SEM Newsletter Published by the Society for Ethnomusicology Volume 40 Number 2 March 2006 Becoming Ethnomusi- Ethnomusicology at the Klaus P. Wachsmann cologists University of Hawai‘i Prize for Advanced By Philip V. Bohlman, SEM President By SEM 2006 Local Arrangements and Critical Essays in Committee Inspired by conversations with Tong Organology Soon Lee, “Becoming Ethnomusicolo- The University of Hawai‘i at Manoa By Margaret Kartomi, Chair, Klaus gists” is a new column in the SEM is proud to host the 2006 SEM Annual Wachsmann Prize Committee Newsletter, in which the President will Meeting in Honolulu, November 16-19. reflect on the historical issues and con- Its Ethnomusicology Program has a long- You are invited to nominate and temporary concerns in the field. standing reputation of excellence in the submit a copy of any book or article on The reflections arise from a mixture study of world music, especially the musical instruments or aspects of orga- of musical and cultural, aesthetic and musics of Asian and Pacific Islands nology published in 2003, 2004, or 2005 ethical, historical and ethnographic con- cultures. to the Klaus Wachsmann Prize Commit- cerns, and they themselves consciously Founded by Professor Emeritus Bar- tee by the deadline of April 1, 2006. mix ethnomusicological practices in the bara B. Smith in the 1950s, its early Nominations, including self nomina- broadest sense. development focused on establishing tions, may be made by submitting one “Becoming Ethnomusicologists” rec- the study of non-Western musics as a copy of the publication(s) to the Klaus ognizes the centrality of the SEM News- viable component of the university’s Wachsmann Prize Committee through letter for the discourses of ethnomusi- course offerings, integrating this with the SEM Business Office, Indiana Uni- cology, and then consciously reaches the other concentrations in the Music versity, Morrison Hall 005, 1165 East 3rd beyond disciplinary boundaries to open Department and with other departments Street, Bloomington, IN 47405-3700. The what we hope will be new channels for of the university, and incorporating the winning entry will be announced at the ethnomusicological engagement with rich group of Asia-Pacific performers SEM meeting in Hawai‘i in November musical, scholarly, and lay audiences. and practitioners already resident in the 2006. For prize guidelines, see (website) Beginning with “cosmopolitanism” community. http://www.ethnomusicology. in this issue (page 4-5), the column will Continued on page 3 turn to subjects such as nationalism, scholarly activism, and musical hybrid- ity in future issues.
Inside 1 Becoming Ethnomusicologists 1 Ethnomusicology at the University of Hawai‘i 1 Klaus P. Wachsmann Prize 3 Announcements 6 Obituaries Robert Brown (1927-2005) 6 Andrew Toth (1948-2005) 8 10 People & Places 12 “Fun Stuff” at the SEM 50th Anniversary Banquet 50 Years of “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” 12 A Fly on the Wall 13 The Ethno Double-Dactyls 16 SEM 50th Calypso 18 22 Conferences Calendar
Waikiki Beach (Photo by Alan Burdette) 2 SEM Newsletter
The Society for Ethnomusicology and SEM Newsletter Guidelines the SEM Newsletter Guidelines for Contributors Editor, SEM Newsletter Tong Soon Lee Emory University •Send articles to the editor by e-mail or on a 3.5" disk with a paper copy. Department of Music Microsoft Word is preferable, but other Macintosh or IBM-compatible software 1804 North Decatur Road Atlanta, GA 30322, USA is acceptable. (Tel) 404.712.9481 (Fax) 404.727.0074 • Identify the software you use. (Email) [email protected] • Please send faxes or paper copies without a disk only as a last resort. (Website) www.emory.edu/Music
The SEM Newsletter Advertising Rates Copy Deadlines The SEM Newsletter is a vehicle for exchange of ideas, news, and information among the Society’s Rates for Camera Ready Copy March issue...... January 15 members. Readers’ contributions are welcome and Full Page $200 May issue ...... March 15 should be sent to the editor. See the guidelines for contributions on this page. 2/3 Page $145 September issue ...... July 15 The SEM Newsletter is published four times 1/2 Page $110 January issue ...... November 15 annually, in January, March, May, and September, 1/3 Page $ 6 0 by the Society for Ethnomusicology. Inc., and is distributed free to members of the Society. 1/6 Page $ 4 0 Back issues, 1981-present [Vols. 14-18 (1981- 84), 3 times a year; Vols. 19-32 (1985-1998), 4 times Additional charges apply to non-camera-ready materials. a year] are available and may be ordered at $2 each. Add $2.50/order for postage. Address changes, orders for back issues of the SEM Newsletter, and all other non-editorial inquir- Internet Resources British Forum for Ethnomusicology ies should be sent to the Business Office, Society for Ethnomusicology, Indiana University, Morrison http://www.bfe.org.uk Hall 005, 1165 East 3rd Street, Bloomington, Indiana The SEM Website 47405-3700; (Tel) 812.855.6672; (Fax) 812.855.6673; British Library National Sound (Email) sem@ indiana.edu. http://www.ethnomusicology.org Archive SEM Membership The SEM Discussion List: SEM-L International Music Collection: The object of the Society for Ethnomusicology To subscribe, address an e-mail mes- is the advancement of research and study in the http://www.bl.uk/collections/sound- field of ethnomusicology, for which purpose all sage to: [email protected]. interested persons, regardless of race, ethnicity, archive/imc.html religion, gender, sexual orientation, or physical abil- EDU. Leave the subject line blank. Type ity are encouraged to become members. Its aims the following message: SUBSCRIBE SEM- Catalog: include serving the membership and society at large http://cadensa.bl.uk through the dissemination of knowledge concern- L yourfirstname yourlastname. ing the music of the world’s peoples. The Society, SEM Chapter Websites Ethnomusicology OnLine (EOL) incorporated in the United States, has an interna- tional membership. Mid-Atlantic Chapter Free, peer-reviewed, multimedia Web Members receive free copies of the journal journal. For more information, point and the newsletter and have the right to vote and http://www.macsem.org participate in the activities of the Society. Life mem- your browser to: bers receive free copies of all publications of the Mid-West Chapter http://umbc.edu/eol (home site) Society. Institutional members receive the journal and the newsletter. http://www.wku.edu/midwestsem/ EthnoFORUM, a.k.a. ERD (inactive) Student (full-time only) (one year) ...... $30 Niagara Chapter Individual/Emeritus (one year) Archive at: http://www.inform.umd. income $25,000 or less ...... $50 http://www.people.iup.edu/ edu/EdRes/ReadingRoom/Newsletters/ income $25,000-$40,000 ...... $70 rahkonen/NiagaraSEM/NiagaraSEM.htm EthnoMusicology/ income $40,000-$60,000 ...... $80 income $60,000-$80,000 ...... $95 Northeast Chapter International Council for Tradi- income $80,000 and above ...... $100 http://web.mit.edu/tgriffin/necsem/ tional Music Spouse/Partner Individual (one year) ...... $35 Life membership ...... $900 Southwest Chapter http://www.ethnomusic.ucla.edu/ Spouse/Partner Life ...... $1100 http://www.u.arizona.edu/~sturman/ ICTM Sponsored* (one year) ...... $35 Institutional membership (one year) ...... $80 SEMSW/SEMSWhome.html Iranian Musicology Group Overseas surface mail (one year) ...... $10 Southern California Chapter http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ Overseas airmail (one year) ...... $25 *Donated membership for individuals and in- http://www.ucr.edu/ethnomus/ iranian_musicology stitutions in soft-currency countries. Send spon- sorship letter with dues ($35) and postage (either semscc.html Music & Anthropology $10 Surface rate or $25 airmail) to the SEM Business Office. Southeast-Caribbean Chapter http://www.muspe.unibo.it/period/MA Ethnomusicology: Back Issues http://otto.cmr.fsu.edu/~cma/SEM/ http://research.umbc.edu/eol/MA/ The Society's journal, Ethnomusicology, is cur- index.htm rently published three times a year. Back issues SEMSEC02.htm/ are available through the SEM Business Office, Society for American Music Indiana University, Morrison Hall 005, 1165 East 3rd Ethnomusicology Sites Street, Bloomington, Indiana 47405-3700; (Tel) American Folklife Center www.American-Music.org 812.855.6672; (Fax) 812.855.6673; (Email) UCLA Ethnomusicology Archive [email protected]. http://lcweb.loc.gov/folklife/ http://www.ethnomusic.ucla.edu/ ISSN 0036-1291 archive SEM Newsletter 3
Ethnomusicology in Hawai‘i zation and in spirit—of the Music De- spectives on the jazz tradition and its Continued from page 1 partment. Beginning in 1959 with an legacy. The pages of the journal will be Asia-Pacific workshop in music and devoted to all aspects of—and all ap- These artists and knowledge bearers dance for public school teachers, the proaches to—jazz scholarship. The have contributed to lecture and en- program has been innovative and pio- journal will be an open platform for semble courses, formal concerts of music neering in the application of ethnomu- historical inquiry, music analysis, and and dance, and lecture demonstrations sicology to music education at all levels. cultural studies. Our mission is to that feature them both as performers It is also at the forefront in presenting stimulate the international study and and as commentators. The extensive ethnomusicology in the professional appreciation of the rich legacy of jazz performance instruction component of curriculum. Its collaboration with com- and its many musical and cultural tan- the program, encompassing some ten position faculty has produced a number gents, both past and present. cultures and fifteen genres, draws upon of major works, including a concerto for Editors-in-chief: Lewis Porter and these practitioners. It provides a direct taiko and orchestral pieces drawing John Howland, both of Rutgers Univer- linkage between the University and upon mele kahiko (Hawaiian ancient sity-Newark; Review editor: Wolfram Hawai‘i’s multicultural community base. genres). Knauer, Director of the Jazz-Institut, When the MA in Music was estab- Hosting the SEM Annual Meeting in Darmstadt; Editorial board: David Ake, lished in 1961, the program developed 2006—25 years after serving as host in Paul Berliner, Graeme Boone, Eric graduate courses in ethnomusicologi- 1981—affirms the Program’s mission Charry, Scott DeVeaux, Krin Gabbard, cal concepts and methods, as well as a and its role in the production of knowl- Lawrence Gushee, Travis Jackson, Robin significant emphasis on field research. edge for the discipline. The Local Kelley, Wolfram Knauer, Jeffrey Magee, Since then, and especially during the Arrangements Committee sends a warm Ingrid Monson, Catherine Parsonage, last several decades, the program has welcome and hopes to see you at this Marcello Piras, Eric Porter, Brian grown significantly including the addi- extraordinary meeting in Hawai‘i. Hele Priestley, Ronald Radano, Guthrie P. tion of the PhD degree. Of note are its mai kakou! Ramsey, Jr., Gabriel Solis, John Szwed, contributions to understanding the music Sherrie Tucker, Walter van de Leur, cultures of Polynesia, Micronesia, and Tony Whyton. Okinawa. Announcements All communications and article sub- The program is distinctive for a num- Jazz Perspectives: Call for Papers missions should be submitted (prefer- ber of reasons. First, in contrast to other ably) via email to both editors institutions, it is literally “in the field,” a Routledge announces Jazz Perspec- ([email protected] and Lrpjazz@ condition that affords a greater contact tives, an international peer-reviewed gmail.com). For further information on with music as a dynamic process and journal entirely devoted to jazz scholar- submission guidelines, please visit defines the kinds of studies that are ship. As an interdisciplinary platform (website) www.tandf.co.uk/journals/ carried out. Honolulu is known for its for jazz studies, the journal will consider titles/17494060.asp. multicultural population and the large all articles reporting on original re- number of ethnic groups that actively search and analysis (musical, historical, participate in a wide variety of tradi- cultural, or otherwise). The journal American Institute of Indian tional and contemporary musics. Its additionally welcomes articles on top- Studies 2006 Fellowship proximity to Pacific Basin countries is ics in biography, oral history, discogra- The American Institute of Indian obvious and its mid-Pacific location phy, and primary source studies. The Studies announces its 2006 fellowship ensures frequent contact with musi- first issue of Jazz Perspectives will ap- competition and invites applications cians, scholars, and institutions from pear in January 2007. Thereafter, the from scholars who wish to conduct the region. Participant activity, learning journal will be published biannually their research in India. Junior fellow- music in a manner approaching indig- with issues released each April and ships are awarded to PhD candidates to enous transmission procedures, is an October. The deadline to be consid- conduct research for their dissertations integral part of the University of Hawai‘i ered for the first issue is April 1, 2006. in India for up to eleven months. Senior program, as is the study of theoretical The birth of Jazz Perspectives is an fellowships are awarded to scholars problems such as music and social exciting event in jazz scholarship. While who hold the PhD degree for up to nine change, globalization, music and iden- there continues to be a growing num- months of research in India. The AIIS tity, music and representation, decolo- ber of large and small commercial peri- also welcomes applications for its per- nization, nationalism and transnational- odicals devoted to jazz, this new aca- forming and creative arts fellowships ism. The highly socio-cultural nature of demic jazz community has yet to find a from accomplished practitioners of the the program’s activities is encouraged collective international forum to pro- arts of India. The application deadline by the “living laboratory” conditions. mote cross-disciplinary scholarly dia- is July 1, 2006. For more information Emphasis is upon the performance of logue. This is the goal of Jazz Perspec- and applications, please contact the world musics as a relevant aesthetic tives. As a refereed academic journal American Institute of Indian Studies, experience, rather than as a museum with an international editorial board, 1130 E. 59th Street, Chicago, IL 60637; piece or a bit of exotica. Jazz Perspectives aims to bridge the (tel) 773.702.8638; (email) aiis@ Another defining feature of the Uni- jazz-as-music and jazz-as-culture divide uchicago.edu; or visit (website) www. versity of Hawai‘i is that ethnomusicol- of contemporary jazz studies, as well as indiastudies.org. ogy is an integral part—both in organi- to promote broader international per- Continued on page 22 4 SEM Newsletter Becoming Ethnomusicologists On Cosmopolitanism: Our Journeys with Others By Philip V. Bohlman, SEM President
I’ve been doing a lot of fieldwork of eignness, self and other, the familiar I write these reflections having just late, taking many and diverse journeys and the unfamiliar, incessantly juxta- read Kwame Anthony Appiah’s Cosmo- with others. In late spring and summer posed, all mixed up. Fieldwork takes us politanism: Ethics in a World of Strang- 2005, I journeyed to Ukraine, where I on journeys with others so that we ers (2006). Appiah is a philosopher, witnessed the course of emerging and might understand something of a com- and he writes about cosmopolitanism transforming nationalism in the Orange mon world made up of differences. as a philosopher, but also as one who Revolution, but also studied the understands himself as a citizen in a Eurovision Song Contest taking place in Our persistent engage- world of strangers, that is, as a cosmo- Kyiv. In southern Poland, I followed ment with cosmopolitan- politan himself. As worthy of lengthy pilgrims from Wadowice, the town from commentary as Appiah’s Cosmopolitan- which the late Pope John Paul II had ism represents a challenge ism truly is, there is one particular come, to the basilica of Jasna Góra in inseparable from what it aspect of his treatment that primarily Czestechowa,3 where the Black Madonna engages me in this column, his equa- is venerated. In Chicago, I plied the has meant to become an tion of cosmopolitanism with ethics, a shops of the South Asian neighborhood ethnomusicologist. sense of principles guiding the ways we along Devon Avenue, sketching the live together with others. Above all, I initial outlines of a thick description that These elements of commonness and am struck by the resonance of Appiah’s would eventually be woven into a long- strangeness, the universal and the for- cosmopolitan ethics with the central term “Three City Project,” which also eign, so central to what it is that makes tenets of ethnomusicological practice: includes Berlin and Kolkata. To each of our field, reflect in many ways the set of our sense of respect for difference; our these fieldwork experiences I brought cultural practices and conditions of com- search for the commonness that en- intensely personal motivations, from munity called cosmopolitanism in a hances the meaningfulness of diversity. Eurovision fandom to a personal faith growing literature. Cosmopolitanism is In a word, the powerful presence of that guides all my research on music hardly something new for ethnomusi- responsibility in ethnomusicology. That and religion (see, e.g., Bohlman 1996). cologists. It provides some measure, sense of responsibility is crucial to the On each of these journeys, how- even a large measure, of our common moral principles of a cosmopolitan eth- ever, I was never alone. I was accom- practice, historically and at the present ics that has so consistently guided eth- panied by friends, colleagues, even moment in our history. nomusicologists throughout our history loved ones: University of Chicago me- In ethnomusicology’s past and and continues to lead us into the future. dievalist Katarzyna Grochowska guided present, cosmopolitanism has fallen I take this sense of responsibility as me to the Black Madonna; Sanjoy under a number of rubrics, which in essential for the formation of our field. Bandopadhyay, Sebastian Klotz, and various clusters modulate and connect It emerges at foundational moments, Lars-Christian Koch are the fellow metro- its themes and variations. One cluster for example, in Herder’s aesthetic and politans of the Three City Project; and draws our attention to musical differ- ethnographic writings as they form a my musicologist daughter, Andrea, was ences: diversity, multiculturalism, oth- constellation around his formulation of at my side in Ukraine. At the most erness. A contrasting cluster draws our folk song (Volkslied) as a truly cosmo- unfamiliar of moments, I could always attention to musical similarities: univer- politan musical practice (see, especially, find the familiar close at hand; my sality, globalization, selfness. Cosmo- Herder 1778/1779). Herder’s moral home, Chicago, was never far away: be politanism embodies both of these clus- philosophy emerges in the dialogue it among Polish pilgrims or Orange ters, and in doing so it relies on the and dialectic formed between local eth- revolutionaries, all connected to Chi- tensions between them for its complex- nographic experience in his Journal of cago through direct family channels. ity and challenge to ethnomusicology. My Journey in 1769 (Herder 1976), and On these journeys with others it was This is a challenge recognized through- the principles for a universal ethics in never necessary to abandon the self. out our history, shaped theoretically by his Also a History of the Human Experi- Ethnomusicological fieldwork may forebears from Herder to Hornbostel to ence (Herder 1774). It is at the moment seem at first glance to contain radically Charles Seeger, and theorized convinc- of this betweenness that Herder’s eth- disparate, random, or unrelated ele- ingly, among others, by Thomas Turino nographic studies of folk music un- ments. And yet, more often than not, it (e.g., Turino 2000). Our persistent dergo a radical reshaping that responds is the differences that actually connect. engagement with cosmopolitanism rep- to a moral imperative, with local and When ethnomusicologists set off on resents a challenge inseparable from global occupying the same space. ethnographic journeys, they quickly what it has meant to become an ethno- My respect for and inspiration from encounter elements of home and for- musicologist. Anthony Appiah’s ethical cosmopoli- SEM Newsletter 5 tanism notwithstanding, I find myself, peratives of studying music in a world Works Cited as an ethnomusicologist, wanting to of strangers (e.g., Rommen, forthcom- Appiah, Kwame Anthony. 