John Blacking
Autor de How Musical Is Man?
Sobre El Autor
John Blacking was born October 28, 1928, in Guilford, Surrey, England. With his family he moved to Salisbury, Wiltshire, at age three, where he received his early education and exposure to music at the Salisbury Cathedral Choir School. Blacking obtained a degree in archaeology and anthropology from mostrar más Kings College Cambridge in 1953. He spent a large part of his life doing fieldwork in countries around the globe. In addition to being a well-known and well-respected professor of social anthropology and gaining professorships in England and Africa before eventually settling in the United States, Blacking was also an ethnomusicologist: He was interested in the relationship between music and biology, psychology, dance, and politics. He believed that making music is fundamental and universal to humans. Blanking stated that through music people express the human condition, transcend class boundaries, and improve the quality of life. He spent 22 months with the Venda people in South Africa. He wrote Venda Children's Songs (1967) based on this experience. Blacking's best known work is How Musical Is Man? (1973) Blacking died in 1990. (Bowker Author Biography) mostrar menos
Obras de John Blacking
Obras relacionadas
Come day, go day, God send Sunday : the songs and life story, told in his own words, of John Maguire, traditional… (1973) — Music transcriptions — 14 copias
Etiquetado
Conocimiento común
Todavía no hay datos sobre este autor en el Conocimiento Común. Puedes ayudar.
Miembros
Reseñas
También Puede Gustarte
Autores relacionados
Estadísticas
- Obras
- 10
- También por
- 1
- Miembros
- 127
- Popularidad
- #158,248
- Valoración
- 4.4
- Reseñas
- 1
- ISBNs
- 19
- Idiomas
- 4
In the first chapter of his small yet very powerful book, Blacking writes that when he began to live with and study the Venda, he believed that music began and ended with Western classical music, but, that after two years of living and studying the Venda and their music, he no longer understood Western music. Put differently, his experience living with and studying the Venda forced him to question all prior beliefs he had both about Western music and assumptions underlying them. The Venda taught him that all people have talent or musical ability. It is only Western values or myths that create hierarchies of talent and ability. And that these underlying Western values and myths subjugate countless people, causing them to dismiss key aspects of their inherent human potential, because of widespread belief that it is pointless to pursue musical ambitions only a fortunate few possess, but most do not.
Blacking's book is important not only as an ethnomusicological study, but has, I think, universal application because its underlying theses directly question Western assumptions and myths that adversely affect people regardless of musical preference. The book forces one to think, to challenge values one might previously have taken for granted.
I have recommended John Blacking's How Musical is Man? to friends who thought themselves totally bereft of any musical ability or talent, who were highly reluctant to attempt anything musical.
Though the book has musical examples, it can be read and appreciated by those with absolutely no ability to read or play music.
Highly recommended.… (más)