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Books > Music > Theory of music & musicology
- Highly accessible and code-free introduction to game audio,
suitable for a wide range of undergraduate courses, such as music
production, sound design and composition - Accompanied by
eresources, including downloadable projects for each chapter - A
great addition to our growing catalogue of game audio titles
Inspired by its use in literary theory, film criticism and the
discourse of games design, Salome Voegelin's illuminating new book
adapts and develops possible world theory in relation to sound.
David K Lewis' Possible World is juxtaposed with Maurice
Merleau-Ponty's life-world, to produce a meeting of the semantic
and the phenomenological at the place of listening. The central
tenet of this book is that at present traditional musical
compositions and contemporary sonic outputs are approached and
investigated through separate and distinct critical languages and
histories. As a consequence, no continuous and comparative study of
the field is possible. In Sonic Possible Worlds, Voegelin proposes
a new analytical framework that can access and investigate works
across genres and times, enabling a comparative engagement where
composers such as Henry Purcell and Nadia Boulanger encounter sound
art works by Shilpa Gupta and Christina Kubisch and where the
soundscape compositions of Chris Watson and Francisco Lopez resound
in the visual worlds of Louise Bourgeois.
In the Dogon funeral proceedings, a major song cycle called baja ni
is performed in a session of at least seven hours. The texts of the
chants are attributed to a legendary figure called Abire, who as a
blind singer in the nineteenth century roamed the heartland of the
Dogon. The baja ni songs have escaped scholarly attention thus far.
Singing with the Dogon Prophet by Walter E.A. van Beek, Oumarou S.
Ongoiba, and Atim D. Saye provides their first publication in
English as well as an analysis of these songs. These texts deal
with the relations between man and woman, man's ambivalent
dependency on the otherworld, and with life and death; the whole
night performance is one of the high points of the funeral.
Additionally, Abire is a prophet, and during his life has uttered a
great number of prophecies on a wide range of topics, from local
issues to the relation of the Dogon with the Fulbe herdsmen, and
from the arrival of the colonials to ecological transformation.
This book examines how these prophecies with these songs offer an
inside view of the way the Dogon construct the present in a
continuous dialogue with their past and their projected future.
- Emphasizes the creative process, not only individual techniques,
allowing students to better grasp the full process of composing a
piece of music - Includes examples of perspectives on the creative
process from wide variety of composers, helping students understand
how composers think about their work - Flexible chapter structure
allows instructors to adapt the text to their preferred order of
teaching topics
The minstrelsy play, song, and dance "Jump, Jim Crow" did more than
enable blackface performers to spread racist stereotypes about
Black Americans. This widespread antebellum-era cultural phenomenon
was instrumental in normalizing the N-word across several aspects
of American life. Material culture, sporting culture, consumer
products, house-pets, carnival games and even geographic landmarks
obtained the racial slur as a formal and informal appellation.
Music, it is argued, was the catalyst for normalizing and
disseminating those two ugly syllables throughout society, well
beyond the environs of plantation and urban slavery. This weighty
and engaging look at the English language's most explosive slur,
described by scholars as the "atomic bomb" of bigoted words, traces
the N-word's journey through various music genres and across
generations. The author uses private letters, newspaper accounts,
exclusive interviews and, most importantly, music lyrics from
artists in the fields of minstrelsy, folk, country, ragtime, blues,
jazz, rock 'n' roll and hip hop. The result is a reflective account
of how the music industry has channeled linguistic and cultural
movements across eras, resulting in changes to the slur's meaning
and spelling.
Generally speaking, the philosophy of music hitherto can be said to
approach music, as it were, from above or from outside. Music, thus
envisaged, can be "absolute" or "sounding forms in motion". It can
be expression, have a linguistic meaning, tell a story, be a
manifestation of "the world as will and conceptualization", and
mirror society's inward contradictions. Music is seen as an
activity, sometimes as interactivity, not least through an
anthropological approach in which prominence is given to its
origins. This work is an attempt to reverse the argument, by taking
the phenomenon of tone as the starting point to work the way up to
an understanding of the phenomenon of music, to make a philosophy
of tone the foundation of a philosophy of music. Such thoughts were
already present in the author's previous works, but, being
available only in Swedish, will be enlarged here.
