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Books > Arts & Architecture > Music > Theory of music & musicology > General
The present volume is a double edition in English and Arabic about
the art of ornamentations in the performance of the Arabic qanun
(psaltery), and a historical document spanning more than one
hundred years. It is based on George Sawa's experience as an artist
and performer, as well as the experience of his teachers and their
teachers. For the latter, Dr Sawa used his recollections of what
his teachers said about their teachers, as well as recordings made
by European companies that recorded their works on 78 rpm at the
beginning of the 20th century. .
The revised edition of Sync or Swarm promotes an ecological view of
musicking, moving us from a subject-centered to a system-centered
view of improvisation. It explores cycles of organismic
self-regulation, cycles of sensorimotor coupling between organism
and environment, and cycles of intersubjective interaction mediated
via socio-technological networks. Chapters funnel outward, from the
solo improviser (Evan Parker), to nonlinear group dynamics (Sam
Rivers trio), to networks that comprise improvisational
communities, to pedagogical dynamics that affect how individuals
learn, completing the hermeneutic circle. Winner of the Society for
Ethnomusicology's Alan Merriam prize in its first edition, the
revised edition features new sections that highlight
electro-acoustic and transcultural improvisation, and concomitant
issues of human-machine interaction and postcolonial studies.
Keith Hatschek tells the story of three determined artists: Louis
Armstrong, Dave Brubeck, and Iola Brubeck and the stand they took
against segregation by writing and performing a jazz musical titled
The Real Ambassadors. First conceived by the Brubecks in 1956, the
musical's journey to the stage for its 1962 premiere tracks
extraordinary twists and turns across the backdrop of the civil
rights movement. A variety of colorful characters, from Broadway
impresarios to gang-connected managers, surface in the compelling
storyline. During the Cold War, the US State Department enlisted
some of America's greatest musicians to serve as jazz ambassadors,
touring the world to trumpet a so-called "free society." Honored as
celebrities abroad, the jazz ambassadors, who were overwhelmingly
African Americans, returned home to racial discrimination and
deferred dreams. The Brubecks used this double standard as the
central message for the musical, deploying humor and pathos to
share perspectives on American values. On September 23, 1962, The
Real Ambassadors's stunning debut moved a packed arena at the
Monterey Jazz Festival to laughter, joy, and tears. Although
critics unanimously hailed the performance, it sadly became a
footnote in cast members' bios. The enormous cost of reassembling
the star-studded cast made the creation impossible to stage and
tour. However, The Real Ambassadors: Dave and Iola Brubeck and
Louis Armstrong Challenge Segregation caps this jazz story by
detailing how the show was triumphantly revived in 2014 by Jazz at
Lincoln Center. This reaffirmed the musical's place as an integral
part of America's jazz history and served as an important reminder
of how artists' voices are a powerful force for social change.
Becoming Noise Music tells the story of noise music in its first 50
years, using a focus on the music's sound and aesthetics to do so.
Part One focuses on the emergence and stabilization of noise music
across the 1980s and 1990s, whilst Part Two explores noise in the
twenty-first century. Each chapter contextualizes - tells the story
- of the music under discussion before describing and interpreting
its sound and aesthetic. Stephen Graham uses the idea of 'becoming'
to capture the unresolved 'dialectical' tension between 'noise'
disorder and 'musical' order in the music itself; the experiences
listeners often have in response; and the overarching 'story' or
'becoming' of the genre that has taken place in this first fifty or
so years. The book therefore doubles up on becoming: it is about
both the becoming it identifies in, and the larger, genre-making
process of the becoming of, noise music. On the latter count, it is
the first scholarly book to focus in such depth and breadth on the
sound and story of noise music, as opposed to contextual questions
of politics, history or sociology. Relevant to both musicology and
noise audiences, Becoming Noise Music investigates a vital but
analytically underexplored area of avant-garde musical practice.
Blackstar Theory takes a close look at David Bowie's ambitious last
works: his surprise 'comeback' project The Next Day (2013), the
off-Broadway musical Lazarus (2015) and the album that preceded the
artist's death in 2016 by two days, Blackstar. The book explores
the swirl of themes that orbit and entangle these projects from a
starting point in musical analysis and features new interviews with
key collaborators from the period: producer Tony Visconti, graphic
designer Jonathan Barnbrook, musical director Henry Hey,
saxophonist Donny McCaslin and assistant sound engineer Erin
Tonkon. These works tackle the biggest of ideas: identity,
creativity, chaos, transience and immortality. They enact a process
of individuation for the Bowie meta-persona and invite us to
consider what happens when a star dies. In our universe, dying
stars do not disappear - they transform into new stellar objects,
remnants and gravitational forces. The radical potential of the
Blackstar is demonstrated in the rock star supernova that creates a
singularity resulting in cultural iconicity. It is how a man
approaching his own death can create art that illuminates the
immortal potential of all matter in the known universe.
