Book Cover
E-book
Author Witzleben, J. Lawrence (John Lawrence), 1951- author.

Title "Silk and bamboo" music in Shanghai : the jiangnan sizhu instrumental ensemble tradition / J. Lawrence Witzleben
Published Kent, Ohio : Kent State University Press, ©1995

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Description 1 online resource (xxii, 197 pages) : illustrations
Series World musics
World musics.
Summary Of all the world's major musical cultures, that of China may well be the least thoroughly understood and most often misunderstood by Western scholars and music lovers, writes J. Lawrence Witzleben. Witzleben adds to the understanding of this musical culture with the first book-length study of one of China's most influential regional musical traditions. The first Western ethnomusicologist admitted to a Chinese conservatory, Witzleben presents a multifaceted study, based on more than two years of fieldwork in the early 1900s, of silk and bamboo string and wind music (Jiangnan sizhu) in Shanghai. Although Jiangnan sizhu is a regional tradition, enjoyed by only a small part of the population, an indepth look at it reveals much about Chinese musical culture. Jiangnan sizhu is deeply rooted in everyday life, and those who perform and enjoy it represent a broad spectrum of Chinese society. It is cultivated as an amateur art, but many of its performers are closely tied to the professional musical community. And although it is a regional genre, it has been highly influential in the development of contemporary solo and ensemble music for Chinese instruments. Through his varied experiences as student, performer, and participant-observer, Witzleben is able to present and discuss the perspectives of musicians in Shanghai and of Chinese scholars and teachers, as well as those of a Western-trained ethnomusicologist. The result is a comprehensive understanding of Jiangnan sizhu its musical sounds and concepts; the people who play, teach, and learn the music; and the environment in which it is and has been played, heard, and discussed
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references (pages 175-186) and index
Discography: pages 187-189
Notes Print version record
Subject Folk music -- China -- Shanghai -- History and criticism
MUSIC -- Musical Instruments -- Strings.
MUSIC -- Instruction & Study -- Theory.
Folk music
Instrumentale Volksmusik
Musique populaire -- Chine -- Shangai -- Histoire et critique.
China -- Shanghai
Schanghai
Genre/Form Criticism, interpretation, etc.
Form Electronic book
ISBN 0585242194
9780585242194
9781612770949
1612770940
9781612770956
1612770959