Voices ResourcesA website for the worldwide community around the journal Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy

In the second half of 2004 I had various ideas for my December column; I wanted to write about my contact with the Maori culture during my academic stay in New Zealand, about the wild and civilized moments of music therapy due to the Maori legend of Pania; I wanted to write about the individual kernel of community music therapy, which thoughts I got as a mentor of an excellent thesis of my student Ulrike V?ker; and I wanted to write about Franz Schubert and Tony Wigram, about prison and freedom, with thoughts about the differences between some composed music and clinical improvisations I got from reading the milestone publication of Wigram?s book / tutor on improvisation.

However, I hope very much to find the time for writing and thinking about all these. But the special events of the last three weeks in Ukraine changed my plans and I therefore want to write about these events and my experiences from Ukraine.

Since 1999 I have had regular contact with an Ukraine university, with their students and colleagues. You can read a lot about this in some of my previous columns, in the section of Voices called Country of the Month, in the sections called Main Issues and Moderated discussions (see also references). After my contacts with the Ukrainian students in Germany, and my first contacts with my Ukrainian colleagues in Ukraine I prepared my first seminar about active music therapy for Ukrainian students at the Assow Sea in Ukraine. During one week all the students could experience themselves the process of active music therapy in a group of 12 students interrupted by short theoretical introductions about music in music therapy. With instruments like drums, xylophones, claves, etc. the students did their first steps in improvisation. The music frame of their improvisation was atonal. All this was very unusual for them, like it is also for beginners in this kind of music making in West Europe. What the students made in the first days was first of all noise. One of their lecturer asked: Is this music? Could this be a serious basis for a serious treatment of people with mental and other diseases (Romanenkova 2001)? The students were all very kindly. However, from their perspective a high art of music they also did expect "real music", structured music, that they know from concerts, self making or CD. First of all the problem for them, like for others too, seemed to be, that they got no models of music making in these improvisations, that they got no estimation of being right or wrong with the music/noise they produced in their very individual manner. In the process of the week this tendency, that the students instead improvising want to make something that others did structure for them. This also occured in some other feedbacks. While the students were very different in speaking about their own emotions, they described their music activities only with: "we did ...", and no one did speak about "I did ...". We talked about this and the freedom of individuals in their activities could reach more and more. In the end of the week one of the students said that the student did not experience such a freedom he or she did experience in this first week of active music therapy in other therapies of psyche. Improvisation and democratic principles seems to depend on each other. The model, that everyone can find his individual style of making music AND that all these styles can produce ONE music in a group improvisation is based on a model of participation of EVERYONE and in a frame of creating a product with the contributions of EVERY group member. No one knows before the creation of the product of improvisation, which product will be created. With the contributions of EVERYONE it will produce and get his group specific Gestalt. No Gestalt like in composed or pre structured music is given, no Gestalt can be fulfilled as right or wrong by the members of the group. The members of the group give everybody his or her contribution to the Gestalt of a group improvisation and after the process of producing the Gestalt they can see, which Gestalt they did produce. It is everytime an open end with no pre structured expectations. This is a really democratic principle and frame. It gives freedom to every participant on the one hand. On the other hand this democratic principle is connected with responsibility of every group member for the product of the group. This principle is the source of an unlimited power of creativity, which can even move mountains and societies within very short times.

In this sense, the Ukrainian people seem to improvise, when they in the last three weeks went on the street for realizing democratic principles. This is, from my point of view and my very short five-year-experiences of Ukraine, very unique for the country. Because of this I did write the title of my column "Honors to Ukraine" in Ukraine. However, this country has a very old history of democracy. Before the non democratic systems of Austria, Russia, Soviet Union and Germany did occupy this very big European country, Ukraine did know a very basic kind of democracy. This was the old democratic system of Kosaks (of course in old European tradition an only men-democracy). Ukraine did know kings and dictators only from their foreign occupying European neighbors. So may be, that the old tradition did brake through now. It is very unique and democratic what Ukraine people could reach with very PEACFUL activities in the last two weeks: the Highest Court did not accept a manipulated election. The Ukraine parliament did not accept the winner of this manipulated election. These are very important democratic steps, if not one person or one group of persons can determine, pre structure and manipulate the development of one country, if EVERYONE can go to the court, which will check, if democratic principles of participation of all are realized or not, if EVERYONE takes his or her democratic freedom and responsibility to create the improvisation of and on the streets. The continuing of this process will force such an unlimited creative power in Ukraine, which is possible (they have the potentials! I did experience it), and which is also necessary, which will force the development of Ukraine in an unexpected tempo in all areas of the Ukraine society. The creativity, joy and lightening of the people of Ukraine everyone could see in the news, how colorfully were the protests and the organization of it.

