The aesthetics of imperfection emphasises spontaneity, disruption, process and energy over formal perfection and is often ignored by many commentators or seen only in improvisation. This comprehensive collection is the first time imperfection has been explored across all kinds of musical performance, whether improvisation or interpretation of compositions. Covering music, visual art, dance, comedy, architecture and design, it addresses the meaning, experience, and value of improvisation and spontaneous creation across different artistic media. A distinctive feature of the volume is that it brings together contributions from theoreticians and practitioners, presenting a wider range of perspectives on the issues involved. Contributors look at performance and practice across Western and non-Western musical, artistic and craft forms. Composers and non-performing artists offer a perspective on what is ‘imperfect’ or improvisatory within their work, contributing further dimensions to the discourse. The Aesthetics of Imperfection in Music and the Arts features 39 chapters organised into eight sections and written by a diverse group of scholars and performers. They consider divergent definitions of aesthetics, employing both 18th-century philosophy and more recent socially and historically situated conceptions making this an essential, up-to-date resource for anyone working on either side of the perfection-imperfection debate.

This book brings together a range of hip hop scholars, artists and activists working on Hip Hop in the Global North and South with the goal of advancing Hiphopographic research as a critical methodology with critical fieldwork methods that can provide a critical perspective of our world. The authors’ focus in this volume is to present an anthology of essays that expand the remit of Hiphopography as an approach to the study of Hip Hop that is not only sensitive to the social, economic, political and cultural lives of Hip Hop Culture participants as interpreters and theorists, but one that continues to humanize the “whole person� behind the decks, on the mic, rocking on the linoleum floor, painting in front of a wall, and seeking that Knowledge of Self. This book will be relevant to Hip Hop scholars in fields such as cultural studies and history, sociolinguistics, linguistic anthropology and ethnography, and race studies, while Hip Hop heads themselves will find parts of this book that represent their culture in ethical and informative ways.

Using the case study of "Eddie" as his framework, Professor Miller challenges the prevailing notion that musical savants are essentially phenomenal tape recorders and deals with the issue of "idiot savants" in a detailed, empirical investigation. Through "Eddie" the author discusses, in specific and in general, topics including the background and historical context of musical savants; other cases; data regarding the nature of the skills exhibited and the associated developmental deficits; and descriptions of a series of experiments used to define Eddie's talent. Finally, the author considers more general issues raised by savant behavior, particularly functions served by savant behavior, theories regarding its etiology, and its role in general development.

Sound, music and storytelling are important tools of resistance, resilience and reconciliation in creative practice from protracted conflict to post-conflict contexts. When they are used in a socially engaged participatory capacity, they can create counter-narratives to conflict. Based on original research in three continents, this book advances an interdisciplinary, comparative approach to exploring the role of sonic and creative practices in addressing the effects of conflict. Each case study illustrates how participatory arts genres are variously employed by musicians, arts facilitators, theatre practitioners, community activists and other stakeholders as a means of 'strategic creativity' to transform trauma and promote empowerment. This research further highlights the complex dynamics of delivering and managing creativity among those who have experienced violence, as they seek opportunities to generate alternative arenas for engagement, healing and transformation.

Record collectors, archivists, and music historians will welcome the second volume of The Encyclopedic Discography of Victor Recordings, bringing the history and comprehensive catalog of the Victor Talking Machine Company through the year 1907, when the Matrix Numbering system, inaugurated in April, 1903 had reached number 4999. This volume gives full details of all Victor recordings made during this period, including the early records of such artists as Caruso, Melba, Schumann-Heink, Farrar, Scotti, Homer, Sembrich, Calve, Gadski, Plancon, and many others. Also includes are all popular records of songs, light opera, music hall personalities, bands such as Sousa's, dance records, etc. This discography, which is based on the original recording ledgers of the company, and augmented by extensive research in rare Victor publications, catalogs, bulletins, and correspondence as well as information from collectors and archivists, represents the only systematic cataloging of these rare recordings attempted to date.

