This is actually a good topic but will be discussed by the majority on a topical level unfortunately. The history of music from the very beginning of time is littered with controversy and we, living in our little cocoon of contemporary music, will only scratch the surface unless we look deeper.
Lets look at 2 events from early in the 20 century.
Porgy and Bess by Gershwin.
Read this from The Guardian.
Gary Younge on the enduring controversy surrounding Porgy and Bess | Music | The Guardian
To quote a passage.
Quote:
|
Harry Belafonte refused the role of Porgy in the 1959 film version (which won an Oscar, Golden Globe and Grammy). Sidney Poitier, who took the part instead, playing opposite Dorothy Dandridge, later said he wished he had turned it down too, telling Oprah Winfrey in a 2000 interview he felt coerced to take it. "There was almost no frame of reference for us except as stereotypical, one-dimensional characters," he said.
|
Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk by Shostakovich
Read Shostakovich's revenge on Stalin in the International Herald Tribune and any other items one can find via google.
Shostakovich's revenge on Stalin - International Herald Tribune
To again quote
Quote:
Then in January of 1936 Stalin went to see the production in Moscow and, he let it be known that he was offended by the explicit eroticism of the story and the music.
The composer was in the northern city of Arkhangelsk, where he picked up a copy of the newspaper Pravda in which he read an unsigned article entitled "Chaos Instead of Music" that condemned the work as "degenerate and decadent."
The opera was banned from the stage in the Soviet Union, even though it was enormously successful in other countries, including the United States. There was not much doubt that Stalin was the real author of the review. A few days later Pravda carried another negative review, this time of the relatively innocuous ballet "The Limpid Stream."
|
And from an online bio
Dmitry Shostakovich
This was such a controversial ballet that it became a matter of survival for Shostakovich.
Quote:
|
Shostakovich’s career appeared to be over. Musicians and writers close to him were arrested, as were his mother-in-law, brother-in-law, uncle, and former lover Konstantinovskaya. Shostakovich attempted to reason with Stalin through intermediaries, but to no avail. Nevertheless, Shostakovich himself was not arrested, and he gradually rose from the ashes. He modified his music, making it seem more melodic and approachable, at least on the surface.
|
In my time I think that the punk revolution in the UK in the late 70's has been the most controversial but I ask this. Were any of the artists in contemporary music under the same threat as Shostakovich? Villi Manilli lip syncing is just not in the same league.