Music Commons^™

Structural Analysis Or Cultural Analysis? Competing Perspectives On The "Standard Pattern" Of West African Rhythm, Kofi Agawu

Publications and Research

Polyrhythmic dance compositions from West Africa typically feature an ostinato bell pattern known as a time line. Timbrally distinct, asymmetrical in structure, and aurally prominent, time lines have drawn comment from scholars as keys to understanding African rhythm. This article focuses on the best known and most widely distributed of these, the so-called standard pattern, a seven-stroke figure spanning twelve eighth notes and disposed durationally as <2212221>. Observations about structure (including its internal dynamic, metrical potential, and rotational properties) are juxtaposed with a putative African-cultural understanding (inferred from the firm place of dance in the culture, patterns of verbal discourse, …

A Country That Ain’T Really Belong To Me’: Dominicanyorks, Identity And Popular Music, Angelina Tallaj

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Review Of Hail! Hail! Rock 'N' Roll, Michael Adams

Publications and Research

Review of Taylor Hackford's Chuck Berry documentary Hail! Hail! Rock 'n'Roll: http://www.media-party.com/discland/2006/08/chuck-berry-hail-hail-rock-n-roll.html

Liberace, Janet Butler Munch

Publications and Research

Liberace was a pianist and popular entertainer who projected old-world elegance and set the tone for showmanship in the postwar era.

The Saga Of A Song: Authorship And Ownership In The Case Of ‘Guantanamera’, Peter L. Manuel

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Flamenco In Focus: An Analysis Of A Performance Of Soleares, Peter L. Manuel

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Normalizing The Abnormal: Disability In Music And Music Theory, Joseph N. Straus

Publications and Research

The emerging interdisciplinary field of disability studies takes as its subject matter the historical, social, and cultural construction of disability. After a brief introduction to disability studies, this article explores the interconnected histories of disability and music as they are manifested in three theoretical approaches to late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century Western art music (the musical Formenlehre and the tonal theories of Schoenberg and Schenker) and in three works by Beethoven and Schubert. Around the turn of the nineteenth century in Western Europe, disability began to be understood not as something natural and permanent but rather as a deviation from …

Review Of Elevator To The Gallows, Michael Adams

Publications and Research

Review of Louis Malle's Elevator to the Gallows: http://www.media-party.com/discland/2006/06/elevator-to-the-gallows.html

What Adorno Makes Possible For Music Analysis, Kofi Agawu

Publications and Research

Conceived as a commentary on four responses to Adorno’s 1928 essay, “Schubert,” by Esteban Buch, Jonathan Dunsby, Scott Burnham, and Beate Perrey, this article explores some of the implications of Adorno’s essay as they center on notions of hybridity, the interstitial and especially the provisional. It urges a critical strategy that is self-critical, that seeks to name without naming, and that draws on rigorous formal analysis without presenting its outcomes as ends but as means toward various narrative ends.

La Música En Los Cultos Dionisiacos, Adriana Renero

Publications and Research

Para penetrar en el mundo musical griego es preciso alejarnos de nuestras categorías estéticas habituales y pensar en modos, ritmos y armonías diferentes. Al mismo tiempo, es indispensable advertir que en la sociedad griega arcaica la música ocupaba un lugar fundamental, pues mantenía estrechos vínculos con la medicina, la astronomía, la religión, la filosofía, la poesía y la pedagogía, entre otras disciplinas. Lo anterior responde a que la música era considerada un arte peculiar y ambiguo dotado de “poderes especiales” porque actuaba como fuerza capaz de precipitar al hombre a la locura, al mismo tiempo que la curaba, o bien, …

Review Of Analogías Musicales: Kandinsky Y Sus Contemporáneos, Antoni Pizà

Publications and Research

It is hard to believe that curators and scholars still find something to say about the relationship between music and art of the twentieth century. Still, in recent years there has been a relentless boom of exhibitions, scholarly studies, and books dedicated to this topic. This interest, to be sure, is due, in part, to the prestige that modernist art commands among wealthy collectors and institutions, but also to its immense popularity among the general public. Less popular in appeal, though equally revered among the happy few, is modernist music. When both manifestations – art and music – are brought …

Like Falling Off A Log: Rubato In Chopin's Prelude In Ab Major (Op. 28, No. 17), William Rothstein

Publications and Research

Rubato is widely regarded as a purely intuitive art. While it may be true that most performers rely solely on intuition for their rubato, a conscious approach may also be helpful. For the teacher of “analysis for performers,” a conscious approach is essential if rubato is to be discussed at all.

