AROUND this time last year, I wrote in response to the appointment of our previous “minister of culture” that music is not useful to capitalism. This remains the case, however, I did fail to mention the usefulness of music to the state.

The funeral of the monarch on September 19 was an incredible opportunity to not only see the British establishment showing off all their bells and whistles, but to clearly demonstrate music and art as a whole has a very specific role within state apparatus as we see it.

Now, I won’t bemoan the fact that the art in the funeral only showed one side of the late monarch – this is a mental response, using a funeral to critique the deceased is ultimately crass; we can challenge the enforced mourning period, which thankfully the Morning Star has been excellent in covering, but the funeral proper has to be given a certain amount of respect.

We also have to acknowledge that the funeral of a head of state who died in post will of course be slightly more over the top than the funerals that may be granted to us. This being said, the death of a head of state should be a moment of reflection on their victories and failures of the head of state, which sadly has been quashed in Britain, with the noble exception of the Morning Star; but as I said the funeral itself is a separate entity.

Following the funeral, there has been an immediate outpouring of how important the music was throughout the service – ultimately all in agreement that without the musical elements the funeral would have lost its reverence. This is very much true — music is very powerful — but I fear many are missing a key issue.

The importance of music education has once again emphasised: as rightly highlighted, without access to education we would not have the outstanding musicians who were able to utilise their talents for the occasion.

But this falls into the traps I raised last year – namely arguing about the usefulness of music economically or in service of the state means we imply that music not useful to the state has little to no value.

This is a nonsense but it also allows music to simply be a delight of the chattering classes and not the vast majority of people who can find personal uses for music which has little economic value, but the importance is simply the sensation it grants the person who listens to it.

I have mentioned numerous times how we are going through a curious time in music in this country. There is a genuine eagerness for a more egalitarian art form, though as I have pointed out numerous times – it lacks consideration of class relations. This is prevalent when considering the relationship of classical music not only to the state but also to the monarchy as a whole.

Despite being a republican, it is simply impossible to gain any form of education or career within the art form without some interaction with monarchy. This is not where I tell readers that I was forced to write music for the late monarch (though on a side note, when the monarch had the privilege to meet me Grandma, she was very respectful).

What I mean is there are numerous musical institutions which are supported by the monarchy. This includes the numerous music colleges – Royal Welsh, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Royal Northern, Royal Birmingham, Royal Academy, and Royal College. It also includes numerous orchestras and organisations like the Royal Philharmonic Society, which I am very lucky to be supported by currently.

The death of the monarch has seen opposition to monarchy effectively silenced, both through violent and non-violent means. For classical musicians, criticism of the monarchy generally has been very limited – either through politeness or lack of critical attitudes. But we need to have a genuine discussion of what our relationship our craft has to our state.

Many accept the Tory government is inhumane, but do we have a vision of music which can genuinely challenge them? Considering so much of music is dependent on state support I fear this limits our vision.

But as was witnessed at the funeral, the state is not against extravagance or big political gestures, but it must be in its vision. Because of this, any push for egalitarianism is going to be limited – as can be seen from how the government treats the poorer areas of our nation. The state will, at best, be very slow to make music accessible to those it doesn’t value.

What is desperately needed is not only a mechanism to ensure a diversity of political opinion is genuinely considered within art, instead of the select window we currently have, but what is also needed is musicians, listeners, and sympathisers with a political will to fight for this.

Without a way for the arts to be truly free, but also respected as a life force which enriches our cultural landscape, music and art in general will forever be trapped discussing within the narrow framework we are allowed to – or artists are left unsupported and therefore unable to speak.

The funeral shows there is a specific attitude to the role of art in this country. We, the trade union movement, need to learn this lesson and fight for our alternative.