China Books

Locating East Asia in Western Art Music

EVERETT Yayoi Uno, & LAU Frederick [Other titles by this author]

Stock ID: 21141

ISBN: 9780819566621

Wesleyan University Press 2003 1st Edition

230 x 155mm; 7 figures; 56 musical examples 388pp

How does a piece of music embody the sound of a different culture? The traditional music of China, Japan and Korea have been an important source of inspiration form many Western composers. Some, like Chou Wen-chung and John Cage, have moved beyond superficial borrowing of 'Eastern' musical elements in earnest attempts to understand non-Western principles of compostiion. At the same time, many Asian composers, often trained in the West or in Western music traditions, have been using Asian elements to create works of unique musical synthesis. As a relust of such cultural interpenetrations, the landscape of Western art music has been irreversably altered. Locating East Asia in Western Art Music is a comparative study of Asian-influeneced Western composers and Western-influenced Asian composers, and the first sustained exploration of this cross cultural exchange. Bringing together work by music theorists musicologists and ethnomusicologists, this book explores how musical notions of East and West are constructed and utilised by composers and re-evaluates the many ways East Asian composers have contributed to developemnts in 20th-century music. 'This excellent and very useful book will have a considerable impact on our understanding of the history of Western and world music in the 20th century' - Bruno Nettl, Professor of Music & Anthropology, University of Illinois. (For this item please quote stock ID 21141)

Related Subject Areas:

Art      Music