{"id":9188,"date":"2026-09-21T20:42:59","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T18:42:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beatricevenezi.it\/?p=9188"},"modified":"2026-09-21T20:43:02","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T18:43:02","slug":"la-cultura-come-identita-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beatricevenezi.it\/en\/la-cultura-come-identita-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Culture as identity\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Beatrice Venezi\u2019s BLOG  \u2013 <em>\u00abThere is nothing more frightening than ignorance in action\u00bb<\/em> So said Goethe in one of his famous aphorisms.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The subject of culture as a defining factor of a nation fascinates me and is something I feel deeply about. It is a subject that I encounter very frequently in my profession, particularly when I am abroad and I perceive my Italian identity even more clearly and notice the expressions of appreciation for our&nbsp;<em>know-how<\/em>&nbsp;Italian cultural identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Expertise<\/em>&nbsp;which stems from that formative process based on the acquisition of our knowledge, our spirituality, our behaviours and the defining value systems that enable us to develop the personality and awareness that are our due within society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Culture serves to foster and preserve a critical spirit, to prevent us from succumbing to conformism in our attitudes and thinking. This is perhaps our species\u2019 most precious heritage, a true wealth in the fullest sense of the word, because if we lower the standard of culture or make it less accessible, peoples are inevitably and purely reduced to their own basic biological existence. Mass society, in fact, does not want culture, but mere entertainment, because thinking takes time and effort; it is therefore better to take refuge in a reassuring conformity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This is the danger we must face, and today more than ever it is essential to defend our nation\u2019s identity and culture so that we may be certain of its future. It is more necessary than ever to raise awareness of it and protect it with determination, because without cultural identity there is no national identity, nor is there a people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yes, because the concept of culture also encompasses that of identity, which is the ability to express oneself as individuals and as a community, as a vision and a collective imagination, as memories of the past and projections of the future, and a thousand other things besides.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Culture defines a people, shapes their character and is, in turn, actively shaped and moulded by their community; it reveals the dynamic differences between one people and another, and constitutes that inseparable pairing of culture and identity \u2013 a point of reference, a source of inspiration and a sense of belonging for a people who recognise themselves in and share those characteristics. There is no culture that does not take the form of an identity, and there is no identity that is not shaped by cultural processes. Cultural identity is a determining factor in the preservation of a people\u2019s memory and the continuity of their traditions and values, because people need to feel that they are the bearers of their defining characteristics.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The psycho-social expression of a people\u2019s sense of identity is an inevitable fact, and it is therefore pointless to criticise or even deny it, as is currently the case with the various and repeated attempts to undermine it by the so-called&nbsp;<em>cancel culture.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A prevailing mindset that turns up its nose at any reference to a culture of national identity, and that is precisely why today I would like to step back for a moment from the here and now, and go back to the second half of the 19th century to tell you about the experiments carried out by the national schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">During the nineteenth century, music became an important part of the search for national identity that characterised political and social life in many European countries; it even became an active part of the process of forming and consolidating nation states. Musical development proceeded through engagement with tradition and folklore, and resulted in an educational and institutional commitment aimed at safeguarding and promoting national music schools. In some countries, such as Great Britain, there was a drive to create independent musical initiatives and to establish an educational and concert organisation capable of training its own composers. In other countries, however, the development of an independent musical life went hand in hand with the search for a national identity, taking root in local folklore and acquiring a distinct national character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Nineteenth-century national music differed from the historically dominant musical forms and introduced new ways of thinking and compositional approaches that undoubtedly influenced many aesthetic choices of the twentieth century.