Rubato is a difficult subject to theorize. The late David Epstein made an admirable attempt in his book Shaping Time, using recordings by performers he admired to construct quantitative models. My approach here will be qualitative rather than quantitative, and introspective rather than empirical. Unlike Epstein, I will …

An Early Violin Sonata By Peter Cornelius: A Critical Edition And Study, Johannes P. Knijff

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The dissertation offers a critical edition of the Violin Sonata in E-flat Major (1844) by Peter Cornelius (1824–1874) based on the autograph manuscript (A-Wn Mus. Hs. 4752, fol. 31r–47r). An early work of a composer still in his student years, the sonata can nonetheless be considered one of the most ambitious instrumental compositions of Cornelius, who is well-known for his opera Der Barbier von Bagdad and his art songs. The sonata's four movements are: Allegro (340 mm.); Scherzo (B-flat major, 416 mm.); Fantasie (C minor, 35 mm.); and the finale (252 mm.).

In Chapter One, I describe Cornelius's family background …

"You Better Work": Underground Dance Music In New York City By Kai Fikentscher, Eliot Bates

Publications and Research

You Better Work!: Underground Dance Music in New York City is arguably the first ethnography of electronic dance music culture; it is also one of the first ethnomusicologically-influenced monographs on mediated dance music. Kai Fikentscher deftly avoids the wealth of music industry genre tags (such as "deep house" or "two step garage") that plague many writings on electronic dance music, instead focusing on a specific dance community in New York City which began its social dance practice in the days of disco and continued the practice well into the 1990s. His study took place over the course of thirteen years, …

Negative Emotions And Music Revisited, Peter L. Manuel

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

The World Map Of Music: The Edison Phonograph And The Musical Cartography Of The Earth By Ulrich Wegner, Eliot Bates

Publications and Research

The Berlin Phonogram-Archive was founded in 1900 by Carl Stumpf and Otto Abraham with a collection of twenty wax cylinders of a Siamese theatre ensemble. Erich Moritz von Hornbostel became the head of the archive in 1905, and ever since, the archive—and its archivists—have held an important place in the histories f folklore, ethnomusicology, and recorded sound. Recognized in 1999 by UNESCO’s “Memory of the World” project, the archive now holds over 150,000 music recordings and recently released a comprehensive catalogue (Ziegler 2006) and the CD-ROM The World Map of Music: The Edison Phonograph and the Musical Cartography of the …

Song Of The Outcasts: An Introduction To Flamenco [Book Review], Antoni Pizà

Publications and Research

Robin Totton's Song of The Outcasts: An Introduction to Flamenco is actually a judicious, balanced overview of flamenco, its styles, history, and practitioners. And although its author is very passionate about his subject matter, facts and opinions are not blurred or mystified, but rather presented with clarity and concision (in only 224 pages). Totton defines himself as an "explainer by trade" (p. 12), and explain he does. The challenge, though, is to explain verbally an art form that defines itself around the notion of ineffability.

Albert George ("Al") Hibbler, John A. Drobnicki

Publications and Research

Al Hibbler was a singer who had success both as a solo artist ("Unchained Melody") and with big bands (Jay McShann, Duke Ellington).

Berlín Era Una Festa: Capllonch Vist Pels Seus Contemporanis A Alemanya, Antoni Pizà

Publications and Research

A principis del segle XX, Berlín i París eren, segons Joaquim Nin Castellanos, ciutats “a l’avantguarda dels països musicals”. Segons ell, les institucions culturals alemanyes eren admirables per la seva solidesa, però entenia i es resignava a acceptar que el futur de les arts passava per París. “París o Berlín?”, es devien demanar aleshores elsjoves artistes amb aspiracions mentre preparaven l’imprescindible viatge a l’estranger per conèixer aquesta “avantguarda”.