A stunning musical biography of Stevie Nicks that paints a portrait
of an artist, not a caricature of a superstar. Reflective and
expansive, Mirror in the Sky situates Stevie Nicks as one of the
finest songwriters of the twentieth century. This biography from
distinguished music historian Simon Morrison examines Nicks as a
singer and songwriter before and beyond her career with Fleetwood
Mac, from the Arizona landscape of her childhood to the strobe-lit
Night of 1000 Stevies celebrations. The book uniquely: Analyzes
Nicks's craft-the grain of her voice, the poetry of her lyrics, the
melodic and harmonic syntax of her songs. Identifies the American
folk and country influences on her musical imagination that place
her within a distinctly American tradition of women songwriters.
Draws from oral histories and surprising archival discoveries to
connect Nicks's story to those of California's above- and
underground music industries, innovations in recording technology,
and gendered restrictions.
The first study to explore the crucial influence of Kurt Weill on
operas and musicals by Marc Blitzstein and Leonard Bernstein.
Theodor Adorno famously proclaimed that the model of Kurt Weill
could not be repeated. Yet Weill's stage works set an inescapable
precedent for composers on both sides of the Atlantic. Rebecca
Schmid explores how Weill's formal innovations in particular laid
the groundwork for operas and musicals by Marc Blitzstein and
Leonard Bernstein, although both composers resisted or downplayed
his aesthetic contribution to American tradition. Comparative
analysis based on Harold Bloom's Anxiety of Influence and other
modes of intertextuality reveals that the principles of Weill's
opera reform would catalyze an indigenous movement in
sophisticated, socially engaged music theatre. Weill, Blitzstein,
and Bernstein: A Study of Influence focuses on works that represent
different phases of Weill's mission to renew the genre of opera,
evolving from Die Dreigroschenoper to the musical play Lady in the
Dark and the Broadway Opera Street Scene. Blitzstein and Bernstein
in turn defied formal boundaries with The Cradle Will Rock, Regina,
Trouble in Tahiti, Candide, and West Side Story - part of a
short-lived movement in mid-twentieth century America that
coincided with a renaissance for Weill's German-period works
following the premiere of Blitzstein's translation, The Threepenny
Opera, under Bernstein's baton. The unpublished A Pray by Blecht,
for which Bernstein rejoined Stephen Sondheim and Jerome Robbins,
his collaborators on West Side Story, deepens the connection of
Bernstein's aesthetic to Weill.
This book explores the relationships between rock and roll, social
protest, and authenticity to consider how rock and roll could
function as social protest music. The author begins by discussing
the nature and origins of rock and roll and the nature of social
protest and social protest music within the wider context of the
evolution of the commercial music industry and the social and
technological infrastructure developed for the mass dissemination
of popular music. This discussion is followed by an examination of
the causes of the public disapproval originally expressed toward
rock and roll, and how they illuminate its social protest and
subversive quality. By further investigating the nature of
authenticity and its relationship to social protest and to
commercialization, the author considers how social protest and
commercialization are antithetical. This conclusion, if correct,
has broad implications for human culture in advanced industrial
society.
Transformation of the Industry in a Brand New Normal: Media, Music,
and Performing Arts is a collection of contemporary research and
interpretation that aims to discover the industrial transformation
in media, music, and performing arts. Featuring coverage of a broad
range of topics, including film studies, narrative theory, digital
streaming platforms, subscription video-on-demand services,
marketing, promotional strategies of video games, distant music
practices, music ecosystems, contemporary orchestras, alternative
music scenes, new voice-over techniques, changing conservatory
education methods, and visual arts, this manuscript of selected
chapters is designed for academics, researchers, media
professionals, and students who intend to enhance their
understanding of transformation in media, music, and performing
arts.
Van den Toorn and McGinness take a fresh look at the dynamics of
Stravinsky's musical style from a variety of analytical, critical
and aesthetic angles. Starting with processes of juxtaposition and
stratification, the book offers an in-depth analysis of works such
as The Rite of Spring, Les Noces and Renard. Characteristic
features of style, melody and harmony are traced to rhythmic
forces, including those of metrical displacement. Along with
Stravinsky's formalist aesthetics, the strict performing style he
favoured is also traced to rhythmic factors, thus reversing the
direction of the traditional causal relationship. Here, aesthetic
belief and performance practice are seen as flowing directly from
the musical invention. The book provides a counter-argument to the
criticism and aesthetics of T. W. Adorno and Richard Taruskin, and
will appeal to composers, critics and performers as well as
scholars of Stravinsky's music.