2006. Cos- push him harder, to follow challenge ing). We debate our symbols and our mopolitanism: Ethics in a World of with challenge, and particularly to re- names with utter seriousness because Strangers. New York: W. W. Norton. place the insistence on we know symbols and the individual’s posi- The difference between names are always Bohlman, Philip V. 1996. “Pilgrimage, tion in the final chap- laden with conse- Politics, and the Musical Remapping ter with a principled “ethics” as Appiah uses it quences. We confront of the New Europe.” Ethnomusicol- presence of the col- and “responsibility” as globalization, politics, ogy 40/3: 375-412. lective, our common many ethnomusicologists and colonialism, at Herder, Johann Gottfried. 1774. Auch sense of self in a world home and abroad, eine Philosophie der Geschichte zur of others. Appiah’s use it is that of action and keeping our own Bildung der Menschheit. Riga: Hart- claims rest on an as- agency. It is, I believe, house in order knoch. sumption that, whe- also a difference between through conference ______. 1778/1779. “Stimmen der Völker ther we realize it or themes such as, “De- in Liedern” and Volkslieder. 2 vols. not, we live in a world “being” and “becoming” colonizing Ethnomu- Leipzig: Weygandsche Buchhandlung. in which neighbors are an ethnomusicologist. sicology.” I do not strangers and strang- overlook, moreover, ______. 1976. Journal meiner Reise im ers are neighbors. Like it or not, we live the collective nature of our individual Jahr 1769. Stuttgart: Reclam. Pub- in an interconnected, ultimately small acts, the respect that we maintain for lished posthumously in fragments. world, so we might as well get on with our fellow ethnomusicologists who do Rommen, Timothy. Forthcoming. The it. something about musics they deem Ethics of Style: Music, Memory, and Ethnomusicology, I believe, asks far neglected, or are activists in the ways Identity in Full Gospel Trinidad. Ber- more of us. Accepting the world’s they muster support for local traditions. keley: University of California Press. cosmopolitan nature is but the point of All these acts of responsibility are cru- Turino, Thomas. 2000. Nationalists, departure. The difference between cial for our cosmopolitan citizenship as Cosmopolitans, and Popular Music in “ethics” as Appiah uses it and “respon- musicians, scholars, and teachers. Zimbabwe. Chicago: University of Chi- sibility” as many ethnomusicologists use I close by rhetorically and meta- cago Press. it is that of action and agency. It is, I phorically returning to the field and believe, also a difference between “be- reaffirming ethnomusicological practice ing” and “becoming” an ethnomusi- that I have embraced as my responsibil- cologist. ity. Surely, ethnomusicology is for me a highly individualized practice, one in There are and always which my own principles are bared and for the consequences of which I must have been conse- take personal responsibility. At the quences to cosmopoli- beginning of 2006, I continue to be- come an ethnomusicologist by charting tanism. As we become my next paths to fieldwork, embarking Addendum ethnomusicologists, we on new writing projects, teaching a full The following reference was accept some measure load of courses, chairing a university omitted from the article, “Think- department, preparing a series of con- ing Outside the Box” by Jacque- of responsibility for certs with my cabaret ensemble and line Cogdell DjeDje, published those consequences. stage works from the Holocaust with in the SEM Newsletter 40/1 (Janu- my wife, and serving as President of ary 2006):20-21 as part of the SEM. I can’t do all this alone, and yet my 2004 President’s Roundtable on If one believes—and I do—that we personal engagement with ethnomusi- ‘Diverse Voices”: are unceasingly becoming ethnomusi- cology can’t be stripped from all this. cologists to respond to a changing world, My point here is simple: our indi- Euba, Akin. 2001. “Issues in in which cosmopolitanism has chang- vidual practices as ethnomusicologists Africanist Musicology: Do We ing meanings, we must be guided by a are vastly different, from the homes we Need Ethnomusicology in Africa?” strong sense that response leads ineluc- inhabit in our daily practice to the In Proceedings of the Forum for tably to responsibility. There are and worlds through which we journey. Pre- Revitalizing African Music Stud- always have been consequences to cos- cisely these countless differences are ies in Higher Education, edited mopolitanism. As we become ethno- what draw us together into common by Frank Gunderson, 137-139. musicologists, we accept some measure practice and discourse. Our differences Ann Arbor, Michigan: The US of responsibility for those consequences. as ethnomusicologists could not be more Secretariat of the International New challenges are being embraced meaningful, for it is in them that we Center for African Music and by SEM as it passes from its first half- discover the compass of responsibility Dance, The International Insti- century to its second. We raise ques- that guides us in our individual journeys tute, University of Michigan. tions about ethics and the moral im- with others. 6 SEM Newsletter
Obituary Ithaka: A Tribute to Robert E. Brown (1927-2005) By Lewis Peterman, San Diego State University July, 2005 (Photo courtesy of Jennifer Case) Robert E. Brown in Central Java near Mt. Merapi.
Hope your road is a long one. May there be many summer mornings when, with what pleasure, what joy, you enter harbours you’re seeing for the first time; may you stop at Phoenician trading stations to buy fine things, mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony, sensual perfumes of every kind— as many sensual perfumes as you can; and may you visit many Egyptian cities to learn and go on learning from their scholars.
For Bob Brown every morning of his seventy- eight-year-long road represented a new beginning, a new summer pregnant with hope and possibility. Whether the harbors he entered promised new trading stations with sensual perfumes of every kind As you set out for Ithaka or were portals to cities and villages that he loved and hope your road is a long one, had visited many times, Bob’s radar for beauty was full of adventure, full of discovery. always on full alert, in search of sparkling jewels and Laistrygonians, Cyclops, precious stones, in search of fine things to buy, and angry Poseidon—don’t be afraid of them: in search of learned scholars with whom to collabo- you’ll never find things like that one on your way rate. Beautiful works of art, beautiful cities, beautiful as long as you keep your thoughts raised high, music, beautiful thoughts, beautiful aspirations— as long as a rare excitement these were the stuff that filled Bob Brown with stirs your spirit and your body. intense pleasure and joy. Laistrygonians, Cyclops, Bob loved to share his appreciation of beauty wild Poseidon—you won’t encounter them with others: his family; his tour group members (to unless you bring them along inside your soul, India, Turkey, or Indonesia); his university students unless your soul sets them up in front of you. studying ethnomusicology; and, late in his life, to During the final twenty-five years of Bob Brown’s life, I was young children. During his last five years Bob fortunate to have had the opportunity to work intimately with him, developed a passion—it seemed that almost every- both as a friend and as a colleague. For those twenty-five years we thing was a passion for Bob—for enriching the traveled a long road together, through Europe, India, Indonesia, and education of children in the public schools of San Turkey. For those twenty-five years we collaborated on diverse Diego. Under the auspices of the Center for World world music projects for universities in America and Indonesia, for Music, for which he served as President for over the College Music Society, and for the Center for World Music. For twenty years, Bob created an innovative Schools those twenty-five years we shared exciting adventures full of discov- Program that brought the traditional performing arts ery, during which I was able to observe Bob’s pronounced affinity for of Africa, Indonesia, and India to public schools in his favorite poet and the author of the poem Ithaka, Constantine P. San Diego. With the support of school principals and Cavafy, as well as his identification with the hero of that poem, with grants from NEA, grade school children were Odysseus. It was clear to me that Bob’s thoughts were certainly provided with Ghanaian, Balinese, and Indian musi- always raised high, just as Cavafy and Odysseus, particularly as rare cians and dancers for weekly private and group excitements stirred his spirit. As with his models, Cavafy and instruction during school hours. Bob invited some of Odysseus, Bob viewed himself as an unconventional guide—a the young students enrolled in a Balinese Gamelan maverick leading the way for others toward a life of meaning, and Dance course to continue their studies on morality, and beauty through resourcefulness, courage, and persis- location in Bali during the summer of 2005, where tence. Those of us who knew Bob well viewed him as a clever they performed to the utter delight of the parents and thinker, an eloquent speaker, a gifted writer, and a tireless champion children of Payangan village in Central Bali. These for his ideal of a fully lived life: meaningful accomplishments, correct San Diego children, their parents, their native in- action, and appreciation of beauty. It seemed to many of us that Bob structors, those of us on the Board of Directors of the was particularly motivated by challenges of trying to accomplish the Center for World Music—all of us were privileged to impossible. Too, he appeared to be directed by a strong sense of view the world through Bob’s eyes and to feel life service to what was right, particularly when others disagreed with his through his sensibilities. We were all affected by his sensibilities. Certainly no one could help but notice Bob’s intense charisma, his charm, his dedication, and his infec- sensitivity to things of beauty and his sense of urgency in sharing that tious enthusiasm for things of lasting beauty and appreciation with others. value. SEM Newsletter 7
Keep Ithaka always in your mind. Ithaka gave you the marvellous journey. Arriving there is what you’re destined for. Without her you wouldn’t have set out. But don’t hurry the journey at all. She has nothing left to give you now. Better if it lasts for years, And if you find her poor, Ithaka won’t have fooled you. so you’re old by the time you reach the island, Wise as you will have become, so full of experience, wealthy with all you’ve gained on the way, you’ll have understood by then what these Ithakas mean. not expecting Ithaka to make you rich.
