Musicking: The Meanings of Performing and ListeningExtending 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
| 1 | |
| 19 | |
2 A Thoroughly Contemporary Affair | 30 |
3 Sharing with Strangers | 39 |
Interlude 1 The Language of Gesture | 50 |
4 A Separate World | 64 |
5 A Humble Bow | 75 |
6 Summoning Up the Dead Composer | 87 |
Interlude 3 Socially Constructed Meanings | 130 |
9 An Art of the Theater | 144 |
10 A Drama of Relationships | 158 |
11 A Vision of Order | 169 |
12 Whats Really Going On Here? | 183 |
13 A Solitary Flute Player | 201 |
Was It a Good Performance and How Do You Know? | 207 |
Bibliography | 223 |
Other editions - View all
Music of the Common Tongue: Survival and Celebration in African American Music Christopher Small No preview available - 1987 |
Common terms and phrases
activity affirm articulate audience Bateson Beethoven celebrate century ceremony classical music complex composer composer's concert hall concert music conductor course create creatures culture dancing drama emotions equal temperament event existence experience explore fact feel formance gesture Gustav Mahler hear human relationships ideal relationships imagine individual instruments J. S. Bach kind language living Ludwig van Beethoven mance masculine meaning melody meta-narrative metaphor mind modern movement Mozart musi musical performance musicians musicologists myth narrative nature Ninth Symphony opera orchestra paralanguage pattern which connects perceive perhaps piano piece Pierre Boulez play players protagonist question rela relation repertory representation ritual score semiotics set of relationships sing social society sonata form song sound stories style Susan McClary symphony concert takes place Tchaikovsky tell tension theme thing tion tionships tonal harmony ture understand verbal Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart words
Bibliographic information
| Title | Musicking: The Meanings of Performing and Listening Music Culture |
| Author | Christopher Small |
| Publisher | Wesleyan University Press, 2011 |
| ISBN | 0819572241, 9780819572240 |
| Length | 238 pages |
| Subjects | › › Music / General Social Science / Anthropology / Cultural & Social |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |