Revolutionary Sounds on NPR from Petrie School of Music Dean

As the population of France celebrates Bastille Day, Miles Hoffman (Dean of the Petrie School of Music) utilizes his NPR “Morning Edition” commentary to take a guided tour of the musical scene in France before the revolution and during, as well as what the revolution changed and did not change, and how music was pressed into the revolutionary cause.

“The people who were in power were aristocrats or members of the upper middle class, and they didn’t necessarily have an allergy to high culture. They co-opted classical music. They inspired, or directed, important composers of the time to write great ceremonial pieces for big outdoor celebrations. So music became, in a sense, a tool of the revolution,” says Hoffman.

For more than two decades, NPR’s “Morning Edition” has prepared listeners for the day ahead with two hours of up-to-the-minute news, background analysis, commentary, and coverage of arts and sports. With nearly 13 million listeners, “Morning Edition” draws public radio’s largest audience.