Music, Culture, and Experience

by Blacking, John; Byron, Reginald; Nettl, Bruno

• ISBN13: 9780226088303
• ISBN10: 0226088308
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1995-03-15
• Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr

Summary

One of the most important ethnomusicologists of the century, John Blacking achieved international recognition for his book, How Musical Is Man? Known for his interest in the relationship of music to biology, psychology, dance, and politics, Blacking was deeply committed to the idea that music-making is a fundamental and universal attribute of the human species. He attempted to document the ways in which music-making expresses the human condition, how it transcends social divisions, and how it can be used to improve the quality of human life. This volume brings together in one convenient source eight of Blacking's most important theoretical papers along with an extensive introduction by the editor. Drawing heavily on his fieldwork among the Venda people of South Africa, these essays reveal his most important theoretical themes such as the innateness of musical ability, the properties of music as a symbolic or quasi-linguistic system, the complex relation between music and social institutions, and the relation between scientific musical analysis and cultural understanding.

Table of Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgments

The Ethnomusicology of John Blacking

Expressing Human Experience through Music

The Problem of Musical Description

The Music of Venda Girls' Initiation

Music and the Historical Process in Vendaland

The Study of Musical Change

Reflections on the Effectiveness of Symbols

The Music of Politics

Music, Culture, and Experience

A Note on Pronunciation Works

References

Index

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