The original edition of Beyond and Before extends an understanding
of “progressive rock” by providing a fuller definition of what
progressive rock is, was and can be. Called by Record Collector
“the most accomplished critical overview yet” of progressive
rock and one of their 2011 books of the year, Beyond and Before
moves away from the limited consensus that prog rock is exclusively
English in origin and that it was destroyed by the advent of punk
in 1976. Instead, by tracing its multiple origins and complex
transitions, it argues for the integration of jazz and folk into
progressive rock and the extension of prog in Kate Bush, Radiohead,
Porcupine Tree and many more. This 10-year anniversary revised
edition continues to further unpack definitions of progressive rock
and includes a brand new chapter focusing on post-conceptual trends
in the 2010s through to the contemporary moment. The new edition
discusses the complex creativity of progressive metal and folk in
greater depth, as well as new fusions of genre that move across
global cultures and that rework the extended form and mission of
progressive rock, including in recent pop concept albums. All
chapters are revised to keep the process of rethinking progressive
rock alive and vibrant as a hybrid, open form.
Wasn't That a Mighty Day: African American Blues and Gospel Songs
on Disaster takes a comprehensive look at sacred and secular
disaster songs, shining a spotlight on their historical and
cultural importance. Featuring newly transcribed lyrics, the book
offers sustained attention to how both Black and white communities
responded to many of the tragic events that occurred before the
mid-1950s. Through detailed textual analysis, Luigi Monge explores
songs on natural disasters (hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, and
earthquakes); accidental disasters (sinkings, fires, train wrecks,
explosions, and air disasters); and infestations, epidemics, and
diseases (the boll weevil, the jake leg, and influenza). Analyzed
songs cover some of the most well-known disasters of the time
period from the sinking of the Titanic and the 1930 drought to the
Hindenburg accident, and more. Thirty previously unreleased African
American disaster songs appear in this volume for the first time,
revealing their pertinence to the relevant disasters. By comparing
the song lyrics to critical moments in history, Monge is able to
explore how deeply and directly these catastrophes affected Black
communities; how African Americans in general, and blues and gospel
singers in particular, faced and reacted to disaster; whether these
collective tragedies prompted different reactions among white
people and, if so, why; and more broadly, how the role of memory in
recounting and commenting on historical and cultural facts shaped
African American society from 1879 to 1955.
On December 4, 1957, Miles Davis revolutionized film soundtrack
production, improvising the score for Louis Malle's Ascenseur pour
l'echafaud. A cinematic harbinger of the French New Wave, Ascenseur
challenged mainstream filmmaking conventions, emphasizing
experimentation and creative collaboration. It was in this
environment during the late 1950s to 1960s, a brief "golden age"
for jazz in film, that many independent filmmakers valued
improvisational techniques, featuring soundtracks from such seminal
figures as John Lewis, Thelonious Monk, and Duke Ellington. But
what of jazz in film today? Improvising the Score: Rethinking
Modern Film Music through Jazz provides an original, vivid
investigation of innovative collaborations between renowned
contemporary jazz artists and prominent independent filmmakers. The
book explores how these integrative jazz-film productions challenge
us to rethink the possibilities of cinematic music production.
In-depth case studies include collaborations between Terence
Blanchard and Spike Lee (Malcolm X, When the Levees Broke), Dick
Hyman and Woody Allen (Hannah and Her Sisters), Antonio Sanchez and
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Birdman), and Mark Isham and Alan
Rudolph (Afterglow). The first book of its kind, this study
examines jazz artists' work in film from a sociological
perspective, offering rich, behind-the-scenes analyses of their
unique collaborative relationships with filmmakers. It investigates
how jazz artists negotiate their own "creative labor," examining
the tensions between improvisation and the conventionally highly
regulated structures, hierarchies, and expectations of filmmaking.