From 1963 to his passing in 2005, Bob was In 1979 when Bob accepted the chairmanship of the intimately associated with the Center for World Department of Music at San Diego State University, he Music, as Executive Director and as President. relocated his Center to San Diego, where it continued to The Center was surely one of Bob’s Ithakas, a foster world music appreciation and performance through home for his dreams, for he association with the four uni- often expressed concern versities in the area. The Center about limitations to cultural further expanded its outreach and arts studies in the con- to include special projects with text of modern American the local Hmong, Filipino, and education: too little art in Chicano communities. the public schools and too As early as 1971, under Bob’s much abstraction in the uni- guidance, the Center for World versities. He was convinced Music began to organize sum- that fully understanding cul- mer study-abroad programs for ture could best be achieved American students. In recent by participating in the years the programs have been lifestyle of those who carry held in Payangan, Bali, using culture—speaking their lan- facilities built for that purpose guage, eating their food, by Bob himself. These perfor- singing their songs, danc- mance-study programs were ing their dances. The Cen- given in cooperation with an ter for World Music was Indonesian foundation that Bob thus the organization also created—the Center for Tra- through which Bob endeav- ditional Arts of the World (Seni ored to implement his ide- Dunia Tradisional, otherwise als of international under- known as SenDuTra)—whose standing through intercul- officers consist largely of artists tural sharing. who taught for the Center for He loved the Center for World Music in the United States. World Music, his Ithaka; he In the summer of 2000, created it, he nourished it, SenDuTra and the Center for and he promoted its mis- World Music hosted a group of sion. Under Bob’s supervi- students of the Indonesian per- sion the Center sponsored forming arts from the University hundreds of concerts, in- of Illinois and another group troduced Americans to from the California Institute of many prominent Asian art- the Arts in Valencia, California. Robert E. Brown (back right) in Yogyakarta, Java with Lewis ists through national tours, Peterman (back left) and K. R. T. Wasitodiningrat (front). July, Since 1976 and under the aus- and was instrumental in cre- 2005 (Photo courtesy of Jennifer Case) pices of the Center for World ating the rich mix of world Music, Bob personally con- performing arts activities in the Bay Area of San ducted yearly cultural tours to Indonesia (as well as less Francisco by training hundreds of American stu- frequent cultural tours to India and Turkey), with emphasis dents, many of whom are now distinguished on the performing arts. Yes, Bob loved his Center for World leaders in their respective fields. Under Bob’s Music, a home that gave him his marvelous journey. For Bob guidance, at its height in the mid-1970s, the Center Brown the Center was an Ithaka that gave him opportunities had no fewer than forty-five artists-in-residence, to visit new harbors, to enjoy sensual perfumes of every kind, many from India and Indonesia. to search for sparkling jewels and precious stones, and to understand “what these Ithakas mean.” 8 SEM Newsletter Obituary Andrew Francis Toth (1948-2005) By Dane Harwood, ASP. Consulting, Boston, and David Harnish, Bowling Green State University Andy Toth died in his sleep in the early morning hours of November 27, 2005, in Denpasar, Bali, a peaceful, merciful end to a painful and difficult battle he had waged for some months with lung cancer and a related brain tumor. Andy Toth was one of ethno- musicology’s least conventional but most talented contributors. His dedication to the study and dissemination of knowl- edge about Javanese and Balinese mu- sical traditions—Balinese gender wayang in particular—was intense, com- prehensive, and infectious. He deserv- edly has been lauded as one of the Andy recording gamelan luang in Krambitan, Bali, 1976 (Photo courtesy of Danielle field’s foremost but least known ex- Toth) perts. Perhaps this is because the Wesleyan campus in 1966 and founded ars, teachers, and performers in the primary conduit of Andy’s expertise the World Music Program. This inte- field of Indonesian music and perform- was through his extensive teaching, grated curriculum, focusing on both ing arts. It was during this trip that Andy performing, advocating, and facilitating performance and scholarship (and schol- met Danielle Diffloth, a gifted profes- others’ research efforts, both in Indone- arship through performance!), intro- sional photographer, who was living in sia and the United States, rather than the duced visiting artists from West Africa, Central Java with her young daughter, construction of a large published oeuvre North and South India, Japan, and Indo- Natalie, documenting Indonesian arts of scholarly reports. nesia. Andy found a congenial mentor and culture. Coincidently, Danielle had Born and raised in Meriden, Con- in Bob Brown, and was soon heavily earlier helped convince Pak Cokro to necticut, Andy came to Wesleyan Uni- engaged in the study of Javanese come to Cal Arts as an artist-in-resi- versity in 1966, with what his close gamelan. He accompanied Bob on a dence. Andy and Danielle married in friends note was a strong attraction to semester-long tour of musical traditions 1974. the sciences. He apparently was quite in Japan, Indonesia, India, and the After receiving his MFA from Cal promising in the field of chemistry, Middle East. Once back at Wesleyan, Arts in 1972, Andy enrolled in the UCLA including co-authoring a 1967 publica- he studied and performed as a member PhD program under Mantle Hood, which tion that appeared in the Journal of the of the Javanese ensemble directed by is where I (Dane Harwood) first met American Chemical Society. This talent Pak Prawotosaputro. Andy declared a him as a fellow doctoral student. We and interest surfaced again later, as major in music, specialized in playing studied and played together in a num- Andy turned to the metallurgical as- the gender, and turned his academic ber of the Indonesian performing groups pects of Indonesian gong-making, pro- attention to ethnomusicology. there, benefiting from the tutelage of ducing a well-received 1975 English After graduating from Wesleyan, some exceptional musicians, including translation of an earlier study in the Andy joined Bob at the newly estab- I Made Bandem and Nyoman Sumandhi. field, and leading an Earthwatch Foun- lished California Institute of the Arts, Over the next few years, Andy’s already dation project on gong-making in Bali and as a graduate student and teaching recognized expertise and musical talent in 1985 that resulted in two video docu- assistant helped to build the new pro- prompted a number of area schools to mentaries. gram in ethnomusicology there, study- hire him as a visiting instructor to teach Andy had always been quite musi- ing eventually with Pak Cokro courses in ethnomusicology and per- cal. As a boy, he played accordion at (Cokrowasitodipuro) and Nyoman formance. He was also appointed as family and school events. He was a Wenten. In 1971, Andy was one of the curator and archivist to the newly estab- guitarist with a popular regional rock members of the first, and seminal, trip to lished Colin McPhee Collection at UCLA. band in high school and an equally Java and Bali, sponsored by Sam Scripps Andy also had a brief stint as a teaching celebrated band at Wesleyan, and played and the American Society for Eastern assistant for Ravi Shankar. with the rock group, Ambrosia, on a Arts and coordinated by Bob Brown. In 1975, supported by a Fullbright- 1975 album for Elektra. He was ready, This group of students included many Hays fellowship, Andy, Danielle, and then, for the epiphany that took place who would later make significant con- Natalie returned to Bali for a year; Andy when Robert Brown arrived on the tributions to ethnomusicology as schol- researched and documented tuning sys- SEM Newsletter 9 tems of Balinese gamelan ensembles pant musician, bringing to the group’s he had to undergo a series of medical with his faithful Nagra (see the accom- Solonese style of playing a lively procedures in Singapore and Australia panying photo), while Danielle resumed Yogyanese perspective. He continued to remove lesions, despite covering her photographic documentation of the working on his research and his active himself from head to toe to protect culture. Andy quickly became fluent in program of teaching, publishing, speak- against sunlight. Indonesian, and studied with many of ing, and performing. Andy’s penchant for mastering chal- Bali’s most celebrated musicians, in- Andy left Brown University in 1983, lenging skills extended well beyond cluding I Made Grindem. That same and his marriage ended about the same musical performance and recording tech- year, he was awarded a C.Phil by UCLA. time. He was a talented and creative nology. He worked hard at learning Throughout the 1970s and early computer programmer, and briefly con- how to surf-cast while in New England, 1980s, Andy actively published aca- sidered that as an alternative career. and his love of the sea led him to take demic articles and reviews, and contrib- Ultimately, unsatisfied and restless, he up scuba diving in Bali. He did nearly uted scholarly and technical expertise acted on a desire he had nurtured for 1,000 dives in the region and consid- to a number of recordings and films, many years and returned to Bali, where ered becoming a dive master. His including some of Bob Brown’s famous he lived for the remainder of his life, knowledge of underwater life and local Nonesuch recordings of gamelan from continuing to study, perform, and im- dive spots was phenomenal. the kratons of Central Java. Andy merse himself in the culture that he had Andy met a Batak Javanese, Janti presented papers at SEM meetings and come to love. Accepting an offer from Nasution, and married her in 1993. She other professional organizations, and Dr. I Made Bandem, then director of the became his soul-mate and played a was able to sustain a daunting schedule ASTI conservatory (soon