Från idé till verklighet : Uppsala kommunala musikskola

Sammanfattning: Göranzon, Ingrid: From concept to reality - Uppsala Municipal School of Music. Master thesis, 30 credits. Uppsala: Department of Musicology. 2013. This thesis aims to explain how and why the municipal school of music (kommunala musikskolan) in Uppsala was formed. Municipal schools of music are a Swedish phenomenon that was formed all over Sweden after the Second World War. Each school is individual since they are entirely controlled at a municipal level. Although several factors have been identified as reasons for the creation of municipal schools of music, research in the area is limited. The material forming the basis of the survey is municipal documents from Uppsala city archives. The method that has been chosen to analyze the material is critical ideology analysis. This means that the content of the documents is analyzed in relation to its context, to clarify both the manifest and latent ideologies. The study shows that the formation of a municipal school of music in Uppsala was part of a larger movement, both nationally and locally. Sweden went through great changes during the period after the Second World War, politically, socially and culturally. The development of municipal schools of music was influenced mainly by the ideas about education and culture. The guiding idea was that all citizens should have equal access and opportunity. Technological advances such as radio and gramophone had made high culture more accessible, but it also contributed to the spread of what was considered inferior culture. Studies of the time showed that the solution was to give people the knowledge needed to make the right choice. The municipal school of music in Uppsala was created with the aim of forming a culturally educated public. Key words: municipal school of music (kommunal musikskola), Uppsala, public education (folkbildning), cultural politics (kulturpolitik), critical ideology analysis, post World War II