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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
The Invention Of "African Rhythm", Kofi Agawu
The Invention Of "African Rhythm", Kofi Agawu
Publications and Research
"African ryhthm" was invented in the 1950s when, thanks to pioneering research by the Reverend A. M. Jones, Alan Merriam, Gilbert Rouget, Erich von Hornbostel, and John Blacking, among others, "African music" was construed as an essentially rhythmic phenomenon. Three decades and a sizable body of empirical research later, it is easy to see that an overriding ideology of difference (between "Africa" and the "West") motivated these early efforts. This essay reinvents "African rhythm" not by denying its own ideological construction but by engaging in an imaginary dialogue with earlier researchers in an effort to concretize that which was missing …
The Tristan Chord In Historical Context: A Response To John Rothgeb, William Rothstein
The Tristan Chord In Historical Context: A Response To John Rothgeb, William Rothstein
Publications and Research
John Rothgeb’s analysis of the “Tristan chord” engages a large intertextual network, stretching back to the Baroque and centering on recitative. Examples of a specific figure of recitative, usually associated with the asking of a question, are presented and analyzed. Examples include passages in Wagner's operas before Tristan.