to be upgraded major role in the rest of his life. Diving of performances of both Javanese and to STSI, and later ISI) in Denpasar, Andy and leisure activities with Janti brought Balinese music. set up house in nearby Sanur. As a him close to the expatriate community In 1978, Andy was appointed Assis- faculty member, he taught field meth- in Bali, and he performed gender tant Professor in Ethnomusicology at ods to many brilliant academy students, wayang regularly in local festivals. He Brown University, and moved to Provi- who in turn conducted fine village was well-liked and well-respected for dence with Danielle and Natalie. Using ethnographies. I (David Harnish) was his deep knowledge of and experience his own Javanese gamelan instruments fortunate to grow to know him at this with Balinese culture; he also impressed and gender wayang batel brought from time and to tour the island with him in many with his skill at billiards! In the Indonesia, as well as the existing Ba- search of music and ceremonies. Al- meantime, he maintained contacts within linese gamelan angklung at Brown, he though tentative at first in his new role, the conservatory, facilitating the study established and led performing groups Andy quickly found his rhythm, redis- and research of other scholars, stu- for both Javanese and Balinese music in covered his love of gender wayang, and dents, musicians, and filmmakers, both Providence. The gamelan “community” even took up the guitar again. He also Indonesian and foreign. Andy contrib- in the Boston area was bubbling during became fluent in Balinese. Unfortu- uted a few articles to the academy this time, and Andy soon joined the nately, he also became aware that his journal, Mudra. He also occasionally Boston Village Gamelan, where for a fair skin was prone to skin cancer in the wrote essays for tourist materials, such year or so he was an enthusiastic partici- tropical sun, and, in the ensuing years, as the publication, Ubud is a Mood. He was active in the Rotary Club and settled into a productive and satisfying life in Bali. In 1989 he was appointed as a US Consular Agent. In this position, he represented US interests in Bali and took care of American citizens—han- dling visa problems, legal issues, illness and accidents, emergency med-evacs, and ensuring that American citizens who needed assistance received neces- sary services and aid in returning to the US. He organized visits by dignitaries including Secretaries of State, Presi- dents, and shiploads of sailors on leave. In October 2002, the second of two terrorist bombs on Bali exploded out- side his office, thankfully with no casu- alties, but he spent the next many months helping to coordinate the re- covery effort and deal with the com- plexities and reverberations of the at- Andy and Janti in Boston, May 1994 (Photo courtesy of Dane Harwood) Continued on page 10 10 SEM Newsletter
Andrew Toth Continued from page 9 tack. He resigned his position in 2003 due to job fatigue as well as a changing political climate within the US Foreign Service, and took a position in a silver exporting company, continuing to par- ticipate in expat life in Bali. Andy continued to play gender wayang— often with his longtime friend I Wayan Suweca—at ceremonies (which always surprised many locals). He also contin- ued to offer his special assistance to those of us doing music research. Over time, however, his illness increasingly compromised his ability to function. For countless people, Andy Toth served as a generous personal gateway to the rich, intriguing cultural life of Bali. Many benefited, some in dramatic ways, from his knowledge of music and culture, as well as his expertise at nego- tiating the system to gain access to the most interesting people and events. He was an iconoclastic and unusual scholar and musician, who published so very (L-R) Andy, Dane Harwood, and Gertrude Robinson enjoying the moment at SEM little of his extensive knowledge of Meeting, Montreal, 1979 (Photo courtesy of Dane Harwood) Balinese music. He was by tempera- and a number of scattered and wide- Janti and Andy were a devoted ment and by conscious inclination more ranging contributions to journals, films, couple. As his illness became severe, comfortable as a hands-on, direct-expe- and recordings, only a narrow glimpse she lovingly supported and cared for rience ethnomusicologist, one who set of his extraordinarily deep perspective him, staying in close communication his own agenda and made his own remains. with physicians in Bali and with Andy’s decisions. His accomplishments are Andy threw himself into life, ex- friends, family, and other physicians in impressive: he was among the most celled at everything he attempted— the US and Europe. Janti has recently learned foreigners in gender wayang certainly music, and surprisingly politi- signaled her intention to donate his and had a vast knowledge of regional cal competence—and he remained kind extensive collection of books, papers, styles; he studied instrument-making and modest throughout. A self-actual- research notes, documentary record- and even ran some education programs ized individual, he devoted his life to ings, and photos to the Wesleyan Uni- at foundries; and he had a profound what he loved best: the classical music versity Music Library. It is her wish that grasp of theory and tuning systems. traditions of Bali and Java, their perfor- these materials be available to scholars However, apart from his article on the mance and analysis. He was a first-class and interested researchers. Many of us Gamelan Luang of Tangkas in Selected musician, researcher, teacher, scholar, here in the States are working together Reports in Ethnomusicology (1975), his recorder, and colleague. And he was a to make that wish a reality. SEM monograph on the recordings avail- complex, quirky, intensely ironic, ex- Andy Toth will be sorely missed by able of music in Bali and Lombok (still ceptional friend who was wonderful at all of us. available at each national conference), punning and terrible at playing Hearts.
People and Places in Ethnomusicology
Alejandro L. Madrid (LLILAS, Uni- Post-Revolutionary Mexico, 1920-1930]. the Society for Ethnomusicology (see versity of Texas at Austin) was recently The book is a cultural-historical critique SEM Newsletter 40/1, January 2006:11), awarded the 2005 Casa de las Americas of the nationalist discourse developed The Wallace Berry Award from the Prize for Latin American Musicology. after the Mexican Revolution. Society for Music Theory, The Lewis Alejandro received this prestigious bi- Marc Perlman (Brown University) Lockwood Award from the American ennial award for his book, Los sonidos has received multiple awards for his Musicological Society, and the ASCAP- de la nación moderna: Música, cultura book, Unplayed Melodies: Javanese Deems Taylor Award from the Ameri- e ideas en el México post-revolucionario, Gamelan and the Genesis of Music can Society of Composers, Authors, and 1920-1930 [The Sounds of the Modern Theory (University of California Press, Publishers. Nation: Music, Culture, and Ideas in 2004): The Alan P. Merriam Award from Continued on page 22 SEM Newsletter 11 12 SEM Newsletter “Fun Stuff” SEM 50th Anniversary Banquet Saturday, November 19, 2005, Atlanta, Georgia
Another Semicentennial to Celebrate: 50 Years of “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” (1955-2005) By Joe Hickerson 10/20/55 (my 20th birthday; and one month before the advent of SEM): Pete Seeger wrote the first 3 verses of “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” on an airplane on his way to do a concert at Oberlin College (in Oberlin, Ohio). He performed it that evening in concert at First Church in Oberlin. I was there, but I did not remember the song at that time. Pete’s song was a paraphrase of a Cossack song text, which appeared in the novel, And Quiet Flows the Don, written by the Russian novelist Mikhail Sholokhov.
Early 1960: Pete’s 3-verse tempo rubato rendition was issued on his Folkways LP FA 2454, Rainbow Quest. I learned the song from the LP and started singing it with guitar accompaniment at concerts and gatherings in Bloomington, Indiana. Folks liked to sing along and harmonize, but the song was so short that we repeated the 3 verses over and over.
May 1960: late one night in Bloomington I composed the 4th and 5th verses for the song, and added the 1st verse at the end, thus making it a 6-verse song.
Summer 1960: I taught my 6-verse version to campers and staff at Camp Woodland in Phoenicia, NY. It became one of their top-five favorites. In August 1960, Pete Seeger visited the camp and heard the song for the first time with my added verses. At the end of the summer, staff and campers took the song back to New York City, where it was heard by Peter, Paul, and/or Mary.
Fall 1961: The Kingston Trio heard PP&M sing it in Cambridge, MA, and rushed to record it at their next recording session.
1/20/62: The Kingston Trio single of the song hit the Billboard charts, where it remained until 4/21/62. Its appearance on Trio LPs ran from 3/10/62 to 6/6/64 on the Billboard charts.
4/28/62: The song was included on PP&M’s first LP, Peter Paul and Mary, which entered the Billboard charts on this date, and remained there until 11/6/65, achieving the number one position for seven weeks.
1962: Marlene Dietrich recorded a popular German version, “Sag mir, wo die Blumen sind,” in Europe, which was subsequently covered by Joan Baez on an LP which appeared on the Billboard charts 10/23/65-4/9/66.
9/25/65: Johnny Rivers’ rock version charted in Billboard through 1/22/66.
1968: Meanwhile, Ethel Raim and her group, The Pennywhistlers, recorded a Russian antecedent, “Kolada Duda.”
1960s: There were two hit versions in Japan. These are discussed in a 2000 80-minute Japanese documentary film on “Where Have All the Flowers Gone,” in which I appear.
11/2/73: at the 18th SEM conference in Urbana, IL, Will Schmid delivered a paper entitled “Collected Variants of the Contemporary Folk Song, ‘Where Have All the Flowers Gone’.” I thoroughly enjoyed it, even though my name was not mentioned.
1976: I received communications from a German scholar, Dietrich Gerhardt, who had discovered an early printed version of the Russian song, and then that of a German precursor dated ca. 1750.
