Contemporary Classical Music, Environment, and Cultural Independence in Peru
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65296/rrh.5.1.50Keywords:
composition, contemporary classical music, cultural independence, musical canon, PeruAbstract
This article reflects on contemporary classical music in Peru through the relationship between artistic creation, social environment, and cultural independence. It argues that musical composition should not be understood solely as an individual activity, but as a social practice connected to performers, audiences, institutions, material conditions, and specific cultural traditions. Drawing on authors such as Howard Becker, William Weber, Nelson Manrique, Clara Petrozzi, Richard Taruskin, Georgina Born, and Danielle Fosler-Lussier, the article examines the influence of the European canon on Peruvian musical training and its potential effects of symbolic subordination when it becomes an absolute measure of artistic value. Without rejecting the Western classical tradition, the article proposes a critical relationship with it, grounded in Peru’s historical, institutional, and cultural conditions. It also analyzes the practical limitations faced by composers in a country marked by centralism, inequality, and institutional fragility, especially in relation to regional orchestras, chamber music, and audience development. Finally, the article suggests that cultural independence does not imply isolation or compulsory nationalism, but rather the ability to create from an awareness of one’s own environment, understanding local conditions as a starting point for a more integrated, sustainable, and meaningful musical scene.
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