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In particular, in the countries of Eastern Europe, the Scandinavian and Iberian nations, as well as in Russia \u2013 which remained on the periphery of European history, musically dominated by Italy, Austria, Germany and France \u2013 the emergence of an intellectual bourgeoisie, driven by strong social and political antagonism, fostered the growth of national musical schools based on folk singing and the assimilation of folk material.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ethnomusicography also played an important role, enabling the collection and preservation of local musical traditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But let\u2019s turn our attention to Italy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The \u20181880s generation\u2019 in Italy, represented by composers born around 1880 \u2013 such as Ottorino Respighi, Ildebrando Pizzetti, Francesco Malipiero and Alfredo Casella, represented a continuation of this movement, seeking to rediscover and promote early music and Italy\u2019s cultural heritage \u2013 indeed, to rebuild Italian art music on an entirely new foundation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Whilst during those same years the music scene abroad featured composers such as Stravinsky, Schoenberg and Bart\u00f3k, in Italy there were, in fact, virtually no reflections on musical aesthetics. The composers of the&nbsp;<em>The 1980s Generation<\/em>&nbsp;Together with musicologists such as Giannotto Bastianelli and Fausto Torrefranca, they viewed opera \u2013 the only successful genre in Italy \u2013 as incapable of \u00abadopting a dignified intellectual stance\u00bb, whilst the production of instrumental music was completely sidelined. Italian opera became their main target, and they saw it as the primary cause of the crisis in Italian music and its lag behind other countries.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The \u2018Mediterranean model\u2019 \u2013 the noble origins of Italian music \u2013 can therefore be found in the instrumental and polyphonic repertoire of the 16th and 17th centuries, predating the golden age of opera, but also in folk songs and the Gregorian chant of the liturgy. The members of the Generation of the 1880s, conscious of their Italian spirit, were the first in Italy to engage with the new European musical languages, keeping up with the times and thus composing modern music that was in tune with its era. The Italian musical renaissance of the twentieth century therefore owes its \u00abstrength and originality to the harmonious balance gradually achieved by these two forces, which are apparently divergent but in reality work together towards the same end\u00bb, as Massimo Mila writes:\u00a0an openness to the New, coming from other European countries, and a look back to the Italian past.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In this context, the most successful composer is undoubtedly Ottorino Respighi. His style is characterised by the incorporation of folk songs and melodies into his compositions; this folk material is elevated by a brilliant orchestration, as is the case, for example, in&nbsp;<em>The Botticelli Triptych<\/em>, in the second movement of which he incorporates the melody of&nbsp;<em>You Come Down from the Stars<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">His best-known and most significant work is the&nbsp;<strong><em>Roman Trilogy<\/em><\/strong>, a true celebration of all things Roman, a tribute \u2013 and why not? \u2013 an act of love towards the city of Rome and its millennia-old history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Fountains of Rome<\/em>&nbsp;It was the first suite in the trilogy, composed in 1916; it depicts four fountains in the city at different times of the day: the Valle Giulia Fountain at dawn, the Triton Fountain in the morning, the Trevi Fountain at midday and the Villa Medici Fountain at sunset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The second suite is&nbsp;<em>The Pines of Rome<\/em>&nbsp;written in 1924<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first movement,&nbsp;<em>The pine trees of Villa Borghese<\/em>,  describes noisy children playing at being soldiers and marching through the pine forest in the Villa Borghese. The second movement is entitled&nbsp;<em>Pine trees near a catacomb&nbsp;<\/em>whilst the third movement, a nocturne,&nbsp;<em>The pine trees of the Gianicolo<\/em>, is set at night, at a temple dedicated to the god Janus. Here, for the first time in the history of music, Respighi includes in the score a recording made on a phonograph, the&nbsp;<em>Brunswick Panatrope<\/em>&nbsp;, accompanied by the song of a nightingale. The final movement,&nbsp;<em>The pine trees along the Appian Way<\/em>, depicts the pine trees lining the ancient Roman consular road: at a misty dawn, a legion advances along the Via Appia in the radiance of the newly risen sun. Respighi wanted to convey the sensation of the earth