I did feel a very well known feeling, when I saw these pictures, and I did hear something from Ukraine. I remember this feeling very well, when I went on the streets in autumn 1989 in East-Germany. Of course I remember very different feelings that time, when nobody did know, how will it end, will the voice of the people be heard in the top of the society or not. But when there were the first protests of 10 000 people in Berlin and one month later there were 1 Million people on the streets of Berlin, also very colorfully, very creative with their very different presentations, like in a big improvisation, non pre structured, and the police did not shoot, no, the police did accompany these protests, in that moment the fear of the months before was over. A new feeling of freedom, of curiosity, of power and of creativity did touch us, we felt flying between earth and heaven. However, in opposite to East-Germany in Ukraine you can see and hear a lot of music and of dancing people in the streets. The Ukraine winner of Grand Prix Ruslana did join the Ukraine improvisation with her "Wilde dances"-winner-song. A lot of other music groups and music can be seen and heard day and night beside and in the Ukraine people in the street. The real music, which can be also a source of inner freedom in Ukraine, can be heard and touched here in the streets and is produced by EVERYONE.

I am very curious about my next meetings with Ukraine improvisation.

References

Ivannikova, Mariya (2002): Music Therapy in the Ukraine. Voices A World Forum for Music Therapy. 2(3). Retrieved December 10, 2004, from http://www.voices.no/country/monthukraine_nov2002.html

Ivannikova, Mariya (2004a): The Role of Theoretical and Practical Knowledge in Becoming a Music Therapist. Voices A World Forum for Music Therapy.. Retrieved December 10, 2004, from http://www.voices.no/discussions/discm10_03.html

Ivannikova, Mariya (2004b): Ways to Gain Understanding of Music Therapy. Voices A World Forum for Music Therapy. Retrieved December 10, 2004, from http://www.voices.no/discussions/discm10_05.html

Ivannikova, Mariya (2004c): Further Facts About the Historical Background to the Development of Music Therapy in the Ukraine. Voices A World Forum for Music Therapy. Retrieved December 10, 2004, from http://www.voices.no/country/monthukraine_december2004.html

Ivannikova, Mariya (2004d): Ukrainian Music Therapy - Does it Have a Chance to Exist? My Personal Jorney of Becoming a Music Therapist. Voices A World Forum for Music Therapy. Retrieved December 10, 2004, from http://www.voices.no/mainissues/mi40004000161.html

Ivannikova, Mariya & Wosch, Thomas (2003): Modern Technologies in Teaching Music Therapy. Voices A World Forum for Music Therapy. Retrieved December 10, 2004, from http://www.voices.no/discussions/discm10_02.html

Jochims, Silke (2004): Ukraine Impression. Voices A World Forum for Music Therapy. Retrieved December 10, 2004, from http://www.voices.no/discussions/discm10_07.html

Kaden, C. (1984): Musiksoziologie. Berlin.

Romanenkova, Ludmilla (2001). Music Therapy in Ukraine. Voices A World Forum for Music Therapy. Retrieved December 10, 2004, from http://www.voices.no/discussions/discm1_02.html

Svatyeva, Olena (2004): Getting Knowing More About the Music Therapy World. Voices A World Forum for Music Therapy. Retrieved December 10, 2004, from http://www.voices.no/discussions/discm10_04.html

Tyby, Tetyana (2004): Voices A World Forum for Music Therapy. Retrieved December 10, 2004, from http://www.voices.no/discussions/discm10_06.html

Wigram, Thomas (2004): Improvisation. Methods and Techniques for Music Therapy Clinicians, Educators and Students. London.

Wosch, Thomas (2001): Intercultural Experiences in Music Therapy I. Voices A World Forum for Music Therapy. Retrieved December 10, 2004, from http://www.voices.no/columnist/colwosch051101.html

Wosch, Thomas (2002a): Intercultural Experiences in Music Therapy II Internet Lectures with Ukraine. Voices A World Forum for Music Therapy. Retrieved December 10, 2004, from http://www.voices.no/columnist/colwosch080402.html

Wosch, Thomas (2002b): The Known and Unknown Medium of Music in Music Mherapy. In: Kenny, C. & Stige, B. (Hrsg.): Contemporary voices in music therapy. Oslo: unipub forlag, 260-261

Wosch, Thomas (2003): Der Weg zur Freude Musikrezeption, Improvisation und Emotion im Kontext aktueller Musikvermittlung. In: Petrat, N. & Kafurke, R. & Schöne, K. (eds.): Mit Spaß dabei bleiben Musikästhetische Erfahrungen aus der Perspektive der Forschung. Essen.

Wosch, Thomas (2004): Between the Worlds in the Heart of Europe and Music Therapy. Voices A World Forum for Music Therapy. Retrieved December 10, 2004, from http://www.voices.no/columnist/colwosch050104.html

Zharinova-Sanderson, Oksana (2002): Response to Music Therapy in the Ukraine. Voices A World Forum for Music Therapy. Retrieved December 10, 2004, from http://www.voices.no/discussions/discm10_01.html

How to cite this page

Wosch, Thomas (2004). Слава Україні! Improvisation and Democracy. Voices Resources. Retrieved January 09, 2015, from http://testvoices.uib.no/community/?q=fortnightly-columns/2004-improvisation-and-democracy