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    Cultural education and the canonA comparative analysis of the content of secondaryschool exams for music and art in England, France,

    Germany, and the Netherlands, 19902004

    Ton Bevers *Department for the Study of Arts and Culture, Erasmus University Rotterdam, P.O. Box 1935,

    NL-3000 DR Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Available online 2 November 2005

    Abstract

    Discussions about the cultural canon in the educational system relate to the debates on globalisation, the

    multicultural society, and the maintenance and protection of countries own national culture and language.

    In addition to cultural differences in the history of nations, it is assumed that two formal sociologicalcharacteristicsa countrys size and centrality in terms of core-periphery relationsalso contribute to a

    better understanding of the relation between culture, canon, and nationality: Large countries behave

    differently from small countries in the provision of education in art and music, in particular with respect to

    the cultural canon. The question papers on art and music of the secondary school exams in England, France,

    Germany, and the Netherlands were analysed over a period of 15 years (19902004). The presence of a

    cultural canon can be interpreted as the extent to which in the exam papers emphasis is put on the countrys

    own culture or the culture of others, on the past or on the present, on high or popular culture.

    Content analysis of the papers showed that Germany, France, and England give the most attention to their

    own culture, to the culture of the past, and to high culture. Germany and France do this to a greater extent

    than England. The Netherlands deviates in all three respects. Unlike large countries with a strong culturalpast and a dominant position in transnational cultural relations, a small country is inclined to watch and to

    follow the cultural centers in the world, and to emphasize and to join what is new instead of nourishing its

    own cultural past. National cultural values and repertoires, the cultural canon included, may be fruitfully

    understood as demonstrations of a core-periphery structure governing the transnational cultural exchange.

    # 2005 Published by Elsevier B.V.

    www.elsevier.com/locate/poetic

    Poetics 33 (2005) 388416

    * Tel.: +31 10 408 2445; fax: +31 10 408 9135.

    E-mail address: [email protected].

    0304-422X/$ see front matter # 2005 Published by Elsevier B.V.

    doi:10.1016/j.poetic.2005.09.008

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    1. Introduction

    Since the nineteen eighties, the study of social and cultural phenomena from a global

    perspective has developed rapidly with influential contributions by Wallerstein (1980, 1991),

    Robertson (1992), and Castells (1996). Globalisation refers not only to the increasinginterdependencies of human beings on a global scale, but also to the growing awareness among

    the population that the world has become a global society. Especially the cultural implications of

    globalisation attract the attention of sociologists and anthropologists (Featherstone, 1990; Crane,

    2002). One subject of debate is whether economic globalisation will lead towards cultural

    homogenisation (Ritzer, 1993) or rather towards cultural differentiation and more complexity

    (Hannerz, 1992). Another important field of study, labelled as cultural diversity and

    multiculturalism, deals with the effects of mobility and migration on local, regional, and

    national cultures. Furthermore, the centreperiphery model of thinking has been fruitfully

    applied on a global scale to the sociology of languages (de Swaan, 2001), translations (Heilbron,

    1999; Heilbron and Sapiro, 2002), literature (Casanova, 1999), and sports (Bottenburg, 2001).Although the classification of cultural goods, more specifically the canon, has long been a central

    theme of the sociology of art and culture, the research in this field until now was strongly oriented

    towards the national level (Bourdieu, 1979; Dowd et al., 2002; Hirsch, 1988) without any focus

    on a broader context of transnational hierarchies. In contrast to this empirical sociological

    tradition, the rise of Cultural Studies two decennia ago generated also a vast literature on the

    classification of cultural goods, but one that was more globally oriented, philosophically inspired,

    and politically engaged, as appears from its special attention towards the great divide between the

    cultures of the West and the Rest (Lewis, 2002; Sad, 1993). In the period of these culture wars,

    the cultural canon of the dominant western tradition in schools, universities, media, and other

    cultural institutions came seriously under attack (Wallis, 1999; Bryson, 2005).We combined the empirical approach of examining the classification of cultural goods with a

    transnational perspective: What happened with the cultural canon in the educational systemin

    particular in the subjects of music and art at secondary schoolsin a period in which national

    cultures in many fields were confronted with the blurring and crossing of boundaries?

    Music and art were chosen because far less attention has been given in studies of cultural

    identity and the national canon to these subjects than to literature and history, which are more

    explicitly focused on national topics (Phillips, 1998). The primary aims of education in music

    and art are not linked to teaching the national cultural heritage; all the more reason to choose

    these subjects and to find out what the content of this education is in terms of national orientation

    in an era of increased globalisation.

    Art and music, like drama and dance, are different to literature and history in yet another way.

    The cultural subjects have a lower status in the school curriculum: fewer hours are spent on

    cultural education and for most students art and music are not examination subjects. Only a very

    small number of students take an exam in one or more of the cultural subjects, as the figures for

    the four countries involved in the researchGermany, France, England, and the Netherlands

    show: the percentage of secondary school candidates who did a final exam in music in the period

    19902004 fluctuates between 1% and 3% and between 3% and 7% for the subject art. Many

    schools do not even offer music or art as an examination subject. On the other hand, we also know

    that in each of the four countries many schools want to create a distinct profile for themselves byaccentuating the cultural educational activities. The position of art and music as subjects of the

    educational program depends further on the type of school. It still is more likely for a gymnasium

    than for a school that gives technical and vocational training to 12- to 16-year-olds to provide

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    more opportunities to choose from subjects on arts and culture. It is not necessary to go more

    deeply into these educational characteristics, for the sociology of culture rather than the

    sociology of education was the main point of reference of this study. Neither the educational

    system nor any other school characteristic, it is our guess, can sufficiently explain what the state

    of the art is of the canon of musical and artistic reproduction at secondary schools in the fourdifferent European countries. The sociology of transnational cultural relations provides an

    alternative way to answer this question.

    2. The canon adrift

    In the aftermath of the social and cultural revolts of the nineteen sixties, advocates and

    opponents of the cultural canon have argued for more than 30 years about the content of

    education in language, history, and culture. The term canon relates to historical facts and

    cultural products in words, images, and sounds, selected by experts, that together constitute a

    framework of what is called a common culture or the culture legitime, asBourdieu (1979)callsit. Canons are social constructions made by critics and special institutions that operate as

    gatekeepers. Although canons are tenacious, they do change over time, mostly in slow motion. A

    canon functions as a standard in education and other fields, and determines what it is necessary to

    teach, to learn, and to know. A cultural canon is also used as a political instrument in the

    construction of a national cultural identity (Corse, 1997). Discussions about the canon blaze up

    regularly in periods of educational reform, from elementary schools to universities. For instance,

    in the United Kingdom, the proposals for a national curriculum for the subjects art and music

    were vehemently opposed by those who found the reform plans too conservative and too strongly

    a defence of the canonical tradition. The debates continued for years until the decision was taken

    by the UK Education Reform Act of 1988 to introduce the national curriculum.Another recent attack on the canonized culture took place about 15 years ago at the

    departments of language and literature at the American universities. This was known as the

    culture wars, a protest against the dominant western bias in theory and research on history,

    culture, and society (Bryson, 2005). The latest demonstration of a periodical revival of the

    discussion about the canon demonstrates the current reflection in Europe on the role of

    educational institutions in maintaining and reinforcing the national cultural identity in times of

    social, cultural, and political change under the influence of the process of European unification

    and a growing population of migrants within and from outside the European community. Besides

    the many debates in the mass media we could consider the national campaigns of the Ministries

    of Education and Culture for cultural education at school such as Le plan acinq ans 20002005

    in France, Creative Partnership 20032008 in Great Britain and Culture and School 2001

    2008 in the Netherlands.

    For an increasing part of the population, the world has become the new perspective from

    which people experience and look at their daily lives and those of others. This broadening of

    peoples horizons is attributed to the growth of contacts between people of different cultures and

    to the enormous increase in the number of products and ideas from all parts of the world.

