These new essays written specifically for this volume explore the various aspects of Olivier Messiaen's spiritually committed musical language, drawing on his own remarks in subheadings and prefaces, his biblical and theological citations, his allusions to works of visual art, a…
Sharpe writes engagingly about meaning and value in music. After reading this book, you won¿t be able to prove that Schubert is profound or that Britten is better than Tippett; but Sharpe shows that the failure of such proofs reflects the humanism and individuality for which we …
This introduction to the philosophy of music concentrates on the aesthetics and on the issues that illuminate musical listening, understanding and practice.
In Performing Rites, one of the most influential writers on popular music asks what we talk about when we talk about music. What's good, what's bad? What's high, what's low? Why do such distinctions matter? Instead of dismissing emotional response and personal taste as inaccessi…
Drawing on writers from music, anthropology, sociology & related fields, this collection is an anthology of new writings that define the relation between music & culture. This book represents the latest thinking on the complex issues surrounding how music & culture interrelate.
The cultural study of music: a critical introduction
'Boring Formless Nonsense' intervenes in an aesthetics of failure that has largely been delimited by the visual arts and its avant-garde legacies. It focuses on contemporary experimental composition in which failure rubs shoulders with the categories of chance, noise, and obscur…