A coda: the December 1962-January 63 issue of Sing Out! (vol. 12, no. 5) printed a parody of “Where Have All the Flowers Gone,” submitted by a graduate student at Indiana University. The gist was: Where have all the folksongs gone? Collectors have taken them every one; where have all the collections gone? Gone to archives every one; where have all the archives gone? Pop singers raided them one by one; where have all the pop singers gone? Gone to make records every one; where have all the records gone? The “folk” have bought them every one; where have all the pop songs gone? The folk are singing them every one; and where have all the folksongs gone? etc.
And who was that brash cheeky IU grad student? It was me! SEM Newsletter 13
A Fly on the Wall (or What the founders of SEM “might” have said) By Anthony T. Rauche Text freely based on material from Bruno Nettl
Willard Rhodes, played by Ellen Koskoff, soprano David McAllester, played by Janice Tulk, alto Charles Seeger, played by Jonathan Dueck, tenor Alan Merriam, played by Martin Hatch, bass
Carol Babiracki, narrator Anthony Rauche, piano
~ for Bruno ~ Libretto:
Music begins and then Narrator (who is the “fly” on the wall) begins:
Narration A . . .A Fly On The Wall. . .yes, if we had been there 50 years ago, we might have heard the actual words that our founders had uttered! What (stress) did they say? And who said what? Could it have been a heated discussion, a witty repartee, casual candor, or…bitter criticism! A New Year’s gathering, four young scholars-in-the-making, known only among a select few. There was the sensual soprano, Willard Rhodes (wait while each singer turns over their name card); that treacherous tenor, Charles Seeger (pause…); the alluring alto, David McAllester (pause…); and that boisterous bass, Alan Merriam (pause…).
Oh….what did they say! (crescendo and stretch out this sentence) Well, through the amazing new process of tele-kinetic-lexical transformation, we can now turn back the clock…and become….A Fly on the Wall!
[Theme is played] Merriam: Charles, I can’t see how you can associate with those musicologists you know. What can we possibly get out of going to their sessions? Seeger: Long time ago I was involved . . . with the founding of AMS, but I thought they’d take a broader approach and not just be historians of European music. McAllester: They liked us better at the anthropology meetings, so maybe they would help us have a session on musical issues! Rhodes: But I feel more at home around musicologists. They don’t like what I study, but they can read music!
ALL: Yes, they can read music!
Seeger: The problem is they think that they have captured music when they write it down. I have a brand new transcription machine, and it will be a lot more accurate.
ALL: . . . accurate. . . Merriam: Who needs to see the music anyway?
McAllester: My teacher George Herzog; my teacher George Herzog always focused on the transcription of the music and he made me do every song in my dissertation on Peyote music. . .
ALL: heh-neh-noh-yeh (spoken and chanted 4 times in even rhythm)
McAllester: . . . over and over and over—I almost gave up! Merriam: What does music mean?
Rhodes: What does it mean . . .?
Seeger: What does it mean . . .?
McAllester: What does it mean . . .? 14 SEM Newsletter
Musical Interlude
Narration B What does it mean? Merriam was in a bad mood because his back was acting up! Seeger was complaining that he couldn’t hear well in big meetings! McAllester was lamenting his teaching load at Wesleyan! And Rhodes was bad- mouthing the rules at Columbia! What a foursome!
Then they came up with the idea of that Newsletter—a real snooze if ever there was one! With David talking about a bifurcated concept of culture, Charles worrying about McCarthy labeling him a radical and a communist, Alan belly-aching about a job and tenure, and Willard going on and on about music as living sound—you have to wonder if any of them could make a decent martini! (sound exasperated) But . . . they persisted, as we shall now hear!
(then, hushed) Newsletter, Newsletter, On a night of good cheer, The beginnings of our society, Now—have a Happy New Year!
Seeger: Old Professor Sachs was dozing but was clearly happy to hear. . .
Rhodes: . . . a paper on American Indian music. Merriam: Yes, but old Sachs is interested in…in only history. He speculates about, and I know that it’s true. He’s not done any fieldwork, and now there’s even more: his notions of what he calls primitive music are terribly quaint! Rhodes: Still, Sachs is an international treasure. (hold) He knows a lot about everything.
ALL: Oodles and Oodles (spoken together with great excitement)
McAllester: He knows a lot! He knows a lot! Alan is right to base our work on field research. But we need help! Rhodes, Seeger, & Merriam: But we need help!
McAllester: Oh, we need help!
Rhodes, Seeger, & Merriam: Oh, we need help! ALL: Oh, Charles please, oh, help us now, to find our way and then somehow, tell the world the great news:
Finale ALL: We’re in ethnomusicology; we gotta tell the world, we’ll make them see; that the music now can set us free; free to spread the sound all over the town: Rhodes: systematical…
McAllester, Seeger & Merriam: systematic…
Rhodes: categorical… McAllester, Seeger & Merriam: categoric…
Rhodes: comparativical…
McAllester, Seeger & Merriam: comparative… Rhodes: semiotical…
McAllester, Seeger & Merriam: semiotic…
Rhodes: nettlonial… McAllester, Seeger & Merriam: heavy nettl… SEM Newsletter 15
Rhodes: deconstructable… McAllester, Seeger & Merriam: deconstructed…
Rhodes: post-colonial…
McAllester, Seeger & Merriam: post-colonic… ALL: ETHNOMUSICOLOGY!
Finale Sing-a-long: We’re in ethnomusicology; we gotta tell the world, we’ll make them see; that the music now can set us free; free to spread the sound all over the town: systematical, categorical, comparativical, semiotical, nettlonial, deconstructable, post-colonial, ETHNOMUSICOLOGY!
— 16 SEM Newsletter
The Ethno Double-Dactyls: A (largely accurate though occasionally fictitious) history of SEM Special 50th Anniversary Edition By Bruno Nettl
Presented by Bruno Nettl and Laurel Sercombe
Preamble Higgledy-piggledy. SEM membership 1954 Came to Atlanta to celebrate fifty, Biblio-fiblio. Erich von Hornbostel’s At this sensational commemorational List, in the Newsletter right at the start— Though not idyllically doubledactyllically— Grand convocation. It sure has been nifty. Put bibliography close to its heart. PREHISTORY 1885 1955 Jiggery-pokery. G. Adler, Ph.D. Morningside-Horningside. Rhodes of Columbia Outlined his field in the Vierteljahrschrift, Chaired in the City of Beans and of Cod. Wrote: Let’s think logically. Musicologically, SEM rose, you see, anachronistically Ethno’s included—you do get my drift. Out of the Newsletter. That sure was odd! Hickory-dickory. Elllis, the Englishman Gathering, blathering. Roxanne McCollester, Saw in all tone systems equal creations, Krader and Nettl, Kurath and Hazard— Said so emphatically, paradigmatically, All told, ‘twas twenty-four primoprogenitors— In “On the Musical Scales of the Nations.” Weltfish, Ed Burrows, Moe Asch and John Ward. 1905 Surinam-Surinam. Melville J. Herskovits Hamburgers-spamburgers. Erich von Hornbostel Said, ethno-musicologically wise, Wrote: We should show that our method’s unique, “Not ethnographical, lexicographical Leave, then, your library! Phonotranscribery Problems will haunt you. But, eyes on the prize!” Might be more helpful than Latin or Greek. Hippety-hoppety. Founders, so ven’rable 1910 Voted: So should we now have a society? Chordophones, wordophones. Sachs, organologist, I kind of think it was superunanimous. Worked at creating four instrument classes, Then they went out to abandon sobriety. Said: I play sonically idiophonically. 1957 Aerophones, though, are preferred by the masses. Melograph-telegraph. Seeger the patriarch 1918 Drafted the rules meant to make us do right, Chippewa-Chippewa. Densmore the tireless! That constitutional, circumlocutional Thousands of cylinders stand to her credit. Text sometimes worked for avoiding a fight. Rarely redundantly, superabundantly Yirkalla, Yirkalla. Richard A. Waterman Published them all. Oh, what labor to edit! Noting the dash after “ethno” despised, 1928 Said: Though belatedly, unhyphenatedly Budapest-Budapest. Herzog, Hungarian, Let us now spell this strange word we’ve devised. Groused, while transcribing the songs of the Yumans: NOTABLE EVENTS It’s all futility! Infallibility 1958-61 (ca.) Can’t be achieved in transcriptions by humans. Braniacs, maniacs. Young Dieter Christensen 1930 Said: The Berlin school, these scholars with oomph, Humperdinck, Dumperdinck. School of Berlin (so-called), Weren’t just long-windeners, Unterdenlindeners Acting, they reckoned, with no impropriety, Lachmann and Abraham, Schneider and Stumpf. First innovatively, communicatively, Folkloring, fakeloring. Learned Maud Karpeles, Built a vergleichende music society. Feared that the IFMC be ignored, 1933 Said: there’s our Sharps and Lists; Tunetaxonomicists Frankfurters, blankfurters. Lachmann the editor Bayard and Bronson; Brailoiu and Lord Saw it was time to begin a new mag Microtone, macrotone. Boris Kremenliev Relativistical, tetralinguistical. Came from L.A. to extol the U.C.: Goebbels soon shut it down; boy, what a drag! Here, pentatonically, heterophonically THE FOUNDING Gamelans slendro and pelog agree. 1952 Middletown-Puddletown. David McAllester, Xylophone, smilophone. Mantle of old L.A. Alan P. Merriam, Willard and Charles Said: In the field, don’t just listen, but do. Met at a stodgical musicological Play with vitality. Bimusicality Congress at Yale, and avoided all quarrels. Surely will help in your job interview. Tippery-toppery. August quadrumvirate, History-mystery. Milton E. Metfessel Planned on that eve was a Newsletter—Grand!— Spoke from his grave but was well understood: Under the logical anthropological Cheers for melography! Phonophotography Editor Merriam’s craftsmanlike hand. Obsolete now. Vide Seeger and Hood. 1953 Publishing, perishing. Alan P. Merriam Organum-sorganum. Manfred F. Bukofzer, Seeing researches with value eternal, Densmore and Sachs and Kolinski et al Not euphemistically—idealistically— Wrote—fundamentally experimentally— Transformed the newsletter into a journal. Letters to dozens, by way of a call. Michigan, Fishagain. Malm, Japanologist Dressed as a lion who’d eaten his barber, Danced, kinda manically, transoceanically, In Gertrude Kurath’s back yard in Ann Arbor. SEM Newsletter 17