    Globalisation causes existing certainties, durable institutions, and reliable classifications and

    hierarchies to be less taken for granted. According to this line of reasoning, the canon of the

    cultural subjects in educationliterature, music, art, and historyshould have becomesubjected to greater pressure. Some regard this as an advantage and a step in the right direction

    (Gorak, 2001; Levine, 1996; Pitts, 1998; Shepherd and Vulliamy, 1994); others consider it a loss

    and wish to stop further decline of the canonized cultural heritage (Bloom, 1994; Michaud, 1997;

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    Scruton, 1998; Doorman, 2004). Because of the national focus and the assumed national

    relevance of the canon, discussions about it remain mostly confined to the national media and a

    national audience. That this happens everywhere gives these discussions more than national

    relevance. Globalisation nourishes reflection on the role and significance of the canon in relation

    to the national cultural identity.Comparative empirical research should answer the question if and to what extent the cultural

    canons in different countries have come under pressure in their most important institution of

    cultural reproduction, national education. We expected that, because of globalisation, the cultural

    canon nowadays would have a less pronounced presence in the curricula of schools in West

    European countries. This, however, does not imply that the form, content, and pace of a declining

    classical canon are the same for all countries. What happens to the cultural canons of different

    nations in times of change depends highly on the social, economic, and cultural history of each

    country. The court tradition of France and its central role in the intellectual and literary life of

    Europe; Germanys musical past and Herders role of auctor intellectualis of the German

    Romantic tradition, which propagated nationalism as a cultural and political matter; Englandscontribution to the reputation of 20th-century popular culture and music: all these different

    national flagships and standard bearers have shaped and polished the cultural repertoires of these

    countries and have found their place in the national cultural canon. They have played their role in

    the canon construction and they will play their role in the canon de-construction, too. There is a

    direct link between the socio-economic and cultural history of each of the four countries and the

    content of the national cultural canon in the educational system, as the results of the research

    project will show below. In addition to this line of reasoning, we decided also to use a formal

    sociological perspective (Simmel, 1908) in this comparative study. Formal sociological

    characteristics, as Georg Simmel demonstrated in his magnum opus Soziologie, tell us much

    about the forms and dynamics of social interactions at micro and macro levels. A countrys sizeand centrality in the core-periphery structure are two of these formal sociological elements. On

    the basis of formal sociological arguments on the functions of these two characteristics, we

    expected that a small country would be more inclined to de-canonize its educational program

    than larger countries, for two reasons. First, a small country is in many ways, including culturally,

    strongly dependent on other countries, and, secondly, the cultural heritage of a small country

    seldom has an exemplary role for other countries, which means that small countries lack

    centrality. Take, for instance, the Netherlands: Available products of popular music are for 90%

    made abroad, while Dutch pop music is hardly an export article. Hollywood productions are

    responsible for 95% of the annual box-office receipts of Dutch cinemas, while Dutch movies that

    turn out to be box-office successes are seldom screened outside the country. Dutch visual art is

    always visible at Biennales, but hardly visible in the Biennale reviews of foreign art critics

    (Heilbron et al., 1995). Twenty-five percent of all published books in the Netherlands in 1990

    consisted of translations, against 10% in France, 12% in Germany, and less than 5% in the UK

    and the US (Heilbron, 1999). It is easier for countries with a weak presentation of their own

    cultural past to change the cultural canon in the educational system than for nations that have

    traditionally emphasized and fostered their national cultural heritage. The cultural flow is based

    on a core-periphery structure, which means an asymmetrical cultural exchange. Small countries

    can at least compensate for their position and the consequences of an uneven flow of cultural

    exchange by being proud of their cosmopolitan open-mindedness. This cosmopolitan mentality,however, is not part of a national character, but the consequence of a sociological configuration.

    Larger countries that once had or still have a dominant position in their region or even in the

    world are more conscious of their cultural role and reputation. Therefore, such countries adhere

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    more to their national cultural canon, although these countries also undergo the influences of

    globalisation. As net exporters in the field of culture, however, they are less inclined to absorb art

    and culture of the periphery in the curricula of their educational systems. Three large European

    countries and one small country were chosen to explore further these sociological expectations:

    England, France, Germany, and the Netherlands.International relations between states on a global scale and global networks of educational

    organisations have resulted in strongly similar agendas worldwide. Comparative research on

    educational systems in many countries has abundantly shown in what issues the national agendas

    have converged: the organisation and financing of education, the mechanisms of admission and

    selection, the effects of education on social stratification, the development of (national) curricula,

    the timetable, the qualifications, the exams, the pedagogical models, teaching methods and

    materials (Meyer et al., 1992). Far less comparative research has focused on the content of what is

    taught and learned at school. The content of this and changes in it are precisely what the canon is

    about. Of course, some important knowledge about the content of subjects is already available

    from international comparisons of the curricula, and we know that isomorphism of many aspectsof the educational system worldwide has consequences for the content of the subjects too

    (McEneaney and Meyer, 2000). There are good reasons for assuming that the form and content of

    educational programs all over the world incline to homogeneity. It might be said that a world

    curriculum system has come into being with the following central subjects in primary and

    secondary education: languages, mathematics, sciences, history, art, gymnastics, and religion/

    social science. Exams are part of this, and there is a tendency here too towards worldwide

    standardization (Bray and Steward, 1998; Cummings, 2003; Eckstein and Noah, 1993; Kamens

    and Cha, 1992; Keeves, 1994; Watson, 2001).

    Even more than the international comparative sociological research on education, the national

    trade journals for teachers in cultural subjects provide a useful source of information on whatsubstantial discussions were on the national agenda of a country during a given period. This

    research project started therefore with a pilot study, involving a content analysis of five volumes

    (19962000) of the main trade journals for music teachers in the four countries. The aim was to

    explore the national orientation of these journals in an era of increased globalisation (see

    Appendix A) and, secondly, to find out the main issues these professionals were concerned about.

    Browsing through these volumes we found the following three items that featured on the agenda

    with varying attention and intensity in each of the countries during these years: (1) How much

    attention should be given to own national culture versus the culture of others in cultural

    education? The culture of others refers not to the more or less shared culture of neighbouring

    countries but culture of non-western origin. (2) How much attention should be given to culture

    from the past versus that of the present? (3) How much attention should be given to classical

    culture versus popular culture?

    These three items are useful as operational elements of what we mean when we refer to the

    term canon. The answers of these three core questions help us to get a better understanding of

    how and to what extent and which canon manifests itself in the subjects music and art at schools.

    There are many canons, at different levels, ranging from local, regional, and national to the

    international and even the global level. There are also canons from different periods, for instance,

    the canon of ancient music versus the canon of contemporary music, and, of course, in different

    fields of cultural production like classical music or popular music. Canons also relate to differentcontexts: The undergraduate university canon of 20th-century visual arts is probably not the same

    as the secondary school canon of modern visual arts. Canonization and de-canonization are

    formalsociological processes, but thecontentof canons is affected by their purpose and context.

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    In order to be able to discover a canon in each of the three dimensions, it was necessary to

    determine which composers and visual artists from which historical periods and genres are

    represented in the curricula of art and music of secondary schools in each of the four countries.

    The results will show us the extent to which emphasis is put on a countrys own culture or the

    culture of others, on the past or on the present, on high or popular culture. In addition to theseresearch questions on the canon of music and visual arts in the school curriculum another element

    of the canon will be discussed, the hierarchy of reputations. How much attention is given to which

    composers and artists in each of the four countries? The answer to this question will show us the

    national rankings. A comparison of these ranking lists makes it possible to create a new one: A

    European hierarchy of canonized composers and artists, at least in the exams of secondary

    schools in the four countries involved in this research.

    The main purpose of this study was to get a better understanding of the differences in form and

    content of the cultural canons of art and music education in schools in three large countries with a

    central position and one small country with a peripheral position in the European Union. The

    main research questions were the following: In what way and to what extent is emphasis put on acountrys own culture or the culture of others, on the past or on the present, on high or popular

    culture? How much attention is given to which composers and artists in each of the four

    countries? In other words, what is the national top-10 of canonized composers and artists in the

    different countries? And do these four national ranking lists tell us more about the existence of a

    European canon? The results of this explorative research were interpreted in the context of the

    national historical and cultural differences between the countries involved and with reference to

    the formal sociological theory of centre-periphery relations.

    The structure of the article is as follows: In Section3, attention is given to methodological

    issues: the exams used for data collection, the database, and the chosen variables. In Section 4, the

    results of the national comparisons made on the basis of the three main questions are shown anddiscussed. In Section4.1.1, the attention given to a countrys own culture versus the culture of

    others is presented. Section4.1.2shows the attention given to the cultural past and present, while

    Section4.1.3considers the attention given to high versus popular culture. In Section 4.2, the

    canonical hierarchy of composers and artists in each of the four countries (the national top-10) is

    presented, followed by the makings of a European canonical hierarchy of composers and artists

    (the European top-10) in Section4.3.