Grounded in personal interviews and detailed film production
analysis, Improvising the Score illustrates the dynamic
possibilities of integrative artistic collaborations between jazz,
film, and other contemporary media, exemplifying its ripeness for
shaping and invigorating twenty-first-century arts, media, and
culture.
Robert Lachmann's letters to Henry George Farmer, from the years
1923-38, provide insightful glimpses into his life and his
progressive research projects. From an historical perspective, they
offer critical data concerning the development of comparative
musicology as it evolved in Germany during the early decades of the
twentieth century. The fact that Lachmann sought contact with
Farmer can be explained from their mutual, yet diverse interests in
Arab music, particularly as they were then considered to be the
foremost European scholars in the field. During the 1932 Cairo
International Congress on Arab Music, they were selected as
presidents of their respective committees.
Bella Ciao is the album that kick-started the Italian folk revival
in the mid-1960s, made by Il Nuovo Canzoniere Italiano, a group of
researchers, musicians, and radical intellectuals. Based on a
contested music show that debuted in 1964, Bella Ciao also featured
a double version of the popular song of the same title, an
anti-Fascist anthem from World War II, which was destined to become
one of the most sung political songs in the world and translated
into more than 40 languages. The book reconstructs the history and
the reception of the Bella Ciao project in 1960s' Italy and, more
broadly, explores the origins and the distinctive development of
the Italian folk revival movement through the lens of this pivotal
album.
This collection of seventeen essays newly identifies contributions
to musical culture made by women before 1500 across Europe. You
will learn about repertoire from such diverse locations as Iceland,
Spain, and Italy, and encounter examples of musicianship from the
gender-fluid professional musicians at the Islamicate courts of
Syria to the nuns of Barking Abbey in England. The book shows that
women drove musical patronage, dissemination, composition, and
performance, including within secular and ecclesiastical contexts,
and also reflects on the reception of medieval women's musical
agency by both medieval poets and by modern recording artists.
Contributors are David Catalunya, Lisa Colton, Helen Dell, Annemari
Ferreira, Rachel Golden, Gillian L. Gower, Anna Kathryn Grau,
Carissa M. Harris, Louise McInnes, Lisa Nielson, Lauren
Purcell-Joiner, Megan Quinlan, Leah Stuttard, Claire Taylor Jones,
Melissa Tu, Angelica Vomera, and Anne Bagnall Yardley.
Shortlisted for the 2021 Prime Minister's Literary Award for
Australian History. Representing Australian Aboriginal Music and
Dance 1930-1970 offers a rethinking of recent Australian music
history. In this open access book, Amanda Harris presents accounts
of Aboriginal music and dance by Aboriginal performers on public
stages. Harris also historicizes the practices of non-Indigenous
art music composers evoking Aboriginal music in their works,
placing this in the context of emerging cultural institutions and
policy frameworks. Centralizing auditory worlds and audio-visual
evidence, Harris shows the direct relationship between the limits
on Aboriginal people's mobility and non-Indigenous representations
of Aboriginal culture. This book seeks to listen to Aboriginal
accounts of disruption and continuation of Aboriginal cultural
practices and features contributions from Aboriginal scholars
Shannon Foster, Tiriki Onus and Nardi Simpson as personal
interpretations of their family and community histories.
Contextualizing recent music and dance practices in broader
histories of policy, settler colonial structures, and
postcolonizing efforts, the book offers a new lens on the
development of Australian musical cultures. The ebook editions of
this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license
on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by Australian
Research Council.
Sonata form is the most commonly encountered organizational plan in
the works of the classical-music masters, from Haydn, Mozart, and
Beethoven to Schubert, Brahms, and beyond. Sonata Theory, an
analytic approach developed by James Hepokoski and Warren Darcy in
their award-winning Elements of Sonata Theory (2006), has emerged
as one of the most influential frameworks for understanding this
musical structure. What can this method from "the new Formenlehre"
teach us about how these composers put together their most iconic
pieces and to what expressive ends? In this new Sonata Theory
Handbook, Hepokoski introduces readers step-by-step to the main
ideas of this approach. At the heart of the book are close readings
of eight individual movements - from Mozart's Piano Sonata in
B-flat, K. 333, to such structurally complex pieces as Schubert's
"Death and the Maiden" String Quartet and the finale of Brahms's
Symphony No 1 - that show this analytical method in action. These
illustrative analyses are supplemented with four updated
discussions of the foundational concepts behind the theory,
including dialogic form, expositional action zones, trajectories
toward generically normative cadences, rotation theory, and the
five sonata types. With its detailed examples and deep engagements
with recent developments in form theory, schema theory, and
cognitive research, this handbook updates and advances Sonata
Theory and confirms its status as a key lens for analyzing sonata
form.
Political campaigning affects numerous realms under the
communication umbrella with each channel seeking to influence as
many individuals as possible. In higher education, there is a
growing scholarly interest in communication issues and subjects,
especially on the role of music, in the political arena. Music and
Messaging in the African Political Arena provides innovative
insights into providing music and songs as an integral part of
sending political messages to a broader spectrum of audiences,
especially during political campaigns. The content within this
publication covers such topics as framing theory, national
identity, and ethnic politics, and is designed for politicians,
campaign managers, political communication scholars, researchers,
and students.
Once the domain of a privileged few, the art of record production
is today within the reach of all. The rise of the ubiquitous DIY
project studio and internet streaming have made it so. And while
the creative possibilities available to everyday musicians are
seemingly endless, so too are the multiskilling and project
management challenges to be faced. In order to demystify the
contemporary popular-music-making phenomenon, Marshall Heiser
reassesses its myriad processes and wider sociocultural context
through the lens of creativity studies, play theory and cultural
psychology. This innovative new framework is grounded in a diverse
array of creative-practice examples spanning the CBGBs music scene
to the influence of technology upon modern-day music. First-hand
interviews with Jerry Harrison (Talking Heads), Bill Bruford (King
Crimson, Yes) and others whose work has influenced the way records
are made today are also included. Popular Music, Power and Play is
as thought provoking as it will be indispensable for scholars,
practitioners and aficionados of popular music and the arts in
general.
Bob Dylan's ways with words are a wonder, matched as they are with
his music and verified by those voices of his. In response to the
whole range of Dylan early and late (his songs of social
conscience, of earthly love, of divine love, and of contemplation),
this critical appreciation listens to Dylan's attentive genius,
alive in the very words and their rewards.
"Fools they made a mock of sin." Dylan's is an art in which sins
are laid bare (and resisted), virtues are valued (and manifested),
and the graces brought home. The seven deadly sins, the four
cardinal virtues (harder to remember?), and the three heavenly
graces: these make up everybody's world -- but Dylan's in
particular. Or rather, his worlds, since human dealings of every
kind are his for the artistic seizing. Pride is anatomized in "Like
a Rolling Stone," Envy in "Positively 4th Street," Anger in "Only a
Pawn in Their Game" ... But, hearteningly, Justice reclaims "Hattie
Carroll," Fortitude "Blowin' in the Wind," Faith "Precious Angel,"
Hope "Forever Young," and Charity "Watered-Down Love."
In The "New Yorker, Alex Ross wrote that "Ricks's writing on
Dylan is the best there is. Unlike most rock critics --
'forty-year-olds talking to ten-year-olds, ' Dylan has called them
-- he writes for adults." In the "Times (London), Bryan Appleyard
maintained that "Ricks, one of the most distinguished literary
critics of our time, is almost the only writer to have applied
serious literary intelligence to Dylan ..."
Dylan's countless listeners (and even the artist himself, who
knows?) may agree with W.H. Auden that Ricks "is exactly the kind
of critic every poet dreams of finding."
The Hispanic rite, a medieval non-Roman Western liturgy, was
practiced across the Iberian Peninsula for over half a millennium
and functioned as the most distinct marker of Christian identity in
this region. As Christians typically began every liturgical day
throughout the year by singing a vespertinus, this chant genre in
particular provides a unique window into the cultural and religious
life of medieval Iberia. The Hispanic rite has the largest corpus
of extant manuscripts of all non-Roman liturgies in the West, which
testifies to the importance placed on their transmission through
political and cultural upheavals. Its chants, however, use a
notational system that lacks clear specification of pitch and has
kept them barred from in-depth study. Text, Liturgy and Music in
the Hispanic Rite is the first detailed analysis of the
interactions between textual, liturgical, and musical variables
across the entire extant repertoire of a chant genre central to the
Hispanic rite, the vespertinus. By approaching the vespertini
through a holistic methodology that integrates liturgy, melody, and
text, author Raquel Rojo Carrillo identifies the genre's norms and
traces the different shapes it adopts across the liturgical year
and on different occasions. In this way, the book offers an
unprecedented insight into the liturgical edifice of the Hispanic
rite and the daily experience of Christians in medieval Iberia.
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