English Musicians in the Age of Exploration
English Musicians in the Age of Exploration

Author: Ian Woodfield

Publisher: Pendragon Press

Published: 1995

Total Pages: 332

ISBN-13: 9780945193593

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When Drake set sail from Plymouth harbour on 15 November 1577 at the start of his epic circumnavigation of the world, he had with him on board the Pelican four professional musicians and at least one trumpeter... from the Introduction.The three epoch-making voyages of Columbus (1492), Vasco da Gama (1497 and Magellan (1519 inaugurated the Age of Exploration, the most intensive era of discovery in the history of the world. This book seeks to ascertain what part musicians played in the patterns of settlement which still determine many of the cultural and linguistic boundaries of the present-day world. The focus is on Englishmen, but account will betaken of musicians representing the other leading colonial nations of Europe-France, Spain, Portugal and Holland. This study deals with the hundreds of musicians who left their native country to serve on long-distance ships in the years between the accession of Elizabeth I and the end of the 17th century. Among the many subjects covered are musical duties at sea, musicians as ambassadors on land, musical trinkets for barter, musicians of the East India Company, musical instruments presented by the trading companies, trumpeters, drum and fife players, amateur musicians, musicians in the colonization of North America, and much m

Historical Dictionary of English Music
Historical Dictionary of English Music

Author: Charles Edward McGuire

Publisher: Scarecrow Press

Published: 2011-04-08

Total Pages: 366

ISBN-13: 0810879514

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The Historical Dictionary of English Music seeks to identify and briefly annotate a wide range of subjects relating to English musical culture, largely from the early 15th century through 1958, dates that reflect the coalescence of an identifiable English style in the early Renaissance and the death of the iconic Ralph Vaughan Williams in the mid-20th century. This book is an excellent access point for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about English music.

The Harvard Dictionary of Music
The Harvard Dictionary of Music

Author: Don Michael Randel

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2003-11-28

Total Pages: 1020

ISBN-13: 9780674011632

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This classic reference work, the best one-volume music dictionary available, has been brought completely up to date in this new edition. Combining authoritative scholarship and lucid, lively prose, the Fourth Edition of The Harvard Dictionary of Music is the essential guide for musicians, students, and everyone who appreciates music. The Harvard Dictionary of Music has long been admired for its wide range as well as its reliability. This treasure trove includes entries on all the styles and forms in Western music; comprehensive articles on the music of Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Near East; descriptions of instruments enriched by historical background; and articles that reflect today’s beat, including popular music, jazz, and rock. Throughout this Fourth Edition, existing articles have been fine-tuned and new entries added so that the dictionary fully reflects current music scholarship and recent developments in musical culture. Encyclopedia-length articles by notable experts alternate with short entries for quick reference, including definitions and identifications of works and instruments. More than 220 drawings and 250 musical examples enhance the text. This is an invaluable book that no music lover can afford to be without.

The Musical Human
The Musical Human

Author: Michael Spitzer

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2021-04-01

Total Pages: 481

ISBN-13: 1526602741

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A RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK 'Full of delightful nuggets' Guardian online 'Entertaining, informative and philosphical ... An essential read' All About History 'Extraordinary range ... All the world and more is here' Evening Standard 165 million years ago saw the birth of rhythm. 66 million years ago came the first melody. 40 thousand years ago Homo sapiens created the first musical instrument. Today music fills our lives. How we have created, performed and listened to music throughout history has defined what our species is and how we understand who we are. Yet it is an overlooked part of our origin story. The Musical Human takes us on an exhilarating journey across the ages – from Bach to BTS and back – to explore the vibrant relationship between music and the human species. With insights from a wealth of disciplines, world-leading musicologist Michael Spitzer renders a global history of music on the widest possible canvas, from global history to our everyday lives, from insects to apes, humans to artificial intelligence. 'Michael Spitzer has pulled off the impossible: a Guns, Germs and Steel for music' Daniel Levitin 'A thrilling exploration of what music has meant and means to humankind' Ian Bostridge