trembling beneath the footsteps of his army, and so he decided to use the organ\u2019s lowest registers for this purpose. The piece calls for the use of buccine, ancient Roman trumpets. It concludes with a triumphal fanfare of the legions\u2019 trumpets on the Capitoline Hill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The third and final<em>&nbsp;Roman Festivals<\/em>, composed in 1928, depicts four different festivals in the city of Rome:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The first movement,&nbsp;<em>Circuses<\/em>, evokes the bloody spectacles of imperial Rome; the strings and wind instruments suggest the quiet singing of the Christian martyrs sent to their deaths in the arena of the Circus Maximus. The movement concludes with violent orchestral chords, accompanied by an organ pedal to represent the demise of the martyrs, torn apart by ferocious beasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The following movement depicts the Jubilee: the pilgrims\u2019 approach to Rome is captured by the breathtaking view from Monte Mario, set to the sound of bells in the background. The third movement depicts the Ottobrata festival in the countryside near Rome, and finally, the last movement describes the Befana celebrations in Piazza Navona. .<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Essentially, Respighi draws heavily on the Roman tradition and filters it through an extremely modern and daring musical language; he uses the past as a bridge to the future, to define a new musical imagination and to renew Italy\u2019s musical identity. And what was felt to be an urgent necessity a century and a half ago, in my view, still keeps its sacred flame burning today. It is an example, a source of inspiration.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">All these examples, which have shaped our identity, must be incorporated into our journey as a nation, implemented through new technologies and integrated. Cultural identity changes with the passing of time. Our society, once humanistic, is now primarily scientific and technological, constantly evolving; whilst we certainly cannot control this evolution, we can guide it. We must set a course for it if we are to avoid being reduced to a two-dimensional version of ourselves, constrained by the patterns imposed by globalisation that destroy all creativity and uniqueness. This is possible only through a thorough understanding of our roots and a good dose of boldness.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">And that is how&nbsp;<em>\u00abCourage, boldness and rebellion will be essential elements of our poetry.\u00bb.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Beatrice Venezi<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\"><strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.beatricevenezi.it\/en\/il-blog-di-beatrice-venezi\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.beatricevenezi.it\/il-blog-di-beatrice-venezi\/\"><mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color\">Back to the Blog<\/mark><\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/h3>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Il BLOG di Beatrice Venezi &#8211; \u00abNon c&#8217;\u00e8 nulla di pi\u00f9 spaventoso dell&#8217;ignoranza in azione\u00bb cos\u00ec Goethe in uno dei suoi celebri aforismi. Il tema della cultura come fattore fondante di un popolo mi appassiona e mi coinvolge personalmente. \u00c8 un tema, che nella mia professione, vivo molto spesso, soprattutto [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9163,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpzoom_pinterest_image_url":"","_wpzoom_pinterest_hidden_image":"0","_wpzoom_pinterest_description":"","_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[110],"tags":[41,111],"class_list":["post-9188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-beatrice-venezi-blog","tag-beatricevenezi","tag-blogbeatricevenezi"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"featured_media_urls":{"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.beatricevenezi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bv_BLOG_2026.09.18-La-cultura-come-identita-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.beatricevenezi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bv_BLOG_2026.09.18-La-cultura-come-identita-300x178.jpg",300,178,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.beatricevenezi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bv_BLOG_2026.09.18-La-cultura-come-identita-768x455.jpg",768,455,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.beatricevenezi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bv_BLOG_2026.09.18-La-cultura-come-identita.jpg",810,480,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.beatricevenezi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bv_BLOG_2026.09.18-La-cultura-come-identita.jpg",810,480,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.beatricevenezi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bv_BLOG_2026.09.18-La-cultura-come-identita.jpg",810,480,false],"trp-custom-language-flag":["https:\/\/www.beatricevenezi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bv_BLOG_2026.09.18-La-cultura-