In 2010 Scarecrow Press launched the series The American wind band with A history of the trombone by David M. Guion; the book is a comprehensive account of the development of the instrument from its initial form as a 14th-century medieval trumpet to its acceptance in various kinds of artistic and popular music in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Recent interchanges between medieval music and heavy metal open new perspectives on historically informed practice. A comparison of recordings of Walther von der Vogelweide’s Palästinalied by Thomas Binkley, Paul Hillier, and In Extremo illuminates how historic orientation and its inherent sense influence performance aesthetics.
This according to “Gothic und HIP: Sinn und Präsenz in populären und in historisch informierten Realisierungen des Palästinalieds” by Konstantin Voigt (Basler Jahrbuch für historische Musikpraxis XXXII [2008] pp. 221–234). Above, a portrait of the great Minnesinger; below, In Extremo’s historically informed rendition of Walther’s celebrated work about the Crusades.
Demonstrating the breadth of its scope, the journal’s first issue presented articles on the music of Carl Nielsen, hip hop culture, and original Broadway cast albums. The journal is edited by Mads Krogh, Martin Knakkergaard, and Søren Møller Sørensen.
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The first volume, Collectionner la musique: Histoires d’une passion seeks to define music collecting in all its forms through profiles of some of the great European collectors and analyses of outstanding collections dating from the 16th century to the present—including those of João IV of Portugal, Padre Martini, and Henry Prunières. Further volumes will be devoted to the musician as collector and the learned collector.
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Recent shifts in global film cultures and how we understand them inspired Intellect Books to launch the journal Transnational cinemas(ISSN 2040-3534) in 2010.
Dynamic new industrial and textual practices are being established throughout the world, and the academic community is responding. Transnational cinemas aims to break down traditional geographical divisions and welcomes submissions that reflect the changing nature of global filmmaking.
Perhaps inspired by Venetian practices, in the mid-1710s Karl Wilhelm, Margrave of Baden-Durlach (1679–1738), established a large ensemble of Hofsingerinnen—female court singers. Some visitors to his court were scandalized, not least the Duchess of Orléans (Élisabeth Charlotte de Bavière, 1652–1722), who expressed herself repeatedly:
“I have already heard about the ridiculous seraglio maintained by the Margrave of Durlach. According to what I’ve heard lately about our Germans—whether they are princes or aristocrats—they are all as crazy as if they had come out of the madhouse; I am really quite ashamed by this.” (15 December 1718).
“I have heard about the bedlam life led by the Margrave of Durlach; he is completely mad. I fear that he has turned into a complete imbecile; [his lifestyle] has never been crazier…” (13 September 1719)
“The man of letters…will surely be given a leading position in heaven if he can persuade the Margrave of Durlach to abandon his scandalous life and shut down his seraglio.” (4 June 1722)
Due to such accounts, Karl Wilhelm’s courtly lifestyle has inspired visions of Oriental harems to this day, tempting three centuries of historians either to omit the topic intentionally or to misuse it as a way to project their own fantasies.
What could a late–19th-century Viennese symphonic genius and an early–21st-century African American pop star have in common? A blood line, according to recent research that has led to the conclusion that Beyoncé Knowles is Gustav Mahler’s eighth cousin, four times removed.
This according to Why Mahler?How one man and ten symphonies changed our world by Norman Lebrecht (New York: Pantheon, 2010; RILM Abstracts 2010-7889). Below, Beyoncé’s Green light—a title that suggests a line of descent from Mahler’s Urlicht.
The Forschungsinstitut für Musiktheater in Thurnau launched the peer-reviewed, open-access electronic journal Act: Zeitschrift für Musik & Performance (ISSN 2191-253X) in 2010. This international interdisciplinary publication provides a platform for essays, reviews, and columns at the intersections of musicology, theater studies, dance studies, and media studies. Act places particular value on methodological plurality and on supporting young academics.
Appearing twice a year, each issue will comprise two to five essays and an editorial, along with a review section (in the form of review essays) and a section for columns and announcements. The inaugural issue was edited by Anno Mungen and Knut Holtsträter.
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On 15 February 1819 the leading Dutch newspaperNederlandse staatscourant reported that Beethoven had been seriously wounded when he was run over by a carriage. The notice, a translation of a French report issued the day before, used strong language that implied that the internationally revered composer must have been hospitalized with broken bones or a concussion, and could be in mortal danger.
The report was an example of an international game of telephone—successive notices in various countries had piled on exaggerations to sensationalize the story. The earliest report, from the Frankfurter journal on 29 January 1819, was a much blander account:
(The composer van Beethoven, because of his weak hearing, suffered the misfortune of being knocked down and injured.)
It is possible that even this was an exaggerated version of a neighbor’s anecdote from around that time, in which the composer slipped and fell in the mud, and furiously refused to let the laughing bystanders help him to his feet.
This according to “Beethoven run over: A curious traffic accident in early 1819” by Jos van der Zanden (The Beethoven journal XXVI/1 [summer 2011] pp. 26–27).
Above, Beethoven as he often appeared on the streets of Vienna around 1819, depicted by the sculptor Johann Daniel Böhm (1794–1865), a friend of his at the time; below, Evgeny Kissin performs the Rondo a capriccio, op. 129 (“Rage over a lost penny”) as an encore.
In Sonic constructs, two robotic devices move and interact while performing trajectories that produce sound as a by-product of the movement itself. Direction, speed, acceleration, position, scratching, and collision characterize an environment for kinetic and acoustic participation.
The Indian singer Jayashri Ramnath (better known as Bombay Jayashri) was introduced to Karnatak music in her early childhood, influenced by her parents’ roles as music teachers. Jayashri began her performing career at the age of 28, and having grown … Continue reading →
Formed in Long Island, New York, the U.S. hip hop group Public Enemy emerged from a DJ sound system called Spectrum City DJs, founded by Hank Shocklee in 1975. Although the sound system originally consisted only of Shocklee and his … Continue reading →
Women have been part of hip hop expression from its early days, primarily as part of MC crews such as the Funky Four Plus One and Sugar Hill’s female group, Sequence. For most of hip hop’s recorded history, however, women … Continue reading →
The music of Central America tends to borrow heavily from the music of Mexico to the north, Colombia to the south, and the Caribbean Islands to the east, and, in the case of Nicaragua, from the politically motivated nueva canción … Continue reading →