1962 1989 Polkadots, polkadots. SEM’s officers Sisboombah, sisboombah. Seeger, now Anthony Ordered a tenth anniversary meeting, Studied Suyá, worked near Capitol Hill, Held it in Bloomington. Nothingtodomington? Porkly and veal-ly, churrascarialy Oh base canard! There’s good music and eating. Eats lots of meat when he visits Brazil. Marvelous, marvelous. Alan P. Merriam, 1991 Ki Mantle Hood, and A. Lomax, this trio, Cantoring-bantering. Slobin of Wesleyan Gave theoretical, unantithetical Said, of the musics we’re hearing today, Keynoting talks heard from Greenland to Rio. “Think, intuitionally, micromusicianly.”— Could be a theory likely to stay 1963 Oxenford, Foxenford. Frank LL Harrison, 1993 Writing with Hood and Palisca, said: Zounds! Iroquois-Cherokee. Heth of Smithsonian We, though Victorians, musichistorians Wrote about Indian dances galore Study behavior, ideas, and sounds. On their fragility, perishability, Adaptability, and all their lore. 1971 Leningrad, Stalingrad. Barbara Latimer— 1995 Later on Krader—made friends with the Russians, Hoosiering, Hoosiering. Ruth Stone of Bloomington Fostered, while president, Berliner-resident, Studied the music events of Liberia, Transmuralistically fruitful discussions. Wrote, not bombastically, enthusiastically “Oh, let the inside be sweet.” Yes, we hear ya. 1975 Bangalore, Mangalore. N. A. Jairazbhoy, a 1997 Student of Bake’s and later our chief, Harvard Yard, Harvard Yard. Kay Kaufman Shelemay, Played never borily—improvisorily— Marking the 21st century’s dawn, Alap and gat, often long, sometimes brief. Sought presidentially, superprudentially, Money that students could hope to live on. 1978 Santa Cruz, Take-a-cruise. Fredric A. Lieberman 1999 Joined to debate how the word be defined. Hindustan, Hindustan. Bonnie of Berkeley Hills “Time for abolishing? Ethnodemolishing? Authored on music and art, to expound Well, that’s not really what I had in mind.» Full of biography, chromophotography, Historiography—Imaging Sound. 1989 Nickety nackety, J. H. Nketia 2001 Taught first in Ghana, L.A., and then Pitt, Matzoballs, matzoballs, Koskoff of Rochester Said: In reality, contextuality Published a book about music and gender That is a concept you never omit. Non-chauvinistical, crossculturistical. When it was done, she went out on a bender. 1994 Buttercup, buttercup. Beverley Diamond 2003 Said: To report on some things we have found, Baklava-baklava. Rice of Los Angeles, I’ll write a logical organological Outgoing prez, asked, so what’s our main issue? Book about instruments: Visions of Sound. Said this Bulgarianist humanitarianist: Natch! How do people make music?—We’ll miss you. 2000 Tweedledee-Tweedledum, Christopher Waterman 2005 Started with jazz, then juju gave him meaning, Mazeltov, mazeltov, Bohlman of Boscobel He’s no barbarian totalitarian, President next, may his term be delightful Why would a guy like that go into deaning? Asked, belletristically, postmodernistically, Me? Define folk music? That’s simply frightful! HOMAGE TO RECENT PRESIDENTS 1981 L’Envoi Vendaland, Lendahand. Blacking the president Lickety-splitecky. Little Man, Ethnoman Polled SEM, asking should we be global. Hardly at home among hermaphroditics, Is this irrational? Non-international, Met—he’s from Darien—egalitarian Nor merely national, that’s the most noble. And disestablishmentarian critics. 1983 Singapore, Singapore. Tong Soon of Emory Cigaro, figaro. Carolin’ Robertson Took on the burdens of local arrangements, Asked the Mapuche in far Argentine, Fixed, quite foreseeably, undisagreeably, Is your tayil to be incontrovertibly, Problems of concerts and foreign exchangements. Music or speech? That remains to be seen. Higgledy-piggledy. David McAllester, 1985 Alan and Willard and Charles stood their ground, Sushibar, mooshybar. Robert S. Garfias Moved forward warily. Disciplinarily President too, and a fan of Gagaku, Sovereign or not, SEM’s still around. Studied Romanian extemporanean Sounds; went to Mandalay, Mexico, Baku (?) Jiggery-pokery. Fortunate SEM 1987 Made rapid progress; but sometimes we blundered, Singalong, wingalong. Frisbie of Edwardsville Utilitarian, egalitarian, Authored a volume as large as you’d wish, Quinquagenarian—go for one hundred!!! Titled politically, doubledactylically Navajo Medicine Bundles, or Jish,
This form of poetry was developed by John Hollander and Anthony Hecht, and examples were published in their Jigger-Poker (New York: Atheneum, 1966). The strict rules under which the versifier must work are self- explanatory, and so is the fact that whether you get your fifteen seconds of fame is largely dependent on the number of syllables in your name. I apologize for inaccuracies and failures of judgment, but insist that you are not permitted to be angry if your name appears in these verses, nor may you be irate if your name does not appear. 18 SEM Newsletter
SEM 50th Calypso Composed by Chris Waterman In honor of the 50th Annual Meeting of the Society for Ethnomusicology Atlanta, Georgia, 2005
Bisi Adeleke, Yoruba talking drum (adamon) Gage Averill, bongos Marisol Berríos-Miranda, guiro Shannon Dudley, cowbell Kyra Gaunt, signs and vibes Travis Jackson, solid body acoustic guitar Tim Mangin, flute Anthony Rauche, piano Daniel Reed, vocals Chris Washburne, trombone Chris Waterman, vocals
Ethnomusicology Ethnomusicology Ethnomusicology Ethnomusicology Ethnomusicology Ethnomusicology We got the gamelan, the Nagra, and the mango tree We got the balafon, the raga, and the R and B
They say the song protects the singer The purpose of this gala spree Even when he flips the middle finger Is to celebrate our discipline’s history I sure do hope that lie’s still true So join the parade and we’ll make a mas’ ‘Cause I’m just about to flip it to you It’s Ethno theory through the looking glass CHORUS: ‘Cause he’s just about to flip it to you It’s Ethno theory through the looking glass
I’m an ethical, honest, and upright man Athanaceus Kircher, Jean-Jacques Rousseau And I’ll sing me song the best I can You can even take it back to the Greek Plato I have no quarrel with all of them But I trace my Ethno-genealogy That’s making shame and scandal in the SEM Back to the 19th century That’s making shame and scandal in the SEM Back to the 19th century
Ethnomusicology Ethnomusicology Ethnomusicology Ethnomusicology Ethnomusicology Ethnomusicology We got the kulturkreis, the noseflute, and ethnography We got the monograph, the paper and anthology
I come before you here today Ellis, Abraham, Sachs, and Stumpf Not to denigrate my discipline in any way Expanded the field’s vergleichende oomph But truth be told, now, we done grow old If these dead white men make you feel hostile We little man done shriveled like he out in the cold Then you might just be heist on your own Hornbostel We little man done shriveled like he out in the cold Then we might just be heist on our own Hornbostel
While I’m on the topic of the little man Evolutionist theories ruled the day There’s always been one thing I kyan understand And diffusionists also had their sway With all of the flutes in the world to choose But I say Papa Franz, and the Boas band Why that little piccolo, and not a dijeridu? They showed us the way to the promised land Why that little piccolo, and not a dijeridu? They showed us the way to the promised land
All dem good-for-nothing organologists They say find out what the music means Will no doubt shout and shake their fists To the people who make it in a cultural scene “A dijeridu is not a flute” What they use it for, what it does for them I say, “stick it up your bum and see if it toots.” And then when you compare it may make more sense We say, “stick it up your bum and see if it toots.” And then when we compare it may make more sense SEM Newsletter 19
Ethnomusicology Ethnomusicology Ethnomusicology Ethnomusicology Ethnomusicology Ethnomusicology We got the Cantometrics and the T-U-B We got the gharana, the juju and the kabuki
Densmore, Rhodes, and McAllester, The world of music is a tricky place Merriam, Spivacke, and Charles Seeger Any action you take can bring you disgrace Bukofzer, Waterman, and Sachs The proverb say if you shit on the road And Kolinski put a letter in the mailbox You’re gonna meet it again when next you carry your load And Kolinski put a letter in the mailbox We gonna meet it again when next we carry our load
November 18th, 1955, The academic ego needs aggrandizement In Boston SEM came alive, The latest jargon is our advertisement It should be noted that this mythic play But to tell the truth, the music today Was enacted at a meeting of the Triple-A It’s smarter than the scholars in every way Was enacted at a meeting of the Triple-A Smarter than the scholars in every way
Merriam, Nettl, and Mantle Hood But still we write and still we play Gave us overviews the best they could And still we work for a better day You can criticize retrospectively And still at the end of the day you see But til you’ve tried it yourself, it don’t mean much to me There’s good reason to do ethnomusicology But til we’ve tried it ourselves, it don’t mean much to him There’s good reason to do ethnomusicology
Ethnomusicology Ethnomusicology Ethnomusicology Ethnomusicology Ethnomusicology Ethnomusicology We dig the Yoruba, the Blackfeet, and the Kaluli We got the critical theory and commodity.
