World Musics in Context

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Foreword by Laurence Picken
Introduction
Par 1: Genesis
1. Elemental Features of Music
2. Aspects of Civilization
3. Early Oligarchies in Mesopotamia and Egypt
4. Diverging Traditions (1): South and Central Asia
5. Diverging Traditions (2): Europe
Part 2: Traditional Musics of Africa and Asia
6. Africa
7. West Asia
8. The Indian Subcontinent
9. South East Asia
10. East Asia
Part 3: Europe
11. New Horizons
12. Enlightenment
13. Disentegration
Part 4: The New World
14. Cultural Mix in Latin America
15. Europeans in the United States
16. Africans in the United States
Part 5: The Modern World
17. Tradition and Change
18. Westernisation and National Musical Identity in Africa and Asia
19. The Postmodern West
Bibliography
Index

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This book contains a wide-ranging survey of musics of the world, in historical and social contexts, from ancient times to the present day. It starts by describing aspects of musical style and function in relation to the early developments of civilisations, as background to a study of later transformations. It then describes, in some detail, musical traditions of Africa and Asia, in relation to history/geography and to other aspects of culture. European music is subsequently treated similarly, and in relation to music-cultures elsewhere. A further section examines the consequences of Europe's appropriation of the Americas, and describes popular musical styles in both Latin America and the USA. The final section considers the nature of tradition and change, examines some African and Asian musical styles in their colonial and post-colonial contexts, and considers, in broad historical perspective, the effects of Westernisation. A concluding essay examines the consequences for the West of global Westernisation, and of increasing cultural interchange. The book includes a Foreword by Laurence Picken, an essay that presents a unique view of music and ethnomusicology by one of the most distinguished scientists and musicologists of our time. In part a compendium of information currently available, in part a dialectical examination of musical causation and function, this book aims to lead students, teachers, and those who practise Western music towards a deeper understanding of the various musical traditions that contribute to the modern, multi-cultural environment. The author's aim throughout has been to achieve clarity in the writing and to make the book accessible to those with no training in ethnomusicology.

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Perverse, provocative, and remarkably stimulating ... With its politically acerbic commentaries, and its delightful dips into music's exotic by-ways, this book deserves to be read for a long time to come

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