    3. Methodology

    3.1. The exams as source of research

    There are different ways to investigate if and to what extent the content of the subjects of

    music and art are oriented towards the national cultural highlights of a prestigious past. One way

    of doing this is to look at the official documents in which the primary objectives and the subject

    matter are fully described and determined. No matter how important and necessary these

    documents are as frameworks for defining the content of the education, these sources are

    insufficiently detailed to answer to our three research questions. Textbooks offer substantially

    more information about the content of education in music and art. The problem with textbooks,

    however, is that many different titles are in circulation and no one knows exactly if and howteachers actually use this teaching material. A third method of investigation is to look at the

    content of the question papers of the examinations for art and music. These papers contain

    specific information about composers, artists, works, periods, and origin. Furthermore, the

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    content of these papers is the result of a conscious choice made by experts and indicates pre-

    eminently what every student should know and be able to.

    If and to what extent the examinations refer to canonical items is easy to determine by listing

    the content of every single question. An additional advantage of this method is that all students

    are presented with the same questions. Finally, this source offers the opportunity to find outsomething more about the hidden pedagogy of the cultural education. The compilers of the

    papers aim primarily at testing students knowledge and skills, and do this by presenting or

    asking for examples from a wide range of composers and artists and their works, but no rule

    prescribes that the compilers must select a particular person or piece of art. It is possible that

    experts, by making choices, put unintentional accents, for instance, on national examples. If a

    pattern were to become visible from an analysis of these choices made over a period of years, the

    conclusion might be that a hidden pedagogy exists.

    For these reasons the content of the questions papers of the examinations on art and music was

    used as the main source for this research project.

    3.2. Data collection

    The data used for this research came from the annual central written exams of May/June over

    the years 19902004 for the subjects art and music at secondary schools in Germany

    (Gymnasium), France (Lycee/Baccalaureat), England (GCE-A(S) levels), and the Netherlands

    (vmbo/mavo; havo/vwo). In France and the Netherlands, national commissions annually compile

    the central exams. In Germany, 6 of the 16 federal states have central exams: Bayern, Thu ringen

    (from 1995 for music and from 1998 for visual arts), Sachsen (from 1994), Saarland (from 1993

    for visual arts), Baden-Wurttemberg, and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (from 1995 for music and

    from 1997 for visual arts). The central exams of the six federal states mentioned here wereincluded in the research. In England (excluding Wales and Northern Ireland), three examining

    bodies are responsible for the production, distribution, and assessment of the national exams:

    Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA) in Manchester, Oxford Cambridge and RSA

    Examinations (OCR) in Cambridge, and Educational Excellence/London Examinations

    (EDEXCEL) in London. Schools are free to choose for every subject the exams and

    accompanying teaching materials of one of these three organisations. Data were collected from

    the exams of each of the three examining bodies. The AQA question papers of 1991 for music and

    of 2001 for art, the EDEXCEL exams of 1998 and 2000 for art are missing, and the OCR question

    papers of 1991 and 2001 for art were missing. Because of the large dataset of the English exams

    due to the system of three examination boards, the lack of a few papers had no serious

    consequences for the analysis of the research material or for the results.

    The secondary school systems in the four countries have different types of school with

    different exams. Within a type of school, the subjects of music and art may be further subdivided

    into different options with separate exams. Consider the subject Art and Design in England,

    which counts more than 20 different courses and an equal number of exams. Differences in exams

    depend also on the distinction between compulsory and optional subjects. A further complicating

    factor has to do with major changes of the design and the content of the exams that occurred

    during the period 19902004. This was the case in England and the Netherlands. All these

    differences and complications were taken into account in the final selection of the papers in orderto make the comparability of the basic data as high as possible. The selected exams were of the

    same level, with the exception of one of the Dutch exams, and comparable with A-levels in the

    UK, meant for students preparing for higher education. The Dutch exams also included papers of

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    lower secondary general or professional education (vmbo; vbo-mavo), but we did not find

    significant differences here on the relevant variables compared to the exams at A-level, the higher

    general and pre-university education (havo; vwo). The papers of the written exams that dealt with

    reflection, analysis, interpretation, and knowledge of the history of music and art were selected.

    In some exams, such questions were related to other assignments such as making a piece of art orcomposing and listening tests. Each times the name of a composer/artist or an identifiable work

    was mentioned this information was inserted in the database. The content of oral parts of exams,

    based on lists of set works, was also included in the database. This was only the case in the French

    exams on music.

    3.3. Variables

    The following information was copied or retrieved from the content of each question in a

    particular paper and put in a database with the following list of variables:

    - Name of composer/visual artist

    - Nationality of composer/artist, work, or style

    - Period

    - Title of work

    - Subject (music or art)

    - Discipline (classical; jazz; entertainment; pop; world music; painting; sculpture; architecture;

    design; photography; etcetera)

    - Year of exam

    - Country of exam

    - Type/level of exam

    For every composer/artist that was mentioned in the same question a particular item was

    created. We disregarded questions in the papers that did not contain any information about a

    composer/artist or his or her work nor made any reference to a geographical origin. If only the

    name of a work or a style and the place of origin, but not the name of a composer/artist was

    mentioned in a question, for instance, only German Song, French Opera, or Arts and Craft

    Movement, an item was made in which the value not applicable was used instead of the name

    of composer/artist, and information about the other variables was put in. Occasionally, the

    composers name was not mentioned in the listening part of the exam or in questions in which

    only an excerpt of a particular composition was presented. If in that case another indication like a

    title or an opus number was available, the name of the composer was tracked.

    The data collection resulted in a dataset of 7082 items. Appendix Bpresents an overview of

    the different types of exams from which the data were collected.

    4. Results

    4.1. The three research questions

    4.1.1. Attention given to countrys own culture versus the culture of othersThe first question to be answered was the following: How much attention is given to own

    national culture versus the culture of others in the art and music examinations? The assumption

    was that the amounts of attention given to a countrys own culture is an indicator of the strength of

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    the national cultural canon. It was also assumed that large countries with a dominant cultural

    position would emphasize their culture more than smaller ones with a weaker position in the

    cultural field.

    The main finding shown inTable 1is the predominant attention given by the four countries to

    their own national cultures. As the percentages in the last row ofTable 1show, in each of the fourcountries, one quarter to one-third of all items was devoted to the national culture.

    All percentages of items referring to the culture of any other country in the world were

    substantially lower. There were two exceptions to this general outcome. France and the

    Netherlands paid more attention to music from other countries. In the French exams, music from

    Austria (Viennese Classicism) accounted for 30.9% of all items on music against 20.6% devoted

    to French music. The percentage of items on the Dutch musical heritage in the exams of the

    Netherlands was remarkably low, although perhaps not so remarkable considering the total or

    nearly total lack of references to Dutch music in the exams of the other three countries, asTable 3

    shows. Dutch composers, Sweelinck and his contemporaries excluded, apparently contributed

    little to the musical heritage in the view of the examining bodies.Germany gave almost twice as much attention to its own music as England and France.

    Considering the dominant contribution of Germany to the European music culture, this result is

    not surprising. For the same reason, it is unremarkable that France showed the highest percentage

    of items devoted to its own visual art. However, because Germany also gave priority to its own

    visual art, it was concluded that Germany is the most nationally oriented country.

    In general, the results shown inTable 1give support to the assumption that a kind of a hidden

    pedagogy exists, because in none of the four countries is the amount of attention to be given to the

    national culture prescribed. Questions about a countrys own culture, though, may not always be

    interpreted as hidden pedagogical signals. Focus on a region or country is sometimes the

    conscious choice of the examining body. For instance, in the English exams (OCR) on music,

    parts of the paper are focused on Music in England 15751630 or Music in France 18901930

    or Nationalism in early 20th century music 18901950. In the German federal state Sachsen,

    attention for the Saxon musical tradition is emphatically mentioned in the curriculum. But the

    general rule in the four countries is that exam candidates demonstrate knowledge and

    understanding of art or music from early modern times to the present in selected areas of study,

    making connections across time and/or western or non-western cultures and using relevant

    vocabularies of art or music. A further elaboration of the subject matter (with set works for music

    in France, England, and Germany (Bayern) is presented in the annual specifications of the

    curriculum (England: Specifications GCE; Germany: Lehrplane-Richtlinien; France: Pro-grammes Enseignements artistiques. Collection Lycee, classe terminale; The Netherlands:

    leerplannen). These specifications are available on the websites of the ministries of education of

    the four countries. An additional point of reference taken into account in each of the four

    T. Bevers / Poetics 33 (2005) 388416396

    Table 1

    Percentage of items devoted to own national art and music in the papers on art and music for secondary schools in four

    European countries from 1990 to 2004

    Germany England France The Netherlands

    Percentage N Percentage N Percentage N Percentage N

    National music 37.3 150 20.5 316 20.6 28 9.3 25

    National art 39.2 186 29.2 939 43.2 104 32.5 253

    National music and art 38.4 336 26.3 1255 35.0 132 26.5 278

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    countries is the European culture since the Council of Europe in 1988 resolved that European

    examples should be used in education on the western cultural heritage. The Council resolution

    invites the Community and Member States to include the European dimension explicitly in

    their school curricula in all appropriate disciplines, for example literature, languages, history,

    geography, social sciences, economics and the arts (Resolution 88/c 17702, 24 May 1988).When a particular culture has produced something that is typical of that culture, we expected

    questions on it at least or even exclusively in the exams of that particular region or country.

