European Voices III

The Instrumentation and Instrumentalization of Sound

Local Multipart Music Practices in Europe

In commemoration of Gerlinde Haid

CD-ROM with 65 audio and 32 video examples included.

Edited by Ardian Ahmedaja.
Series: Schriften zur Volksmusik, Volume 25.
Vienna: Böhlau, 2017.

ISBN 978-3-205-20513-5

(Click the Image on the right for a large version.)

The book can be ordered from:
https://www.vandenhoeck-ruprecht-verlage.com/themen-entdecken/literatur-sprach-und-kulturwissenschaften/musikwissenschaft/38912/european-voices-iii

The entire text is available for download at: https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/31371

Local multipart music practices are based on the intentionally distinct and coordinated participation of music makers in the performing act. Following the rules of interaction while promoting at the same time their personal goals, the protagonists share their own treasure trove of experiences and cultural affiliations and shape sounds and values. Such complex and dynamic processes are central to the investigations of instrumentation and instrumentalization of sound.

The understanding of instrumentation in music literature has been closely connected for a longer period with instruments and their sound qualities and fusion possibilities. Views like those held by Igor Stravinsky, who considered instrumentation to be an inseparable part of musical composition, widen the perspective. Significantly, such a perspective is a matter of course in local practices. Multipart music practices are of particular interest in this context, because they enable us to discern the most diverse ways of creating a common sound and to recognize this process as a “founder” of social interactions, which is more than an accomplishment in which it would be a pleasure to take one’s “part”. The instrumentation and instrumentalization of sound thus become particularly important for research.