The Healing Music and Harmful Politics of Venezuela

Alfonso Soler/AdobeStock

PSYCHIATRIC VIEWS ON THE DAILY NEWS

“In music, you have to listen to each other to create harmony. And when you apply that in society, you are a different person.” - Gustavo Dudamel

Over the last 2 columns and video, the focus has been on politics and psychiatry in the context of jazz on the August 13, the Olympics on the 14th, and clinicians on the 15th, respectively. This time we turn to classical music.

Upon returning home from our theatrical journey in Canada, we continued our exposure to artistic culture, once again that being music at Ravinia in Chicago. This consisted of the National Children’s Symphony of Venezuela, conducted by the world-renowned conductor from Venezuela, Gustavo Dudamel. On the same day of August 6, however, the Chicago Tribune had a frontpage headline article titled, “Protesters in Daley Plaza rally decry reelection of Venezuelan president, claim voter fraud.”¹

It seems that Venezuela has been in turmoil for years, a decade of decline. Millions have been fleeing economic disaster. The day before, it was reported that dictator Nicolas Madura won that country’s election, but the protestors in Chicago were calling out the voting corruption and consequent political repression of opponents.

Serendipitously, that night, music for the madness was scheduled at Ravinia. It was the fifth generation of teenage musicians trained under El Sistema, a musical educational program developed by Jose Antonio Abreu in 1995. Dudamel was a product of that program and will become the conductor of the New York Philharmonic in 2026. In the meanwhile, he has established similar programs in Los Angeles, where he has been leading the orchestra there.

Ironically, such musical education programs have become less common in the United States as music has been dropped from so many schools. Coincidentally or not, mental disturbances have been rising in the youth for a decade or more in our country.

The musical program at Ravinia was a master of programming besides uplifting competence. The first half consisted of a gentle piece from a Venezuelan composer and another rousing one from Argentina. Then the finale was the fifth symphony of Dmitri Shostakovich. Shostakovich had been a target on and off of another dictator, Stalin, in Russia starting in 1936. He found ways to disguise his real goals within the music, including using sardonic sounds. He said of the symphony and likely also of the eventual evolution of the social situation in Russia:

“The finale is the optimistic solution of the tragically tense moment of the first movement.”

For the mental health of those in Russia, Ukraine, and other countries affected by current Russian policies, we can hope that Shostakovich’s musical prediction comes through as soon as possible.

Dr Moffic is an award-winning psychiatrist who specialized in the cultural and ethical aspects of psychiatry and is now in retirement and retirement as a private pro bono community psychiatrist. A prolific writer and speaker, he has done a weekday column titled “Psychiatric Views on the Daily News” and a weekly video, “Psychiatry & Society,” since the COVID-19 pandemic emerged. He was chosen to receive the 2024 Abraham Halpern Humanitarian Award from the American Association for Social Psychiatry. Previously, he received the Administrative Award in 2016 from the American Psychiatric Association, the one-time designation of being a Hero of Public Psychiatry from the Speaker of the Assembly of the APA in 2002, and the Exemplary Psychiatrist Award from the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill in 1991. He is an advocate and activist for mental health issues related to climate instability, physician burnout, and xenophobia. He is now editing the final book in a 4-volume series on religions and psychiatry for Springer: Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, Christianity, and now The Eastern Religions, and Spirituality. He serves on the Editorial Board of Psychiatric Times.

Reference

1. Salzman N. Protesters in Daley Plaza rally decry reelection of Venezuelan president, claim voter fraud. Chicago Tribune. August 6, 2024. Accessed August 16, 2024. https://www.chicagotribune.com/2024/08/06/increased-scrutiny-on-electoral-practices-in-venezuela-brings-crowds-to-chicago-loop/