. Thousand Oaks: Sage; Zajda, J. (2014). The Russian
Revolution. In G. Ritzer & J. M. Ryan (Eds.), The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of
Globalization Online; Zajda, J. (2014). Values Education. In D. Phillips (Ed.),
Encyclopedia of Educational Theory and Philosophy. Thousand Oaks: Sage; Zajda,
J. (2014). The politics of Russian history education in the Russian media.
Educational Practice and Theory, 36(2); Values Education. In D. Phillips (Ed.),
Encyclopedia of Educational Theory and Philosophy. Thousand Oaks: Sage; Zajda,
J. (2011). Globalisation and Values Education in the history/Social Studies
xiii
xiv Globalisation, Comparative Education and Policy Research Series Volumes 13–24
Classroom. Zajda (2011), Educational Practice and Theory, 33(1), 83–96; Zajda
(2008). Schooling the New Russians (James Nicholas Publishers (2008).
He is the editor of the 24-volume book series Globalisation and Comparative
Education (Springer, 2009&2018).
He edits the following journals below:
http://www.jamesnicholaspublishers.com.au/journals/ct/; Editor, Curriculum
and Teaching, volume 31, 2017
http://www.jamesnicholaspublishers.com.au/journals/es/; Editor, Education and
Society, volume 34, 2017
http://www.jamesnicholaspublishers.com.au/journals/wse/Editor, World Studies
in Education, volume 17, 2017
His works are found in 265 publications in 4 languages and 9,020 university
library holdings globally. He is the recipient of the 2012 Excellence in Research
Award of the Faculty of Education and Arts, Australian Catholic University. The
award recognises the high quality of research activities and particularly celebrates
sustained research that has had a substantive impact nationally and internationally.
He was also a recipient of the Australian Awards for University Teaching in 2011
(Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning, for an innovative,
influential and sustained contribution to teacher education through scholar-
ship and publication). He received the Vice Chancellor’s Excellence in Teaching
Award in April, 2004, at the Australian Catholic University (Melbourne Campus).
He was awarded an ARC Discovery grant (with T. Taylor, Monash University) for
2011–2015 for a comparative analysis of history national curriculum implementa-
tion in Russia and Australia ($315,000)) and elected as fellow of the Australian
College of Educators (June 2013).
He worked (with Professor Fred Dervin, University of Helsinki) on the UNESCO
report 2014/2015: The UNESCO Governance in education: Diversity and effective-
ness. BRICS countries. Paris: UNESCO (2015).
xv
xvi Contents
Index.................................................................................................................. 281
Contributors
xvii
xviii Contributors
Education, children’s literature and the shaping of national identity in the Soviet
Russia] (2011); and Per una storia dell’asilo nido in Europa tra Otto e Novecento
(2014), translation into English [A history of day nurseries in Europe, 1800–1939].
publications in the recent years including a book Is School a Good Place for
Learning Democracy?: Controversies over the Political Socialization in Childhood
(Lit-Verlag, 2015) and papers in peer-reviewed journals. She has presented her
research findings at different national and international conferences, most recently
at the Comparative and International Education Society conference in Vancouver,
Canada (March 2016). E-mail: dhild@amu.edu.pl
F.J. Potgieter was awarded his PhD degree in history of education at the University
of South Africa in 1992. He is currently a professor in philosophy of education and
education theory at North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, South Africa.
xx Contributors
Prior to this position, he was as a senior lecturer in education management, law and
policy studies in the Faculty of Education at the University of Pretoria. He has pub-
lished widely in the field of children’s and adult spirituality, morality and education,
as well as in philosophy of education. At present, he is a project leader of an inter-
national research project on religious (in)tolerance in education together with aca-
demics from the Netherlands, Estonia, Bulgaria, Hungary and Greece. He is a
member of the distinguished International Seminar on Religious Education and
Values (ISREV). E-mail: Ferdinand.Potgieter@nwu.ac.za
Ambreen Shahriar has worked at the Institute of English Language and Literature,
University of Sindh, since 2004, where she is currently serving as associate profes-
sor. In 2007, she was awarded a scholarship to study in the UK. After completing an
MA in applied linguistics and TESOL from the University of Leicester, she com-
pleted her PhD at Goldsmiths, University of London, on issues of culture and iden-
tity with learners from deprived backgrounds. Dr Shahriar is currently a research
fellow at Goldsmiths in London. Her research interests include multilingualism,
multiculturalism, issues of identity, individual learner differences and motivation.
