Documents found
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202.More information
For many years, “African” dance was conceived as a type of bodily expression inevitably associated with the tamtam, an instrument purported to accompany it at all times. From the outset, the National Ballet of Mali, founded after the country achieved independence in 1960, reinforced this stereotype by making the jembe drum its principal instrument. In this study, we investigate the musical and choreographic techniques underlying the music/dance interactions in staged performances of this ballet company. We will also examine the hierarchical relationships that can develop from these interactions, and the ways in which they can be inverted or transformed according to contexts and practices. Finally, we will argue that contemporary artistic creation fostered a dissociation of music from dance within this musico-choreographic genre, in spite of the complementary function of its two foundational art forms.
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203.More information
In the Fall of 2004, CBC replaced their French-language "Cultural Channel" by a new station, "Espace musique", devoted to musical programming. The light tone and content of this station has provoked lively reactions in the Quebec musical milieu. The time allotted to classical music and also to informed commentary on musical works and on cultural life in general is considerably reduced on this new station. As for new and contemporary music, it is relegated to the margins of the eclectic, multicultural and overtly populist programming. On the air, the veritable cultural specialists are ever less frequently called upon to offer commentary on important or emerging artistic creations, and to contextualize the various creative approaches of artists from here and abroad. This change in the level of Canadian French-language public radio, previously of high calibre, but judged too elitist by its directors, is purported to respond to a desire to better reflect Canadian cultural diversity. The long term consequences, however, seem worrying: many concert producers are already experiencing difficulty recruiting a new audience. Has CBC taken a wrong turn, at a time when new means of broadcasting are being developed, including the creation of specialized, private radio stations accessible on the Web? Is the support which public radio has given over the last several decades to composers and performers in Canada and abroad being partially abandoned? Contemporary music could be one of the principle losers in this radio landscape in rapid transformation. To give but one example, interviews with composers have all but been abandoned from the Canadian public airwaves. Audience ratings statistics, listeners' comments and quotations from specialists are used in support of this deliberately polemical text which pleads for the directors of state-funded radio to make responsible decisions, notably with regards to modern and contemporary repertoire.
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204.More information
After surveying arguments put forward by some authors against the legitimacy of research on universals in music, the author focusses on the claim that since every culture has specific characteristics, they are not comparable. Relying on two foundational texts in the development of an anthropological approach to music studies, Alan Merriam's The Anthropology of Music (1964) and John Blacking's How Musical is Man ? (1973), he notes that for these writers, musical structures are conceived as a product of culture. The methodological consequence of this conception is that ethnomusicological investigation must begin with the study of the cultural context. The consequence of this position, which was highly prevalent in the discipline until recently, was, with only a few notable exceptions, to place the emphasis on the environment of music rather than on the analysis of its structures. Research into universals, long dismissed as ethnocentric, was a fortiori considered unacceptable within the profession. The author examines how Blacking approaches the question of the relationship between culture and musical structures, and then re-examines his position on universals and the possible biological foundations of music. On the basis of these texts, the author goes on to demonstrate that Blacking was much more favourable to ethnomusicological research focussed on universals than was previously believed, and several of his assertions are unexpectedly thrown into relief by recent work in the neuropsychology of music. The article concludes with a plea for reconciliation within ethnomusicology of both the anthropological point of view and the inclusion of cultural determinations, as well as the comparative study of musical structures and the search for universals.
Keywords: Nattiez, ethnomusicologie, anthropologie de la musique, universaux de la musique, Blacking, Nattiez, Ethnomusicology, Anthropology of Music, Music Universals, Blacking, Nattiez, etnomusicología, antropología de la música, universales de la música, Blacking
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205.More information
Drawing on the notion of the "classical" in literature, the author tries to establish criteria for recognizing the "classics" of twentieth century music: internal qualities, the quest for stylistic equilibrium and a common language shared by composer and listener. He expresses his confidence that new listening strategies will develop in response to innovations in twentieth-century writing.
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La Horse (Pierre Granier-Deferre, 1970) is the fourth feature film with music by the duo of Serge Gainsbourg and Jean-Claude Vannier. This film was an opportunity to test their “contrapuntal” conception of film music: psychedelic sounds when we are in the French countryside, extroverted rhythms when the main character is gruff and impenetrable, a lively and driving musical character when anguish, danger, and crime are omnipresent. The director was initially surprised, but ended up deciding to incorporate this music into his film and was even pleased with it. Using two tools – the continuum of dramatic music/image shift and the continuum of kinetic music/image shift – we show how this music ultimately serves its purpose remarkably well, offering an overall meaning that is precisely in line with the director's aim to “uproot the detective story.”
Keywords: Serge Gainsbourg, Jean-Claude Vannier, analyse filmique, musique de film, musique psychédélique, Serge Gainsbourg, Jean-Claude Vannier, film analysis, film music, psychedelic music
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210.More information
In reactions ranging from violent and outright rejection to critical observation infused with respect and admiration, reactions characteristic of this postmodern epoch, composers Walter Boudreau, Francis Dhomont, José Evangelista, Michel Gonneville, Alain Lalonde, Jean iesage, René Lussier, John Rea and François Tousignant comment upon the various opinions held by Pierre Boulez.