The 60s and 70s put us on the stage My colleagues I know you’ll all agree Structuralism was all the rage I’m no Lord Kitchener or Houdini Venda songs and ‘Are ‘Are pan-pipes I’ve sung my little song the best I can Continuities and changes of every stripe With the help of me brave calypso band Continuities and changes of every stripe With the help of we brave calypso band
By the 80s and 90s we were standing tall If you wanted authenticity Enough ethnographies to fill the Albert Hall Tradition unexamined, brute authority But life had became more complicated You’ve come to wrong damn place you see, As we heard back from the Others we’d interpellated That’s not our type of Ethnomusicology As we heard back from the Others we’d interpellated That’s not our type of Ethnomusicology
If I had to put it down in verse We’ll leave you now with a final verse I’d say the field has changed, for better and worse A blessing, a prayer, perhaps a curse No longer a village, more like a town Please reach into your pocket, your wallet, your purse A city in a city, that’s our meetings now And buy the band a drink to quench their terrible thirst A city in a city, that’s our meetings now And buy us all a drink to quench our terrible thirst
Whirling deadheads, committed teachers One more time! Pessimistic scholars and soapbox preachers, Archivists and instrument makers Ethnomusicology And the usual allotment of belly-achers Ethnomusicology And the usual allotment of belly-achers Ethnomusicology We got the gamelan, the Nagra, and the mango tree I hold a kora in one hand, brother My gamelan I hold in the other But I never could play them both, you see I just can’t bi-musicality He just can’t bi-musicality 20 SEM Newsletter SEM Newsletter 21 22 SEM Newsletter
People & Places Conferences Calendar 2007 Continued from page 10 Mar 1-4 A concert in honor of Robert 2006 Joint conference of the Society Stevenson was held at the Real Mar 31-Apr 3 for American Music and the Conservatorio Superior de Música de British Forum for Ethnomusi- Music Library Association. Madrid on May 20, 2005. The program cology Annual Meeting. Uni- Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. For included five compositions by Stevenson versity of Winchester, UK. For more information, please visit for clarinet and piano, and piano solo. more information, please visit (website) www.american- (website) www.bfe.org.uk or music.org/ contact Dr. Ruth Hellier-Tinoco (email) Ruth.Hellier-Tinoco Mar 22-25 Announcements @winchester.ac.uk Association for Asian Studies Annual Meeting. Marriott Ho- Continued from page 3 Apr 6-9 tel, Boston, Massachusetts. For Songs, Dreamings, and Ghosts: Association for Asian Studies more information, see (website) The Wangga of North Australia by Annual Meeting. Marriott Ho- http://www.aasianst.org/ Allan Marett tel, San Francisco, California. To the Aboriginal people of North For more information, see July 4-11 Australia, music is something more than (website) http://www.aasianst. 39th World Conference of the entertainment. They believe their songs org/ International Council for Tradi- come from an eternal realm, known as tional Music. Vienna, Austria. “The Dreaming,” and from the ghosts of Aug 25-Sep 1 For information, visit (website) deceased ancestors. Allan Marett’s Songs, ICTM Study Group Music and http://www.ictm2007.at/ Dreamings, and Ghosts: The Wangga of Minorities meeting. Hotel North Australia is the first in-depth Horizont-Golden Sands, Varna, Oct 17-21 study of wangga, a genre of song and Bulgaria. For more informa- American Folklore Society An- dance from the Daly region of north- tion, visit (website) http:// nual Meeting. Hilton Québec, west Australia. www.ethnomusic.ucla.edu/ Québec City, Canada (jointly Wangga articulates themes of death ICTM with the Folklore Studies Asso- and regeneration, but has also come to ciation of Canada). For more, facilitate other types of change: boy- Oct 18-22 see (website) http://afsnet.org/ hood to manhood, student to graduate, American Folklore Society An- callow youth to hero, etc. The people nual Meeting. Hyatt Regency Nov 1-4 of the Daly region, including the Marri- Milwaukee, Milwaukee, Wis- American Musicological Soci- tjevin, Marri-ammu, and Wadjiginy, play consin. For more information, ety Annual Meeting. Québec music, sing, and dance during celebra- see (website) http://afsnet.org/ Convention Centre/Hilton tions of such occasions. Marett ex- Québec, Québec City, Canada. plores the differences between the cer- Nov 2-5 For more information, see emonies of each of these peoples and American Musicological Soci- (website) http://www.ams- the changes in the ceremonies due to ety Annual Meeting. Century net.org/ migration, the encroachment of mod- Plaza Hotel, Los Angeles, Cali- ern society, and the marginalization of fornia (jointly with the Society 2008 the Aboriginal culture by European for Music Theory). For more Oct 22-25 settles. information, see (website) http:/ American Folklore Society An- Allan Marett is Professor of Musicol- /www.ams-net.org/ nual Meeting. Hyatt Regency ogy and Director of the Centre for Music Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky. Research at the University of Sydney. Nov 16-19 For more information, see He draws on almost 20 years of research Society for Ethnomusicology (website) http://afsnet.org/ and personal experience with the people Annual Meeting. Honolulu, of the Daly region. His intimacy with Hawai‘i. For more information, Nov 6-9American Musicological Soci- them allows him to pass on intimate see (website) http://ethnomu- ety Annual Meeting. Renais- details of the world of wangga and sicology. org sance Nashville Hotel, Nash- Aboriginal music, its form and function ville, Tennessee. For more in- in Aboriginal society, and its evolution Nov 15-19 formation, please visit (website) amidst migration and change. th 105 Annual Meeting of the http://www.ams-net.org/ For more information, please con- American Anthropological As- tact Stephanie Elliott, Wesleyan Univer- sociation. San Jose Convention sity Press, 215 Long Lane, Middletown, Center, San Jose, California. For CT 06459; (tel) 860.685.7723; (email) more information, see (website) [email protected]. http://www.aaanet.org SEM Newsletter 23
Centre for Intercultural Musicology at Churchill College Akin Euba, Director
presents
4th Biennial International Symposium and Festival on COMPOSITION IN AFRICA AND THE DIASPORA
Featuring: Composers’ Sessions, Scholarly Sessions, and Live Concerts,
Also including: Dialogues in Music Africa Meets Asia • Africa Meets Latin America
Dates: 1-4 August 2007
Venue: Churchill College University of Cambridge Cambridge CB3 0DS England
For further details, please contact our website: www.CompositionInAfrica.org 24 SEM Newsletter
Items for sale at the SEM Business Office
• A Manual for Documentation, • Ten-Year Journal Index Vol- Shipping/handling charges are Fieldwork and Preservation umes 21-30, 1977-86. $8.00 added according to total order as for Ethnomusicologists (2001) • Special Series No. 4, Andrew follows: Topp Fargion, Janet (ed.) $6.00 Toth Recordings of the Tradi- SEM members/$12.00 non- tional Music of Bali and Lombok Up to $6.00 add $2.50 S/H members (1980). $15.00 $6.01-$15.00 add $3.75 S/H • Hugo Zemp Are’are Music • Special Series No. 6, Richard and Shaping Bamboo. Video Keeling, ed. Women in North $15.01-$25.00 add $5.50 S/H tape series, 3 parts w/ study American Indian Music: Six Es- Over $25.00 add $7.00 S/H guide (1993). $49.95 SEM says (1989) $10.00 members/$69.95 non-mem- bers • SEM ceramic mug (cobalt blue To purchase items, please contact with gold lettering) $6.50 Lyn Pittman at the SEM Business • John Blacking’s Domba. Video Office, Indiana University, Morrison tape series w/guide. $30.00 • SEM T-shirt (Large & Extra Large) Hall 005, 1165 East 3rd Street, Bloom- SEM members/$50.00 institu- (sage green with navy lettering ington, Indiana 47405-3700; (Tel) tions and non-members or black with white lettering) $15.00 812.855.6672; (Fax) 812.855.6673; (Email) [email protected].
SEM Newsletter The Society for Ethnomusicology Non-Profit Organization Indiana University U.S Postage Morrison Hall 005 PAID rd Bloomington, Indiana 1165 East 3 Street Permit No. 2 Bloomington, IN 47405-3700
Volume 40, Number 2 March 2006