    Examples are questions about the composer Hans Eisler that only occurred in the exams of the

    former DDR provinces or about the wood-carver Riemenschneider, who was mentioned

    exclusively in Baden-Wurttemberg, his native region. An example in the English exams is the

    posing of questions about the popular vernacular hymn which is a style developed within the

    Anglican Church as an alternative to the Roman Catholic tradition of the polyphony and which is

    abundantly present in the late Romantic music of Elgar, Holst, and Vaughan Williams (Scruton,

    2001, pp. 104 and 108), composers who were only named in the English papers. Also, when a

    Dutch artist or work of art was cited in exams in the Netherlands a typical piece of Dutch culturewas sometimes conveyed, for instance, the question about Jurriaan Andriessens composition

    Variations on In Holland staat een huis or Cow and violin by the composer Jan Bus. No

    examples of national orientation were found in the other countries that were so overt and direct as

    in the English exams; for example, Which two British buildings are the most significant in the

    late twentieth century? (1999 OCR. Art and Design); What aspects of the work of Hogarth and

    Gainsborough could be considered to be typically British? (OCR 2000. Art and Design); How

    insular were English composers of this period? (18901939) (1993 AQA); Write an essay on

    two contemporary British composers who will be as famous over hundred years as Mendelssohn

    and Brahms are nowadays. (1998 A-level AQA). Asked to mount an exhibition of Classic

    British Product Design, which five products would you select, and why? (1994 AS-level AQA).Germany, England, and France represent three dominant cultures in the Western tradition of

    art and music. In contrast to these countries, the Netherlands takes a semi-peripheral position in

    European culture. Part of the question about the central role of the national culture in the

    examinations of the four countries was the additional question of how much attention is given to

    each others culture.

    Table 2presents the amount of reciprocity of attention among the four countries as found in

    the content of the papers on art and music. Some of the results are not surprising, for instance, the

    general recognition of the French contribution to the visual arts and of Germanys role as a

    leading nation in the field of music; neither are the very low levels of attention paid by Germany,

    France, and England to the Dutch world of art and music. These findings confirm the sociological

    theory of asymmetrical relations of cultural exchange between centre and periphery. In the

    opinion of examination boards in France and Germany, England has not carried much weight in

    the world of music and art. Compare, for instance, the asymmetry between the English emphasis

    on English music (20.5%) with the German (5.2%) and French (2.9%) devotion to English music.

    In the Netherlands, the percentage of items devoted to English music was substantially higher,

    but only with regard to pop music. The appreciation of the French visual arts in the other

    countries remains far behind the French appreciation of French art. Strong nations, obviously,

    overestimate their own national culture as seen through the eyes of the others. At the same time

    they are aware of the changing conditions that have undermined their position and reputation asin the case of France was demonstrated in a national report of the French government on the

    waning international role of the French visual arts in the world since the nineteen eighties

    (Quemin, 2001).

    T. Bevers / Poetics 33 (2005) 388416 397

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    The German contribution to the great tradition of western music is recognized in England,

    France, and the Netherlands, yet their appreciation of the Austrian composers is higher still. Only

    Germany put its own composers before the Austrians. In three of the six German federal states,

    not a single question about music from the USA was included, and in two of the remaining three

    federal states no more than one or two items were devoted to American music throughout the

    whole period of 15 years. Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is an exception with 12% of its items

    devoted to American music, as opposed to 1.5% dedicated to Russian music. This former EastGerman federal state also gave twice as much attention to music from England as the other five

    federal states.

    France and England showed a preference for their own musical traditions by devoting many

    more items to these than to German music. Germany and Austria together accounted for as much

    as 64.7% of all items on music in the German exams, 44.1% in France, and 26.7% (the lowest

    percentage) in the Netherlands.

    With regard to the national dimension in the exams on art, it was clear from the French

    examinations that, from the French point of view, there are only two centers of art in the world:

    the French and the American art worlds. Germany gave relatively more attention to its own art

    than might be expected considering its contribution to the history of art in a broader perspective.

    In any case, England, France, and the Netherlands devoted a considerably smaller number of

    items to German art than did Germany itself. Of the four countries, Germany had the most

    nationally oriented exams on music and art.

    The relatively high percentages of items devoted to Italian art in the English and Dutch exams

    refer to the art and artists of the Renaissance.

    Traditionally, art styles and geographic origin were always strongly connected, especially in

    the era of nationalism and the birth of the nation-state. This led to the assumption that a countrys

    emphasis on its own culture would be stronger with respect to art from the past than to

    contemporary art that is global and at the same time highly individualistic and characterized by alack of style. The opposite assumption, however, makes sense too. The absence of an obviously

    national or international style could explain the stronger emphasis in the exams on a countrys

    own artists. The increased uncertainty of taste and the plurality of styles in contemporary art have

    T. Bevers / Poetics 33 (2005) 388416398

    Table 2

    Percentage of items devoted to own and each others national art and music in the papers on art and music for secondary

    schools in four European countries from 1990 to 2004 (percentages in bold are references to own national art and music)

    References to nationality Germany England France The Netherlands

    Music Art Music Art Music Art Music Art

    Germany 37.3 39.2 18.3 7.1 13.2 8.7 11.5 8.0

    England 5.2 4.6 20.3 29.2 2.9 3.7 15.6 6.8

    France 5.0 17.7 8.8 15.6 20.6 43.2 8.9 15.4

    The Netherlands 5.5 1.0 3.8 3.3 9.3 32.5

    Austria 27.4 0.6 18.7 0.7 30.9 1.7 15.2 1.9

    Italy 6.2 6.8 10.9 16.9 5.9 4.6 4.1 10.8

    Spain 4.0 0.3 3.4 1.5 7.1 0.4 2.8

    Russia 4.5 1.1 6.3 0.7 2.9 0.4 4.4 1.5

    USA 2.5 8.9 7.5 7.1 5.1 19.9 17.0 9.5

    Others 11.9 11.6 7.9 15.5 17.0 7.5 13.6 9.8

    Total Nitems 402 474 1560 3220 136 241 270 779

    Cramers V = .195 (music); Cramers V = .314 (art).

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    slowed down the canonization. In such situations, it is easier for national examining bodies to fall

    back on the countrys own art that is not so different and is, therefore, as good as art from

    anywhere else. A possible additional explanation is that, as a consequence of a strong national

    tradition of subsidizing the arts after 1950, the local, regional, and national visibility and

    reputation of professional art and artists have increased enormously, making a focus on own art inthe papers more reasonable. If it is true that the national cultural policy affects the content of the

    exams in this way, this might be interpreted as a sign of a hidden pedagogy.

    One could raise the question whether the attention given to countries own culture changed in the

    years between 1990 and 2004. Analysis of the data did not give a clear answer to that question. A

    trend is not convincingly visible throughout the period of the last 15 years. This confirms the notion

    of stability attributed to the educational system in general and to examinations in particular. The

    content of the curricula becomes slowly but surely institutionalized, and the same holds for the

    process of change. Differences in the content of the exams between the countries are mainly due to

    the changing history and position of each country, in particular in the network of transnational

    relations. AsTable 2shows, these differencesbetweencountries with respect to the papers on artand music are more visible than differences that take place over time within the national educational

    institutions, as shown in the table in Appendix C.

    A third aspect of the research question was the role of non-Western items in the national

    exams. Western culture includes art and music from European countries, the United States,

    Canada, and Australia. Apart from some general questions about differences between Western

    and non-Western art and music or the influences of non-Western cultures on Western culture

    remarkably, always this one-way approachvery few items were found in the papers which

    referred to a particular artist or work of art from non-Western areas, as Table 3shows.

