AHRC Research Centre for Cross-Cultural Music and Dance Performance
Project 3 has three objectives: analytical accounts of musical performance in four Asian music traditions; development of collaborative methods of performance analysis involving performers, ethnomusicologists and music analysts; critical comparison of Western approaches to music analysis with the analytical concepts (verbal and non-verbal) of indigenous musicians.
The project aims to develop a music analysis that is more sensitive to the realities of performance and its experience. This process involves developing a dialogue between performer and researcher that elicits and compares the concepts, perceptions, expectations and values of each. It also involves confronting the difficulty of analysing music that is not based on a pre-existent score, and thus addressing (by a variety of methods that may include written transcription) the transient experience of performance rather than the tangible artefact of a written text.
The project comprises four modules focussing on the following traditions of Asian music:
- Persian classical vocal music;
- North Indian classical instrumental music;
- Korean sanjo (solo melodic instrumental music) and/or SamulNori percussion;
- Japanese Matsuri-bayashi (Shinto festival music).
Each module will result in one or more co-authored article and an audio CD, or a small book plus CD, all with extensive documentation.
The project is convened by Richard Widdess (rw4@soas.ac.uk).