E-mail: a.shahriar@hotmail.co.uk
American History: The Eugenics Movement. He also was the first author of An
Assessment Measure for Students’ Historical Understanding, which was part of a
large, experimental study of the educational programme of Facing History and
Ourselves. His doctoral dissertation, Test Driven Educational Reform in the Early
20th Century: An Historical Case Study of IQ Testing in the Boston Public Schools,
1910–1932, was awarded the Bollinger Prize from the University of Massachusetts
Boston. Email: honors@umb.edu
J.L. van der Walt D.Ed., PhD and D.Ed. (Honoris Causa), is professor emeritus and
currently specialist researcher in the Edu-HRight Research Unit of the Faculty of
Education Sciences, Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University, South
Africa. After his retirement in 2000 as dean of the Faculty of Education at the North-
West University, he became involved in academic building projects, particularly the
training of young academics in the philosophical foundations of their subjects, in the-
ory construction and in scholarly article writing. A philosopher of education by train-
ing, he has recently been involved in research projects ranging from pedagogical
issues to investigations into religious intolerance and the relationship between religion
and education. Among his most recent publications count articles in the International
Journal for Religious Freedom, Problems and Perspectives in Management and the
Journal of Third World Studies. Email: Hannesv290@gmail.com
Wangbei Ye earned her PhD in moral education at the University of Hong Kong.
She is now a lecturer of moral-political education in the Faculty of Education at
East China Normal University, Shanghai, China. Her research focuses on moral and
political education curriculum, instruction and teacher education for grades 1–12.
Her research findings were published in a number of international educational vol-
umes by Rowman & Littlefield and Sense Publishers and in such research journals
as Journal of Education for Teaching: International Research and Pedagogy and
Education and Urban Society. E-mail: wbye@dlps.ecnu.edu.cn
Joseph Zajda is associate professor in the Faculty of Education and Arts at the
Australian Catholic University (Melbourne Campus). He specialises in globalisa-
tion and education policy reforms, social justice, history education and values edu-
cation. He has written and edited 32 books and over 150 book chapters and articles
in the areas of globalisation and education policy, higher education and curriculum
reforms. He is also the editor of the 24-volume book series Globalisation,
Comparative Education and Policy Research (Springer, 2009 & 2018). Recent pub-
lications include the following: Zajda, J. (2016) (Ed.). Globalisation, ideology and
politics of education reforms. Dordrecht: Springer, Zajda, J. & Rust, V. (Ed.) (2016).
Globalisation and Higher Education Reforms. Dordrecht: Springer, Zajda, J.
(2015). (Ed.). Second International Handbook of Globalisation, Education and
Policy Research. Dordrecht: Springer. He edits World Studies in Education,
Curriculum and Teaching and Education and Society for James Nicholas Publishers.
His works are found in 265 publications in 4 languages and 9,105 university library
holdings globally. He was awarded ARC Discovery Grant ($315,000) Globalising
studies of the politics of history education: a comparative analysis of history
national curriculum implementation in Russia and Australia (with A. Taylor,
Monash University, 2011–2015). He was elected as fellow of the Australian College
of Educators (June 2013). E-mail: joseph.zajda@acu.edu.au
Chapter 1
Globalisation and Historiography of National
Leaders
J. Zajda (*)
Faculty of Education and Arts, School of Education, Australian Catholic University,
Melbourne, VIC, Australia
e-mail: joseph.zajda@acu.edu.au
T. Tsyrlina-Spady
School of Education, Seattle Pacific University School of Education, Seattle, WA, USA
e-mail: tsyrlina@aol.com
M. Lovorn
University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
e-mail: mlovorn@pitt.edu
(1980) argues that the construction of national identity, not only relies on a common
history, but also on ‘collective memory’ (Halbwachs 1980). Furthermore, according
to Assmann (1995), various types of collective memory, which Halbwachs ‘gath-
ered and analyzed under the concept of collective memory’, represent the field of
oral history (Assmann 1995, p. 126).