    Only 4.3% of the total number of items specifically referred to non-Western art and music. The

    relatively high number of items on non-Western culture found in the English examinationsconcerned for 75% items on archaeological and ancient art (and architecture), which is

    structurally a substantial part of the annual papers on Art and Design of two of the three

    examining bodies (EDEXCEL and AQA).

    From these findings it may be concluded, on the one hand, that those who are concerned about

    the decliningposition of Western culture in thenational examinations aretoopessimisticand, on the

    other, that the protagonists and propagandists of cultural relativism up until now have been less

    influential in reforming the content of the exams than might generally be thought. A second

    conclusion is that throughout the period 19902004, in which the debates on multiculturalism in the

    four countries were intensified and expanded, the content of the papers remained much the same.

    4.1.2. The past and the present in the question papers

    My second question concerned the balance between the past and the present in the papers.

    Table 4shows that, with respect to music, the period 17001850that is, the canon of Western

    T. Bevers / Poetics 33 (2005) 388416 399

    Table 3

    Percentage of items devoted to Western and non-Western art and music in the papers on art and music for secondary

    schools in four European countries from 1990 to 2004

    References to nationality Germany England France The Netherlands

    The West 99.4 94.2 98.9 98.2The rest 0.6 5.7 1.1 1.8

    Total N items 876 4780 377 1049

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    music with Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, and Schumann as leading composers

    held a dominant position in the papers in Germany, England, and France, but a much weaker andno longer dominant position in the Netherlands. The high percentage (44.8%) of items devoted to

    music composed after 1950 in the Dutch exams concerns pop music. With respect to art, the

    highest percentages of items (for Germany and England) were concentrated in the period 1850

    1950, when France was the centre of European art, and in the period 19502004 for France and

    the Netherlands, two countries with a strong cultural policy of supporting contemporary visual

    artists.

    The cultural past was given the least attention in the Dutch exams compared to the exams of

    the other countries. This observation fits with the results of a European research on education in

    history, which found that interest in history is the lowest among young people in the Netherlands

    (Onderwijsraad, 2005, p. 23). The question is whether this observation is typically Dutch or morea characteristic of small countries.

    The spread of the items over historical periods depends, among other things, on the agreements

    made about the material for the exam. These agreements proved to be the same in the four countries,

    and imply that the modern time, the 19th and 20th centuries, should be accentuated and that earlier

    periods of history should mainly be used in the exams as an instrument to explain later

    developments and not as objects of knowledge in their own right. In the music exams, the three large

    countries put emphasis on the period of the Viennese Classics, 17501850. In the exams on visual

    arts, the period 18501950 was given most attention in Germany and England, whereas the French

    exams emphasized the period after 1950. In the Netherlands, the highest percentages of items both

    for music and art were found in the period after 1950.

    Canonization takes time. Therefore, the more attention is given to the cultural past in the

    exams, the stronger the evidence that a cultural canon exists. The conclusion is that the music and

    art exams are more canonized in the three large countries than in the Netherlands.

    Two of the three research questions on the content of the exams on music and art have now

    been answered.Tables 2 and 4have shown that countries with a dominant cultural position

    Germany, France, and Englandpaid significantly more attention to their own culture and

    cultural past than a small country with a culturally marginal position. It is interesting to look more

    in detail to what happens with the results ofTable 2(attention given to countrys own culture and

    culture of others) when the same analysis has been made for each of the historical periodsmentioned inTable 4. The results of this analysis are presented inAppendix D.The comparison

    of the marginal association ofTable 2 with the partial associations for each of the historical

    periods leads for instance to the following conclusion. The inclination of each of the four

    T. Bevers / Poetics 33 (2005) 388416400

    Table 4

    Percentage of items on art and music related to historical periods in the papers on art and music for secondary schools in

    four European countries from 1990 to 2004 (the highest percentages are in bold)

    Reference to period Germany England France The Netherlands

    Music Art Music Art Music Art Music Art

    >1500 7.5 21.9 6.6 31.8 2.9 2.1 4.8 8.6

    15001700 4.5 5.1 11.9 8.9 3.7 1.2 4.1 5.1

    17001850 46.8 3.8 35.9 11.9 55.2 2.9 25.9 6.7

    18501950 28.6 45.4 32.1 32.9 24.3 44.0 20.4 35.0

    19502004 12.7 23.8 13.5 14.5 16.9 49.8 44.8 44.5

    Total Nitems 402 474 1560 3220 136 241 270 779

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    examining bodies to give more attention to their own musical tradition is veiled by the high

    attention given to the Austrian composers of the period 17001850.

    4.1.3. High versus popular culture in the question papers

    My third question was connected with the discussion about the role of popular culture in thecurriculum and the exams on music and art in secondary schools. Below, only an answer for the

    subject music is reported. What is the proportion of attention given in the papers to classical

    versus popular music?

    Considering the enormous expansion of music in the second half of the 20th century,

    especially in the field of entertainment, jazz, popular music, and world music, it is reasonable to

    expect to find a reflection of this development in the exams throughout the period 19902004.

    The analysis of items on music after 1950 showed (seeTable 5) that in Germany and France,

    the lions share of all items devoted to music after 1950 was reserved for classical music, from

    time immemorial the canonized music. The process of de-canonization of classical music was

    less visible in the exams in these countries than in England and the Netherlands. Items on popularmusic in the German exams turned up only in the papers of the former East German federal state

    of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the most Anglo-Saxon-oriented state of Germany. England and

    the USA are the cradles of many popular music varieties that were proliferated worldwide during

    the 20th century. In the transnational exchange of cultural products, the Netherlands was found to

    be the most receptive of the four countries of Anglo-Saxon popular music. In the Dutch exams,

    the highest proportion of items on music after 1950 proved to be dedicated to popular music. This

    country is probably the first in Europe that has implemented such significant changes in the

    content of the national exams on music. Although the canon of classical music is still present in

    the Dutch exams, the balance has been changed in favor of popular music. Is this an isolated

    phenomenon or are the Dutch exams the heralds of a creeping process of de-canonization of

    classical music that is already taking place in many countries in and outside Europe? The latter

    assumption is more plausible. First, in many countries, including France, Germany, and England,

    the canon is controversial, not only because of its present content, but also because of the idea of

    having a canon as such. Second, popular music has long been accepted as part of the music

    curriculum in many countries worldwide. Third, in the exams in France, Germany, and England,

    while the number of items devoted to popular music is modest, some questions on the subject are,

    nevertheless, posed. Therefore, the conclusion is justified that the process of de-canonization of

    classical music will continue at a varying pace within and between countries. In other words, the

    cultural classification systems, and the canons as an example of these, will become moredemocratic, more market-oriented, and more differentiated (Janssen, 1999).

    T. Bevers / Poetics 33 (2005) 388416 401

    Table 5

    Percentage of items on music after 1950 devoted to different music styles in the papers on music for secondary schools in

    four European countries from 1990 to 2004 (the highest percentages for each country are in bold)

    Reference to styles Germany England France The Netherlands

    Classical 66.7 46.4 82.6 14.0

    Jazz 4.3 4.3 3.3

    Entertainment 7.8 19.0 4.3 26.4

    Pop 25.5 13.3 47.9

    World music 14.7 8.7 8.3

    Total N items 51 211 23 121

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    Content analysis of the exams on art and music has shown that the three dominant cultures in

    EuropeGermany, France, and Englandare much more strongly devoted to their own culture,

    to the culture of the past, and to high culture than a small country like the Netherlands. It was not

    our aim, however, that the research analysis and the interpretation of the results have a one-sided

    focus on the formal sociological difference between large and small countries. It is possible thatcultural contexts and formal sociological factors strengthen each others role in explaining the

    different contents of the exams of the countries involved. For instance, the German exams

    showed the highest attention for the canonized culture of the past. This finding corresponds with

    the reputation of Germany as a nation that historically put emphasis on national Bildung and

    Kultur(Herder) instead of on political and state affairs, from which the bourgeois were excluded

    for such a long time in the process of state formation (Elias, 1992). In the French and German

    exams very little attention is given to music and art from England and the USA. This outcome

    reflects the GermanFrench connection in fostering and supporting the European cultural and

    intellectual tradition against the popular and commercial products of the Anglo-American world.

    Since World War II, the Netherlands has been one of the most loyal members in the TransatlanticAlliance and more oriented towards the Anglo-American culture (popular music, film, language,

    and literature) than towards the French or German cultural world. Nearly 80% of items in the

    Dutch exams on music after 1950 were devoted to Anglo-American genres (jazz, entertainment,

    pop music).

