Reviews for E. T. A. Hoffmann's Musical Writings: Kreisleriana; The Poet and the Composer; Music Criticism

The average rating for E. T. A. Hoffmann's Musical Writings: Kreisleriana; The Poet and the Composer; Music Criticism based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2017-10-10 00:00:00 Loree Klundt Reading this collection of chapters, one could get the idea that ethnomusicologists are a pretty uptight, overanalytical group of people. In reality, many of them are really outgoing, friendly, and joyful (and this comes through in some chapters, too). But they can also be uptight and overanalytical. A number of chapters in this book seem to be written in the fear that a gigantic copy of Edward Said's Orientalism is peering disapprovingly over the author's shoulder. I sometimes wonder if academia would be more fun without Orientalism and a couple other key texts that continue to make academics uncomfortable and paranoid. Yes, these texts have brought up ideas that are worth pondering; but they've also led to a fear and mistrust of just plain, simple living. Some activities and ways-of-being that might otherwise be good fun now have to be analyzed to make sure they fully pass the test that the sacred texts require. Anyway, for me the high point of Performing Ethnomusicology is Ricardo Trimillos's opening chapter, in which he traces the history of how we got to where we are today, with so many universities presuming at an ethnomusicology program will necessarily include performing ensembles. I lived through this experience, playing in the Thai ensemble while I studied at Kent State University, and so it was fascinating for me to read how that context developed over the previous few centuries. Some details I knew, some where new and surprising. And it was all most helpful in thinking about the tradition of performing ensembles. Other highlights for me were Scott Marcus's chapter on the community connections that have happened as part of the development of UC Santa Barbara's Middle Eastern ensemble, and Ted Solís's autobiographical sketch of what Latin marimba playing means to him, personally and professionally. I was also very interested in David Hughes's description of the music program at SOAS, because I've long been aware of that program but have never known much about what it's like. I have two criticisms. The first is that, especially in the first third or half of the book, a reader can feel very persona non grata if he has no direct connection to Wesleyan University, Javanese gamelan, or Mantle Hood. Those opening chapters are almost entirely focused on Wesleyan and gamelan in some way or another, though later chapters move to other areas and topics, which I appreciated. The other criticism is that most of the reflection in this book is about pretty great success stories. It's nice to read about those, but it leaves one with the idea that all you have to do is buy a gamelan set, put a notice on a bulletin board, and you'll almost instantly have a dedicated core group of players. But surely there must be cases where an ensemble was launched and didn't work out so well, right? That would be helpful information, too. Anne Rasmussen and maybe one or two other authors mention some not-quite-perfect examples, but even those seem relatively cautious. I want to know some of the ways performance ensembles can go wrong, and what we learn from that. Overall, this is a helpful guide in thinking through the idea and history of the ethnomusicology performance ensemble. It could have been livened up considerably by including someone like Charlie Keil, and it could have presented a broader range of programs and experiences. But what's here is useful, especially as my department is in the midst of thinking through what a performance ensemble might look like here.

Review # 2 was written on 2014-09-15 00:00:00 James Basile Textbook for school. Very informative. :)