The Origins of Music - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0262731436 ISBN 13: 9780262731430

Publisher: Bradford Books, 2001

Synopsis

The book can be viewed as representing the birth of evolutionary biomusicology.

What biological and cognitive forces have shaped humankind's musical behavior and the rich global repertoire of musical structures? What is music for, and why does every human culture have it? What are the universal features of music and musical behavior across cultures? In this groundbreaking book, musicologists, biologists, anthropologists, archaeologists, psychologists, neuroscientists, ethologists, and linguists come together for the first time to examine these and related issues. The book can be viewed as representing the birth of evolutionary biomusicology―the study of which will contribute greatly to our understanding of the evolutionary precursors of human music, the evolution of the hominid vocal tract, localization of brain function, the structure of acoustic-communication signals, symbolic gesture, emotional manipulation through sound, self-expression, creativity, the human affinity for the spiritual, and the human attachment to music itself.

Contributors
Simha Arom, Derek Bickerton, Steven Brown, Ellen Dissanayake, Dean Falk, David W. Frayer, Walter Freeman, Thomas Geissmann, Marc D. Hauser, Michel Imberty, Harry Jerison, Drago Kunej, François-Bernard Mâche, Peter Marler, Björn Merker, Geoffrey Miller, Jean Molino, Bruno Nettl, Chris Nicolay, Katharine Payne, Bruce Richman, Peter J.B. Slater, Peter Todd, Sandra Trehub, Ivan Turk, Maria Ujhelyi, Nils L. Wallin, Carol Whaling

About this title

About the Author:

Nils L. Wallin is Director of the Institute for Biomusicology at Mid Sweden University, Östersund.

Björn Merker is Senior Fellow at the Institute for Biomusicology at Mid Sweden University, östersund.

Steven Brown is Fellow at the Institute for Biomusicology at Mid Sweden University, Östersund.

Review:

"This book provides the foundation for a new understanding of music fuelled by the return to some of the original concerns of musicologists following a hiatus of half a century." - Robert Reigle, Resonance

About this edition

• Publisher: Bradford Books
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0262731436
• ISBN 13: 9780262731430
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 512
• Editor: Wallin Nils L., Merker Bjorn, Brown Steven