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//__ European Music  __//

** The Expansive 20th Century European Musical Community 

Musicians and composers are always influential in society, as well as being influenced by society. This is evident in both the classical branch of music as well as in the rock branch. John Lennon greatly influenced the society of Europe and the world with his music, promoting peace during a time of wide-spread war. Stavinsky and Prokofiev also played essential roles in their society, creating compositions that influenced Russian people during a very important time in their history.

Stravinsky and Prokofiev, both coming out of a tsarist Russia that then went through the Bolshevik Revolution, and the World Wars, were strongly affected by those events; in turn, their compositions that arose from those occurrences swayed public opinion. These include Prokofiev's anti-Bolshevik cantata and Symphony No. 5, "War Sonatas." Russian music was used quite often by the government as propaganda.

European/World society also influenced John Lennon's music. Lennon composed many pieces intended to affect the views of the public, such as "War is Over (Happy Xmas)," "Imagine," and "Give Peace a Chance," intended to promote love, world peace, and life. He also spoke his mind during interviews and television shows that encouraged the same ideas. Lennon used the media as his weapon against war-prone governments' ideas, and gained many followers in Europe and around the world.

All these musicians gathered an avid following at some point, playing pivotal roles in 20th century European society. These examples of European music in the 20th century are exemplary of how musical culture can strongly affect society.  

** Igor Stravinsky and Sergei Prokofiev **

 ** John Lennon ** The Beatles