Of Orchestras, Mythos, and the Idealization of Symphonic Practice: The Orquesta Sinfónica de Venezuela in the (Collateral) History of El Sistema

El Sistema defines itself as a “social organism of the Venezuelan State” whose goal is the “collective” instruction of music “through the symphonic orchestra and choir as instruments of social organization and communitarian development.” Historical accounts describe a revolutionary phenomenon whose main achievements since 1975 are the “democratization of music” and the “transformation of society.” These suprahistories under-state the pre-1975 musical panorama of the country and the role of the Orquesta Sinfónica de Venezuela as a forerunner of El Sistema. Closer scrutiny of these epic histories and the omitted ties to the legacy of the nationalist school indicates that El Sistema’s story relies on the idealization of symphonic practice as “universal” practice and on Abreu’s hyperidealization of the same as “transformative” tool.