World Musics and Authenticity
Musicians like to travel. Throughout history we see composers collecting musical souvenirs and then creating compositions with them. There 10’s of thousands of these kinds of works. Russians invoking Spain, The French invoking Hungary etc etc. This lead to wider travels. To the east; Asia, and to the North Americas, and of course Africa. This also lead to interest in First Cultures, and Native musics and instruments.
Cross over music, the popular kind, has also crossed over into the classical music world which is also crossing over on its own.
See Phil’s Style-a-matic-2000 for how to.
Authenticity
Music created by combining musical features of different cultures is a thing unto itself. Also times change and the rules for cultural interaction change as well. Some first cultures have 2 musics. The Hmong have music which is completely tied to rituals, and a popular music which takes Asian pop music and substitutes their Language and new words. They also do crossover.
Avoid using music that is not meant for public performance.
Sometimes the composers collecting souvenirs are bad tourists and take things that they should not have. Sometimes with the best intentions. This is typically private music for a specific religious ritual that was not meant to be shared in public for entertainment. Worse this rapine is sometimes done is the guise of “saving” the music. It’s like placing a living and free culture into an artistic zoo. A petting zoo at that.
I won’t even mention those tourists who pretend, or are so clueless, that they think by doing so they actually connected to the culture. Further, the composer tourist also counts on the fact that no one from the first cultures will show up to protest.
Exotica
Is a short hand for encapsulating a culture with a musical riff or motive. A kind of cross over music it is strictly fake ethnomusicology.
It is a self aware fake but a fake nonetheless.
In a film for example a harmonic minor scale might be used to describe the middle east etc.
Exotica is best when it invents a new culture rather than invoke an old one. Also Exotica is not objectionable as long as it does not misrepresent a culture. Unfortunately many times it does.
This kind of cultural representation, a musical stereotype, is strictly inauthentic. One must be careful to avoid trivializing, or using materials not intended for the public.
Musical Politics and the Style Police
One problem we composers have today is the constant reminder that we must chose a side. A team. Nothing inhibits learning and free inquiry more than the realization that many schools of thought, and their Journals, are discreet insular worlds that do not interact with each other except to attack.
One thing I try to do with my lessons is to show just how much interconnection there is between different styles. They do share many similar techniques; Motion Music and Carter for example.
The style police would have you think differently. Not just because they don’t attend each others concerts. There is an unfortunate interest in having ownership and this “gamesmanship” is a symptom.
On the other hand; gesture composers have no musical connection “motion music.”
It was known that John Cage did not like “minimalism” or Glen Branca. Why then make these connections? Well it makes recent musical history neat and tidy. It also reinforces the old uptown downtown schism. Also these folks claim the gesture composers as forbearer’s. Yet it could be simple musical politics. (the enemy of my enemy is my friend). Or the general attractiveness of the bandwagon of success.
Another point of debate:
Being consonant is not the same as being tonal.
Academic problems
Worse its not just the composers but even within the same school Musicologists attack living composers who attack the theorists not to mention the critics etc. etc.
There are musical teams. They compete.
The advantages of joining a team aside, well your career may depend on it, you must in the end simply tote a party line. That may be a connection to power but it is not and it will never be free thinking.
Musical Politics?
Look around, absorb. Keep an open mind.
No Sonic prejudice.