A number of researchers, working in the area of history textbooks education,
have written on the necessity and importance of teaching national history in order
to deepen the younger generation’s understanding of their national roots and
develop their sense of belonging to a certain society, state, and people (Anderson
1991; Smith 1998; Nash et al. 2000; Smith 2001; Kress & van Leeuwen 2001;
Nicholls 2006; Janmaat and Vickers 2007; Campbell 2008; Allison and Goethals
2011; Lovorn and Tsyrlina-Spady 2015; Tsyrlina-Spady and Lovorn 2015; Zajda
2015). Progressive educators believe that history education in schools should pro-
vide students with a valuable critical thinking skillset and countless opportunities to
involve in substantive conversation, to make real world connections, and to practice
engaged citizenship (Rapoport 2012; Whitehouse 2015), and prevent them from
being “handicapped by history” (Loewen 2007, p. 11). Traditionalists, on the other
hand, argue that the primary purpose of history education is to foster patriotism and
national identity among younger generations (Filippov 2007). Recently, Russian
philologist and historian Marietta Chudakova (2014) expressed this idea in a gener-
alized and emotional form, stating that the fate of Russia is in the hands of history
teachers. Perhaps not in such a radical way as it has been in her home country where
the himself oversees the process of composing history teaching standards and text-
books, As a result, it puts the analysis of current history textbooks into the range of
very demanding and critical research subjects.
In researching and analysing the nexus between nationalism, national identity,
and ideology, it is necessary to explain the current usage of these key concepts,
which are subject to ‘multiple definitions’ (Hutchins 2016, p. 4).
Nationalism, as one the most dominant ideologies, refers to the belief that the
sovereign nation-state represents a ‘group of people who consider themselves as
belonging to one nation and who share a territory (Hutchins 2016; see also Gellner
1983; Smith 1991, 1998).
National identity represents a specific cultural community, whose members are
united by ‘common historical memories, myths, symbols and traditions’. It denotes
such elements as ‘historic territory, legal-political community, legal political equal-
ity of members, and common civic culture and ideology’ (Smith 1991, p. 11).
The term ‘ideology’ has numerous meanings and interpretations. On the face, it
may be defined as a system of ideals that forms the basis of economic or political
theory and policy. Ideology can also describe a set of ideas, beliefs, or values used
to justify a particular social or political system. It can even refer to the hegemonic
power or control of a dominant group (Zajda 2014).
While there exists a notable amount of data and publications that analyse the
concept of a textbook itself, its role and place in the instruction and overall educa-
tional process (Altbach 1991; Braslavsky 2008; Hickman and Porfilio 2012; Johnsen
1993; Korostelina 2013; Woodward et al. 1993), there are also enough analytical
studies, which examine the goals and content of national history textbooks
1 Globalisation and Historiography of National Leaders 3
chooses heroes; what are the criteria for this choice; what kind of cultural and
historical biases exist in this regard, and which political and other circumstances are
especially inclined to make the state rely on its national heroes in the process of
educating younger generations.
This dilemma, surrounding the place and the need for heroes, was already elo-
quently expressed by Bertold Brecht in the American version of his play, The Life
of Galileo, when one of the students speaking to the scientist exclaims, ‘Unhappy is
the land that breeds no hero.’ Galileo replies: ‘No, Andrea… Unhappy is the land
that needs a hero’ (Brecht 1971). Although in the present volume we do not go
deeper into this discussion which might qualify for a separate book but we do keep
it in mind trying to find out what kind of heroes, their numbers and qualities, differ-
ent nations prefer to introduce to their younger generations – be it ordinary people,
political leaders, or famous historical figures from centuries ago.
When a nation all of a sudden becomes particularly interested in searching for
and bringing to the surface a number of its formerly forgotten or never remembered
(or existed) heroes, it inevitably falls into a nationalistic trap of false memories and
unreliable facts. As a result, historical accounts become embellished beyond recog-
nition, creating an image that is far from being realistic but mostly apologetic and
biased. This phenomenon is perhaps even more readily observable when nations
prefer to create national heroes out of their political leaders who are still in place,
and whose lives and reputations are shown as eminently spotless. One clear exam-
ple here would be the image of President Vladimir Putin in Russia. At one of his
Kremlin meetings with the members of the All-Russian historical assembly, Putin
(June 22, 2016) addressed the issue of the importance of national “history as the
basis of the national worldview” (kremlin.ru 2016), and received a unanimous sup-
port, with the writer Sergey Shargunov specifically emphasizing “that history also
means heroes. And this is what our younger generation very often lacks – the
knowledge about heroes including both – our glorious ancestors and the heroes of
the present era.”