The Cambridge History of World Music
The Cambridge History of World Music

Author: Philip V. Bohlman

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2013-12-12

Total Pages: 943

ISBN-13: 1316025667

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Scholars have long known that world music was not merely the globalized product of modern media, but rather that it connected religions, cultures, languages and nations throughout world history. The chapters in this History take readers to foundational historical moments – in Europe, Oceania, China, India, the Muslim world, North and South America – in search of the connections provided by a truly world music. Historically, world music emerged from ritual and religion, labor and life-cycles, which occupy chapters on Native American musicians, religious practices in India and Indonesia, and nationalism in Argentina and Portugal. The contributors critically examine music in cultural encounter and conflict, and as the critical core of scientific theories from the Arabic Middle Ages through the Enlightenment to postmodernism. Overall, the book contains the histories of the music of diverse cultures, which increasingly become the folk, popular and classical music of our own era.

Music and Familiarity
Music and Familiarity

Author: Elaine King

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-04-29

Total Pages: 317

ISBN-13: 1317092538

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Familiarity underpins our engagement with music. This book highlights theoretical and empirical considerations about familiarity from three perspectives: listening, musicology and performance. Part I, ’Listening’, addresses familiarity as it relates to listeners’ behaviour and responses to music, specifically in regulating our choice and exposure to music on a daily basis; how we get to know music through regular listening; how comfortable we feel in a Western concert environment; and music’s efficacy as a pain-reliever. Part II, ’Musicology’ exposes the notion of familiarity from varied stances, including appreciation of music in our own and other cultures through ethnomusicology; exploration of the perception of sounds via music analysis; philosophical reflection on the efficiency of communication in musicology; evaluation of the impact of researchers’ musical experiences on their work; and the influence of familiarity in music education. Part III, ’Performance’, focuses on the effects of familiarity in relation to different aspects of Western art and popular performance, including learning and memorizing music; examination of ’groove’ in popular performance; exploration of the role of familiarity in shaping socio-emotional behaviour between members of an ensemble; and consideration about the effects of the unique type of familiarity gained by musicians through the act of performance itself.

The Cambridge History of Musical Performance
The Cambridge History of Musical Performance

Author: Colin Lawson

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2012-02-16

Total Pages: 1066

ISBN-13: 1316184420

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The intricacies and challenges of musical performance have recently attracted the attention of writers and scholars to a greater extent than ever before. Research into the performer's experience has begun to explore such areas as practice techniques, performance anxiety and memorisation, as well as many other professional issues. Historical performance practice has been the subject of lively debate way beyond academic circles, mirroring its high profile in the recording studio and the concert hall. Reflecting the strong ongoing interest in the role of performers and performance, this History brings together research from leading scholars and historians and, importantly, features contributions from accomplished performers, whose practical experiences give the volume a unique vitality. Moving the focus away from the composers and onto the musicians responsible for bringing the music to life, this History presents a fresh, integrated and innovative perspective on performance history and practice, from the earliest times to today.

Guitar Cultures
Guitar Cultures

Author: Andy Bennett

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2020-05-18

Total Pages: 182

ISBN-13: 1000180859

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The guitar is one of the most evocative instruments in the world. It features in music as diverse as heavy metal, blues, indie and flamenco, as well as Indian classical music, village music making in Papua New Guinea and carnival in Brazil. This cross-cultural popularity makes it a unique starting point for understanding social interaction and cultural identity. Guitar music can be sexy, soothing, melancholy or manic, but it nearly always brings people together and creates a common ground even if this common ground is often the site of intense social, cultural, economic and political negotiation and contest.This book explores how people use guitars and guitar music in various nations across the world as a musical and symbolic basis for creating identities. In a world where place and space are challenged by the pace of globalization, the guitar provides images, sounds and styles that help define new cultural territories. Guitars play a crucial part in shaping the commercial music industry, educational music programmes, and local community atmosphere. Live or recorded, guitar music and performance, collecting and manufacture sustains a network of varied social exchanges that constitute a distinct cultural milieu.Representing the first sustained analysis of what the guitar means to artists and audiences world-wide, this book demonstrates that this seemingly simple material artefact resonates with meaning as well as music.

An Introduction to Music Studies
An Introduction to Music Studies

Author: John Paul Edward Harper-Scott

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2009-01-15

Total Pages: 313

ISBN-13: 052184293X

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Why study music? An introduction to the main aspects of the subject, outlining the many benefits of a music degree.