Abstract

[War, Music Peace and International Law]. Volodymyr Zelensky delivered a speech during the Grammy Award 2022, in which he said that the war in Ukraine had brought a horrible silence of death. War, however, is not just silence. War has a sound. And it’s not just the sound of bombs, the screams, the anti-aircraft sirens or the shots. There are also martial hymns, trumpets, drums, the cadence of the march, and battle chants that encourage troops and frighten enemies. This has been the tragic, thunderous melody of war for many centuries. The article explores the sounds and silences of war, not just in Ukraine, and speculates on the role of music in peacemaking, peacekeeping, peacebuilding and peace enforcement processes.