Regarding teaching situations and required textbooks, which seem to become a
frequent trend, heroes are represented as ‘perfect creatures without conflicts, pain,
credibility, or human interest’ (Loewen 2007, p. 11). Loewen calls this process of
‘heroification’ degenerative and compares it to ‘calcification’ (p. 11) although he
also concludes that depending on ‘who our heroes are and whether they are pre-
sented in a way that makes them lifelike, hence usable as role models, could have a
significant bearing on our conduct in the world’ (p. 30). Psychologists Scott Allison
and George Goethals (2011) enforce this idea with their research on heroes claim-
ing, ‘Heroes fulfil us emotionally… Heroes inspire us to aim higher. They make us
feel good to be a member of the group or society in which they do their heroic work’
(p. 188). This conclusion is even more powerful when applied to teenagers and
young adults who qualify as the major recipients of this information about heroes.
Thus, when current or recent political leaders are represented as national heroes,
this supposedly blinds their critical thinking and triggers the feeling of patriotism in
younger generations, and in this way often does the job of shaping them into true
patriots of their land.
1 Globalisation and Historiography of National Leaders 5
As discussed above, students around the world have long been instilled with a
sense of national identity from the very onset of their academic careers. For well
over a century, seeds of nationalist fervour have been sown as early as primary
grades when students are commonly taught the lyrics of their national anthem or
expected to mimic appropriate demonstrations of respect for national holidays,
symbols, historical figures and events, and political officials. As those schoolchil-
dren mature, prescribed and often mandated educational measures deepen and
intensify through the heroification of past (and even present) political and military
leaders and movements. Ideological frameworks and concepts that promote a sense
of national pride and identity, particularly those involving hero constructs, continue
to be implemented in various educational contexts as a means of advancing nation-
alist agendas. Such initiatives often compromise or even undermine the very histori-
cal thinking and historiographical analysis skills they claim to champion.
It is this seemingly paradoxical observation – that historical heroification in its
many textual iterations increases ideological bias in the history classroom – that
prompted this book. This collection of studies – authored by noted and emerging
history education scholars from around the world – intends to present the reader
with unique, contemporary, dynamic, and transnational lenses with which to view
the many focal facets of this observation, and to make a bold, globalized contribu-
tion to what is known in this field of study. As expected, authors grounded their
work in or utilized a wide variety of qualitative theoretical frameworks in the collec-
tion and analysis of their data and in reporting their findings. We discuss each of
these frameworks briefly in our methodology section.
Methodology
In our approach towards the analysis of the social, cultural and political constructs
of national leaders and their symbolic representation in school history textbooks, we
combine and integrate both textual and visual approaches in history textbooks. We
analyse and critique dominant historical narratives and the ‘hero’ concept. In our
methodology, we employ critical discourse analysis, including multimodal analysis,
critical theory, and social semiotics. This inter-disciplinary methodology can be
more effective in analysing the complexity of social and political discourses, deal-
ing with the national identity, and its resultant representation in dominant historical
narrative in school history textbooks.
1990; Fuchs 2011; Halbwachs 1980; Hall 1997; Wodak et al. 1999). We need to
recognize that these are all mental constructs, defined and made meaningful by our
own subjectivities, space (location and place), and the prevailing political and socio-
cultural context. Furthermore, it is necessary to understand the way these social,
political and cultural constructs are defined, and used in history textbooks. There is
also a need to examine the use of language to communicate a new perception sur-
rounding the discourse of identity politics, national identity as a sense of national
belonging, and nation-building in various countries.
Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) means ‘not taking things for granted, opening
up complexity, challenging reductionism, dogmatism and dichotomies, being self-
reflective in my research, and through these processes, making opaque structures of
power relations and ideologies manifest’ (Wodak 2007). Using CDA approach in
analysing historical knowledge and understanding, the textbook is defined through
a particular way of writing about the past. In the analysis of discourse of national
identity (DNI), we will demonstrate how nations are engaged today in their attempt
to construct the new national identity.
