Musical Instruments: Traditions and Craftsmanship from Prehistory to the Present

At once a sumptuous gift for the music lover and a complete and authoritative reference that fills a major gap in our knowledge of music history, this beautifully illustrated book traces the evolution of musical instruments and their importance in different world cultures. Starting with prehistoric drums, the text sheds new light on the varied ways in which people have used musical instruments throughout history, from tools of communication to mediums of artistic expression.

From the human vocal chords to precision string instruments, from the cai trong kuan (Vietnamese zither) to the edungu (Ugandan lyre), this book details an astonishing array of instruments and provides unique anthropological insights into the relationship between ethnography and music. The only work currently in print that displays photographs of the world's musical instruments along with their history, this volume offers vital information for teachers, students, scholars, dealers, and collectors.

LUCIE RAULT is an ethnologist who lectures at the Muse National d'Histoire Naturelle and heads the Department of Ethnomusicology at the Muse de l'Homme in Paris, where she lives.

200 illustrations, 150 in full color, 93/4 x 121/2"

In this fascinating study, Rault (head, department of ethnomusicology, Mus e de l'Homme, Paris) traces the history and development of musical instruments against the backdrop of human cultures and constructs. Her approachDmore anthropological than musicological and, as she herself says, more "intuitive than scholarly"Dis quite instructive and easy to follow. Beginning with natural formations that contain musical or acoustical properties, such as the Grotte du Perche-Merle, and moving deftly among diverse customs and rituals, the author demonstrates that musical instruments and instrument-making have been an integral part of cultural history from prehistoric times to the present. Her clear and concise descriptions of specific musical traditions are greatly enhanced by the numerous and beautifully detailed illustrations. This book is an important resource for world music and instrument studies at all levels. Recommended for public and academic libraries.DTeresa M. Neff, Massachusetts Inst. of Technology, Cambridge
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Strictly speaking, this is an art book, full of arresting one- and two-page images, mostly photos. The pictures aren't presented for art's sake, though, but for their subjects: things that used to make music. These are very seldom the standard European orchestral instruments. Instead, the whistles, gongs, drums, horns, fiddles, and guitars played by indigenous musicians throughout the world are resplendently displayed, both in use and freestanding. Besides artificial music makers, the human body, animal parts, and geological features are considered as instruments. Indeed, the book begins by explaining that paleolithic cave paintings map the natural echoes and harmonics of those caves, and then describes other caves that show signs of use for sound production. This is a text full of absorbing information--absorbing, that is, if and when one stops poring over all the magnificent pictures. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved