Author : John Lawrence Witzleben
Publisher : Kent State University Press
Page : 232 pages
File Size : 22,34 MB
Release : 1995
Category : Music
ISBN : 9780873384995
This is a study of one of China's most influential regional musical traditions, the Jiangnan sizhu - string and wind music - of Shanghai. The in-depth approach adopted reveals much about Chinese musical culture.
Author : Michael Saffle
Publisher : University of Michigan Press
Page : 345 pages
File Size : 12,13 MB
Release : 2017-03-01
Category : Music
ISBN : 0472122711
Western music reached China nearly four centuries ago, with the arrival of Christian missionaries, yet only within the last century has Chinese music absorbed its influence. As China and the West demonstrates, the emergence of “Westernized” music from China—concurrent with the technological advances that have made global culture widely accessible—has not established a prominent presence in the West. China and the West brings together essays on centuries of Sino-Western musical exchange by musicologists, ethnomusicologists, and music theorists from around the world. It opens with a look at theoretical approaches of prior studies of musical encounters and a comprehensive survey of the intercultural and cross-cultural theoretical frameworks—exoticism, orientalism, globalization, transculturation, and hybridization—that inform these essays. Part I focuses on the actual encounters between Chinese and European musicians, their instruments and institutions, and the compositions inspired by these encounters, while Part II examines theatricalized and mediated East-West cultural exchanges, which often drew on stereotypical tropes, resulting in performances more inventive than accurate. Part III looks at the musical language, sonority, and subject matters of “intercultural” compositions by Eastern and Western composers. Essays in Part IV address reception studies and consider the ways in which differences are articulated in musical discourse by actors serving different purposes, whether self-promotion, commercial marketing, or modes of nationalistic—even propagandistic—expression. The volume’s extensive bibliography of secondary sources will be invaluable to scholars of music, contemporary Chinese culture, and the globalization of culture.
Author : Stephen Jones
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 151 pages
File Size : 47,5 MB
Release : 2016-12-05
Category : Music
ISBN : 1351902989
The rich local traditions of musical life in rural China are still little known. Music-making in village society is largely ceremonial, and shawm bands account for a significant part of such music. This is the first major ethnographic study of Chinese shawm bands in their ceremonial and social context. Based in a poor county in Shanxi province in northwestern China, Stephen Jones describes the painful maintenance of ceremonial and its music there under Maoism, its revival with the market reforms of the 1980s and its modification under the assault of pop music since the 1990s. Part One of the text explains the social and historical background by outlining the lives of shawm band musicians in modern times. Part Two looks at the main performing contexts of funerals and temple fairs, whilst Part Three discusses musical features such as instruments, scales, and repertories. The downloadable resources consist of a 47-minute film in two parts, showing excerpts from funerals and temple fairs (complementing Part Two of the text), while a separate section contains a magnificent 1992 funerary performance of a complete shawm-band suite. As a package, the book and downloadable resources illuminate the whole ceremonial context of music-making in rural China, illustrating the ritual-music experience of villagers, with lay Daoist priests, opera troupes, and beggars also making cameo appearances. While the modern stage repertories of urban professionals remain our main exposure to Chinese music, this publication is all the more valuable in showing the daily musical experiences of the majority of people in China. It will appeal to ethnomusicologists, anthropologists and all those interested in modern Chinese history and society.
Author : Rough Guides
Publisher : Penguin
Page : 580 pages
File Size : 36,91 MB
Release : 2013-09-05
Category : Travel
ISBN : 1409349543
The Rough Guide to Southwest China is the essential, full-color guide to China's most compelling region, from tropical rainforest to the snowbound heights of the Tibetan plateau and the mighty Yangzi River. Inside its modern cities you'll find lively restaurants and teahouses, busy streets and trendy bars. Further afield are historic old towns and trade roads, once trodden by merchants, Communist guerillas, third-century warriors, and European plant-hunters. Limestone peaks, caves, waterfalls, and the world's largest sinkholes compete for your attention alongside rare monkeys, birds, and-of course-pandas. Half of China's 56 recognized ethnic groups live in the region, too, including Tibetans, Miao, Dong, Yi, Bai, and Dai, enlivening the countryside with wooden villages, monastery towns, extreme rice terracing exquisite textiles, and exuberant festivals, and visitors can join pilgrims circuiting lamaseries, get a close-up view of monumental Buddhist sculptures, and climb holy mountains. With more than fifty full-color maps, vibrant color photos, honest reviews, and expert background, the Rough Guide is all you need. Originally published in print in 2012. Now available in ePub format.
Author : Ruth M. Stone
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 3969 pages
File Size : 17,23 MB
Release : 2017-09-25
Category : Music
ISBN : 135154411X
The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music is a ten-volume reference work, organized geographically by continent to represent the musics of the world in nine volumes. The tenth volume houses reference tools and descriptive information about the encyclopedia’s structure, criteria for inclusion and other information specific to the field of ethnomusicology. An award-winning reference, its contributions are from top researchers around the world who were active in fieldwork and from key institutions with programs in ethnomusicology. GEWM has become a familiar acronym, and it remains highly revered for its scholarship, uncontested in being the sole encompassing reference work with a broad survey of world music. More than 9,000 pages, with musical illustrations, photographs and drawings, it is accompanied by 300+ audio examples.
Author : Terry E. Miller
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 571 pages
File Size : 18,25 MB
Release : 2014-08-13
Category : Music
ISBN : 131797459X
World Music: A Global Journey, Concise Edition is an ideal introduction to the diversity of musical expression around the world, taking students across the globe to experience cultural traditions that challenge the ear, the mind, and the spirit. Based on the comprehensive third edition, this concise version offers a brief survey of the world’s musical culture within a strong pedagogical framework. As one prepares for any travel, each chapter starts with background preparation, reviewing the historical, cultural, and musical overview of the region. Visits to multiple ‘sites’ within a region provide in-depth studies of varied musical traditions. Music analysis begins with an experiential "first impression" of the music, followed by an "aural analysis" of the sound and prominent musical elements. Finally, students are invited to consider the cultural connections that give the music its meaning and life. Features A brief survey of the world’s musical cultures 43 sites carefully selected for a global balance A 2-CD set of music, a fundamental resource for students to begin their exploration of world music and culture Listening Guides analyzing various pieces of music, with selected examples presented in an interactive format online Popular music incorporated with the traditional The dynamic companion website hosts interactive listening guides, plus many student resources including video, flashcards, practice quizzes, and links to further resources. Instructor resources include assignment ideas, handouts, PowerPoint slides, and a test bank.
Author : Jonathan P. J. Stock
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 300 pages
File Size : 50,84 MB
Release : 2003-04-10
Category : Music
ISBN : 9780197262733
China has over three hundred distinct styles of music drama, from exorcism theatre to farce, historical romance, and shadow puppetry. This study considers one of the newer operatic forms. Established just two centuries ago, huju (Shanghai opera), is renowned for its portrayal of ordinary people, not the emperors, courtesans, and heroes of older forms. Acting and make-up aim for realism rather than symbolism, and stories deal with contemporaneous themes: the struggles of lovers to marry, women's rights after the Communist revolution (1949), and life under the new social order established by Deng Xiaoping's reforms in the 1980s. Music ranges from local folksong to syncretic adoptions of Western popular music. Jonathan Stock is an authority on Chinese music, with previous books on Chinese flute and violin solos and Abing, a twentieth-century composer. Adding to his extensive research on Chinese music, Stock's eighteen months of fieldwork in Shanghai allows him to interweave material from historical reports, sound recordings, live performance, and the first-hand accounts of three generations of singers into a study of a unique Chinese opera form seen equally as historical tradition, venue for social action, and forum for musical creativity. Assessing first the roots of huju in local folksong and ballad, he looks at the enduring role of emotional expressivity. He next focuses on the rise of actresses, laying out a specially 'musical' reading of gendered performance. Further chapters reverse conventional ethnomusicological arguments that music constructs place by looking at how Shanghai's institutions before 1949 shaped the environment within which troupes developed new dramatic materials and competed for work. In considering reforms post-1949, the author shows how the infusion of explicit political content actually weakened the expressive impact of these dramas. Finally, developments since 1980 are reviewed. The book includes songs and illustrations of performance styles. An innovative combination of urban and historical ethnomusicology, the book's findings will engage the historian of China and general scholar of music alike.
Author : Rough Guides
Publisher : Rough Guides UK
Page : 1010 pages
File Size : 40,6 MB
Release : 2017-06-01
Category : Travel
ISBN : 0241314895
The new, fully updated The Rough Guide to China is the definitive guide to this enchanting country, one of the world's oldest civilisations. From the high-tech cities of Hong Kong and Shanghai to minority villages in Yunnan and Buddhist temples of Tibet, China's mixture of modernity and ancient traditions never fails to impress. With stunning new photography and all the best places to eat, sleep, party and shop, The Rough Guide to China has everything need to ensure you don't miss a thing in this fast-changing nation. Detailed, full-colour maps help you find the best spot for Peking duck or navigate Beijing's backstreets. Itineraries make planning easy, and a Contexts section gives in-depth background on China's history and culture, as well language tips, with handy words and phrases to ease your journey. All this, combined with detailed coverage of the country's best attractions, from voyages down the Yangzi River to hiking the infamous Great Wall, makes The Rough Guide to China the essential companion to delve into China's greatest treasures.
Author : Helen Rees
Publisher : University of Illinois Press
Page : 235 pages
File Size : 20,75 MB
Release : 2010-10-01
Category : Music
ISBN : 0252092252
Until recently, most scholarly work on Chinese music in both Chinese and Western languages has focused on genres, musical structure, and general history and concepts, rather than on the musicians themselves. This volume breaks new ground by focusing on individual musicians active in different amateur and professional music scenes in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Chinese communities in Europe. Using biography to deepen understanding of Chinese music, contributors present richly contextualized portraits of rural folk singers, urban opera singers, literati, and musicians on both geographic and cultural frontiers. The topics investigated by these authors provide fresh insights into issues such as the urban-rural divide, the position of ethnic minorities within the People's Republic of China, the adaptation of performing arts to modernizing trends of the twentieth century, and the use of the arts for propaganda and commercial purposes. The social and political history of China serves as a backdrop to these discussions of music and culture, as the lives chronicled here illuminate experiences from the pre-Communist period through the Cultural Revolution to the present. Showcasing multiple facets of Chinese musical life, this collection is especially effective in taking advantage of the liberalization of mainland China that has permitted researchers to work closely with artists and to discuss the interactions of life and local and national histories in musicians' experiences. Contributors are Nimrod Baranovitch, Rachel Harris, Frank Kouwenhoven, Tong Soon Lee, Peter Micic, Helen Rees, Antoinet Schimmelpenninck, Shao Binsun, Jonathan P. J. Stock, and Bell Yung.
Author : Hanns-Werner Heister
Publisher : Springer Nature
Page : 719 pages
File Size : 25,85 MB
Release : 2023-03-06
Category : Music
ISBN : 3031201094
This book offers a truly interdisciplinary discussion on the relationship between the vocal and the instrumental in music and other arts and in everyday communication alike. Presenting an in-depth systematical and historical analysis of the evolution of word and gesture art, it gives extensive information on the anthropological, biological, and physiological influences and interactions in music and beyond. The book gives a unique definition of the genuinely vocal and instrumental from their generative deep structure: They derive from and are determined in their production by the duality of voice and hands, and in terms of product as the tone or ‘tonal’ on the one hand, and the percussive, that is noise plus rhythm, on the other. This book succeeds in bringing together perspectives from art, and from natural and social sciences, merging them to offer new explanations about the relationship between the vocal and instrumental, and eventually about the origins of music, arts, and language. It offers new perspectives on the intertwining between the vocal and the instrumental, specifically in the context of the expressions of human languages. At the same time, this book aims at clarifying and explaining the role of words and gestures in different contexts, such as society and communication, education, and arts.
