Sounding the Center - History and Aesthetics in Thai Buddhist Performance (Paperback, New Ed)

"Sounding the Center" is an in-depth look at the power behind classical music and dance in Bangkok, the capital and sacred center of Buddhist Thailand. Focusing on the ritual honoring teachers of music and dance, Deborah Wong reveals a complex network of connections among kings, teachers, knowledge, and performance that underlies the classical court arts.
Drawing on her extensive fieldwork, Wong lays out the ritual in detail: the way it is enacted, the foods and objects involved, and the people who perform it, emphasizing the way the performers themselves discuss and construct aspects of the ceremony. Only those who have been initiated by a master can manifest the divine in the human realm. The power held by the master musicians, Wong shows, is both ritual and social; they are not just ritual experts, they are also leaders at the government-run national conservatory. This combination of political recognition and esoteric knowledge, Wong suggests, has helped Thai classical music endure in the face of changing patronage and the challenges posed by the urban environment that supports it.

General

Imprint:	University of Chicago Press
Country of origin:	United States
Series:	Chicago Studies in Ethnomusicology CSE
Release date:	August 2001
First published:	August 2001
Authors:	Deborah Wong
Dimensions:	228 x 152 x 3mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback
Pages:	336
Edition:	New Ed
ISBN-13:	978-0-226-90586-0
Categories:	Books > Arts & Architecture > Performing arts > General Books > Arts & Architecture > Music > Other types of music > Sacred & religious music Books > Reference & Interdisciplinary > Interdisciplinary studies > Cultural studies > General Books > Arts & Architecture > Music > Contemporary popular music > Rock & pop > World music Books > Humanities > Religion & beliefs > Non-Christian religions > Religions of Indic & Oriental origin > Buddhism > General Books > Religion & Spirituality > Non-Christian religions > Religions of Indic & Oriental origin > Buddhism > General Books > Music > Contemporary popular music > Rock & pop > World music Books > Music > Other types of music > Sacred & religious music Promotions
LSN:	0-226-90586-1
Barcode:	9780226905860

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