come-identita-18x12.jpg",18,12,true],"ultp_layout_landscape_large":["https:\/\/www.beatricevenezi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bv_BLOG_2026.09.18-La-cultura-come-identita.jpg",810,480,false],"ultp_layout_landscape":["https:\/\/www.beatricevenezi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bv_BLOG_2026.09.18-La-cultura-come-identita.jpg",810,480,false],"ultp_layout_portrait":["https:\/\/www.beatricevenezi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bv_BLOG_2026.09.18-La-cultura-come-identita-600x480.jpg",600,480,true],"ultp_layout_square":["https:\/\/www.beatricevenezi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bv_BLOG_2026.09.18-La-cultura-come-identita-600x480.jpg",600,480,true],"loop":["https:\/\/www.beatricevenezi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bv_BLOG_2026.09.18-La-cultura-come-identita-810x320.jpg",810,320,true],"featured":["https:\/\/www.beatricevenezi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bv_BLOG_2026.09.18-La-cultura-come-identita-431x255.jpg",431,255,true],"featured@2x":["https:\/\/www.beatricevenezi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bv_BLOG_2026.09.18-La-cultura-come-identita.jpg",810,480,false],"featured-fixed":["https:\/\/www.beatricevenezi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bv_BLOG_2026.09.18-La-cultura-come-identita-431x265.jpg",431,265,true],"featured-fixed@2x":["https:\/\/www.beatricevenezi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bv_BLOG_2026.09.18-La-cultura-come-identita.jpg",810,480,false],"featured-wide":["https:\/\/www.beatricevenezi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bv_BLOG_2026.09.18-La-cultura-come-identita.jpg",810,480,false],"featured-cat":["https:\/\/www.beatricevenezi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bv_BLOG_2026.09.18-La-cultura-come-identita-256x167.jpg",256,167,true],"featured-cat@2x":["https:\/\/www.beatricevenezi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bv_BLOG_2026.09.18-La-cultura-come-identita-512x334.jpg",512,334,true],"single-featured":["https:\/\/www.beatricevenezi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bv_BLOG_2026.09.18-La-cultura-come-identita.jpg",810,480,false],"single-featured@2x":["https:\/\/www.beatricevenezi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bv_BLOG_2026.09.18-La-cultura-come-identita.jpg",810,480,false],"carousel":["https:\/\/www.beatricevenezi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bv_BLOG_2026.09.18-La-cultura-come-identita-276x180.jpg",276,180,true],"portfolio_item-thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.beatricevenezi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bv_BLOG_2026.09.18-La-cultura-come-identita.jpg",600,356,false],"portfolio_item-thumbnail@2x":["https:\/\/www.beatricevenezi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bv_BLOG_2026.09.18-La-cultura-come-identita.jpg",810,480,false],"portfolio_item-masonry":["https:\/\/www.beatricevenezi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bv_BLOG_2026.09.18-La-cultura-come-identita.jpg",600,356,false],"portfolio_item-masonry@2x":["https:\/\/www.beatricevenezi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bv_BLOG_2026.09.18-La-cultura-come-identita.jpg",810,480,false],"portfolio_item-thumbnail_cinema":["https:\/\/www.beatricevenezi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bv_BLOG_2026.09.18-La-cultura-come-identita.jpg",565,335,false],"portfolio_item-thumbnail_portrait":["https:\/\/www.beatricevenezi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bv_BLOG_2026.09.18-La-cultura-come-identita.jpg",600,356,false],"portfolio_item-thumbnail_portrait@2x":["https:\/\/www.beatricevenezi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bv_BLOG_2026.09.18-La-cultura-come-identita.jpg",810,480,false],"portfolio_item-thumbnail_square":["https:\/\/www.beatricevenezi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bv_BLOG_2026.09.18-La-cultura-come-identita.jpg",800,474,false]},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.beatricevenezi.it\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/bv_BLOG_2026.09.18-La-cultura-come-identita.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beatricevenezi.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beatricevenezi.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beatricevenezi.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beatricevenezi.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beatricevenezi.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9188"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beatricevenezi.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9188\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9189,"href":"https:\/\/www.beatricevenezi.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9188\/revisions\/9189"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beatricevenezi.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9163"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beatricevenezi.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beatricevenezi.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beatricevenezi.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}