One of the most important ethnomusicologists of the century, John Blacking is known for his interest in the relationship of music to biology, psychology, dance and politics. He attempted to document the ways in which music-making expresses the human condition, how it transcends social divisions and how it can be used to improve the quality of human life. This volume brings together eight of Blacking's most important theoretical papers which reveal his theoretical themes such as the innateness of musical ability, the properties of music as a symbolic or quasi-linguistic system, the complex relation between music and social institutions and the relation between scientific musical analysis and cultural understanding.
Foreword Bruno Nettl Acknowledgments The Ethnomusicology of John Blacking 1: Expressing Human Experience through Music 2: The Problem of Musical Description 3: The Music of Venda Girls' Initiation 4: Music and the Historical Process in Vendaland 5: The Study of Musical Change 6: Reflections on the Effectiveness of Symbols 7: The Music of Politics 8: Music, Culture, and Experience A Note on Pronunciation Works by John Blacking References Index
