The United States and Canada (Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, Volume 3) (Library Binding)

~ Ellen Koskoff (Author) "The United States and Canada are home to people and communities from virtually every nation in the world..." (more)
Key Phrases: United States, New York, African American (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Part of Garland's highly acclaimed "World Music" series, this latest contribution gives voluminous quality treatment to the music of the United States and Canada. (Recent volumes in the series include Southeast Asia, Australia and the Pacific Islands, Europe, The Middle East, Africa, LJ 9/01/97, and South America, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean, LJ 4/15/99); East Asia is due out later this year.) Under the leadership of editor Koskoff (ethnomusicology, Eastman Sch. of Music), recognized experts have contributed scholarly yet readable essays on the topic's very diverse aspects, buttressed by numerous excellent bibliographic references of benefit to both serious scholars and casual readers. The content is organized into three large sections: Part 1 presents an overview of the music of the two countries as one cultural unit; Part 2, "Music in Social and Cultural Contexts," is a collaborative effort by writers from both countries that gives intensive treatment to issues of musical identity, such as class, race, gender, etc.; and Part 3, the tome's largest section, examines the musical cultures of Native American and other "First Nation" peoples. This is a monumental work of impressive scope that in less competent hands could have fallen flat on its bibliographic face. The included CD highlights selected audio examples of the music. Although pricey, this volume (and the series) would see much use in most public libraries and in academic libraries with even modest music and popular culture courses. David M. Turkalo, Suffolk Univ. Law Lib., Boston
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

A major reference resource wends its way toward completion. Following the standard Encyclopedia of World Music format, these volumes (numbered 6 and 7 out of an eventual 10) provide in-depth and scholarly treatment of an amazing array of musical traditions and styles, from Palestinian wedding songs to synthesized music for science fiction animation in Japan. RBB
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an alternate Library Binding edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Library Binding: 1390 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; Har/Com edition (November 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0824049446
• ISBN-13: 978-0824049447
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 9 x 2.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,510,236 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic resource, November 14, 2002

By	Erika Mitchell (E. Calais, VT USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: South Asia : The Indian Subcontinent (Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, Volume 5) (Hardcover)

This is a very informative collection of articles covering many aspects of South Asian music. It includes articles about North and South Indian classical traditions, folk traditions, dance, and popular music. There are also many articles about the role of music in society, women in music in South Asia, and South Asian music worldwide. Each region of South Asia is also covered with individual chapters. Many of the musical concepts and structures are exemplified in the accompanying CD; the relevant CD tracks are clearly noted in the text.

Living in Dubai, I have found myself immersed in South Asian culture, and recently started studying carnatic music on the veena, simply because it was here. Lacking all knowledge of the contexts in which the veena is played, I found myself floundering in my studies. The first teachers I worked with here either haven't had enough English or enough music theory studies to explain the music. I searched on the Net for information about carnatic music, but found that most of the information was written by Indians for Indians, using terms that I don't understand or can't make sense of. What makes this book different is that it is written for Western audiences, and the Indian terms are fully explained. As a result, this book has been a tremendous resource for me in explaining the music theory that I was struggling with, as well as the context of the music in Indian society. I've never read an encyclopedia cover to cover before, but once I got started reading this one, I couldn't stop.