"*One of very few books on religion and popular music *Covers a wide range of musical styles, from heavy metal and rap to country, jazz and Broadway musicals *The essays are written by academics and informed by their enthusiasm for the music Many books have explored the relationship between religion and film, but few have yet examined the significance of religion to popular music. Call Me The Seeker steps into that gap. Michael Gilmour's introductory essay gives a state-of-the-discipline overview of research in the area. He argues that popular songs frequently draw from and "interpret" themes found in the conceptual and linguistic worlds of the major religions and reveal underlying attitudes in those who compose and consume them. He says these "texts" deserve more serious study. The essays in the book start an on-going conversation in this area, bringing a variety of methodologies to bear on selected artists and topics. Musical styles covered range from heavy metal and rap to country, jazz, and Broadway musicals."

This translation of this classic text contains a balance of cultural and biological considerations. While arguing for the strong influence of exposure and of formal training on the way that music is perceived, Frances draws on the literature concerning the amusias to illustrate his points about the types of cognitive abstraction that are performed by the listener.

One of the most extensive repertories of Renaissance sacred music to have come down to us was written for the Cathedral of Treviso. An Allied raid over the city on 7 April 1944 resulted in the destruction of 25 manuscripts of polyphonic music written prior to 1630. In this book, Bonnie Blackburn reconstructs the inventories of two of these lost manuscripts: MS29 and MS30, and explains their puzzling repertory.

This study fills a gap in general histories of the oratorio. The number of oratorio performances given in Venice from 1662-1809 was huge, yet the contribution of the city to the history of the genre is often overlooked. Denis and Elsie Arnold examine the fortunes of the genre in Venice, beginning with the arrival of the Oratorians in c.1660 and their establishment at the church of S. Maria della Consolazione (the Fava). The book charts the early success of oratorios by Legrenzi and Pallavicino in the latter part of the seventeenth century, the fallow years from c.1700-1740, and the great revival of interest in oratorio from the 1740s through to 1770 with works by Scalabrini, Jommeli, Galuppi and Bertoni. The volume features a list of all the oratorios given in Venice from 1662-1809. It also includes a list of singers which helps us to date a great deal of Venetian church music of the period.

This encyclopaedia of operas, ballets, composers and performers begins with an introductory essay which aims to provide an appropriate overview and a necessary framework within which the detailed entries may be placed. It emphasizes entries for works, including operas, diverse lyric compositions and ballets, and biographical sketches, including composers, librettists, performers, directors, choreographers and administrators. The volume also contains extended synopses of unusual and obscure operas, as well as a repertory list of works dating from 1671 to 1715 in the appendix.

Whether social, cultural, or individual, the act of imagination always derives from a pre-existing context. For example, we can conjure an alien's scream from previously heard wildlife recordings or mentally rehearse a piece of music while waiting for a train. This process is no less true for the role of imagination in sonic events and artifacts. Many existing works on sonic imagination tend to discuss musical imagination through terms like compositional creativity or performance technique. In this two-volume Handbook, contributors shift the focus of imagination away from the visual by addressing the topic of sonic imagination and expanding the field beyond musical compositional creativity and performance technique into other aural arenas where the imagination holds similar power. Topics covered include auditory imagery and the neurology of sonic imagination; aural hallucination and illusion; use of metaphor in the recording studio; the projection of acoustic imagination in architectural design; and the design of sound artifacts for cinema and computer games.

Ethical musicality addresses the crossroads between music and ethics, combining philosophical knowledge, theoretical reflection, and practical understanding. When tied together, music and ethics link profoundly, offering real-life perspectives that would otherwise be inaccessible to us. The first part elucidates music and ethics through some influential and selected scholars ranging from antiquity via modern philosophy to contemporary voices. In the second part, different roles and arenas are illustrated and explored through various music practices in real-life encounters for the musician, the music educator, the music therapist, the musicologist, the 'lay' musician, and the music researcher. The third part unfolds an ethical musicality focusing on the body, relationship, time, and space. Following these fundamental existentials, ethical musicality expands our lifeworld, including context, involvement, power, responsibility, sustainability, and hope. Such an ethical musicality meets us with a calling to humanity-offering hope of a 'good life'.

