Ancient Voices, Contemporary Practice, and Human Musicality

Nicholas Bannan

doi:10.26613/esic.6.2.300

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Ancient Voices, Contemporary Practice, and Human Musicality

Nicholas Bannan

Published/Copyright: December 14, 2022

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From the journal Evolutionary Studies in Imaginative Culture Volume 6 Issue 2

Abstract

Debate continues regarding the purpose and practice of music in relation to participation, cultural origin, and education internationally. A Darwinian approach that sees musical vocalization as the adaptive bridge between animal communication and human language remains hotly disputed where such a model does not suit the prevailing political or social agenda. The two books under review present contrasting viewpoints and evidence, while their concurrent publication illustrates the rich potential for developments in this field. Friedmann’s edited book presents separate chapters by sixteen independent authors covering a range of specialisms and topics. Wood’s monograph is, by contrast, an encyclopaedic exploration of the earliest writings on musical theory from China, Greece, and India and their influence on the world’s music over the last 4,000 years. Read both separately and comparatively, these two publications offer a valuable contribution to our understanding of the phenomenon of music and its practice today.

Keywords: Harmony; evolution; rhythm; proportion; culture; perception

Published Online: 2022-12-14

Published in Print: 2022-12-01

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Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.26613/esic.6.2.300

Keywords for this article

Harmony; evolution; rhythm; proportion; culture; perception