Critical discourse analysis (CDA) provides a theoretical framework through
which researchers can critique intersections of society and culture (in this case, his-
tory education, national and gender identity) by examining uses of language in
social or sociopolitical dynamics (Rogers 2011). Following one of the major theo-
rists of CDA, Fairclough (2015), we employ his understanding of language as “dis-
course… [and] as social practice determined by social structures” (Fairclough,
p. 51). CDA provides scholars with a tested design through which they may inves-
tigate how language creates inequality or injustice, and many use this theory to
analyse relationships between dominant social, political, economic interests and
other hegemonies (Darder et al. 2016; Fairclough 1995, 2015).
Deconstruction
capture the process by which knowledge functions as a form of power and dissemi-
nates the effects of power’ (Foucault 1980, p. 69).
Close-Reading
Content Analysis
Content analysis was also a popular framework among our contributing authors. We
surmised this was because, according to theorists, while it is a favoured qualitative
methodology in studies of this nature, content analysis is also deemed an effective
and efficient approach to identifying themes in and across textbook passages
(Clandinnin and Connelly 2000), and because it is especially well designed for
comparisons of narrative and historical text (Neuendorf 2002). Authors’ identifica-
tion of recurrent threads, themes, and omissions across textbook passages and
accounts fit exceptionally well within the theoretical frame of content analysis.
Social Semiotics
Social semiotics focuses on how various sign systems communicate both explicit
and implicit meanings to readers and viewers of these signs (Chandler 2007;
Bakhtin 1981). According to experts Kress (2010), and Machin and Mayr (2012),
the signing that occurs in diverse forms of human communication relies on semiotic
codes that trigger recognizable cognitive and emotional associations by those who
experience them, and then emphasizes how signs and their use in communication
actually ‘constitute’ the world rather than merely represent it. Some of the volume’s
authors made a special effort to analyse the language of the textbooks with an
explicit emphasis on metaphors, keeping in mind that the latter, particularly when
they have a political nature, often ‘hide aspects of reality’, and help ideology remain
‘dehumanizing’ as described in the seminal work by George Lakoff and Mark
Johnson (1980, p. 236).
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Verdi was a man of the people, loving Italy and being loved in
return, a master of voice, ready to take good suggestions to improve
his work, always kind, high-minded, and generous. He knew the
orchestra and wrote for it in a way that not only gave, in his last three
masterpieces, a new flavor to Italian opera, but led the way for future
composers.
Boito and His “Mefistofele”
In 1890 the first truly realistic opera was written in Italy. A prize
was offered by the publisher Sonzogno and an unknown man, Pietro
Mascagni, won it with Cavalleria Rusticana (Rustic Chivalry). He
was born in 1863, the son of a baker. He was a musical boy, but his
father wished him to be a lawyer, so he had to work at the piano in
secret. One day when he had been locked up by his father who did
not want him to practise, he was discovered by his uncle, who
sympathized with him and took him to Count Florestan, who helped
the young musician to study in Milan.
Mascagni’s work in Cavalleria Rusticana was vivid and he used
both the old and the new style of writing. It is full of the most
entrancing melody (the Intermezzo, the Brindisi, or drinking song,
and Santuzza’s aria, Voi lo sapete). He also wrote Iris and Amico
Fritz, which never equalled Cavalleria.
With Ruggiero Leoncavallo (1858–) it was different, for only after
writing a number of operas did he produce a success in the world-
famous I Pagliacci. He wrote the tragic story of these strolling
players as well as the music, which is not as popular in style as
Cavalleria, but it is superbly put together and very dramatic. As
these operas are both short, they are often performed together. The
rôle of Canio (I Pagliacci) was one of Caruso’s masterpieces. How
wonderful to think that his voice has been preserved for the future
generations through his records of which Ridi Pagliaccio (Laugh
Clown) is one of the finest. It is generally admitted that Caruso’s
voice was the most glorious of our age, and certainly there was no
artist more idolized than he. In this same opera Antonio Scotti’s
performance of the famous Prologue is equally beautiful.
Giordano
Georges Bizet.
Vincent d’Indy.
Camille Saint-Saëns.
Jules Massenet.
Gustave Charpentier.