    Other convergences and divergences in the exams of the four countries should be further

    compared and explained by the socio-economic climate, the diversity of cultural repertoires

    (Lamont, 1992) and the historical and actual role played by the state and the market in these

    societies. It is, however, beyond the aim of this article to elaborate more on these issues.

    4.2. A canonical hierarchy of composers and artists

    In addition to the above analysis that was concentrated on the inclusiveness/exclusiveness of

    the exams with respect to nationality, period and genre of music and art, we now want to know

    more about the persons involved in the question papers. This is another element of the canon, the

    rank positions of composers and artists in the exams. Who are chosen and how frequently? The

    answer to these questions will show us the national rankings, the top-10 lists.

    4.2.1. Rank positions of composers and artists in the national exams

    How to create a top-10? This is a methodological question that can be answered in different

    ways. For his bookHuman Accomplishment. The Pursuit of Excellence in the Arts and Sciences,

    800 B.C. to 1950, published in 2004, Charles Murray selected 166 standard works and

    encyclopedias and listed the frequencies of the persons mentioned in these sources. A person was

    selected if his name showed up in at least half of the referred works. An index was then

    constructed with a range between 0 and 100. Murrays world top-three composers proved to be

    Beethoven, Bach, and Mozart and the top-three-ranking visual artists were Michelangelo,

    Picasso, and Raphael. Unfortunately, however, Murray did not compare his final world-ranking

    list with the rankings of the worlds most excellent persons ever, based on the national geographic

    origin of the referred works. Does it matter for the hierarchy of top rankings if an encyclopedia on

    music is an Italian edition or if a standard work on the history of art is edited and published inFrance? Our assumption was that it does matter.

    Top-10 lists of composers and artists mentioned in the exams were constructed for each of the

    four countries in this study. The ranking positions were based on the percentages of items devoted

    T. Bevers / Poetics 33 (2005) 388416402

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    to a composer/artist in the central exams of a country throughout the period 19902004. A

    composer/artist was selected if at least 2% of the total number of items was devoted to his music

    or art. An additional criterion for Germany was that a composer/artist must appear in the exams of

    at least three out of the six federals states and, for England that a composer/artist must appear in at

    least two out of the three exams of the examining bodies.The composers in the top-10s of the exams of the four countries were found to be mainly the

    same as shown inTable 6. These are the Austrian and German composers of the 18th century and

    the early 19th century: Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Haydn, and Schubert.

    A remarkable finding was that the 2% criterion was achieved very quickly in the four

    countries. In England, no more than 10 (3.9%) out of 252 composers mentioned in the papers met

    the 2% criterion; in Germany, 11 (10.6%) out of 103; in France, 15 (26.3%) out of 57; and in the

    Netherlands, only 5 (2.9%) out of 172 composers qualified for a top-ranking position. It is clear

    that a large group of composers, including very famous ones, appeared only a few times in the last

    15 years in the papers on music. The findings were much the same in the four countries. Fig. 1

    shows a landscape with few peaks, no plateaus, and vast lowland. France and Germany show the

    highest peaks, suggesting greater dedication to the canonical works in the music exams than

    England and the Netherlands. The same figure is presented for the visual arts (seeFig. 2).

    The treasury of the cultural past and present is an inexhaustible source out of which the

    examining bodies can make their choices year after year. We found that, in dealing with this

    abundance of cultural supply, those who choose the content of the exams in the four countries

    converge in making selections at the top and diverge in choosing items from the rest. This

    explains the lack of a strong middle level between top and bottom of the rank positions or, in other

    words, the results support the theory of winner gets all.

    Some further results are presented that deal with the transnational relations between the fourcountries involved. Nine out of the 11 composers with the highest rankings in the German exams

    were Austrian or German, with the German composer Bach in the first position. The two

    remaining composers, Strawinsky and Debussy, came from Russia and France, although it is well

    T. Bevers / Poetics 33 (2005) 388416 403

    Table 6

    Rank positions in the 19902004 secondary school exams in four countries of composers with at least 2% of the total

    number of exam items devoted to their work

    Germany Percentage England Percentage France Percentage The Netherlands Percentage

    Bach 9.8 Bach 6.7 Mozart 9.7 Mozart 6.8Beethoven 7.1 Haydn 4.5 Haydn 7.5 Bach 4.1

    Mozart 6.6 Beethoven 4.3 Schubert 7.5 Haydn 3.0

    Schubert 6.1 Mozart 3.8 Schumann 7.5 Schubert 2.3

    Schumann 4.0 Handel 2.9 Chopin 5.2 Beethoven 2.3

    Brahms 3.4 Schubert 2.8 Beethoven 4.5

    Haydn 2.6 Strawinsky 2.5 Bach 3.0

    Debussy 2.6 Brahms 2.3 Ravel 3.0

    Mendelssohn 2.4 Schumann 2.1 Debussy 2.2

    Wagner 2.1 Debussy 2.0 Handel 2.2

    Strawinsky 2.1 Brahms 2.2

    Cage 2.2

    Berlioz 2.2Berio 2.2

    Ligeti 2.2

    Total N items 378 1454 134 266

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    known that Strawinskys reputation was established in Paris. The presence of only these two

    20th-century composers in the German top-10 is revealing. The top-ranking positions of

    composers in the English exams did not deviate much from the hierarchy in Germany. The high

    position of Handel in the English music exams is not surprising. The English regard his

    Halleluja from the oratorioThe Messiahas their second national anthem, if the philosopher and

    musicologist Roger Scruton is to be believed (Scruton, 2001,p. 224). Strawinsky and Debussy

    were also the highest-ranked composers of the 20th century in England. In the French exams, thesame Austrian and German composers as in Germany and England occupied the highest

    positions, but with Ravel, Debussy, and Berlioz also three national composers were represented

    in the top-10 in France, although Chopin might be added to the French composers because of his

    enormous success during his stay in Paris. With Cage, Berio, and Ligeti in addition to Ravel and

    T. Bevers / Poetics 33 (2005) 388416404

    Fig. 1. Rank positions of composers based on number of items (%) devoted to their works in the 19902004 papers on

    music for secondary schools in four European countries.

    Fig. 2. Rank positions of artists based on number of items (%) devoted to their works in the 19902004 papers on art for

    secondary schools in four European countries.

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    Debussy, the number of modern composers at the top of the French rankings was the highest of

    the four countries. In the Dutch exams, only five composers satisfied the 2% criterion. Mozart,

    Bach, Haydn, Schubert, and Beethoven occupied the top positions. There was no middle level in

    the rankings.

    We also considered thenationalcomposers with the highest scores in the national exams. ForGermany, these were the same composers as presented inTable 6. From the total of 270 English

    composers referred to in the English exams, the most frequently occurring names in rank order

    were Handel, Purcell, Britten, Vaughan Williams, Byrd, Walton, Morley, Dowland, Elgar,

    Tippett, and Weelkens. Of these, Vaughan Williams, Elgar, and Walton appeared exclusively in

    the English exams. The most frequently occurring English composers in the exams of the other

    countries were Handel and Purcell. The French composers in the French exams with the highest

    rankings were Ravel, Debussy, Berlioz, Faure, and Bizet. Composers given exclusive attention in

    the French exams were Dutilleux, Roussel, Jannequin, Passereau, Grisey, Risset, and Aperghis.

    It was not possible to make a list of favorite Dutch composers in the Dutch exams, simply

    because of insufficient numbers. All Dutch composers represented in exam questions werementioned only once in the exams in the 15-year period, with the exception of Louis Andriessen,

    a famous Dutch composer of our time, who was mentioned twice. Dutch composersa total of

    threeshowed up only in the English exams; Sweelinck, with 12 items, was the best known.

    The composers recognized abroad but not in their own countries were, for Germany,

    Stockhausen, Carl Maria von Weber, Buxtehude, and Pachelbel; for France, Saint-Saens, Franck,

    Satie, and M.C. Schonberg, the composer of musicals; for England, mainly pop musicians,

    mentioned exclusively in the Dutch exams; and, for the Netherlands, Sweelinck.

    4.3. The making of a European canonical hierarchy of composers and artists

    4.3.1. Music

    The list of the most frequently occurring composers in the music exams when all items of the

    four countries are added together, taking into account the national hierarchy as presented in

    Table 7, might be called the European top-10. A maximum of 12 points was given to the

    composer with the highest percentage of items in the national hierarchy and 11 to the number

    two, and so on for each of the four countries. In this way, adding the points attributed to the high-

    ranked composers on the national lists created a new ranking list.

