Musicking: The Meanings of Performing and Listening

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Wesleyan University Press, Jul 31, 1998 - Music - 230 pages

Acclaimed scholar rethinks the nature and meaning of music.

Extending the inquiry of his early groundbreaking books, Christopher Small strikes at the heart of traditional studies of Western music by asserting that music is not a thing, but rather an activity. In this new book, Small outlines a theory of what he terms "musicking," a verb that encompasses all musical activity from composing to performing to listening to a Walkman to singing in the shower.

Using Gregory Bateson's philosophy of mind and a Geertzian thick description of a typical concert in a typical symphony hall, Small demonstrates how musicking forms a ritual through which all the participants explore and celebrate the relationships that constitute their social identity. This engaging and deftly written trip through the concert hall will have readers rethinking every aspect of their musical worlds.

 

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Contents

Section 1
1
Section 2
19
Section 3
30
Section 4
39
Section 5
50
Section 6
64
Section 7
75
Section 8
87
Section 11
120
Section 12
130
Section 13
144
Section 14
158
Section 15
169
Section 16
183
Section 17
201
Section 18
207

Section 9
94
Section 10
110
Section 19
223
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About the author (1998)

CHRISTOPHER SMALL is author of Music, Society, Education (Wesleyan, 1996), Music of the Common Tongue (1987; Wesleyan, 1998), and Schoenberg (1978). Senior Lecturer at Ealing College of Higher Education in London until 1986, he lives in Sitges, Spain.

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