This book shows the continuing importance of art education. Art education attracts students who see multiple meanings and justifications for the worth of that education. Their engagement in art education is not limited to the uncertain prospects for jobs or routes into employment in the arts. Furst and Nylander approach art education through a rich array of empirical examples derived from Swedish folk high school programs in music, visual arts, and creative writing. Based on an analytical framework of pragmatic sociology, the book allows the reader to understand the competences and critical capacities held by students and teachers. The book challenges the dominant public perception of art education and broadens our understanding of what it is good for. The Value of Art Education is essential reading for those defending the status of this vital sector of education, offering a deeper understanding of why people engage, what they gain, and the social importance of the arts.

Many guitar players, famous and not so famous, began playing on Japanese electric guitars, yet the history of the people and factories that produced these instruments has remained largely ignored. For the first time in this illustrated history, author Frank Meyers will examine the Japanese electric guitars and factories that were active during the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, identifying the various people, companies, and guitars that contributed to the huge guitar boom of the 1960s. Includes hundreds of fantastic colour photographs, a chapter on 130 pickups, and a chapter on collecting vintage Japanese guitars. A must have for book collectors.

Is music just matter of hearing and producing notes? And is it of interest just to musicians? By exploring different authors and philosophical trends of the Roman Empire, from Philo of Alexandria to Alexander of Aphrodisias, from the rebirth of Platonism with Plutarch to the last Neoplatonists, this book sheds light on different ways in which music and musical notions were made a crucial part of philosophical discourse. Far from being mere metaphors, notions such as harmony, concord and attunement became key philosophical tools in order to better grasp and conceptualise fundamental notions in philosophical debates from cosmology to ethics and from epistemology to theology. The volume is written by a distinguished international team of contributors.

Since their enslavement in West Africa and transport to plantations of the New World, black people have made music that has been deeply entwined with their religious, community, and individual identities. Music was one of the most important constant elements of African American culture in the centuries-long journey from slavery to freedom. It also continued to play this role in blacks' post-emancipation odyssey from second-class citizenship to full equality. Lift Every Voice traces the roots of black music in Africa and slavery and its evolution in the United States from the end of slavery to the present day. The music's creators, consumers, and distributors are all part of the story. Musical genres such as spirituals, ragtime, the blues, jazz, gospel, rhythm and blues, rock, soul, and hip-hop—as well as black contributions to classical, country, and other American music forms—depict the continuities and innovations that mark both the music and the history of African Americans. A rich selection of documents help to define the place of music within African American communities and the nation as a whole.

Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900's and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

This book provides fresh insight into the creative practice developed by Paul McCartney over his extended career as a songwriter, record producer and performing musician. It frames its examination of McCartney's work through the lens of the systems model of creativity developed by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and combines this with the research work of Pierre Bourdieu. This systems approach is built around the basic structures of idiosyncratic agents, like McCartney himself, and the choices he has made as a creative individual. It also locates his work within social fields and cultural domains, all crucial aspects of the creative system that McCartney continues to be immersed in. Using this tripartite system, the book includes analysis of McCartney's creative collaborations with musicians, producers, artists and filmmakers and provides a critical analysis of the Romantic myth which forms a central tenet of popular music. This engaging work will have interdisciplinary appeal to students and scholars of the psychology of creativity, popular music, sociology and cultural studies.

This first-of-its-kind compendium unites perspectives from artists, scholars, arts educators, policymakers and activists to investigate the complex system of values surrounding artistic-educational endeavors. Addressing a range of artistic domains, ranging from music and dance, to visual arts and storytelling, contributors offer an exploration and criticism of the conventions that govern our interactions with these practices. Artistic Citizenship focuses the responsibilities, and functions of amateur as well as professional artists in society, and introduces a novel set of ethics that are conventionally dismissed in discourses on the topic. The authors address the questions: How does the concept of citizenship relate to the arts? What socio-cultural, political, and ethical "goods" can artistic engagements create for people worldwide? Do particular artistic endeavors have distinctive potentials for nurturing artistic citizenship? What are the most effective strategies in the arts to institute change and/or resist local, national, and world problems? What responsibilities do artists and consumers of art have in order to facilitate the relationship between the arts and citizenship? How can artistic activities contribute to the eradication of various 'ism's? A substantial accompanying website features video clips of arts-in-action, videotaped interviews with scholars and practitioners in a variety of global sites, a blog, and supplementary resources about existing and emerging initiatives. Thoroughly researched and engagingly written, Artistic Citizenship is an essential text for artists, scholars, policy makers, educators, and students.