ABSTRACT
A chronological glimpse into the territorial consolidation of the Greek state in the ‘lands of classical Greece’ is worth attempting. This chapter investigates the role of music in the ideological and military activity, especially during the nineteenth century. The Greek Revolution was the inspiration for Dionysios Solomos’s Hymn to Liberty, a long poem written in 1823 in Zante and published in 1825 in Missolonghi, which is considered the poet’s turning point towards the vernacular Greek language. Music as a component in the Greek school curriculum made its presence felt both in the suggestions made by Adamantios Korais and during the period of Ioannis Kapodistrias’s administration. Korais proposed the teaching of music in schools for reasons of aesthetic cultivation and because he believed in the power of music to form worthy citizens. Military bands had a decisive effect on the musical development of broader social strata beyond the barracks.
