Category Archives: Reception
Silvio Rodríguez and disappearance
On 31 March 31 1990, in the early days of the newly restored democracy in Chile, the Cuban cantautor Silvio Rodríguez staged a concert in Santiago de Chile’s Estadio Nacional for an audience of 80,000 people. Accompanying him were the … Continue reading
Filed under Politics, Popular music, Reception
Delius’s taste
Today, on Delius’s 150th birthday, let’s eavesdrop on the reminiscences of his friend Percy Grainger. “Composer never had truer colleague than I had in Frederick Delius, and when he died I felt that my music had lost its best friend. … Continue reading
Filed under Impressionism, Reception, Romantic era
Patti Smith and Rimbaud
Patti Smith’s direct assimilation of Arthur Rimbaud’s work into hers presents a case of cultural cross-fertilization in which the poetry of a foreign high-cultural figure enters into and influences a popular and countercultural discourse, illustrating how a nonacademic reading of … Continue reading
Filed under Literature, Popular music, Reception
Ragtime rants
A pair of brief unattributed articles appeared in the July 1901 issue of American musician to articulate opposing viewpoints on ragtime, which had become increasingly popular since the late 19th century. War on ragtime denounced the genre in no uncertain … Continue reading
Filed under Black studies, Jazz and blues, Popular music, Reception
Collectionner la musique / Collecting music
Launched in 2010 by the Fondation Royaumont following its acquisition of the library of the pianist François Lang (1908–1944), the Brepols series Collectionner la musique/Collecting music is devoted to exploring the history of music collecting. The first volume, Collectionner la … Continue reading
Filed under New series, Reception, Source studies
Lady Gaga’s social network
Lady Gaga went from nowhere to everywhere in just 18 months due to many factors—not least, to her unprecedented and canny use of social networking. Gaga used Internet tools to craft her personal mythology, and continues to use them to … Continue reading
Filed under Mass media, Popular music, Reception
Carnatic Music Idol
The “Idol” television format has gone global, and since 2004 an Indian version has featured amateur singers of popular Indian film songs. Seeing this, the producer Subhashree Thanikachalam (left)—who had already pioneered three successful television series focused on Indian music—decided to … Continue reading
Filed under Asia, Mass media, Reception
