Ethnomusicology in The Books Store

In the wake of the Buena Vista Social Club, the world has rediscovered the rich musical tradition of Cuba. A unique combination of popular and elite influences, the music of this island nation has fascinated since the golden age of the son‹that New World aural collision of Africa and Europe that made Cuban music the rage in Paris, New York, and Mexico beginning in the 1920s.

Originally published in 1946 and never before available in an English translation, Music in Cuba is not only the best and most extensive study of Cuban musical history, it is a work of literature in its own right.  Drawing on such primary documents as obscure church circulars, dog-eared musical scores pulled from attics, and the records of the Spanish colonial authorities, Music in Cuba sweeps panoramically from the sixteenth into the twentieth century. Carpentier covers European-style elite Cuban music as well as the popular rural Spanish folk and urban Afro-Cuban music.

In a substantial introduction based on extensive original research, Timothy Brennan explores Carpentier's career prior to the writing of his novels. Looking especially at Carpentier's work as a music reviewer, radio producer, and musical theorist, Brennan suggests new ways of thinking about the role of Latin American artists in Europe between the wars and about the central place of radio and music-club cultures in the European avant-gardes.

Perhaps Cuba's most important intellectual of the twentieth century, Alejo Carpentier (19041980) was a novelist, a classically trained pianist and musicologist, a producer of avant-garde radio programming, and an influential theorist of politics and literature. Best known for his novels, Carpentier also collaborated with such luminaries as Igor Stravinsky, Darius Milhaud, Georges Bataille, and Antonin Artaud. Born in Havana, he lived for many years in France and Venezuela but returned to Cuba after the 1959 revolution.

Timothy Brennan is professor of cultural studies, comparative literature, and English at the University of Minnesota.

This groundbreaking music teacher’s guide was written in response to requests from teachers for assistance in introducing Native American music in general and Lakota music in particular into school music curriculums. The inclusion of numerous and sometimes lengthy commentary by well known Lakota singers will also make the book of interest to readers interested in the history of Lakota traditions, contemporary Lakota culture, Lakota secular music, traditional Lakota humor, musicology and ethnomusicology, traditional Lakota dream & vision interpretation, traditional Lakota storytelling as a teaching methodology, and the Orff-Schulwerk approach to music education.

45 color and 9 black and white photographs of historic and contemporary Lakota singers and drum groups, various contemporary Lakota singing venues, contemporary Lakota and Plains Indian dancers and dance costumes, selected traditional Lakota musical instruments and articles of traditional Lakota apparel are included in the book.

The fundamentals of Lakota music theory and Lakota singing practice are clearly described in plain language to aid beginning students. In addition, the importance of honoring Lakota cultural norms relating to performance of sacred and secular music is emphasized and discussed in detail. Comparisons with western musical theory and practice and specific teaching methods for instructors wishing to introduce Lakota music to students accustomed to western musical styles are also provided.

A 77 minute CD, inserted in a plastic sleeve attached to the inside of the back cover of the book, contains examples, 19 songs in all, of all the contemporary Lakota social music genres discussed in the book. Also found on the CD are a discussion of traditional flutes and their role in Lakota musical tradition and two lengthy narratives by Calvin Jumping Bull and Nellie Two Bulls, well known Lakota singers.

These narratives describe the process by which each of them became singers in addition to discussing the functions and duties of traditional singers in contemporary Lakota society, all interspersed with songs appropriate to particular elements in each narrative. Mrs. Two Bulls also gives a charming recitation of the double-woman dream/vision she experienced as a child that led to her receiving the gift of song.

The Lakota words to each song, with English translations with an explanation of how and when each song is used, are provided within the covers of Sharing the Gift. The student or interested reader will be able to see the Lakota words and hear them spoken by native Lakota speakers. In addition, the English translations are available within the book to aid learning each song and understanding how and when it is used.

A general Lakota Pronunciation Guide and a Glossary and Pronunciation Guide to Lakota Musical Terms are also provided to assist the student.