    This resulted in the following European top-10:

    1. Bach/Mozart

    2. Beethoven

    3. Haydn

    4. Schubert

    5. Schumann

    6. Brahms/Handel

    7. Strawinsky

    8. Mendelssohn/Debussy

    9. Bartok

    10. Ravel

    A measure of how much attention was given to this group of highly ranked composers in each

    of the four countries showed that more than one-third of all items in the German and French

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    exams was dedicated to Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, Schubert, and Schumann (seeTable 7).

    Such a concentration of only six composers who determine such a substantial part of the content of

    the papers justifies the conclusion that a canon still functions in the music education of these

    countries, more strongly than in England and the Netherlands. When we added to these results the

    percentages of the 7th to the 11th positions, we found that a small number of composers accountedfor nearly half of all items in the German and French exams, for more than one-third in England, and

    for nearly one quarter in the Netherlands. These results show that the AustrianGerman musical

    tradition is still strongly represented in the top-ranking positions of the exams, not only in each of

    the four countries separately, but also in the top-10 of the exams of the four countries taken together.

    We, therefore, conclude that the national canons of the four countries add up to a European canon as

    far as the top-10 composers in each of the four countries are concerned.

    Four composers of the first half of the 20th century succeeded in getting a position in the

    European top-10: Strawinsky, Debussy, Ravel, and Bartok. The dominant role of Germany and

    Austria was lost in this period. Not England nor the USA, but France seems to have taken over

    this position from Germany and Austria with Debussy, Ravel, and the Paris-based Strawinsky.

    4.3.2. Art

    With respect to the exams on the visual arts, we were also interested in finding out if the data

    could tell us more about the presence of a national and European canon. Because of the much

    higher number of artists involved in the papers on this subject and the much wider spread of

    artists, the 2% criterion was not an appropriate instrument. Another criterion was used: Artists

    should be mentioned in the papers of at least three of the four countries. Additionally, artists

    should be mentioned in at least five items in England, three items in Germany, and two items in

    France and the Netherlands. This procedure led to the following results. The top-10 of visualartists mentioned in the German exams was as follows: Durer, Picasso, Gropius, Moore, Matisse,

    Le Corbusier, and Rodin; in the French exams, Picasso, Le Corbusier, Matisse, Segal, De

    Kooning, Schwitters, Lichtenstein, Giacommetti, Warhol, and Leger; in the English exams,

    T. Bevers / Poetics 33 (2005) 388416406

    Table 7

    Top-10 of composers with the most items in the secondary school music exams in four countries in the period 19902004

    (in percentages of the total number of items about composers)

    Germany England France The Netherlands

    Bach 9.8 6.7 3.0 4.1Mozart 6.6 3.8 9.7 6.8

    Beethoven 7.1 4.3 4.5 2.3

    Haydn 2.6 4.5 7.5 3.0

    Schubert 6.1 2.8 7.5 2.3

    Schumann 4.0 2.1 7.5 0.4

    Subtotal 36.2 24.2 39.7 18.9

    Handel 1.6 2.9 2.2 1.5

    Strawinsky 2.1 2.5 1.5 1.1

    Brahms 3.4 2.3 2.2 0.8

    Debussy 2.6 2.0 2.2 0.4

    Bartok 1.9 1.9 1.1

    Total percentage 47.8 35.8 47.8 23.8

    Total Nitems 378 1454 134 266

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    Michelangelo, Le Corbusier, Frank Loyd Wright, Picasso, Mackintosh, Rodin, Van Gogh,

    Bernini, Gainsborough, and Gaudi; in the Dutch exams, Picasso, Bernini, Rodin, Boccioni,

    Michelangelo, Ingres, and Matisse.

    It is remarkable that only 6 out of the 36 artists mentioned above belong to a period before 1900.

    The complete top-10 of the French exams proved to be artists of the 20th century. These results arein sharp contrast with the findings in the music exams. Another point of difference is that the

    consensuson the top-ranking positions of composers and visual artists was much weaker in the field

    of thevisual arts. Furthermore, thetop-10of the visualartists in each of thecountries accounted fora

    much lower percentage of the total number of items in the exams than did the top-10 of the

    composers: 22.5 against 47.8% in Germany, 10.9 against 35.8% in England, 27.7 against 47.8% in

    France, and 9.0 against 23.8% in the Netherlands. These lower percentages of representation in

    items of the top visual artists could be interpreted as a signal of a weaker canon in the exams on

    visual arts, one that is weaker in England and the Netherlands than in Germany and France.

    The European canon of visual artists in the exams, deduced from the national hierarchies in

    the same way as was done for the composers, was found to be as follows:

    1. Picasso

    2. Le Corbusier

    3. Matisse

    4. Michelangelo

    5. Rodin

    6. Van Gogh

    7. Kirchner

    8. Cezanne/Rembrandt

    9. Giacometti10. Brancusi/Mondrian

    The representation of the Netherlands, with three artists in the European top-10, is remarkable

    at first sight. How is it possible that a small country with a relatively modest position in the global

    cultural exchange is more visible in the top-10 than artists from culturally dominant countries

    like Germany and England? One of the conditions for establishing a reputation is recognition by

    significant others. Van Gogh and Mondriaan owed their international reputations more to their

    decision to leave the Netherlands than to their Dutch origin. This aspect of transnational cultural

    exchangethe emigration of composers and artistsis a relatively new and promising field of

    research, called the geography of art (Burke, 2000; Dacosta Kaufmann, 2004).

    Germany and France are better represented in both canons than are England and the

    Netherlands. England is invisible in the canon of the visual arts and Dutch composers are absent

    in the canon of music. These results agree with the earlier mentioned findings about the position

    of English and Dutch art and music in the exams of the four countries involved.

    A striking difference between the two canons was found to be the focus on the past. While the

    musical canon relies heavily on the musical heritage of the 18th century and the early 19th

    century, the canon of the visual arts is almost completely focused on 20th-century art.

    5. Conclusion

    The main research question addressed in this explorative study was the following: What

    happened with the cultural canon in the educational systemin particular in the subjects of

    T. Bevers / Poetics 33 (2005) 388416 407

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    music and art at secondary schoolbetween 1990 and 2004 in Germany, France, England, and

    the Netherlands? This question relates to the debates on globalisation, the multicultural society,

    and the maintenance and protection of countries own national culture and language.

    The content of the canon in education in art and music was measured using answers to the

    following questions: (1) How much attention is given to own national culture versus the culture ofothers? (2) How much attention is given to art and music from the past versus that of the present?

    (3) How much attention is given to classical art and music versus popular art and music?

    Inspection and analysis of the content of the central exams on art and music in the four countries

    made it possible to answer these questions.

    Content analysis of the papers showed that Germany, France, and England give the most

    attention to their own culture, to the culture of the past, and to high culture. Germany and France

    do this to a greater extent than England. The Netherlands deviates in nearly all three respects. The

    content of the exams here is devoted more to the culture of others, more to contemporary art and

    music, and more to popular culture. Although a canon is also visible in the Dutch exams on music

    and art, it is significantly less visible than in Germany, France, and England. There is a decliningreliance on canonical works in the Netherlands.

    In addition to factors such as the history of nation building, the diversity of the population, the

    geographic position, and the availability of natural and other resources, cultural differences

    between the four countries play a major role in the making and maintaining of a national cultural

    canon. For instance, the great contribution of Germany to the western musical tradition and its

    emphasis on Bildung, the dominant position of France in the history of the visual arts and its

    central position in the Republic of Letters, the origin of pop music in England, the presence (or

    absence in the Netherlands) of a court culture, the cultural policy of the State and the

    infrastructure of cultural organisations and institutions in the art world.

    Throughout the article these and other cultural differences were mentioned in relation to thespecific content of the cultural canon in the four countries. The cultural canon, like other cultural

    phenomena, requires a multicausal explanation (Lamont, 1992).

    Two formal sociological characteristics were also chosena countrys size and centrality in

    terms of core-periphery relationsin order to contribute to a better understanding of the relation

    between culture, canon, and nationality. The selection of three large countriesGermany,

    France, and Englandand one small countrythe Netherlandsin the research project made it

    possible to determine whether differences in the content of the cultural reproduction in education

    could be explained by a formal sociological perspective on transnational cultural exchange. In

    this perspective, it was assumed that small countries with a peripheral position in the

    transnational exchange behave differently from large countries in the provision of education in

    art and music, in particular with respect to the cultural canon. Unlike large countries with a strong

    cultural past and a dominant position in transnational cultural relations, a small country is

    inclined to watch and to follow the cultural centers in the world, and to emphasize and to join

    what is new instead of nourishing its own cultural past. Because of their position in the

    transnational cultural world, small countries are more flexible, adaptable, and globally oriented.

