Definitional exclusion in opera and classical music is built in. The same thing here could be said about instrumentation, language, and vocal type. There are whole classes of behaviors we do to create implicit exclusion (i.e. definitional exclusion) in opera & classical music. 1/
I explored two in a couple of threads a while back. The first was "Classical Music, the Perpetual Foreigner Trope, and Colonialism" and the second was "What is #ClassicalMusic?" In both threads, the idea is that exclusion is implicit and primarily along racial lines. 2/
In the "What is #ClassicalMusic?" thread I used clear examples of works performed by different types of orchestras to show how what we mean by classical music is contingent on instrumentation. Since different cultural groups have different kinds of... 3/
...orchestras the simple act of defining a composition, dependent on what type of orchestra typically performs it can be a racially exclusionary act. Using caveats, qualifiers, and hedges in our language about classical music, we're essentially... 4/
defending the (definitional) border of classical music from foreign incursion. I used some examples in the thread which could be useful as a pedagogic device for discussing colonialism, power, and exclusion happens in language. There are plenty of other examples to be... 5/
...found. This takes us right to what was actually the first thread--the one on "Classical Music, the Perpetual Foreigner Trope, and Colonialism"--in which I used some examples from opera to show how insular classical music tends to be. 6/
One of my all time favorite operas is Uzeyir Hajibeyov's "Leyli və Məcnun" (Layla and Majnoon) from 1908. Libretto in Azeri, with blended instrumentation including those found in the indigenous Art Music style of Azerbaijan, Mugham, as well as... 7/
...Mugham vocals. I contrasted the work with Puccini's "Turandot" (1926), which is also based on source material traced to Niẓāmi Ganjavi but performed much more frequently. This also point to how appropriation works when it's in its harmful form (subject for another thread). 8/
We in the classical music field in the Western world are still so incredibly insular and can hardly appreciate how classical music has developed and evolved in other countries--sometimes in wonderful hybrid forms that we barely recognize--which means that exclusion can... 9/
...happen in bizarre and implicitly racial ways. We should also be talking about "canonical" instrumentation and ensemble types; cultural imperialism in language (for vocal genres); and even the types of stories being told and by whom. 10/end
P.S. This reminds me that I need to finish my list of operas with first usage of various non-canonical operatic languages.
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While working on the database of Popular Music Schools, I came across a piece with a bio of the child prodigy Cecil Cowles (1893-1968) which stated that:
"In recent years [1920s-1940] Miss Cowles has been active in the field of composition, particularly in Oriental music."
A San Francisco Chronicle piece about Cecil Cowles from 17 June 1923 says: "The other occasion was a recital of her own in which she played her Song Without Words, In a Rickshaw , Chinese Dance and Valse Caprice..."
The main thesis of my piece “Orientalism, Perpetually Foreign Musics, and Asian Exclusion” is that that the systematic exclusion of Asian/American musics led to a vacuum filled by racial fantasy works composed and performed by white Americans in both classical and popular musics.
Normalize not centering Western Chord labels in Music Theory. In quintal harmony, it'd be a C2; In a quartal one it's a D5/2; not sus chords at all. Parallel seconds (and ninths) are way common in Eastern Orthodox traditions.
"The notations of znamenny polyphony require a special approach to their transcription; but when correctly read the music of the ‘scores’ abounds in harsh sonorities in the form of extended parallel seconds & fifths.”
Brazhnikov, qtd in Swan "Russian Music & its Sources..." p45
“The voices enter at the interval of the second and, within a short period of time, four more vertical intervals of the second appear in a row. In the process, the voices cross.”
Vladislav Uspensky, quoted in Johann von Gardner's "Russian Church Singing" Vol. 2, pg. 316
"An organ was installed on a Northwest Stratocruiser in the 1950s through an arrangement with local musician Swanee Swanson. The organists received free flights to New York and other East Coast destinations."
Welsh Harp tablature from the *Robert ap Huw manuscript* (1613). The manuscript is the oldest extant source of primarily Late Medieval eisteddfod repertory that dates to 1340-1500 and was compiled by Robert ap Huw (c.1580-1665).
Short segment on the *Robert ap Huw manuscript* in Rhodri McDonagh's wonderful "Welsh Trad Music | A Beginner's Guide" video (cued up to that segment below). The whole vid is worth a watch and is only 24 minutes.
Bangor University's "Music of the Robert ap Huw Manuscript" page with other resources for Cerdd Dant and other British Isles harp traditions.
One of the things I love about Georgian Harmony is that it's based on what's essentially close to a functionally 7TET/EDO collection of pitches. Many global harmonic systems are built on different tuning systems than those in what's typically referred to as Western harmony.
The above image from Malkhaz Erkvanidze's "On Georgian Scale System" pg. 181