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Twentieth-Century Music in the West: An Introduction by Tom Perchard et al (review)

2023; Music Library Association; Volume: 80; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1353/not.2023.a912363

1534-150X

Musicology and Musical Analysis

Reviewed by: Twentieth-Century Music in the West: An Introduction by Tom Perchard et al Aaron J. West Twentieth-Century Music in the West: An Introduction. By Tom Perchard, Stephen Graham, Tim Rutherford-Johnson, and Holly Rogers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022. [xiv, 479 p. ISBN 9781108481984 (hardcover), $105; ISBN 9781108741736 (paperback), $34.99; ISBN 9781108680899 (ebook), $34.99.] Music examples, illustrations, bibliography, index. Twentieth-Century Music in the West: An Introduction. By Tom Perchard, Stephen Graham, Tim Rutherford-Johnson, and Holly Rogers. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022. [xiv, 479 p. ISBN 9781108481984 (hardcover), $105; ISBN 9781108741736 (paperback), $34.99; ISBN 9781108680899 (ebook), $34.99.] Music examples, illustrations, bibliography, index. The back cover of Twentieth-Century Music in the West states, "This is the first introductory survey of twentieth-century music in the West to address popular music, art music and jazz on equal terms. It treats those forms as inextricably intertwined and sets them in a wide variety of social and critical contexts." This is a substantial challenge. The idea of a textbook survey of popular music, art music, and jazz is compelling, primarily because the three types of music have sometimes shared social and musical commonalities that are rarely discussed. Despite this description, this sizable book is not a "survey of twentieth-century music" but rather an overview of twentieth-century musicological and ethnomusicological methodologies relating to art, popular, and jazz styles throughout the twentieth century. Despite the somewhat inaccurate description, the four authors have taken on a considerable task. During the twentieth century, the art of music analysis underwent substantial changes. Describing this development, which sometimes incorporates influences from various disciplines and complex nonmusical social theories, is impressive. With the scope of this text in mind, it is unsurprising that it required four scholars. Each author brings a unique and essential specialization to this text. Tom Perchard specializes in the history and historiography of various jazz and popular music styles. Stephen Graham's scholarly background is in underground music, while Tim Rutherford-Johnson is an author–blogger writing on new music. Lastly, Holly Rogers specializes in music, media, and art music. The diversity of these renowned scholars is important because this text is equally diverse and complex. Twentieth-Century Music in the West is organized into four parts: "Histories" (chaps. 1–4), "Techniques and Technologies" (chaps. 5–8), "Mediation" (chaps. 9–12), and "Identities" (chaps. 13–16). Within each of these parts are detailed discussions in sections such as "The Musicology of 'Place' and 'Space,'" "Modernism and Gender," "Semiotics and Deconstruction," "The African-Americanisation of Global Rhythmic Practices," and "Paternalism at the BBC." Each chapter features case studies that serve as handy repertoire-based examples of the theories being discussed. The introduction provides the reader with a valuable discussion of the evolution of musicology from a positivistic endeavor in the nineteenth century to a more contextual process later in the twentieth century: "In broad terms, [End Page 372] musicology began the century subscribing to an idealist and positivist ideology anchored in transcendent texts. This disciplinary ideology gave way over the course of the twentieth century, at least in some respects, to a stylistic and methodological pluralism attuned to music's social and cultural contexts" (p. 7). This theoretical progression is key to much of the content of Twentieth-Century Music in the West, especially in part 1, "Histories." "Histories" is brimming with well-written discussions on a variety of musicological topics. For instance, "The Musicology of 'Place' and 'Space'" provides a worthwhile examination of the importance of musical experience within "places" and "spaces" in the later twentieth century: "What really defines a space is not so much the material boundaries as the social, practical or cultural affinities constructed within that space, and the type of focal activity they serve—in our case, the experience of music" (p. 27). The authors go on to state that even imagined "spaces" are important: "Clearly, notions like 'the classical music world,' or indeed 'the West,' are 'spaces' only in a metaphorical sense. But the spatial metaphor has proven useful and enduring precisely because it groups together what would otherwise be disparate, disconnected people and phenomena" (p. 28). One of the many...