40,000 years of music : man in search of music / Jacques Chailley ; translated from the French by Rollo Myers ; with a preface by Virgil Thomson.
| Author/creator | Chailley, Jacques |
| Format | Book |
| Edition | First American edition. |
| Publication Info | New York : Farrar, Straus & Giroux, [©1964] |
| Description | xiv, 229 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm |
| Subjects |
| Contents | Preface / Virgil Thomson -- Introduction -- In search of a past. Prologue to a history of the history of music ; Antiquity and the history of music ; Histories of music in the middle ages ; The Renaissance and the seventeenth century in search of antiquity ; The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in search of the middle ages ; The nineteenth century in search of the Renaissance ; The twentieth century in search of -? -- In search of sacred music. What is music for? ; Music for the gods: magic, masques and dancing ; Christian music meditation or ecstasy ; Polyphonic music more festivo ; The ideal statue of Berlioz ; The concert spirituel -- In search of secular music. Music for kings ; Where the public appears at first as an intruder ; Where music becomes a form of entertainment ; Paper music ; Twentieth century twelve-note (serial) composition ; Concrete and electronic music ; Canned music -- In search of stars. Madame Melba's peaches or the singers ; Paganini's horns or the virtuoso ; Camargo's neck or the ballerina ; Edouard Colonne's bow, or the conductor ; Beethoven's hat or the composer ; Mr. Choudens fur-lined coat, or the publisher ; Scudo's clarinet, or the critic ; Boubouroche, or the public -- Epilogue an autopsy for the twenty-first century. |
| Abstract | In this fascinating and unusual book, the author, who is a professor of music history at Sorbonne, puts music under a microscope, and traces its evolution as an art from the earliest ages down to the present time. He is concerned, among other things, to show that music originally was a cult, a form of magic even, but certainly not entertainment. The author describes how for many thousands of years music was important only as a form of magic against supernatural or human malignancy, but later, with the transition from rite to ritual it became a means of praising rather than propitiating the gods, and in time other patrons were found for it besides the churches. He relates how, in its role as accompaniment to the lavish entertainments of these private patrons a role already played by it in the Christian Church's miracle plays - music gradual expanded to include opera and ballet. With the 19th century this role of music as a provider of public entertainment widened to include the public concert. And the author goes on to describe how for the first time composers were free to express their private feelings and how this freedom led to the great flowering of the Romantic movement, which in turn, produced the international virtuoso performer and vastly increased the importance of the orchestral conductor. The author, himself a composer, has made a special study of Mediaeval music and also has strong views about certain aspects of contemporary music which he subjects in searching examination. In short, this is a book which will appeal not only to scholars, but to the general music-loving public as well. |
| LCCN | 64023125 |
Availability
| Library | Location | Call Number | Status | Item Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Music | Closed Stacks - Ask at Circulation Desk | ML160.C4 Q313 1964A | ✔ Available | Place Hold |