Merlin B. Thompson invites music studio teachers to link their
teaching with notions of humanity and presents a timely vision of
bringing student-centered teaching to life in the applied music
studio. Filled with a myriad of practical tips and strategies,
inspirational ideas, and real-life stories, More than Music Lessons
demonstrates how music teachers may thoughtfully build on and
exercise what's already there with students. This means teachers
appreciate their students' sense of self, their personal and world
views, their culture, and their spiritual individuality: teachers
share rather than direct their students' musical journeys. Parents,
Practicing, Projects, and Character provide the student-centered
framework. Having compassion for parents and the dynamics of
students' family home life is vital. Practicing fulfills our basic
needs for autonomy, fluency, relatedness, purpose, and reflection.
Non-performance projects bring fresh energy to students' musical
journey and amplify their musical persona. Character-an
interweaving of authenticity, calling, soul, life force imprinted
from birth-adds depth and integrity to musical explorations. The
book features A myriad of practical and inspirational tips for
vocal and instrumental teachers Real-life experiences with students
and parents Ongoing reflective explorations Frequently Asked
Questions Research from the fields of self-determination theory,
humanistic psychology, and project-based learning
Award-winning music educator Merlin B. Thompson invites today's
teachers to link their teaching with notions of humanity and create
success by building on what students naturally bring to their own
musical journey. Filled with over fifty practical and inspirational
teaching tips, More than Music Lessons is a must-read for every
genre of music studio teacher: vocal/instrumental, academic,
traditional, individual/group, Suzuki, exam-based, and online. A
four-part framework gets right to the heart of the matter: -Parents
- understanding the complexity of parental involvement and
students' home life -Practicing - an adventure in autonomy,
fluency, purpose, relatedness, reflection, and listening -Projects
- amplifying students' musical persona with non-performance
projects. -Character - engaging students' inborn authentic
character to ensure meaningful musical participation Grounded in
research yet enriched with real-life experiences and frequently
asked questions, More than Music Lessons offers a comprehensive
view of student-centered teaching, where teachers share rather than
direct students' musical explorations. This book provides resources
for teachers who work with diverse student demographics and sheds
light on how teachers may thoughtfully incorporate students' sense
of self, personal and world views, culture, individuality, and
spirituality as anchors for their unfolding and unique musical
journeys. More than Music Lessons will help studio teachers support
and inspire their students for a lifetime of genuine and joyful
music making.
The political has always been part of popular music, but how does
that play out in today's musical and political landscape? Mixing
Pop and Politics: Political Dimensions of Popular Music in the 21st
Century provides an innovative exploration of the complex politics
of popular music in its contemporary formations. Amid the shifting
paradigms of power in the 2020s, the chapters in this book go
beyond the idea of popular music as protest to explore how
resistance, subversion, containment, and reconciliation all
interact in the popular music realm. Covering a wide range of
international artists and genres, from South African hip-hop to
Polish punk, and addressing topics such as climate change and
environmentalism, feminism, diasporic identity, political parties,
music-making as labour, the far right, conservatism and nostalgia,
and civic engagement, the contributors expand our understanding of
how popular music is political. For students and scholars of music,
popular culture, and politics, the volume offers a broad, exciting
snapshot of the latest scholarship on contemporary popular music
and politics.
The Traditional Tunes of the Child Ballads begins where Francis
Child's The English and Scottish Popular Ballads leaves off.
Bronson has collected all available tunes for each of Child's
ballads, annotated and organized them, with notes describing the
history and development of each tune and tune family. This is an
indispensable text for ballad scholars, performers, and students of
the ballad tradition.
The Choral-Orchestral Works of Ralph Vaughan Williams: Autographs,
Context, Discourse combines contextual knowledge, a musical
commentary, an inventory of the holograph manuscripts, and a
critical assessment of the opus to create substantial and
meticulous examinations of Ralph Vaughan Williams's
choral-orchestral works. The contents include an equitable choice
of pieces from the various stages in the life of the composer and
an analysis of pieces from the various stages of Williams's life.
The earliest are taken from the pre-World War I years, when Vaughan
Williams was constructing his identity as an academic and
musician-Vexilla Regis (1894), Mass (1899), and A Sea Symphony
(1910). The middle group are chosen from the interwar period-Sancta
Civitas (1925), Benedicite (1929), Magnificat (1932), Five Tudor
Portraits (1935), Dona nobis pacem (1936)-written after Vaughan
Williams had found his mature voice. The last cluster-Thanksgiving
for Victory (1944), Fantasia (Quasi Variazione) on the 'Old 104'
Psalm Tune (1949), Sons of Light (1950), Hodie (1954), The Bridal
Day/Epithalamion (1938/1957)-typify the works finished or revisited
during the final years of the composer's life, near the end of the
Second World War and immediately before or after his second
marriage (1953).
