Water Waves, Sound Waves, Down the River, Up the Staves: Representations of the Danube in the Music of Its Riparian Countries

This article is the first part of a study that explores, from a cultural studies perspective, the way in which the Danube has inspired the music of its riparian countries across the ages. This first part analyses significant works composed in the first nine European countries crossed by the river, while the second part focuses on folklore, urban songs, operetta, and film music composed in Romania. Starting from the physical and metaphysical kinship between water- and sound-waves, this article shows how Danube-inspired music has constantly reflected people’s lives, customs, traditions, mentalities, and philosophies, preserving information about long-gone local places and immortalising ephemeral generations. Stressing the river’s function as border meant both to separate and to unite lands and peoples and to bring into bold relief both their similarities and differences, the study analyses folk and light music, film soundtracks, symphonic and vocal-symphonic works, vaudevilles, operettas, and operas. The conclusion is that music – a language that needs no translation – is a perfect approach to the river in order to capture its cultural significance.