    The hidden pedagogy of a small country lies in its inclination to look at others and to put its own

    culture into perspective. The findings of the analysis of the papers also show the other side of the

    coin. Large countries are less interested in the cultures of small countries and are unintentionally

    inclined to foster their own cultures in the provision of education in art and music. These resultsalso support the notion of a hidden pedagogy. To get a better understanding of the asymmetrical

    relations between large and small countries in the field of culture, more small countries should be

    involved in future research.

    T. Bevers / Poetics 33 (2005) 388416408

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    Table A.1

    Number of articles devoted to music form different countries in the world in the volumes 19962000 of three German, one British

    at secondary school

    Articles devoted to music from Germany England

    Musik und

    Bildung

    Musik

    un der Schule

    Musik und

    Unterricht

    British Journal of

    Music Education

    Germany 46 32 56 3

    England 20 6 8

    France 3 2 2

    The Netherlands Other West. Europe 5 5 6 2

    Eastern Europe 7 5 4 1

    USA/Canada 11 10 18 3

    Latin America 8 1 5 1

    Africa 2 1 4 10

    Asia 2 1 2 2

    Australia 2

    Mixed rock/pop 11

    Mixed world music 6 2

    Total number 131 54 103 32

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    Table B.1

    List of the selected exams in art and music in four countries, 19902004 a

    Country Subject Paper

    GermanyBaden-Wurttemberg Art Abiturprufung Leistungskurs Bildende Kunst Bayern Art Abiturprufung Leistungskurs Kunsterziehung

    Saarland Art Abiturprufung Bildende Kunst Thuringen Art Abiturprufung Leistungsfach Kunsterziehung Sachsen Art Abiturprufung Leistungskursfach Kunsterziehung Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Art Abitur Leistungskurs Kunst und Gestaltung

    Baden-Wurttemberg Music Leistungskurs Musik Bayern Music Abiturprufung Leistungskurs Musik Saarland Music Abiturprufung Musik Thuringen Music Abiturprufung Leistungsfach Musik Sachsen Music Abiturprufung Leistungskursfach Musik Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Music Abitur Leistungskurs Musik

    Francea

    Art Bacc.general Serie L: Arts plastiques Culture artistique Art Bacc.general Serie L: Arts plastiques Pratique artistique

    Music Bacc.general Serie L: Musique, option obligatoire Music Bacc.general et technologique: Musique, option facultative toutes series

    EnglandOCRa Art GCE/AS level Art Paper Critical and Contextual Studies

    Art GCE/AS level Art Paper Controlled Assignment Section D Art in Context Art GCE/A-level Art Paper Critical and Contextual Studies Component 1

    Art GCE/A-level Art Paper Critical and Contextual Studies Component 2

    EDEXCELa Art GCE/AS-level Art and Design Paper Externally Set Assignment Art GCE/A-level Art and Design Paper Externally Set Assignment

    AQAa Art GCE/AS-level Art and Design Paper Extended Essay Art GCE/A-level Art and Design Paper (Unendorsed) Controlled Test

    OCR Music GCE/AS-level Music Paper Introduction to Historical Study

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    Music GCE/A-level Music Paper Historical and Analytical Studies

    EDEXCEL Music GCE/AS level Music Paper Musical Understanding Music GCE/A-level Music Paper Musical Understanding

    AQA Music GCE/AS-level Music Paper Understanding Music Music GCE/A-level Music Paper History and Appreciation

    The NetherlandsArt Examen VWOa Tekenen, handenarbeid, textiele werkvormen Art Examen HAVOa Tekenen, handenarbeid, textiele werkvormen Art Examen VMBOa-GL en TL Beeldende vakken Art Examen VBO-MAVOa C en D Tekenen, handenarbeid, textiele werkvormen

    Music Examen VWO Muziek Music Examen HAVO Muziek Music Examen VMBO-GL en TL Muziek Music Examen VBO-MAVO-D Muziek

    a Explanation of the table:France: Because the French May/June exams contain no more than two questions with a few subquestions, the total numthe September resits were also included, as were the May/June exams of the French overseas territories. The art and music curricula and the exams oany way from those in France. The questions, however, were not exactly the same as those posed in the French exams.

    The examining bodies:OCR= Oxford Cambridge and RSA ExaminationsAQA= Assessment and Qualifications AllianceEDEXCEL= Educational Excellence (London Examinations)Type of school/exam:GCE= General Certificate of EducationAS= Advanced SubsidiaryA= Advanced levelVWO= pre-university education (college-prep.)HAVO= higher general secondary education

    VMBO= lower secondary professional educationVBO/MAVO= lower general secondary educationNumber of sessions/questions: Some papers were classified into sessions. The number of sessions and the total number of questions were recorcandidate is usually not obliged to answer all questions. The number of compulsory and optional questions can vary by paper, type of school, aof sessions/questions varied, too. The data in the above table are based on the numbers of questions in the 2004 papers.Number of items: Each item represents the name of a composer/artist or work of which at least the nationality could be established.

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    Appendix A

    The following journals (volumes 19962000) were used as research matter for the content

    analysis focussed on the national orientation of the trade journals for music teachers: the German

    journals Musik und Bildung, Musik in der Schule, Musik und Unterricht, the British BritishJournal of Music Education, the French journal L Education musicale and the Dutch journal

    Music and Education (Muziek en Onderwijs)Table A.1.

    Appendix B

    Table B.1

    Appendix C

    Table C.1

    Appendix D

    Table D.1andTable D.2

    T. Bevers / Poetics 33 (2005) 388416412

    Table C.1

    Percentage of items devoted to own national art and music in the papers on art and music for secondary schools in four

    European countries by year of examination

    Year of examination Germany England France The Netherlands

    Music Art Music Art Music Art Music Art

    1990 4.0 2.7 10.4 5.8 3.6 7.7 6.71991 4.0 3.2 10.1 3.7 10.7 1.9 10.7

    1992 5.3 3.2 9.8 9.2 10.7 10.6 4.0 3.2

    1993 4.0 2.2 6.3 8.2 12.5 4.0 9.5

    1994 3.3 11.3 4.7 8.1 3.6 11.5 6.3

    1995 8.7 8.1 6.0 8.9 7.1 3.8 12.0 7.5

    1996 7.3 7.5 6.3 10.2 7.1 13.5 4.0 4.7

    1997 8.0 9.7 6.6 8.7 3.6 10.6 4.0 6.7

    1998 5.3 8.6 4.7 2.7 6.7 4.0 7.1

    1999 8.7 9.7 4.4 7.2 10.7 5.8 4.0 6.3

    2000 12.0 8.6 7.0 2.7 7.1 1.0 4.0 7.5

    2001 6.0 8.6 5.1 4.3 10.7 1.0 20.0 5.9

    2002 6.7 4.8 7.6 8.1 14.3 2.9 12.0 7.52003 8.7 5.9 6.0 6.7 7.1 6.7 20.0 4.7

    2004 8.0 5.9 4.7 5.5 3.6 3.8 8.0 5.5

    Total Nitems 150 186 316 939 28 104 25 253

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    Table D.1

    Count, expected count and percentages devoted to own, each others and others national art and music in the papers on art and

    countries from 1990 to 2004

    References to nationality Germany England France

    Music Art Music Art Music

    Germany Count 149 187 285 228 18

    Expected count 82 50 318.2 339.5 27.7

    37.1% 39.5% 18.3% 7.1% 13.2%

    England Count 21 22 316 935 4

    Expected count 65 102.5 252.3 696.1 22

    5.2% 4.6% 20.3% 29.0% 2.9%

    France Count 20 83 138 501 28

    Expected count 35.5 81.1 137.7 551.2 12

    5.0% 17.5% 8.8% 15.6% 20.6%

    The Netherlands Count 0 26 15 123 0 Expected count 6.8 40.9 26.4 278 2.3

    0% 5.5% 1.0% 3.8% 0%

    Othersa Count 212 156 806 1433 86

    Expected count 212.6 199.5 825.5 1355.2 72

    52.7% 32.9% 51.7% 44.5% 63.2%

    Total N items 402 (100%) 474 (100%) 1560 (100%) 3220 (100%) 136 (100%)

    a Including Austria with the following relatively high percentages of references to Austrian music (of Mozart, Haydn, Beeth

    English (17.9%), French (33.6%), and Dutch (14.3%) question papers.

    Cram