# Music more often recognized by anthropology



## Lukecash12 (Sep 21, 2009)

The classical music that we normally discuss here was birthed out of a society shaped by the Renaissance and Reformation periods, and this music (especially it's mellodramatic conceptions like opera) not only came out of those eras but reflects them pretty well. As many of us consider ourselves intellectuals in the sense that modern western society considers someone an intellectual, we are very individualistic in the way we regard music, and find ourselves focusing on mostly the same moral and aesthetic motifs.

Of course, a lot of us would like to say that we expand our comfort zones and interpretive patience more than someone who listens to the pop music of the day, as if music were an intellectual exercise more than a sociological and instinctive exercise, and maybe even reserve some rue for the way most people regard music around us, but how many of you can say that you have listened to music before the Renaissance, and continue to do so on a regular basis (as in you thoroughly enjoy it)?

Should we leave music like King David played on his lyre to an anthropologist to enjoy, or are we all interested in doing a digging into a subject that we may be amateurs at in order to *really* broaden our sense of music appreciation? Well, if you love many classical traditions of music, than join me in this thread so that we can discuss the wild wild east! :tiphat:

I'd like to start with Chinese classical music:






This is a piece that a lot of pipa virtuosos like to have in their repertoire, because there's a strong martial motif in Chinese classical music. _King Chu Doffs His Armor_ is a really great example of how composers of the "noble music" like to make music that physically sounds like the title, and in this piece you can hear marching, horse clamping their feet on the ground, and strong trumpet-like motifs.

There is a distinction made in CCM between "peasant music" and "noble music" traditions, because they work off of different motifs and use different tonal language. Is either very simplistic? Well, I'd compare it to writing a haiku poem, because haiku poems invite a lot of creativity _because_ of their restrictions (like a fugue).

Observe the technique of a Bawu player playing some "peasant music", in contrast to the "noble music" that Liu Dehai played:






It may seem more restricted, but there is quite a bit of creativity when it comes to the actual performance of the piece. The piece really does sound like a Festival Dance.

And here's the play list if you enjoyed those two: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLB0A0328C4D88555A


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

Lukecash12 said:


> As many of us consider ourselves intellectuals in the sense that modern western society considers someone an intellectual, we are very individualistic in the way we regard music, and find ourselves focusing on mostly the same moral and aesthetic motifs.


I'm not entirely sure what you meant by this sentence but I don't consider myself an intellectual just becasue I listen to classical music.



Lukecash12 said:


> ... but how many of you can say that you have listened to music before the Renaissance, and continue to do so on a regular basis (as in you thoroughly enjoy it)?


I have some CDs of pre-Renaissance music (say pre-1500), or mixed with, which I buy every now and then, and come to enjoying, often with a keen interest in discovering the sounds folks have played and thought about during these very early years that shaped Renaissance music and beyond.


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

I have a CD that's a recreation of Ancient music from Egypt, Sumeria and Greece. I really enjoy it.










I would love to get me a CD of classical Chinese music. Asian music is something that really clicks and gels with me. It's so beautiful.


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## Lukecash12 (Sep 21, 2009)

> I'm not entirely sure what you meant by this sentence but I don't consider myself an intellectual just becasue I listen to classical music.


Naw, I don't mean to express that you are an intellectual because you listen to classical music. I mean to express that western society considers someone an intellectual especially if they think according to Reformation themes.

So, what do you think of CCM?


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## Sid James (Feb 7, 2009)

A friend of mine living in Japan sent me THIS double cd set of music for the shakuhachi, Japanese bamboo flutes. The performer is an expert on these instruments, Stan Richardson. The friend also sent me THIS disc of Tibetan singing bowls music. I like the latter more than the former, the solo shakuhachi music is sometimes kind of depressing for me, speaking of loneliness and solitude, whereas the Tibetan percussion music is more kind of chill out and neutral.

Here in Australia, we also have a master of the shakuhachi, American born Riley Lee, who has studied the instrument in Japan. He plays traditional melodies as well as concertos penned for him by our own classical composers...


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## violadude (May 2, 2011)

I also have this CD by the Kronos Quartet. It features music from Egypt, India, Kazakhstan, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Ethiopia and more! I know, it's the Kronos Quartet so I'm sure a lot of the music isn't "purely" traditional, but I would guess it is still pretty authentic.










There's is also this 9 CD series called "Music of Central Asia" which I don't have, but have been wanting to get for a while.


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## HarpsichordConcerto (Jan 1, 2010)

Lukecash12 said:


> Naw, I don't mean to express that you are an intellectual because you listen to classical music. I mean to express that western society considers someone an intellectual especially if they think according to Reformation themes.
> 
> So, what do you think of CCM?


Possibly. But even if one "thinks according to Reformation themes", doesn't necessarily mean one could enjoy pre-Renaissance music.

As for Chinese Classical Music, I enjoy the pieces that I might happen to hear, and I have attended concerts of such music in parts of Asia. And one certainly doesn't have to "think according to Chinese traditions" to enjoy CCM.


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## jurianbai (Nov 23, 2008)

Like I wrote in other thread, Yo Yo Ma has a project called "Silk Road Ensemble" and ensemble of musician from Silk Road region (Persian, India, Arab etc.). They are serious composer that composed ear friendly folk tune.

As music lover, of course I would like to collected as many vernacular music existed. Being in the centre of non western music culture here, I feel blessed to have easy access over many exotic musics around. take example, Javanese woodwind called "Suling" :






compared to Balinese"





as for CCM, soon you'll learn for a land as big as middle kingdom, there are dozen style in within there.





One think I keep wonder is how classical music tradition less useage of percussion as constant beat rhytm.


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## Lukecash12 (Sep 21, 2009)

> Possibly. But even if one "thinks according to Reformation themes", doesn't necessarily mean one could enjoy pre-Renaissance music.


Just a tongue in cheek observation here, at no one in particular's expense, but I find it interesting that so many people work their way from one half evidenced assumption to another, all according to the pretension of what they felt was suggested at the start. I can want to talk to my Dad, about say, baseball statistics, and we could not even get around to doing that because of this weird and humorous trait in people: the urge to read way too much into individual statements.



> As for Chinese Classical Music, I enjoy the pieces that I might happen to hear, and I have attended concerts of such music in parts of Asia. And one certainly doesn't have to "think according to Chinese traditions" to enjoy CCM.


Yeah, it's not necessary. But as for myself, I'm actually very bored with music if I can't read the scores, learn about the music theory, read a book or two about how that music came about, etc. So, when it comes to much older musical traditions like the ones in this thread, I get excited that I get to do some anthropology too.


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