When Genres Collide is a provocative history that rethinks the
relationship between jazz and rock through the lens of the two
oldest surviving and most influential American popular music
periodicals: Down Beat and Rolling Stone. Writing in 1955, Duke
Ellington argued that the new music called rock 'n' roll "is the
most raucous form of jazz, beyond a doubt." So why did jazz and
rock subsequently become treated as separate genres? The rift
between jazz and rock (and jazz and rock scholarship) is based on a
set of received assumptions about their fundamental differences,
but there are other ways popular music history could have been
written. By offering a fresh examination of key historical moments
when the trajectories and meanings of jazz and rock intersected,
overlapped, or collided, it reveals how music critics constructed
an ideological divide between jazz and rock that would be
replicated in American musical discourse for decades to follow.
Recipient of and Honorable Mention in the PROSE Award, Music &
the Performing Arts 2018.
Russian music today has a firm hold around the world in the
repertoire of opera houses, ballet companies, and orchestras. The
music of Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Sergey
Rachmaninov, Sergey Prokofiev, and Dmitri Shostakovich is very much
today's lingua franca both in the concert hall and on the
soundtracks of international blockbusters from Hollywood.
Meanwhile, the innovations of Modest Musorgsky, Alexander Borodin,
and Igor Stravinsky have played their crucial role in the
development of Western music, influencing the work of virtually
every notable composer of the past century. Historical Dictionary
of Russian Music, Second Edition contains a chronology, an
introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section
has more than 600 cross-referenced entries for each of Russia's
major performing organizations and performance venues, and on
specific genres such as ballet, film music, symphony and church
music. This book is an excellent resource for students,
researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about Russian Music.
Beethoven's piano sonatas are a cornerstone of the piano repertoire
and favourites of both the concert hall and recording studio. The
sonatas have been the subject of much scholarship, but no single
study gives an adequate account of the processes by which these
sonatas were composed and published. With source materials such as
sketches and correspondence increasingly available, the time is
ripe for a close study of the history of these works. Barry Cooper,
who in 2007 produced a new edition of all 35 sonatas, including
three that are often overlooked, examines each sonata in turn,
addressing questions such as: Why were they written? Why did they
turn out as they did? How did they come into being and how did they
reach their final form? Drawing on the composer's sketches,
autograph scores and early printed editions, as well as contextual
material such as correspondence, Cooper explores the links between
the notes and symbols found in the musical texts of the sonatas,
and the environment that brought them about. The result is a
biography not of the composer, but of the works themselves.
Introduction to Digital Music with Python Programming provides a
foundation in music and code for the beginner. It shows how coding
empowers new forms of creative expression while simplifying and
automating many of the tedious aspects of production and
composition. With the help of online, interactive examples, this
book covers the fundamentals of rhythm, chord structure, and
melodic composition alongside the basics of digital production.
Each new concept is anchored in a real-world musical example that
will have you making beats in a matter of minutes. Music is also a
great way to learn core programming concepts such as loops,
variables, lists, and functions, Introduction to Digital Music with
Python Programming is designed for beginners of all backgrounds,
including high school students, undergraduates, and aspiring
professionals, and requires no previous experience with music or
code.
Just as music has the power to inspire, it has the power to
irritate and enrage. Why does certain music annoy us? Why does it
force us to leave rooms, invade our personal space and affect us on
a visceral level? Based on more than 70 interviews, this book
discusses the everyday challenges of living together with unwanted
music. It examines issues of taste, individual rights, private and
public spaces, violence and the law. The interviews explore various
relationships with forced listening and the behaviors that result.
Interviewees talk about emotions and reactions to the nuisance
caused by music, highlighting matters of otherness, individualism
and rights. They discuss experiences with neighbors, at stores, on
the street, while commuting and even in their homes - and reveal
the complex social interactions mediated by music and sounds in our
day-to-day lives.
This book presents the first English introduction to the broad
history of the Gothic mode in Spain. It focuses on key literary
periods, such as Romanticism, the fin-de-siecle, spiritualist
writings of the early-twentieth century, and the cinematic and
literary booms of the 1970s and 2000s. With illustrative case
studies, Aldana Reyes demonstrates how the Gothic mode has been a
permanent yet ever-shifting fixture of the literary and cinematic
landscape of Spain since the late-eighteenth century. He proposes
that writers and filmmakers alike welcomed the Gothic as a
liberating and transgressive artistic language.
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