Transcriptions, Paraphrases, And Arrangements: The Compositional Art Of Moritz Moszkowski, Gilya Hodos

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Although more or less forgotten by most musicians, Moritz Moszkowski (1854–1925) was a celebrated composer, conductor, teacher, editor, and performer. This thesis seeks to draw a thorough biographical sketch of the composer as both a man and a musician and to provide a general description of his piano transcriptions, arrangements, and paraphrases, as well as a detailed analysis of three of his virtuosic piano transcriptions. An analysis of Moszkowski's standing among his peers is also presented. His often under-appreciated achievements are documented in the musical journals of his day, including The Etude, The Musical Courier, The Musical Times, Musician, and …

An Ethnoarchaeomusicological Investigation Of Highland Guatemalan Maya Dance-Plays, Mark Harold Howell

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Instrumental music played on two valveless trumpets and a wooden slit-drum currently accompanies the highland Guatemalan Maya dance-play Rab'inal Achi. These two instrument types are known from the Prehispanic record and have been associated with the play since its first mention in the mid-nineteenth century.

The script of the Rab'inal Achi is considered by many scholars to have Prehispanic roots. The possibility that its accompanying music also originated in Precolumbian times is the impetus behind my study. To explore this possibility I apply ethnoarchaeomusicological research methods, incorporating data supplied by iconology-iconography, ethnographic analogy, history, archaeology, and music analysis. Ethnoarchaeomusicological …

The Guajira Between Cuba And Spain: A Study In Continuity And Change, Peter L. Manuel

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Towards A New Form Of Opera Production, David Smith, Frederick Bianchi

Publications and Research

Opera has historically been one of the most expensive and complex art forms to produce, limiting its accessibility and viability, especially for smaller companies and touring productions. This paper proposes a new model for opera production that utilizes emerging technologies—such as synchronized digital music systems, real-time projection, and programmable lighting—to create high-quality operatic experiences at significantly reduced cost. By leveraging tools like the Sinfonia system for musical timing and dynamic visual elements controlled by digital protocols, opera can be made portable, repeatable, and customizable. The model aims not to replace traditional opera but to supplement it with efficient, flexible systems …

Oscar Esplá In Belgium (1936-1949) [Book Review], Antoni Pizà

Publications and Research

In sum, one feels grateful that someone has taken up the task of debunking, one brick at a time, the vast amount of misinformation that exists about Esplá. De Kloe is a thorough, meticulous scholar whose work shows a masterly command of Spanish music history and its sources.

Sneaking Into The Boys Club: Gender And The Independent Record Shop, Lee Ann Fullington

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Flamenco Guitar: History, Style, And Context, Peter L. Manuel

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

From Scarlatti To "Guantanamera": Dual Tonicity In Spanish And Latin American Musics, Peter L. Manuel

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Indo-Caribbean 'Local-Classical Music': A Unique Variant Of Hindustani Music, Peter L. Manuel

Publications and Research

As cosmopolitan South Asians are well aware, several Indian performing arts, from Bharatanatyam to Bhangra, have come to flourish outside of India, especially as cultivated by non-resident Indians and Pakistanis. Most of these art forms, like Bharatanatyam, either adhere closely to models thriving in India itself, or else - like the British-based Bhangra - although differing from counterparts in India, are nevertheless familiar to interested urbanites in South Asia, who can buy recordings and cultivate an interest in them if they desire. Among the ethnic Indian populations of the Caribbean, a unique sort of Indian music has come to evolve …

Modernity And Musical Structure: Neo-Marxist Perspectives On Song Form And Its Successors, Peter L. Manuel

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Review Of Raíces: The Roots Of Latin Music In New York City, Antoni Pizà

Publications and Research

When I was in school – and that was, obviously, a long time ago – the word Latin, whether as a noun or as an adjective, referred to the world of ancient Rome, its language, culture, and civilization. Needless to say, this definition has now been replaced by another, whose connotations refer to the culture of the countries south of the border of the United States. When a term alters its meaning, it is undoubtedly indicative of larger issues. In recent decades, for example, the popular music of the Spanish-speaking world, not only has attained by appropriation a distinct …